The Fall of Overwatch
I made no secret of my love for Overwatch, gushing over characters and story, supporting the inclusive and diverse atmosphere, reveling in the game play and whatnot. I follow a number of fan artists, musing of their interpretations of the official cannon (and cheering for Pharmercy). But none of that can really combat an underlying issue with the game, from my perspective at least. I haven’t played Overwatch since the Omnic event, and every time I think of firing it up, I get a feeling of foreboding. I hesitate to call myself a gamer, though I do spend a fair amount of time on things like Stardew Valley and Starcraft. Mostly I feel as though I lack the skill of other gamers. While some folks just seem magically able to navigate controls and methodology, I falter and stumble over simple concepts. Because Overwatch is an online based co-op, this presented some... challenges. The beginning of the end occurred when I played a 3v3 with the husband an another player online. I messed up, and our teammate started raging and screaming about how I lost the game for them all. While I consider his statement correct, his reaction was to berate and belittle me, rather than to offer constructive criticism (which I welcome) or even just to shrug and say, “Hey, it’s just a game, we all lose a few.” The experience turned me cold to the game, and I began to wonder if all of the teammates we matched with would treat me in a similar way.Â
K doesn’t play all that much anymore himself, citing the same reason. He dives into the competitive season, and those players are absolutely toxic the moment their team starts to struggle. There’s no away around this problem. I can’t expect every player to be a decent human being, and it’s a reasonable expectation that even if I were to play perfectly we could still lose and my teammates would rage and blame each other. Overwatch, being a online co-op, has this built into its very nature. Unlike Starcraft (which I like playing even though I absolutely suck at it) which has an offline story campaign, there’s no way for me to explore the game on my own. I would love a solo (or side by side with K) game, diving into the story of Overwatch, enjoying the game simply as a game. I miss Overwatch. I miss the fun it gave me. We still watch the world cup games (Go Korea!) but playing it ourselves has gotten cold. Blizzard, if you happen to read this, I really do love Overwatch, but I don’t love its players. I have limited gaming skill, and that makes it hard for me to play in an environment that doesn’t tolerate failure. I just want a fun story to play.Â
