Overwatch.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Dear Valve,

You know how the other year we had that minor thing about the name DOTA? Yes, I remember clearly how you won.

So, given we don't really want to let that shit go, we've decided to make a game that's enough like TF2 that people want to try it, but in an obviously non-infringing way.

Sincerely
Blizzard.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYC44YPb_5k[/media]

[Dog Pants]

I'm about 20% interested in this. Which is to say I am interested, just not by a huge amount. I kind of like how they're using characters rather than classes - TF2 does do this but Overwatch seems more like the way characters are done in MOBAs, with more variety.

[FatherJack]

They seem to have done what they did with WoW and Diablo - which is to showcase all the characters in a way that you spot a favourite and think "wow, as that I would be unstoppable". Clearly there will have to be a level of balance or it'd be a rubbish game and everyone would always pick the same character.

Still there are a number of powers shown there which I think don't really deserve a place in a multiplayer shooter, as in competent hands they would be overpowered and lead to domination. Seeing through walls is the biggest one, especially giving it to the sniper characters - that encourages a playstyle which it would bore me to play against. The shields look like a pain in the arse too, either covering a whole capture point while you can't do shit, or on sentries - making them impervious to anything but blast radius weapons. Resurrection, invisibility and grenade-spamming also featured too, all it needs is air-strikes, attack dogs and bonus points for spawn-killing and it'll have the gamut.

[Anery]

I think it is more like the bastard child of TF2 and Warframe. I'm no"woop woop" about it, but there are enough differences that I'm interested to see what happens.

[Anery]

Beta access achieved!

New round of invites going out, you won't necessarily get an email - it might just become available to install from the battle.net launcher - so it's worth checking if you signed up for it.

[Joose]

Rassumfrassum. Ive preordered and I still dont have beta access.

[Anery]

Rassumfrassum. Ive preordered and I still dont have beta access.

I'd hoped to play today so I set it off downloading overnight, however Microsoft decided that my computer needed updates so they restarted my computer for me...twat bags

[FatherJack]

No invite for me either :/

[Dog Pants]

We had a good few games during open beta last night. I expect we'll be doing the same tonight. It seems to have been fairly well received, although I'm not really sold on it myself. I think my issue is that I've not found a character I'm comfortable with. As we stated above, long ago, the skills are a bit MOBA-like. You get an ultimate and a couple of complimentary little skills, but none set the world on fire for me. Rather than feeling like a shooter where I can suddenly get really powerful, it feels like I'm constantly held back and occasionally get to use a tricky skill that makes me slightly less shit for a short time.

Oh, apart from Bastion. I like Bastion. Everyone likes playing Bastion though, and despises him of he's on the other team. He's like Sniper in DOTA. And his ult is still pretty shit.

[Mr. Johnson]

It somehow resonates very well with me, but I can't say why exactly. Probably all the butts.

[Grimmie]

I quite liked it, and have even had a little fun playing with randoms (omg). I think I'm enjoying it because the heroes are so different, but there's something simple in there for me that I really get on with (rocket-launching bird lady, rifle guy with healing powers) that feels a little bit Quake III'y in its accuracy and twitchiness.

I'll probably get it*.

* Edit
Which is weird, because before this beta I had pretty much no interest in the game at all. Good work, Blizzard!

[spoodie]

Everyone likes playing Bastion though

Was getting trounced in one match, at the end we see that there's 3 Bastions on the other team.

Really enjoying it and very tempted by that pre-order button. The mix of TF2-like gameplay, but a MOBA-like ability system is probably genius.

[Dog Pants]

We had 4 Bastions for one game on Saturday, really just to see if it broke the game. It pretty much did - they were a lot better than we were but we held them off reasonably well to win. They were surprisingly magnanimous about it, although did remark on the 'cheese tactics,' which they certainly were. I still think he's a Sniper-like though - easy enough to counter when you know how, but you need to change your tactics to do so.

Incidentally, I'm more convinced than I was on Friday after our Saturgames. Not completely convinced enough to part with £35, but I'm starting to feel the love for some other characters now.

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Apparently the invulnerable sword rushy ninja is bastion-bane.

I'm really enjoying it, and the business model isn't unpleasant to me (basically the same as TF2 was) buy the game, all DLC and Characters will be free, but cosmetic shit will be paid for.

But still, £30+ can fuck right the fuck off. I'd be tempted at £20, and definitely buying at £15

[Dog Pants]

Genji? Maybe. I play Genji, he's my offence character of choice and possibly my favourite overall, but his bullet-parry doesn't last long enough to cross much open ground while under fire, and he withers in a second on the end of Bastion's turret. As with anyone else, flanking is probably the best way to do it. Reaper sticks around invulnerable for longer, but he seems to have a delay before he can start shooting. Reinhardts shield is an obvious counter, and Hanzo and Widowmaker can harass enough that Bastion has to heal, which means he can't shoot. Just takes a little teamwork, and I think the reason he's so successful right now is because everyone's still in COD mode rather than playing it like DOTA.

Despite that, Bastion is the top player every time he gets played. That's significant. I don't think he'd suffer much from having his turret-mode damage toned down a little.

[Mr. Johnson]

I think I'll be getting it a full price because it's rare that I like a game from the start so much, but I'll be shaking my fist at the sky when the inevitable €30 DLC shows up.

[Pnut]

Or maybe have to transform back from turret to robot to reload?

[Dr. kitteny berk]

Yup, It seems like it might need a tiny bit of tweaking, but I suspect learning how to counter it will be the aim of the game.

See also: Bloodseeker and Sniper in DOTA, massively effective unless people know how to handle them, then about as much use as a wet sock at a lesbian orgy.

I think I'll be getting it a full price because it's rare that I like a game from the start so much, but I'll be shaking my fist at the sky when the inevitable €30 DLC shows up.

Apparently not, just cosmetic bullshit for money. DLC and Heroes will be free.

[Dog Pants]

It also has to compete with the similarly priced Stellaris for me. Although 5punkygames will probably win out.

[Gunslinger42]

I've been doing my absolute best to maintain complete disinterest in Overwatch and Battleborn (and another I cant remember the name of). They all - fairly or not - occupied a "company x does TF2" spot in my mind, but the more I hear of overwatch, the more I actually am interested.

Spent too long ignoring it so I also wasn't aware of / involved with any beta stuff, but I'm considering just pre-ordering anyway.