Overwatch’s first experimental mode is Triple Damage
Blizzard has announced that Overwatch’s first experimental mode will make a big change to the role queue system.
As revealed by game director Jeff Kaplan, this first experiment is shifting the role queue from its current two damage, two tanks, and two support format to three damage, two support, and one tank. This change is being tested to see if it can be used as a way of reducing the longer queue times that damage players have to deal with currently.
“When we rolled our Role Queue with 2 damage, 2 support, and 2 tank players per team, we ended up with a lot more damage players in queue than tanks and supports,” principal game designer Michael Heiburg said in a blog post about the experiment. “This created longer queue times, and one of the things we considered was, what if we tried to make the team composition closer to the actual ratio of players by role? If that did work out, people would be waiting less, playing more. So, it behooved us to actually try it.”
In addition to changing the role queue, this experiment also includes some hero balance adjustments. Kaplan explained that changes have been made to Roadhog, D.Va, and Zarya to move them from an off-tank to a main tank. An example given is a new ability for Roadhog that creates a gas cloud around him that mitigates damage for all nearby players and heals him.
The experimental card was unveiled earlier this year and will be used to test out major changes to the game, new modes, and more. As mentioned previously by the developer, changes on the experimental card are not guaranteed to make it to the live game.
This Triple Damage experimental mode is scheduled to go live later today on PC and consoles.
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