Thoughts on Blizzard copying yet again?

[Deleted]

I'm not saying Overwatch is bad or that copying is bad. Not every game needs to be completely new, and it's well known Blizzard takes what other companies make and then refines. I'm actually somewhat surprised and impressed by what little I've seen of Overwatch so far. However, it's clearly taking many, many things from Tf2. How do you feel about this and do you think it's something a lot of people notice or care about? Are they lazy, in any sense?

[Zethras]

No, I don’t think many people will care at its similarities to TF2, and if they do, I don’t care that they do.

[Deleted]

Its an Objective Based FPS. You cant discover the wheel again in every new game. Overwatch is different, play it when its released, you will see.

or...did Riot Copy when they launched league? Is everyone who launches FPS/MMO/MOBA/Platformer games copying other stuff? no. Its called genre.

[hydrium]

Do I care? Not particularly.

Am I surprised? Not in the least.

This new generation of Blizzard Entertainment is basically like watching air slowly leak out of a balloon.

Every game they have right now is in some form of stagnation and population decline outside of potentially hearthstone.

[Deleted]

No, I don’t think many people will care at its similarities to TF2, and if they do, I don’t care that they do.

Something about the striking similarity between tjorborn and the engineer doesn't sit well with me, though. It just seems like a slap in the face to Valve (though it obviously doesn't matter considering how big they are.) Maybe I feel this way because it seems like other developers get pounced on for copying and yet Blizzard are able to do so freely.

[Segus1992]

Its an Objective Based FPS. You cant discover the wheel again in every new game. Overwatch is different, play it when its released, you will see.

or...did Riot Copy when they launched league? Is everyone who launches FPS/MMO/MOBA/Platformer games copying other stuff? no. Its called genre.

Uh, they absolutely did though. And it's pretty clear that the games (Overwatch and TF2) have similarities.

On topic, taking an idea and making it better isn't exactly an issue in my eyes.

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Something about the striking similarity between tjorborn and the engineer doesn't sit well with me, though. It just seems like a slap in the face to Valve (though it obviously doesn't matter considering how big they are.) Maybe I feel this way because it seems like other developers get pounced on for copying and yet Blizzard are able to do so freely.

Something of importance to note is whether or not people end up liking the games. If they're improvements over the originals, people don't mind. It's also not a blatant copy but using the same idea and adding/removing/refining things. Developers accused of straight up copying often have more than a few similarities with the originals (and are very rarely better or even as good).

[Teaon]

its called a genre for a reason, many similarities

[Suggs]

Holy fuck is someone on these forums claiming blizzard copied another game? How dare you.....Blasphemy!

You shall die a horrid death and have your soul torn apart infinite times in the fiery depths of hell by Satan himself!

On topic; Yes..yes they are but copying games shouldn't factor whether its a good and bad thing at all but more so 'Is it a good product?'

[Segus1992]

Holy fuck is someone on these forums claiming blizzard copied another game? How dare you.....Blasphemy!

You shall die a horrid death and have your soul torn apart infinite times in the fiery depths of hell by Satan himself!

On topic; Yes..yes they are but copying games shouldn't factor whether its a good and bad thing at all but more so 'Is it a good product?'

Unpaid moderators (and some users) of a fansite dedicated to a specific company are fanboys of said company, someone call the press the world must be ending.

[Mystrome]

I recognize that it's ripping stuff off but, if it's done well, I honestly couldn't care less. A good game is a good game.

This needs a couple of +1's. Here's mine: +1.

[Herecius]

I think calling Tolbjorn a straight copy of TF2's engineer is quite a stretch. His actual main weapon is entirely different, he has no dispenser, no teleporter, his turret is far more defensible and has no ammo that needs to be replenished, and the first turret level builds automatically instead of having to be hammered to full in order to activate it, plus it's free to actually just set down that initial turret, and finally you can't move your turret at will (I don't think).

Is the gameplay very much inspired and tweaked from the TF2 engineer template? For sure. But that's what Blizzard has always done, they've taken existing concepts and tweaked the hell out of them.

[soulzek]

I think calling Tolbjorn a straight copy of TF2's engineer is quite a stretch. His actual main weapon is entirely different, he has no dispenser, no teleporter, his turret is far more defensible and has no ammo that needs to be replenished, and the first turret level builds automatically instead of having to be hammered to full in order to activate it, plus it's free to actually just set down that initial turret, and finally you can't move your turret at will (I don't think).

Is the gameplay very much inspired and tweaked from the TF2 engineer template? For sure. But that's what Blizzard has always done, they've taken existing concepts and tweaked the hell out of them.

That's like saying cat druid isn't a copy of rogue because (examples):
1) its sinister strike has a different name
2) its finisher does 100 less damage
3) druid doesnt have prep

The playstyle/gameplay of the class is a copy.

[Very Tired]

I actually think Blizzard should have copied at bit more from Tf2. At the moment, they are missing the point on a lot of the features that made Tf2 so great and long lasting.

[Herecius]

That's like saying cat druid isn't a copy of rogue because (examples):
1) its sinister strike has a different name
2) its finisher does 100 less damage
3) druid doesnt have prep

The playstyle/gameplay of the class is a copy.

Copy and 'similar' aren't actually synonyms.

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I actually think Blizzard should have copied at bit more from Tf2. At the moment, they are missing the point on a lot of the features that made Tf2 so great and long lasting.

The biggest one in my opinion that they might pull from is server lists. Being able to have custom games on a fairly consistent server was always one of TF2's strongest points. Though it's still early; I expect that custom games will very much become a thing for Overwatch. It would be a very strange omission for it not to happen... but again, for custom games to really be of much use outside of private games with people on friendlists, server lists probably have to be a thing as well.

[zehzao]

Lilke many people have said already, if you take an idea and make it better, no problems at all ... actually even if you make it worst it doesnt matter.

[Lightwysh]

I dont think it's copying. I think its fitting in a genre. Just like all anime looks similar, but people don't scream Ninja Scroll Copied Akira because they look similar.

[Gamevizier]

Its more like they're trying to mash together the gameplays of all successful fps games into one game.

Pharah is basically a copy of those days where people played quake 3 arena and similar games, lots of high jumps + missle launchers, aim it on a ground close to the enemy and you grab a kill.

Mccree : counterstrike desert eagle players. Ult is similar to red dead's ult.

Hanzo : fast paced archer fps. The high dmg of that arrow kinda reminded me of GoW torque bows though the latter were literally one-shot one-kill weapons.

Soldier 76 : cod/bf

Torbjorn : tf2 engineer

Bastion : cod turrets, and unmanned ground drones during ults.

Etc.

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i think its gonna be a successful game. But i wont put any bets yet.

[Axaron]

Blizzard taking successful ideas from other companies, as well as their own community, remains their core strategy. This is a good thing. Carry on.

[Gsara]

I have no problems at all with it myself. I played TF for years and loved the game then played TF2 for a bit before it went ftp. FTP TF2 was ok for a little bit but nothing great. Having played in the OW beta since the servers started I can fully say OW is by far a better game up to this point and we dont even have all of the systems in place yet. This is just all my own opinion of course.

[zealo]

I have no problem with blizzard, or any dev for that matter, taking inspiration from existing titles.

What matters to me really, is if it can stand independently as its own product and still be fun to play.