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Is 'Overwatch' Overly Competitive?

(The Experiences of a Diamond 'Overwatch' Player)

By Logan BooherPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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The one thing guaranteed to pit a team against itself.

I remember when the Overwatch Beta first released for consoles openly and I downloaded it. It was a blast, as a huge TF2 Fan (which many people say is Overwatch is a total rip-off of, which is a different topic for a different day), playing as all of the different characters, finding the little niche playstyles you needed to adapt to with the characters and how they work with and against other players, via ultimate combos and cancels/reversals. But as I've now played for over a year now and have recently taken a break (specifically this competitive season, which started around the same time as the Halloween Update 2017), I've come to appreciate taking a step away from the competitive side of Overwatch.

The first big problem with the competitiveness in Overwatch is the lack of real flexibility and teamwork amongst random players trying to form a team. Everyone has a huge focus on "mains," which is the main hero you play as, hence the term. People with argue with each other for the ENTIRE match, simply going back and forth on "Who's the better Soldier: 76 main?" Then if your team loses, they simply blame each other rather than considering that they couldn't concentrate due to the arguing and fighting within the own team. You have to work together in Overwatch, it really is a team-based game due to the emphasis on objectives. Sure, someone can carry, but they still need the other teammates to make a win happen.

Everyone seems to have their own little god-complex within the competitive scene, thinking they themselves are all the best at what they do and anyone who challenges that is wrong. We need to be willing to work with others to work for the team, but it rarely happens. Communicating with your team and filling in gaps within the team composition, which the game even provides tips on when you select a character.

A second huge problem with it is turning what used to be a game played for enjoyment into what I can only describe as teenage anger and hatred. People will yell and scream terrible things at one another, just because they died once or made a mistake with an ultimate. Granted, these are upsetting, but the sheer extent some people go to is insane. We need to at least treat each other like human beings, not shouting racial slurs and telling one another to kill themselves.

Honestly, I think that Overwatch as an eSport is fantastic, but the public Overwatch community should not play competitive Overwatch in general. It turns players, and the game, "toxic." Toxicity within gaming is basically when players will verbally harass and annoy others due to a perception of "being bad." It's a shame that this is how this has turned out, but Overwatch's competitive seasons have proven that it makes the gamers feel anger and disgust as they make their way their all of Overwatch's community.

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