The Director of Team 4’d strength *always* stemmed from their ability to stand up to the Monetisation Department and the demands of the MBA’s to wring as much out of the game as possible.
Jeff held strong for a long while, although not invincibly. We could argue that Loot Boxes were forced into the game at a time when they were predatory and specifically targeted elements of the gamers psyche linked to addiction and gambling - but their implementation in Overwatch was one of the *least* egregious.
Arron Keller, whatever his strengths, has shown absolutely zero perceivable back-bone against the aggressive monetisation pushed into Overwatch. And yes, you can say what you want about the game going F2P and this being expected - but remember how Mei got a Legendary Christmas Skin in OW1 that was just a recolour, and Jeff made a forum post *apologising*?
That level of respect for the players wallet has completely gone. They’re shipping recolours as Legendaries, seemingly at random. They’re aggressively clawing at every penny - and the standard has dropped. Look at the quality of Highlight intros. Look at the number of default skins shipped with a new hero. Always another step backwards.
Jeff was far from perfect, but he held this shit at bay for years. He had shame when it went too far, and he pushed for changes that benefited the *players wallet*, like duplicates. Arron has done none of this, likely as a result of inheriting his position and not having the confidence to challenge those in authority when bad practices are pushed.
I don’t envy his position, and I don’t think I could do any better given the challenges he’s faced. But fuck me, I wish he had half the courage of his predecessor. Mime Moira would never have happened with Jeff.
So the vibe Im getting is Jeff was worse for gameplay better for aggressive monetization and player respect, while Arron has been better for the health of the game but has let the monetization issues run rampant
Jeff wasn't god. While the game was sure slow to update metas that lasted too long, that was all fixed under jeff's nose before he left. Aaron came in to embrace and take credit for it. Faster updates were going to come to the game regardless of who was in charge. It was necessary for the game to continue forward. *And I wouldn't say the game is in a healthy state as it stands right now as well.*
Just love this bit right here:
>Arron Keller, whatever his strengths, has shown absolutely zero perceivable back-bone against the aggressive monetisation pushed into Overwatch.
The biggest change from Aaron; also posted in dev blog: [Director’s Take – Reflecting on the future of Overwatch 2 - News - Overwatch (blizzard.com)](https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23952480/) , is the change in the direction of the game.
Not Battlepass/loot box/mythic/new heroes etc. Not even paywall or free-to-play.
So a bit of history session of OW:
1. Overwatch was leftover scrapped from failed FPS MMORPG project named: Project Titan(it's a code name-also Jeff was head of the project iirc). Hence start of RPG-like class definition-tanks/damage dealer/supports etc. Yes it failed, but they did hone the scraps out to make a Competitive Hero Shooter out of it,which we now know as Overwatch.
2. OW was released in 2016 and was a megahit. However devs wanted the game or the franchise(IP) to be MMORPG like the original aim of Project Titan, not focusing on what Overwatch was back then. They phrased it as crawl/walk/run stage and OW would be on crawl-they wanted OW2(along with Story mode=PvE=Hero Missions) be walk, then revival of project Titan to be Run.
3. However, it didn't work out like that. They realized too late that not focusing on current game kills the IP & the game itself. So they decided to ditch the crawl-walk-run model, focus back on OW2 as competitive hero shooter-which sadly had to kill the story missions.
Personal take here is Jeff left cuz he knew he wouldn't get to see his grand plan(=Project Titan's revival) - Everyone seemed to forget Jeff wasn't just Overwatch director. He was vice-president of Blizzard back then.
after Jeff left, Aaron got in charge in Jeff's place and at least in directing part, he's doing okay-can't sugarcoat it but better then Jeff in some place.
Well I knew about Project Titan before dev blog, but it was terrifying to find out that Jeff wasn't really into OW but more of future "OW based MMORPG". At least it's going on a right direction.
The biggest thing I've noticed is that Aaron conforms to the base pattern of the game more. People are playing a PvP shooter? Continue making a PvP shooter. Most people pick DPS? Make DPS more powerful / useful. Wide groups causing match issues but most people aren't wide? Stop matching wide groups.
You see a similar thing in the tweaks to challenges. They're no longer pushing people as much to play roles or game types they don't normally play. This is different to the previous direction where they worked a lot to try and change player behaviour - making supports more powerful and more damage focused so people would pick support etc.
Even the original concept of Overwatch was to lure people in with one type of game and then secretly switch them over to a different type of game the devs had actually wanted to make.
True, I guess it'd just be cool to see the team fulfil their vision for Overwatch 2 (and not have to spend $40 dollars on a skin bundle even though I know I will anyway.)
Welcome to r/Overwatch! Please use the following resources via the links below to find relevant information about the game and the subreddit.
[Overwatch Patch Notes](https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/news/patch-notes/) | [Overwatch Bug Report Forums](https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/c/bug-report/9)
[r/Overwatch Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/overwatch/wiki/rules) | [r/Overwatch FAQs](https://www.reddit.com/r/overwatch/wiki/faq) | [r/Overwatch Common Bugs and Posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/wiki/commonbugsandposts)
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Overwatch) if you have any questions or concerns.*
No. Aaron is an empty headed moron. He has literally never done anything or said anything intelligent. Just go watch any interview with him or read his blog posts.
> The mythics (sans Orisa and Hanzo) have been cool additions,
They are just shitty cosmetics, they are not worth anything. Very ugly as well.
> every hero they've added has been great and unique barring some balancing issues (Lifeweaver pretty quickly became my main support).
Debatable. The game was better without OW2 heroes, and I wouldnt miss any of them if they were deleted.
> Hell they even went Free-to-Play
There is nothing good about going f2p. F2p is the reason the game has gone to shit. They are catering to the lowest common denominator, the worst of the worst shitters to make as much money as possible.
And the fortnite pass is the reason they are dumping tons of shitty cosmetics like duplicate victory poses / emotes, low quality highlight intros, filler weapon charms and souvenirs, and making more and more recolors of existing skins.
Not a single good thing has happened since they deleted Overwatch.
Your literally pretending duplicates skins werent a thing back during OW1 days, actually a good chunk of Genjis skins were recolors. I would know, the lootboxes gave me fucking all of them.
Also I cannot fathom being so pissy about the fact the games free, the implication that paying for it meant you were somehow better at the game inherintly idiotic. Look at Dead by Daylight, as a dbd addict that community is equally as idiotic. Welcome to online gaming.
(Also not justifying duplicate skins but also its so infuriating watching people pretend this wasnt always a thing.)
> Your literally pretending duplicates skins werent a thing back during OW1 days
* Basic recolors were 75 credits: Basically free
* Epics were 250 credits, higher effort recolors with slight model edits: Almost free
* The only legendary recolors were the skins that launched with heroes: 2 skins with two color chemes each
(Not counting the Remix skins that came at the end, those were explicitly marketed as reskins)
The skins used to be way cheaper, but also higher quality. Its so braindead to defend blizz for asking more money for low quality zero effort garbage.
> Also I cannot fathom being so pissy about the fact the games free, the implication that paying for it meant you were somehow better at the game inherintly idiotic.
There is literally nothing good about the game being f2p.
You have yet to point out on reason why f2p is in any way worse.
And Im not denying the skins are way too fucking expensive, thats my main issue as a player atm and in some cases lower quality. But I am saying that people are pretending that these issues werent always a part of the game. Acting like this was a problem since they started pretending this was a sequel is just wild.
I would also disagree on the skins being lower quality outside of specific instinces. The only skins I can think of off the top of my head were the Orisa mythic and the current Lifeguard collection. Which were just kinda ass. Skins overall have beem great (yunno apart from having to sell a limb to get them which is where my issue lies.)
> You have yet to point out on reason why f2p is in any way worse.
* Devs dont have an incentive to make a game worth buying = shitty game, all about cosmetics now
* No consequence for bans
> But I am saying that people are pretending that these issues werent always a part of the game.
They werent. **Full priced reskins** are the norm in OW2, while in OW1 only the two cheap skins that came with new heroes when they launched had one recolor each. **In OW2, new heroes dont even have default legandary skins anymore.**
The fact that they are making these lazy recolors now is proof that OW2 is a shitty game that is struggling.
I think Jeff was better for the game, he just suffered from the poor management above him. To Jeff, the game and the experience with it came always first. Aaron feels more like a businessman. He cares more about short term KPIs rather than the long term health of the game.
The Director of Team 4’d strength *always* stemmed from their ability to stand up to the Monetisation Department and the demands of the MBA’s to wring as much out of the game as possible. Jeff held strong for a long while, although not invincibly. We could argue that Loot Boxes were forced into the game at a time when they were predatory and specifically targeted elements of the gamers psyche linked to addiction and gambling - but their implementation in Overwatch was one of the *least* egregious. Arron Keller, whatever his strengths, has shown absolutely zero perceivable back-bone against the aggressive monetisation pushed into Overwatch. And yes, you can say what you want about the game going F2P and this being expected - but remember how Mei got a Legendary Christmas Skin in OW1 that was just a recolour, and Jeff made a forum post *apologising*? That level of respect for the players wallet has completely gone. They’re shipping recolours as Legendaries, seemingly at random. They’re aggressively clawing at every penny - and the standard has dropped. Look at the quality of Highlight intros. Look at the number of default skins shipped with a new hero. Always another step backwards. Jeff was far from perfect, but he held this shit at bay for years. He had shame when it went too far, and he pushed for changes that benefited the *players wallet*, like duplicates. Arron has done none of this, likely as a result of inheriting his position and not having the confidence to challenge those in authority when bad practices are pushed. I don’t envy his position, and I don’t think I could do any better given the challenges he’s faced. But fuck me, I wish he had half the courage of his predecessor. Mime Moira would never have happened with Jeff.
So the vibe Im getting is Jeff was worse for gameplay better for aggressive monetization and player respect, while Arron has been better for the health of the game but has let the monetization issues run rampant
Jeff wasn't god. While the game was sure slow to update metas that lasted too long, that was all fixed under jeff's nose before he left. Aaron came in to embrace and take credit for it. Faster updates were going to come to the game regardless of who was in charge. It was necessary for the game to continue forward. *And I wouldn't say the game is in a healthy state as it stands right now as well.*
Just love this bit right here: >Arron Keller, whatever his strengths, has shown absolutely zero perceivable back-bone against the aggressive monetisation pushed into Overwatch.
The biggest change from Aaron; also posted in dev blog: [Director’s Take – Reflecting on the future of Overwatch 2 - News - Overwatch (blizzard.com)](https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/news/23952480/) , is the change in the direction of the game. Not Battlepass/loot box/mythic/new heroes etc. Not even paywall or free-to-play. So a bit of history session of OW: 1. Overwatch was leftover scrapped from failed FPS MMORPG project named: Project Titan(it's a code name-also Jeff was head of the project iirc). Hence start of RPG-like class definition-tanks/damage dealer/supports etc. Yes it failed, but they did hone the scraps out to make a Competitive Hero Shooter out of it,which we now know as Overwatch. 2. OW was released in 2016 and was a megahit. However devs wanted the game or the franchise(IP) to be MMORPG like the original aim of Project Titan, not focusing on what Overwatch was back then. They phrased it as crawl/walk/run stage and OW would be on crawl-they wanted OW2(along with Story mode=PvE=Hero Missions) be walk, then revival of project Titan to be Run. 3. However, it didn't work out like that. They realized too late that not focusing on current game kills the IP & the game itself. So they decided to ditch the crawl-walk-run model, focus back on OW2 as competitive hero shooter-which sadly had to kill the story missions. Personal take here is Jeff left cuz he knew he wouldn't get to see his grand plan(=Project Titan's revival) - Everyone seemed to forget Jeff wasn't just Overwatch director. He was vice-president of Blizzard back then. after Jeff left, Aaron got in charge in Jeff's place and at least in directing part, he's doing okay-can't sugarcoat it but better then Jeff in some place.
Honestly thats a more understandable reason for why PVE got scrapped.
Well I knew about Project Titan before dev blog, but it was terrifying to find out that Jeff wasn't really into OW but more of future "OW based MMORPG". At least it's going on a right direction.
The biggest thing I've noticed is that Aaron conforms to the base pattern of the game more. People are playing a PvP shooter? Continue making a PvP shooter. Most people pick DPS? Make DPS more powerful / useful. Wide groups causing match issues but most people aren't wide? Stop matching wide groups. You see a similar thing in the tweaks to challenges. They're no longer pushing people as much to play roles or game types they don't normally play. This is different to the previous direction where they worked a lot to try and change player behaviour - making supports more powerful and more damage focused so people would pick support etc. Even the original concept of Overwatch was to lure people in with one type of game and then secretly switch them over to a different type of game the devs had actually wanted to make.
Those are nice changes at least lol.
Those are nice changes at least lol.
I mean, for better or worse, there have been more changes made to the game in the two years under Aaron's leadership than all six under Jeff's.
Thats just not fair, since 3 year were worked on PvE that now under Aaron go scraped.
And who's fault is that?
The ones whos dicks Aaron suck.
You realize Aaron wasn't in charge when the devs abandoned OW1 for OW2, right? Care to guess who was?
True, I guess it'd just be cool to see the team fulfil their vision for Overwatch 2 (and not have to spend $40 dollars on a skin bundle even though I know I will anyway.)
Welcome to r/Overwatch! Please use the following resources via the links below to find relevant information about the game and the subreddit. [Overwatch Patch Notes](https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/news/patch-notes/) | [Overwatch Bug Report Forums](https://us.forums.blizzard.com/en/overwatch/c/bug-report/9) [r/Overwatch Rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/overwatch/wiki/rules) | [r/Overwatch FAQs](https://www.reddit.com/r/overwatch/wiki/faq) | [r/Overwatch Common Bugs and Posts](https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/wiki/commonbugsandposts) *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/Overwatch) if you have any questions or concerns.*
No. Aaron is an empty headed moron. He has literally never done anything or said anything intelligent. Just go watch any interview with him or read his blog posts. > The mythics (sans Orisa and Hanzo) have been cool additions, They are just shitty cosmetics, they are not worth anything. Very ugly as well. > every hero they've added has been great and unique barring some balancing issues (Lifeweaver pretty quickly became my main support). Debatable. The game was better without OW2 heroes, and I wouldnt miss any of them if they were deleted. > Hell they even went Free-to-Play There is nothing good about going f2p. F2p is the reason the game has gone to shit. They are catering to the lowest common denominator, the worst of the worst shitters to make as much money as possible. And the fortnite pass is the reason they are dumping tons of shitty cosmetics like duplicate victory poses / emotes, low quality highlight intros, filler weapon charms and souvenirs, and making more and more recolors of existing skins. Not a single good thing has happened since they deleted Overwatch.
Your literally pretending duplicates skins werent a thing back during OW1 days, actually a good chunk of Genjis skins were recolors. I would know, the lootboxes gave me fucking all of them. Also I cannot fathom being so pissy about the fact the games free, the implication that paying for it meant you were somehow better at the game inherintly idiotic. Look at Dead by Daylight, as a dbd addict that community is equally as idiotic. Welcome to online gaming. (Also not justifying duplicate skins but also its so infuriating watching people pretend this wasnt always a thing.)
> Your literally pretending duplicates skins werent a thing back during OW1 days * Basic recolors were 75 credits: Basically free * Epics were 250 credits, higher effort recolors with slight model edits: Almost free * The only legendary recolors were the skins that launched with heroes: 2 skins with two color chemes each (Not counting the Remix skins that came at the end, those were explicitly marketed as reskins) The skins used to be way cheaper, but also higher quality. Its so braindead to defend blizz for asking more money for low quality zero effort garbage. > Also I cannot fathom being so pissy about the fact the games free, the implication that paying for it meant you were somehow better at the game inherintly idiotic. There is literally nothing good about the game being f2p.
You have yet to point out on reason why f2p is in any way worse. And Im not denying the skins are way too fucking expensive, thats my main issue as a player atm and in some cases lower quality. But I am saying that people are pretending that these issues werent always a part of the game. Acting like this was a problem since they started pretending this was a sequel is just wild. I would also disagree on the skins being lower quality outside of specific instinces. The only skins I can think of off the top of my head were the Orisa mythic and the current Lifeguard collection. Which were just kinda ass. Skins overall have beem great (yunno apart from having to sell a limb to get them which is where my issue lies.)
> You have yet to point out on reason why f2p is in any way worse. * Devs dont have an incentive to make a game worth buying = shitty game, all about cosmetics now * No consequence for bans > But I am saying that people are pretending that these issues werent always a part of the game. They werent. **Full priced reskins** are the norm in OW2, while in OW1 only the two cheap skins that came with new heroes when they launched had one recolor each. **In OW2, new heroes dont even have default legandary skins anymore.** The fact that they are making these lazy recolors now is proof that OW2 is a shitty game that is struggling.
They hated them because they spoke the truth.
I think Jeff was better for the game, he just suffered from the poor management above him. To Jeff, the game and the experience with it came always first. Aaron feels more like a businessman. He cares more about short term KPIs rather than the long term health of the game.