Overwatch’s new Looking for Group social feature was just added to the Blizzard first-person shooter yesterday, but improvements are already on the docket.
Game director Jeff Kaplan said some improvements will be added to the Overwatch test server “very soon.” He noted Blizzard is actively taking feedback for the feature, with “a bunch” of improvements coming for the system. “Let us know if there are areas of confusion of it there are changes you’d like to see,” Kaplan added.
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Kaplan didn’t specify exactly what improvements are coming, but he did say there’s a solution to an awkward problem that happens when a group member leaves. It’s not too intuitive to figure out how to get that slot re-filled once someone leaves, and Kaplan agrees. “We have a solution for this in an upcoming patch,” he said.
Likewise, he noted that a bug that wipes player filters when the Looking for Group menu is exited will also be fixed “ASAP.”
“We’re currently filling 140 groups a minute,” Kaplan said in response to a player that questioned its usefulness. “Keep in mind, the system does not show all groups all the time. It won’t show groups that are full and now queued. It also won’t show you groups outside your skill range or latency threshold.”
Looking for Group is intended to help players find better teammates. Role enforcement is a huge plus for a lot of Overwatch players, as are restrictions for latency, voice chatting, and game mode. It’s a welcome addition to Overwatch. Grouping up has never really been seen as a plus in the game, but Blizzard wants to change that with the new feature.
