Progress on in-game toxicity also revealed.
The Overwatch team has released a new Developer Update video, this time focusing on a number of topics that have been occupying the community in recent months.
A pretty broad selection of topics come under discussion, from the effectiveness of the measures taken against in-game toxicity, to individual hero balancing.
You can view the entire video right here, although we’ve summarised the main points below if you’ve not got the time to watch the whole thing.
Toxicity
* Player reporting on consoles has delivered great results so far.
* Toxic players are now given in-game warnings when they are about to be penalised for their behaviour.
* Those submitting reports are receiving in-game announcements when their report has led to account action being taken against the offender.
* Since the changes went live, incidents of abusive chat are down 17%, while player reporting is up 20%.
* The team is proactively looking for examples of bad behaviour on sites like YouTube, and taking punitive action against offenders even if they’ve not been reported.
Mercy
* The devs want to tone down Resurrect and make her more manageable when she’s in Valkyrie mode.
* Resurrect still currently feels like a second Ultimate for the hero, but they believe it can be balanced properly.
* Mercy is the most played hero in the game, and if she’s toned too far down they will revisit her until things are just right.
Junkrat
* Junkrat is close to being in a good place balance-wise.
* Damage fall-off is going to be added to Concussive Mine so more accuracy is required on the part of the player.
* As with Mercy, if they tuned him too far down they’ll continue working to get him right.
Hanzo
* The team is looking at options regarding Hanzo‘s Scatter Arrow.
* It may be re-balanced, or it may be replaced by something else altogether. A lot of prototyping is taking place right now, and the team doesn’t yet know what direction will ultimately be taken here.
Mei
* Mei is not in a horrible place, but may need an adjustment to be made more relevant.
* They have to be careful as she can easily become overpowered.
* The philosophy behind Mei’s design is that she should be a situational pick. Even when balanced properly she may not be the correct choice in every match.
* The game is designed for players to master many characters, and so it is not a goal to ensure every hero is strong in every scenario
Symmetra
* Symmetra is still under discussion. She doesn’t need major buffs, but she needs to be more useful overall.
* Like Mei, she should be considered situational. She needs improvements, but she should not have a high pick-rate beyond where she currently is.
