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Watchpoint Radio – Overwatch News, Discussion, and Community
Watchpoint Radio – Overwatch News, Discussion, and Community episodes
- #24: Saving Widowmaker and Begging for Unranked CompetitiveSince her last nerf, life hasn’t been so great for Widowmaker. Even before tilting the team and toxic reactions, Widowmaker seems to be the weakest of the snipers. Changes are on the way, and you can test them on the PTR now, but will they be enough to make Widowmaker viable for anyone besides the highest tier players? In addition to Widowmaker, we are going to see some balance for Ana and Junkrat. I think everyone saw a change coming to Ana, but why the changes to Junkrat?Another interesting changing coming from the PTR is a new “Dual-zone” mode for controllers. This should help console players and PC players that use controllers (why would you do that to yourself?) aim more precisely while also being able to turn around quickly. Too bad console doesn’t have a PTR, as we’re sure they’d get better data over there. Additionally, it appears the community is clamoring for a single pick quick play queue, or as we like to call it, unranked competitive mode. Adding a queue like this may seem like it may hurt matchmaking, but it may actually help improve quality of life for both players that don’t want to take Quick Play seriously, and those who like to use Quick Play to improve their game.Finally, there are some changes coming to Symmetra soon, and we read a few e-mails from the audience that drum up quite the debate between Jarret and Mikey.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1o8
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusMikey Kenneytwitter.com/KeyLockMVPThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 34 min - #23: Unraveling the SR Mystery and Stopping (N)AnaMany are still trying to work out exactly how Overwatch’s Skill Rating system works. A new theory has caught our attention, and while Bond is gone for this episode, Jaa and Mikey talk about how close their experiences come to this theory (spoiler alert, not that close). It seems that many groups of people are experiencing the SR system differently. Last week we talked about someone who was getting 40 points per game on average, while many in the community are left with a cold feeling when one loss wipes away two or three wins for them.While on the subject of season 2, we also talk about Jeff Kaplan’s response on leaver penalties. For the most part we agree, but Jaa seems to think we need a harsher penalty for leavers. Mikey talks a bit about how he has had to abandon Mercy recently for Ana, mainly because it’s hard to find people that will protect Mercy when she needs it. We also discuss Ana’s ult, something that can be a game changer for many. What do you do when you see a glowing red Reinhardt coming your way? There are many ways to deal with Ana’s Nano boost, but we discuss our favorite and most effective methods.All that and more on this episode of Watchpoint Radio.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1o4
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusMikey Kenneytwitter.com/KeyLockMVPThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 16 min - #22: Metzen, Climbing Season 2, and The (Limited?) Future of Overwatch.The full cast of Watchpoint Radio returns this week as we dig further into season 2, and talk whether or not our willingness to switch heroes is hurting our performance rating. We also get into the future of Overwatch, which apparently will only contain single team objectives. Chris Metzen is leaving Blizzard, so we discuss that as well as changes coming to Eichenwalde and who really is getting PotG.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1o1
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusJason Bondtwitter.com/_EmeryPFMikey Kenneytwitter.com/KeyLockMVPThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 34 min - #21: Season 2 Salty Solo CastWe hope you like Jaa's voice, because you're going to get a lot of it on this episode. Mikey and Jason were unable to make the recording, so Jaa is rolling solo on this one. Not much is going on in Overwatch besides the early launch of Competitive Mode Season Two. While Blizzard definitely learned some lessons from the first season, it appears they didn't learn the most important lessons. Why is matchmaking worse than season 1? Why are close matches the exception and not the rule? Why can one loss wipe away three wins? Jarret talks about his current experience in season two and gives some suggestions that he thinks could help.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1nv
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHost:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord50 min - #20: Riding Low Tiers, Helping Healers, and Fixing Quick Play.Season 2 is almost here, but not yet. As we continue to sit between seasons Blizzard is showing how serious they are about getting changes for Season 2 right. Additional character balance has been made regarding Hanzo and Solider: 76. The Overwatch team is also looking to address the placement problem healer mains are having. If you’re healing and you’re playing with a good team, while you may win, it looks like you’re getting the short end of the stick when it comes to Skill Rank and placement. The individual performance metrics seem to be skewed toward damage heroes, and healers are only getting a piece when their team needs a lot of healing. This leads to a discussion of how exactly should Overwatch determine placement in competitive mode: team or individual performance?Outside of the PTR (and competitive), it’s looking like more and more people want a quick play mode with a hero limit. Blizzard is exploring ways to do this, but isn’t so fast to pull the trigger. Some people play quick play for practice, others take it more seriously. How can you please both? And how can you do it without segmenting the community too much? Discussion ensues. We also answer some questions from the listeners regarding Roadhog vs Reaper and a retort to our thoughts on D.Va last week. All that and more on this week’s episode of Watchpoint Radio.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1ns
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusJason Bondtwitter.com/_EmeryPFThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 18 min - #19: Buffs, Nerfs, and Eichenwalde. Life on the PTR!Season 1 is complete and Summer Games is done. The live Overwatch servers are looking a bit bland these days. If you don’t feel like waiting around for the next two weeks and are feeling a bit adventurous, the PTR may be able to scratch that Overwatch itch for new content and competitive play.We had a chance to hop on the PTR and check out what we can look forward to in Competitive Mode Season 2. The tier system is just a dressed up version of last season’s ranking system, but the changes made to how the competitive maps are played are really shaking up the game. Sudden Death, and by extension coin flip), is gone. You would barely notice, however, since most games are settled before you would even reach that point. Adding Time Bank to Assault maps and tweaking the system overall appears to have made Competitive Mode much more competitive.Lots of buffs and nerfs are heading to live servers soon. Some were needed like Zenyatta’s Orb of Discord nerf, while others left us confused (*cough Hanzo speed increase? *cough). Also, large hitboxes are back for projectiles. Why? Eichenwalde, just announced last week, is now playable on the PTR. To be honest, we’re not liking it too much. There has been talk of how defenders seem subpar recently… Not if you play Eichenwalde. We’re going to need to have a discussion about this. We talk Eichenwalde, The Last Bastion, and more on this episode of Watchpoint Radio.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1nk
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusJason Bondtwitter.com/_EmeryPFMikey Kenneytwitter.com/KeyLockMVPThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 39 min - #18: Season 2, Character balance, and Eichenwalde Inbound!Gamescom is here, but unfortunately for us this podcast will release during day two and the show must go on. Next week we’ll be covering everything Overwatch related from Gamescom, but in the mean time we’ll talk about stuff we do know. Blizzard unveiled Eichenwalde: a new hybrid map where players will need to storm a castle in what appears to be Reinhardt’s home town. There is a battering ram. Do I need to say more?We also got a lot of info from Jeff Kaplan on the upcoming changes to Competitive Mode Season 2. Sudden Death? Out of here! Skill rank? Still here, but changing. Besides the salty kind, tiers are also being reintroduced in to competitive mode. If you’ve played Starcraft 2 you might be familiar with the tier levels already. Most of the changes are welcome, but will they help the true problems that competitive mode faces?We also discuss upcoming character balance. Nothing is set in stone yet, but the Overwatch team has been communicating a lot of what they’ve been seeing and what options they are looking at for characters such as Zenyatta, Mercy, and Mei. The WPR team dives into these topics and more on this episode of Watchpoint Radio!
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1ng
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusJason Bondtwitter.com/_EmeryPFMikey Kenneytwitter.com/KeyLockMVPThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 27 min - #17: Community Scorn, Loot Box Stats, and What is Defense?It’s been a week and the Summer Games commotion has calmed down as players enjoy the content from their Summer Games loot boxes. LOL. Sike, nah. The community is just as mad as they were last week, calling for Blizzard to allow them to use credits to purchase Summer Games content. Players still feel cheated by the way seasonal content has been handled, and feel like Blizzard is just trying to drill into their pockets after they have already paid full price for Overwatch. Are they justified in their anger, though? We discuss that, and the realities of Blizzards games as a service model.Speaking of Loot Boxes, we opened 50 of them to get some data on drop rates. If you’re not going to listen to the show, just know that even if you buy fifty boxes you’ll probably not going to get the skin you want. Jarret did, twice, but that was beating the odds. Sombra has (kind of) popped up again, so we talk the latest in Sombra Watch. There was an interesting post in the Overwatch forums regarding defenders. Do they need buffs, or are we just playing them wrong? Additionally, Overwatch celebrates 15 million players as well as gives us some info on what we should expect at the end of the competitive season. Is it enough to get Jarret to come back, or will he keep hunting for Summer Games loot boxes? All this and more on this week’s episode of Watchpoint Radio.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1nb
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusJason Bondtwitter.com/_EmeryPFMikey Kenneytwitter.com/KeyLockMVPThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 32 min - #16: Summer Games, Crying Games, and the "Fall" of Mercy.In a surprise move, Overwatch is celebrating the Olympics with its first seasonal content: Summer Games. With it bringing in over 100 new Olympic themed cosmetic items, you would think the community would be happy, but it doesn’t seem that way. Many are accusing Blizzard of trying to take more money out of their pockets by making these items only available for a limited time while not allowing players to use current accrued currency to buy the items they want. RNG is the only way to get these items in loot boxes, which you can either earn with XP or buy. Many in the community think Blizzard is trying to push you to the latter of those two options.In addition to that, the community has been kicking up dust recently about both Symmetra’s nerf on console and Mercy seemingly being useless. Both could be knee-jerk reactions to changes in the games meta, but both could be very real issues that need to be addressed. We talk about both. We also talk about Athena possibly becoming playable, recent patch notes, and this week’s Watchpointers on Zenyatta.
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1n7
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusJason Bondtwitter.com/_EmeryPFThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 24 min - #15: Patch Aftermath, Data Leak, and Quién es Sombra?New game modes? Map on the moon? Stealth abilities? A huge data mining thread on Reddit raised a lot of questions about the future of Overwatch with a truck load of new voice lines and sounds. We discuss and speculate what it all means. We also tap into how the Ana patch has changed the game. D.Va, Zenyatta, and McCree all benefited from buffs. D.Va and Zenyatta are finally viable, while McCree has returned to his previous status as tank buster. But will those buffs stay in place? We’ll discuss what we’d like to see done to those characters to further balance them. We also jump down the Sombra rabbit hole. Now that we know she’s definitely not Ana, who is she? What does she do? How soon can we expect her. All this and more on this week’s Watchpoint Radio!
Episode URL: http://mash4.me/1n1
Show Twitter: twitter.com/watchpointradioHosts:
Jarret Reddingtwitter.com/jaastradamusJason Bondtwitter.com/_EmeryPFMikey Kenneytwitter.com/KeyLockMVPThank you for listening to a Mash Those Buttons podcast! You can keep up with all of our podcasts in the following locations.
Website: mashthosebuttons.com
Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetworkDiscord: mash.gg/discord1 hr 51 min
About Watchpoint Radio – Overwatch News, Discussion, and Community
From the publisher's feed
Watchpoint Radio is Mash Those Buttons weekly podcast dedicated to Overwatch and its community. Join us as we talk news, gameplay, strategy, events, and what’s going on in the community.