Ahead of season eight’s arrival in Overwatch 2, Blizzard has addressed a multitude of upcoming changes and community requests, including the extent of the penalty a player should receive should they disconnect from a Quick Play game.
As much as it’s disappointing for the bunch of players who prefer the mode for a casual or practice experience, Overwatch 2’s eighth season will not be featuring reduced penalties for any gamers who leave Quick Play matches mid-game. Now, before you jump to an angry conclusion, the devs may actually have a point here.
Some players “literally leave over 90 percent of their matches,” according to Blizzard, and consequently, it could no longer embrace “a black-and-white policy.” The developers went on to highlight the fact the policy is still probably too lenient right now though, with players getting to leave a quarter of their matches before the penalty is triggered. “We’ll continue to look at this and tweak these policies in an attempt to promote better match quality but without the harsher restrictions of Ranked Play,” the developers added in the Nov. 30 blog.
Firstly, no matter what the mode is primarily used for, if a player is leaving a majority of the games they are joining in Overwatch 2, a queue restriction only seems fair. AFKing in any way hampers the experience for other players in a team-based lobby, which, even in a casual game, doesn’t seem quite fair. Secondly, I can’t put my head around the fact some players are really quitting 90 percent of the games they are queuing for. Is it that hard to decide whether you want to queue for a Quick Play match or not?
The Overwatch 2 Quick Play mode has always been considered a holy grail for those who prefer warming up before their daily dose of ranked. Players also use it to test heroes, specific plays, and sometimes, just for fun. So when Blizzard revisited the penalty norms for leavers in season seven and added a queue suspension, many players questioned whether it’d do any good for the Quick Play mode to flaunt the same rule.
Blizzard addressed the community concerns about Quick Play, as a casual mode, possibly being too strict for leavers, but it also stressed the importance of quality of games. “It’s really difficult to have this part of the game be all things for all people,” Blizzard wrote, before reiterating it has tried to consider as many queue options as possible.
Well, the increase in penalty is definitely working as intended, with Blizzard reporting a significant reduction in the number of leavers in Overwatch 2, and considering the positive shift, I think it’s probably for the best.
