[2022] An Update about the Experimental Card (14 FEB)

That was my mistake. Brain randomly inserted number.

And before the conspiracy theories start: just no

I would point out that Lemon has played quite a bit of tank, and has enough knowledge on the role to be a well respected member of the Overwatch Shoutcaster professional scene.

I could also point out that (as detailed in her video on the subject), she solicited advice and opinions from several players who play the game at high SR (she did the work), and essentially wrote a thesis paper on her changes and her theory behind the changes.

If it helps, I’ll point to what Flats, ml7, and every other creator who has participated in the Experimental Cards to date has said: balancing a game is incredibly complex and takes into account far more variables than most folks initially give it credit for.

I’ll also own some of the blame, as the process for feedback, and follow up can be improved. I’ll be working with the production team to improve the process for future collaborated cards, including additional “milestone check-ins”.

TLDR: assigning blame to any one individual, especially for something as complex as a significant balance patch, oversimplifies something to a degree that I wouldn’t expect to see from someone with your posting history.

You got me. Here’s an image of a new hero:

Implied kappa

The guidance we provide is over the top, and wacky. Something different from the live game, not another iteration of it.

This is probably a good lesson for us to learn: over the top is completely subjective based on your perspective. Also, I think that each of the creators try to work some things they’d like to actually see make it, in addition to the more outlandish changes. That’s fine, and isn’t something I’d like to start discouraging.

It’s just the first thing I thought of when I saw that name being floated around.

For us to be able to work with anyone, content creator or otherwise, and allow them to impact the game, implies that there’s a certain level of trust with them, and trust like that is only built up if we have a relationship with them.

I would also encourage you to consider that content creators we have a relationship with are not a monolith. We have great working relationships with plenty of folks who are consistently critical of us, and I believe that hivemind is a mischaracterization of the environment we strive to foster.