Overwatch 2 Reveal Event and Junker Queen Origin Story

[saixilein]

Im stupid and never played games with battlepass... So what is that? I pay money for the pass and i get exclusive skins or something, that i just can unlock with a battlepass?

[Darththeo]

Im stupid and never played games with battlepass... So what is that? I pay money for the pass and i get exclusive skins or something, that i just can unlock with a battlepass?

Some games have paid battle passes, others have a free track plus paid track. Some the battle pass is free, but free players are capped at how many points they can get. And you can pay to earn more (sometimes treated as a "catch up" or "last chance" pushing FOMO instinct in players).

You move along the track base on whatever metrics they want. Like points for log in, level up, game played, wins, etc ... and in the more insidious ones, you can pay to jump ahead in the track.

[Lolsteak]

Getting more and more disinterested in this the more info they release..

[Lady Atia]

Some games have paid battle passes, others have a free track plus paid track. Some the battle pass is free, but free players are capped at how many points they can get. And you can pay to earn more (sometimes treated as a "catch up" or "last chance" pushing FOMO instinct in players).

You move along the track base on whatever metrics they want. Like points for log in, level up, game played, wins, etc ... and in the more insidious ones, you can pay to jump ahead in the track.

As someone who missed out on some of the last rewards of various hearthstone battlepass tracks because I lost interest in playing later during a season, having the option to spend a few euros to finish the track for that season and get my rewards would have been awesome. So no, nothing "insidious" on the ones that you can pay to finish ...

[Hitei]

Im stupid and never played games with battlepass... So what is that? I pay money for the pass and i get exclusive skins or something, that i just can unlock with a battlepass?

Typically it's a season based progression system you log into the game and work through "levels" of. You have a bunch of repeatable missions/quests e.g. a daily "log on" (+50xP), daily "win a match" (+200 xp) and then a weekly "Play X number of <game mode> games" (+500xp), which you complete to earn experience and progress through the levels of the battle pass.

Then when you hit level 1 you get a spray, or you hit level 5 and get a skin, etc. The higher the level, typically the better the reward.

In addition to this, battle passes often have a secondary "premium" track, that you purchase (a flat price each battle pass) with real currency, that unlocks additional rewards along that progression.

So free battle pass might be:
Level 1 - spray
Level 2 - regular loot box x2
Level 3 - weapon charm
Level 4 - regular loot box x2
Level 5 - random skin

And premium is:
Level 1 - spray (+1 loot box)
Level 2 - regular loot box x2 (+1 weapon charm)
Level 3 - weapon charm (+1 loot box)
Level 4 - regular loot box x2 ( +1 random skin)
Level 5 - random skin (+ 1 random higher tier skin)

This creates an ongoing incentive to log on and play every day, like dailies, but since the higher the level the better the reward, and the seasonal nature of the battle pass (After which it resets) there's an added FOMO/incentive to make sure you're logging on often so you can progress towards the top end of the battle pass and get those particularly juicy rewards.

The premium track allows for monetization (often battle passes also have the ability to "buyout" levels, or like buy the pass and +10 levels). Which tends to be a particularly attractive offer since it's usually a large amount of rewards for the cost if you are playing regularly enough to progress quickly through the levels--usually much more cost effective than straight up buying loot crates or the like.


I've never really understood people's dislike for them. They operate on FOMO, sure, but they're also a pretty solid way to reward players for just playing the game. The F2P track on most battle passes is fairly rewarding, so anyone not interested in paying but who plays a lot is just getting a bunch of free extra stuff, and the Premium for most also tends to be a good deal compared to normal MTX/monetization if you are logging in every day and progressing far into the battle pass. Sort of a win-win system.

[Coronius]

It'd be pretty hilarious if OW1 ended up having more players than OW2 after a few months.

[Darththeo]

I hope the junker queen isn't a sign of characters to come, she's got to be the most generic character they've done so far. One of the strengths of OW is its relatively original with its characters. Junker Queen is just a Jinx and/or Borderlands ripoff, both of which are straight up Tank Girl ripoffs.
First character that just seems boring like they didn't try to give her a real backstory.

To be fair, backstories or characters aren't all great in Overwatch. But her story, you can sum up pretty easily.

Because she was kicked out by the Junker King and forced to live in the Wasteland, she returned to Junkertown and defeated the King to become the Queen of Junkertown.

- - - Updated - - -

As someone who missed out on some of the last rewards of various hearthstone battlepass tracks because I lost interest in playing later during a season, having the option to spend a few euros to finish the track for that season and get my rewards would have been awesome. So no, nothing "insidious" on the ones that you can pay to finish ...

You may not think so, but it is a predatory system to get people to spend money because of FOMO. That's why it is insidious. It isn't about letting players get the items, it is about money and only money.

[SinR]

PVE Coming Soon ™️

[Darkeon]

That butt and thighs though. Fingers crossed she doesn't get nerfed into a fruit.

Battlepass is meh though.

[Darththeo]

I've never really understood people's dislike for them. They operate on FOMO, sure, but they're also a pretty solid way to reward players for just playing the game. The F2P track on most battle passes is fairly rewarding, so anyone not interested in paying but who plays a lot is just getting a bunch of free extra stuff, and the Premium for most also tends to be a good deal compared to normal MTX/monetization if you are logging in every day and progressing far into the battle pass. Sort of a win-win system.

People are tired of the over monetizing of games, that is why people don't like them. It isn't about how good the rewards are.

There are pass systems where unless you pay money, your weekly progress is capped at a point where it incentivizes players to spend to keep going.

It could be that Overwatch 2 battle pass is fine, but right now given how Blizzard monetized Diablo Immortal with a bunch of hidden mechanics, I don't feel that this game is going to be better. Battle pass isn't bad in and of itself, but there have been several games that have implemented terrible battle pass/season pass systems.

[Pandragon]

Future Seasons
New Heroes
New Maps
New Modes
100+ new skins
PvE
Starting sometime in 2023

So the PVE stuff isn't coming with launch?

[Hitei]

People are tired of the over monetizing of games, that is why people don't like them.

Don't spend money?

There are pass systems where unless you pay money, your weekly progress is capped at a point where it incentivizes players to spend to keep going.

If you're playing a game enough that you are hitting a weekly cap, then inevitably you are playing enough that you're going to progress the whole way through a battle pass anyway, so why are you spending money to keep going? So that you hit the end early and then spend weeks getting nothing at all?

If you're someone who doesn't want to spend money on pixels in a video game but literally cannot help yourself and spend money on pixels in a video game: I'm sorry, but that's not a dev marketing team's fault for being """""insidious""""" and """"predatory"""" (read: using the same rarity of commodity approach that has been used in commerce for the past 5,000 years of human history)--You have a serious personal problem regarding inability to control yourself and should seek professional help to talk to in order to work through your self-control and impulsivity issues.

It's the same logic as gambling or drinking. You don't need to outlaw gambling and start back up prohibition because a handful of people with serious internal issues are gambling addicts and alcoholics despite the other 97% of adults who engage in gambling or drinking (even excess drinking) managing to show some self-control. Nor do you need to put up a bunch of restrictions on what restaurants can or can't sell because some people cannot stop stuffing their faces full of sugar and fried foods.

[crusadernero]

I wastly prefer how it is in OW1. Buy the game, play alot and accumulate enough points for skins & gold wep. Or if you are lucky, get it in those loot boxes you get everytime you level. The whole deal with buying loot boxes is shit though and I dislike it.

That said, i've played OW enough to mostly have the skins I want and im never buynig loot boxes.


Since they are introducing battle pass, I sure hope they do it like in Halo Infinite. If you are gone from Halo I multiplayer for a while, when you return you can progress whatever battlepass you were on. As such, you dont miss out.

But hey, its Blizzard. We all know its going to be FOMO battlepass.

- - - Updated - - -

So the PVE stuff isn't coming with launch?

Nope. Not coming until sometime in 2023. I find that rather weird. They have worked on this game for a long time.

[Ersula]

If you're someone who doesn't want to spend money on pixels in a video game but literally cannot help yourself and spend money on pixels in a video game: I'm sorry, but that's not a dev marketing team's fault for being """""insidious""""" and """"predatory"""" (read: using the same rarity of commodity approach that has been used in commerce for the past 5,000 years of human history)--You have a serious personal problem regarding inability to control yourself and should seek professional help to talk to in order to work through your self-control and impulsivity issues.

It is insidious & predatory. But it is also standard of the industry. You can tell Overwatch 2 was an attempt to get people to pay for Overwatch again with what is essentially a large patch, but lucky for them they realized they shouldn't do this & made OW2 Free to play.

But overall the Overwatch buisness plan doesn't bother me for a f2p game. Diablo Immortal's is what bothers most of us: And its exactly what we as a community were afraid of when they announced it. Its the standard Mobile gaming Pay to Win business model.

But I do think its unhelpful to focus on one company for doing something all mobile game companies are doing: It detracts from the systemic issue.

[Darththeo]

Don't spend money?


If you're playing a game enough that you are hitting a weekly cap, then inevitably you are playing enough that you're going to progress the whole way through a battle pass anyway, so why are you spending money to keep going? So that you hit the end early and then spend weeks getting nothing at all?

If you're someone who doesn't want to spend money on pixels in a video game but literally cannot help yourself and spend money on pixels in a video game: I'm sorry, but that's not a dev marketing team's fault for being """""insidious""""" and """"predatory"""" (read: using the same rarity of commodity approach that has been used in commerce for the past 5,000 years of human history)--You have a serious personal problem regarding inability to control yourself and should seek professional help to talk to in order to work through your self-control and impulsivity issues.

It's the same logic as gambling or drinking. You don't need to outlaw gambling and start back up prohibition because a handful of people with serious internal issues are gambling addicts and alcoholics despite the other 97% of adults who engage in gambling or drinking (even excess drinking) managing to show some self-control. Nor do you need to put up a bunch of restrictions on what restaurants can or can't sell because some people cannot stop stuffing their faces full of sugar and fried foods.

You are aware how restrictive both drinking and gambling is in many parts of the world right?

And yes, it is. The systems get designed to appeal to those players who do spend money. They are specifically meant to target and take advantage of players.

And I am talking ending the weekly cap just before a big reward, and doing so that it just far enough that someone may want it now rather than waiting to next week. Oh, you can get to reward 7, but reward 8 is amazing. Surely you want it now and not next week right? I am sorry, but I don't blame an addict when someone else is intentionally attempting to trigger their addiction. I blame the person who is trying to trigger than reaction.

[crusadernero]

People are tired of the over monetizing of games, that is why people don't like them. It isn't about how good the rewards are.

There are pass systems where unless you pay money, your weekly progress is capped at a point where it incentivizes players to spend to keep going.

It could be that Overwatch 2 battle pass is fine, but right now given how Blizzard monetized Diablo Immortal with a bunch of hidden mechanics, I don't feel that this game is going to be better. Battle pass isn't bad in and of itself, but there have been several games that have implemented terrible battle pass/season pass systems.

Atleast let it be a battlepass you can keep progressing on forever. They do that in Halo Infinite. If you are gone for a while and miss out, you can continue progressing on the battlepass you are on even though new ones are out.

But, theres a critical part to remember with this game; The skins does nothing. Every hero performs the same. So theres really no need for them.

[Darththeo]

It is insidious & predatory. But it is also standard of the industry. You can tell Overwatch 2 was an attempt to get people to pay for Overwatch again with what is essentially a large patch, but lucky for them they realized they shouldn't do this & made OW2 Free to play.

But overall the Overwatch buisness plan doesn't bother me for a f2p game. Diablo Immortal's is what bothers most of us: And its exactly what we as a community were afraid of when they announced it. Its the standard Mobile gaming Pay to Win business model.

But I do think its unhelpful to focus on one company for doing something all mobile game companies are doing: It detracts from the systemic issue.

I 100% agree with you.

It isn't guaranteed to be a bad system, but I have my worries. It could be a fine system.

People focus too much on the what. But it is never the what, it is always the how. Loot boxes aren't bad, but there can be bad implementation of loot boxes. Battle passes aren't bad, but there can be bad implementation of battle passes. And as it stands, as bad as Diablo Immortal is with it, Blizzard is far from the worse systems I seen.

- - - Updated - - -

Atleast let it be a battlepass you can keep progressing on forever. They do that in Halo Infinite. If you are gone for a while and miss out, you can continue progressing on the battlepass you are on even though new ones are out.

But, theres a critical part to remember with this game; The skins does nothing. Every hero performs the same. So theres really no need for them.

As long as you can start a new pass or if the new pass is just added to the end of the current, that's all fine.

I am even okay if they make the past passes' items purchasable via other means. Even on a rotational basis would be fine.

[Aleksej89]

what a pile of junk

[crusadernero]

- - - Updated - - -



As long as you can start a new pass or if the new pass is just added to the end of the current, that's all fine.

I am even okay if they make the past passes' items purchasable via other means. Even on a rotational basis would be fine.

Yeah, something along those lines. Im very happy with how its done in Halo. I played it alot at launch then stopped playing for a good while and when I returned I just continued on where I was. That felt good. In other games with battlepasses you risk missing out and end up either getting mad about missing out or just grind it out even though you dont want to play lol

- - - Updated - - -

what a pile of junk

*junkqueen

[Orby]

It'd be pretty hilarious if OW1 ended up having more players than OW2 after a few months.

If we learned from Reforged they'll shut down OW1 and force you to play OW2