[Gaming] Overwatch (#boycottblizz)

You guys are so spoiled. You didn't have to live through Mei freeze stacking or when her icicle was a real sniper shot with instant shots and no drop off damage. They removed stacking and made it so her icicle has drop off and a light click delay. It's not nearly as bad unless the enemy Mei is really good at compensating for click delay and travel time. (it's really supposed to be used as the snap killer when she freezes you)
 

GasBandit

Staff member
You guys are so spoiled. You didn't have to live through Mei freeze stacking or when her icicle was a real sniper shot with instant shots and no drop off damage. They removed stacking and made it so her icicle has drop off and a light click delay. It's not nearly as bad unless the enemy Mei is really good at compensating for click delay and travel time. (it's really supposed to be used as the snap killer when she freezes you)
She's still a guaranteed victory 1v1 vs any other class, pretty much.
 
She's still a guaranteed victory 1v1 vs any other class, pretty much.
I dont think I'd mind the icicle if she didn't have the invulnerable heal. I wouldn't mind the heal without the icicle. She has too many options to deal damage and get out of danger, along with a generous 250 HP.
 
She's still a guaranteed victory 1v1 vs any other class, pretty much.
Only if you play a character that has to get into her optimal range and can never get a drop on her. I eat her alive as Soldier76 and she can't freeze me through my Reinhardt Shield, I wait for her to have to reload and then force her to ice block herself. I have also gotten good at listening to the little ice crackle before the block ends, and hit her right as it drops with either helix rockets or flame strike, usually killing her before she can put a wall up.

McCree was the only character in the game that was a 1v1 king versus nearly every other character, Mei has some pretty hard counters when you play outside her optimal range.

Honestly the only time I ever have issues with Mei is when I don't see her. If I see her she is easy to avoid or counteract, and often times I just ignore her to deal with targets I deem more threatening as a whole. Once she is alone she is more annoying to kill then anything.

I dont think I'd mind the icicle if she didn't have the invulnerable heal. I wouldn't mind the heal without the icicle. She has too many options to deal damage and get out of danger, along with a generous 250 HP.
If she didn't have the icicle she would never get kills (her freeze does very little actual damage) and without her heal she would die all the time (due to her generously large hit box). She needs both to be viable, and she is already seen as low teir in competitive play circles because she is more a determent when the other team knows how to dance around her.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Only if you play a character that has to get into her optimal range and can never get a drop on her. I eat her alive as Soldier76 and she can't freeze me through my Reinhardt Shield, I wait for her to have to reload and then force her to ice block herself. I have also gotten good at listening to the little ice crackle before the block ends, and hit her right as it drops with either helix rockets or flame strike, usually killing her before she can put a wall up.

McCree was the only character in the game that was a 1v1 king versus nearly every other character, Mei has some pretty hard counters when you play outside her optimal range.

Honestly the only time I ever have issues with Mei is when I don't see her. If I see her she is easy to avoid or counteract, and often times I just ignore her to deal with targets I deem more threatening as a whole. Once she is alone she is more annoying to kill then anything.



If she didn't have the icicle she would never get kills (her freeze does very little actual damage) and without her heal she would die all the time (due to her generously large hit box). She needs both to be viable, and she is already seen as low teir in competitive play circles because she is more a determent when the other team knows how to dance around her.
Why does she need to get kills? Winston does almost no damage but he doesn't need a sniper shot. And the games levels all feature choke points with small hallways around it, where staying out of her "optimal range" doesn't always present as an option in any fashion other than complete retreat and letting the other team keep the control point. I play a lot of S76 myself, and I may not be pro grade, but neither are the Meis I'm going up against.
 
Why does she need to get kills? Winston does almost no damage but he doesn't need a sniper shot. And the games levels all feature choke points with small hallways around it, where staying out of her "optimal range" doesn't always present as an option in any fashion other than complete retreat and letting the other team keep the control point. I play a lot of S76 myself, and I may not be pro grade, but neither are the Meis I'm going up against.
Winston does a TON of damage when used correctly. He does damage on his landing from leap and also his weapon is a cone, which can electrocute an entire team and requires no aim at all (even Mei requires some aim to keep the freeze). Plus, as a tank with a location shield, he can survive for a very long time, and has the mobility to abuse health packs. There is a reason double winston is one of the biggest go to strategies at higher competitive rankings. The only thing that does little damage is his alt, which is more for disruption then actual kills. Every hero needs to be able to, in the end, have a chance to get kills (even Mercy, a good Mercy will gun you down so fast you won't even realize what happened).

As for a Mei getting you in a hallway, well yes, that is her bread and butter (same with McCree, Reaper, or Roadhog). You never want to hit them inside a hallway with a mid or long range character, just like you never want to fight a sniper out in the open. The whole point of the map design is to have areas where certain characters have stronger influence then others. Part of the game is seeing what "zone" the enemy has put a weakness, and taking advantage of it. One example recently was that game we did two nights ago on Numbani, the one where they were destroying us at the spawn point for a minute. I realized that with how focused they were on the spawn, so I switched from my tank to Tracer and blinked myself all the way to the objective. I sat on the objective and forced them to lose their fortified position. Yes, we still lost in the final stretch, but we wouldn't have gotten that far if we didn't take advantage of that weakness. There are times I used a hallway when I noticed the enemy focused out in the open, and obliterated them with a side sneak attack.

A really good team will have ways to cover those weaknesses, like in that Anubis where we had that Roadhog hugging the tunnel to the right. Roadhog is great in tight spaces too, and having him there allowed us to not get side-swiped. If a Mei is hitting you in those hallways, that isn't her being overpowered, that is her forcing you to fight her in her element. That is good strategy.

I know you play a lot of Soldier76, but you don't even need to be pro-grade to really disrupt a good Mei. Keep moving, weave to prevent her timing her icicles to hit you, take advantage of hitscan. If she ice blocks, time your helix to hit her as it breaks (you can listen for the sound, it's very audible right before the break happens), and if she survives and escapes, sprint out. If you hear her ult, sprint out (since there is a 1-2 second drop delay) Mei is basically like Bastion, in that she is extremely easy to play. She has little nuance but does her job really good when the enemy does not know how to handle them. Once you understand the weaknesses though, those enemies become trivial. The only time I have ever fought a Mei that I couldn't handle was when the Mei was played by a player with ridiculously good aiming (able to hit you accounting for both lead and click delay). He likely would have killed me had he played any other character in those matches.

Maybe it's just I have been playing so long I understand the nature of switching to compensate for need. If I enter a game as Genji, and see them have a Winston, I drop Genji and pick Reaper. If I go into a game as Zenyatta and notice they have a Widowmaker, I drop him for a Lucio. If the enemy has a Bastion and no Sniper, I go Zenyatta, and obliterate the Bastion from range. It's all about understanding counters and adapting. If I see a Mei, I focus on mid or long range.

Mei is honestly fine the way she is. You remove anything from her kit, she won't even be played at ANY level, and that is a problem.

P.S. Sometimes you do have to retreat. A good game isn't about just running into the fray every moment, sometimes a well timed retreat can waste an enemies ultimate, giving you a chance to break the hold they have on the point with your own.
 
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GasBandit

Staff member
Winston does a TON of damage when used correctly. He does damage on his landing from leap and also his weapon is a cone, which can electrocute an entire team and requires no aim at all (even Mei requires some aim to keep the freeze). Plus, as a tank with a location shield, he can survive for a very long time, and has the mobility to abuse health packs. There is a reason double winston is one of the biggest go to strategies at higher competitive rankings. The only thing that does little damage is his alt, which is more for disruption then actual kills. Every hero needs to be able to, in the end, have a chance to get kills (even Mercy, a good Mercy will gun you down so fast you won't even realize what happened).
I play a lot of Winston as well, and unless the whole team is bunched up (which happens but more often doesn't), he's strictly harrasment/distraction - a big fat flying tracer with a huge hitbox but more HP. His area shield is tissue paper, usually only useful enough to give him enough time to let his leap cooldown expire so he can retreat and heal before he's gunned down. The only way winston "gets kills" is if he's got help or his enemies ignore him. As a torbjorn I've killed plenty of winstons without my turret. A couple torb alt-fires to the face (the giant fat monkey face) and he crumples. But he's still balanced because, by coordinating with his team, they can still win, and the same would be true for Mei without an icicle alt-fire.

As for a Mei getting you in a hallway, well yes, that is her bread and butter (same with McCree, Reaper, or Roadhog).
And yet we're not complaining about them (well, Reaper, to a degree, but at least he doesn't get a sniper shot).
You never want to hit them inside a hallway with a mid or long range character, just like you never want to fight a sniper out in the open.
The difference is, you have options in an open area... in a chokepoint hallway, you don't, by definition.

I know you play a lot of Soldier76, but you don't even need to be pro-grade to really disrupt a good Mei. Keep moving, weave to prevent her timing her icicles to hit you, take advantage of hitscan. If she ice blocks, time your helix to hit her as it breaks (you can listen for the sound, it's very audible right before the break happens), and if she survives and escapes, sprint out. If you hear her ult, sprint out (since there is a 1-2 second drop delay)
Again, treating "retreating" from Mei as a victory here. It's indicative of her overpowered nature that just surviving to retreat is considered a favorable outcome.

Mei is honestly fine the way she is. You remove anything from her kit, she won't even be played at ANY level, and that is a problem.
The main problem with Mei is the freeze-icicle headshot combo. I think if you did something to get rid of that, she'd be balanced. She has too much ability to control the battlefield to be doing guaranteed kills like that.
 
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The only way winston "gets kills" is if he's got help or his enemies ignore him. As a torbjorn I've killed plenty of winstons without my turret. A couple torb alt-fires to the face and he crumples. But he's still balanced because, by coordinating with his team, they can still win, and the same would be true for Mei without an icicle alt-fire.
Or he focuses on the character he is good versus, like Genji, Symmetra, Tracer, Zenyatta, etc.

Torbjorn is a HARD COUNTER to Winston. That is part of his design. If you were getting killed by a Winston as a Torbjorn, you wouldn't be playing him properly. It's the whole reason Torbjorn has his alt-fire shotgun, to be a viable tank cracker.

Mei, on the other hand, has no mobility, low range (minus her icicle), a generously large hitbox, and has to get close to enemies to be truly viable (regardless of what you may think, her drop off is pretty high, she is no more a Sniper then a McCree who spams LMB)

And yet we're not complaining about them (well, Reaper, to a degree, but at least he doesn't get a sniper shot).
The difference is, you have options in an open area... in a chokepoint hallway, you don't, by definition.
You are not, but everyone else does. There is no hero in this game that has not been complained about. Torbjorn, Bastion, Soldier, right now the new favorite is Zarya, Mei, MeCree, Roadhog, etc. Every character someone has deemed overpowered or horrible or "unfun". I am trying to bring a different perspective from someone that has played for months, rather then just getting on the hate train for a character that, honestly, already feels weak to me. I don't fear a Mei on the other team, because there is nothing to fear unless I make the mistake of letting her get the drop on me. I have much more fear for a Roadhog - Hook combo, which is even more potent and brings you to him (and his team) while a Mei has to get right in the other teams face to really be effective.

Also, what options you have depend on composition. A Windowmaker can shut down an open area without a proper shield, just like a Mei can shutdown a hallway if you don't have someone that can blow her up (FYI, Reaper does work well versus Mei even with the range handicap, as you can escape her freeze)

Again, treating "retreating" from Mei as a victory here. It's indicative of her overpowered nature that just surviving to retreat is considered a favorable outcome.
So you never retreat? You never turn a corner, see a Bastion, and run? You never see a Roadhog staring at you, and book it into a side room? You never notice a Widowmaker staring right at you, and attempt to adjust course? I apologize Gas, but retreating to gather a better position in the game is part of the game. It's not just a Mei thing. If I see a Hanzo casting his ult, or a McCree, I will retreat just as much as if I see a Mei, because I don't want to fight her inside her element. It's like complaining about Reinhardt being too powerful because I stood right in his melee radius.

The main problem with Mei is the freeze-icicle headshot combo. I think if you did something to get rid of that, she'd be balanced. She has too much ability to control the battlefield to be doing guaranteed kills like that.
Then I guess we should remove Roadhogs hook + shotgun combo too? I mean, maybe Junkrat's trap + bomb for good measure? McCree flashbang + FtH? (even in it's weaker state, it's still instant death for anyone outside of tanks). I mean, maybe just remove Widowmaker all together, since she can literally kill you in one shot from ten miles across the map and has insane mobility and a machine gun that can kill most flankers that try to intercept her.

Don't let the salt cloud you Gas. She is a tough cookie, but she is not overpowered. If you remove anything from her kit she has right now, no one would play her. She was already nerfed heavily in the beta (where we do actual testing for this) and her changes were deemed pretty balanced by the end in the beta community.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Or he focuses on the character he is good versus, like Genji, Symmetra, Tracer, Zenyatta, etc.

Torbjorn is a HARD COUNTER to Winston. That is part of his design. If you were getting killed by a Winston as a Torbjorn, you wouldn't be playing him properly. It's the whole reason Torbjorn has his alt-fire shotgun, to be a viable tank cracker.
I'm not sure that's correct. When I play winston, I generally shut down torbjorns - at least I can usually kill their turrets, fall back and heal, and then attack again to finish them off, so long as molten core doesn't come into play. Even the tissue paper barrier temporarily removes the turret's damage from the equation... it's possible I've just been running into only scrub-level Torbjorns, but most of what I'm successful at when I play winston is leaping into the back to disrupt, and possibly kills, Torbjorns and snipers.

Mei, on the other hand, has no mobility, low range (minus her icicle), a generously large hitbox, and has to get close to enemies to be truly viable (regardless of what you may think, her drop off is pretty high, she is no more a Sniper then a McCree who spams LMB)
So remove her icicle and put an escape option in its place. Like I said, the problem is that unless you scramble into full-retreat mode at the slightest sound of an aerosol crackle, her freeze-icicle combo is a guaranteed kill.



You are not, but everyone else does. There is no hero in this game that has not been complained about. Torbjorn, Bastion, Soldier, right now the new favorite is Zarya, Mei, MeCree, Roadhog, etc. Every character someone has deemed overpowered or horrible or "unfun". I am trying to bring a different perspective from someone that has played for months, rather then just getting on the hate train for a character that, honestly, already feels weak to me.
But I'm not everybody else :p I'm the gas fucking bandit, son, not the hoi polloi! I never really saw the problem with Torb, Soldier, Zarya or even McCree, but Mei is fucking cancer.

I don't fear a Mei on the other team, because there is nothing to fear unless I make the mistake of letting her get the drop on me. I have much more fear for a Roadhog - Hook combo, which is even more potent and brings you to him (and his team) while a Mei has to get right in the other teams face to really be effective.
What can I say, that hasn't been my experience at all. Roadhog's hook is harder to land and is a one-shot on a cooldown - Mei's M1 can be held down and slows progressively with a huge ammo reserve. Also, the post-hook stun is WAY shorter on Roadhog, and as often as not, I've actually been able to dodge the post-hook shot and counterattack because of the speed and skill required to land it. Mei has no such skill/speed requirement. The freeze lasts a whole lot longer and the icicle is trivial to land a headshot with at that point.

Also, what options you have depend on composition. A Windowmaker can shut down an open area without a proper shield, just like a Mei can shutdown a hallway if you don't have someone that can blow her up (FYI, Reaper does work well versus Mei even with the range handicap, as you can escape her freeze)
At least Widowmaker's play is heavily reliant on headshots on non-stationary targets, and can be very easily countered in an aggressive way (charging her instead of fleeing). Here, again, you're counting retreating from Mei as being a victory.

So you never retreat? You never turn a corner, see a Bastion, and run? You never see a Roadhog staring at you, and book it into a side room? You never notice a Widowmaker staring right at you, and attempt to adjust course? I apologize Gas, but retreating to gather a better position in the game is part of the game. It's not just a Mei thing. If I see a Hanzo casting his ult, or a McCree, I will retreat just as much as if I see a Mei, because I don't want to fight her inside her element. It's like complaining about Reinhardt being too powerful because I stood right in his melee radius.
I'm not talking about finding a different angle, I'm talking about a complete rout. As in, it doesn't matter what angle you choose, your only option is to not attack Mei and run away as fast as you can. You go around to another angle, but whup, there she is again, and unless you're catching her by COMPLETE surprise or heavily injured, your only option is to, once again, double back/retreat. Also, consider you are comparing Mei's M1 and M2 to Hanzo and McCree's ults.

Then I guess we should remove Roadhogs hook + shotgun combo too? I mean, maybe Junkrat's trap + bomb for good measure? McCree flashbang + FtH? (even in it's weaker state, it's still instant death for anyone outside of tanks). I mean, maybe just remove Widowmaker all together, since she can literally kill you in one shot from ten miles across the map and has insane mobility and a machine gun that can kill most flankers that try to intercept her.
As I said above in this reply, those are all skillshots on cooldowns. Roadhog's hook can miss and is on a cooldown. Junkrat's trap is visible and must either be placed ahead of time or thrown wildly with little chance to land and, again, is on a cooldown. If anything, I think McCree's flashbang is a little UNDERPOWERED because it is hard to land on a moving target and its stun is incredibly short. And it's on a cooldown. Mei's Icicle combo is not on a cooldown, and M1 can be sprayed around until somebody gets caught in it and starts to slow down, then is easily frozen and headshot.

Don't let the salt cloud you Gas. She is a tough cookie, but she is not overpowered. If you remove anything from her kit she has right now, no one would play her. She was already nerfed heavily in the beta (where we do actual testing for this) and her changes were deemed pretty balanced by the end in the beta community.
Your previous experience with her being even more overpowered is clouding you. If I punch you in the face 6 times per second, and then slow down and only punch you in the face one time every 5 seconds, it feels better even though you're still getting beaten into hamburger in the long run.
 
Honestly, Gas, I think I see the problem you are having.

Your issue isn't that she instantly kills you, it's that she instantly kills you and has the nerve to stand and make you watch. You are running into the psychological problem that Blizzard came out and said many people are having with her, and it's that extra fear of losing control and feeling helpless.

Mei's does not have a cooldown like the others, you are right, but that is why it's a ramp and not instant. You need to stand in her freeze for a period of time for her to get the kill, AND she has to hope you are alone to do it, since any allies on your side would be able to stop her before she gets the killing shot (I do that all the time on Lucio). You don't have that with many of the other instant-kills you call skill-shots.

I won't argue further since I believe you have made up your mind on the matter, but I hope you realize that internal testing and most players have come to accept Mei as for the type of play she is. Blizzard has shown little intent to alter her further, though anything is possible.

P.S. If you are not instantly dying to a hook + shotgun, then it's likely the server tickrate was on your side. It's a known issue in which in some instances a Roadhog will do no damage on his follow-up shot. (that or the Roadhog was a hook noob like me and would forget to reload)
 
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GasBandit

Staff member
Honestly, Gas, I think I see the problem you are having.

Your issue isn't that she instantly kills you, it's that she instantly kills you and has the nerve to stand and make you watch. You are running into the psychological problem that Blizzard came out and said many people are having with her, and it's that extra fear of losing control and feeling helpless.
It's no different than making freeze be an automatic kill if you get frozen. That's my deal.

Mei's does not have a cooldown like the others, you are right, but that is why it's a ramp and not instant. You need to stand in her freeze for a period of time for her to get the kill, AND she has to hope you are alone to do it, since any allies on your side would be able to stop her before she gets the killing shot (I do that all the time on Lucio). You don't have that with many of the other instant-kills you call skill-shots.
the "ramp" is a half second, and impossible to escape (because it slows) without use of an escape ability - which is on a cooldown. As for your team helping you, well, that hasn't saved me yet, and I'm in ventrilo with you hosers. I can only imagine how rough the poor rando puggers have it.

I won't argue further since I believe you have made up your mind on the matter, but I hope you realize that internal testing and most players have come to accept Mei as for the type of play she is. Blizzard has shown little intent to alter her further, though anything is possible.
We'll just have to agree to disagree, then, because Mei is fucking cancer. And Blizzard decides things are things until they change their mind.

P.S. If you are not instantly dying to a hook + shotgun, then it's likely the server tickrate was on your side. It's a known issue in which in some instances a Roadhog will do no damage on his follow-up shot.
Well, I can't speak to that, but I can tell you it's a lot easier to dodge the followup on Torbjorn than Soldier 76, and I think it's the smaller hitbox that is the difference. I've been able, often, to "learn" how a roadhog player aims after getting hooked once or twice - some guys aim high for the headshot, others aim low because Torb is short - and on subsequent hooks, I actually either duck or jump depending on what I've observed that particular player to do, and often end up surviving the shot. And god help that roadhog if I've got Molten Core ready to fire :D
 
It's no different than making freeze be an automatic kill if you get frozen. That's my deal.
Okay, well would you prefer if she had an ability on a five second cooldown that INSTANTLY freeze you, allowing her to head shot you? Basically a reverse hook? Will that make you feel better? Because it's either that or what we got now. She has to keep her utilize and damage, otherwise she wouldn't work in the defense slot.
We'll just have to agree to disagree, then, because Mei is fucking cancer. And Blizzard decides things are things until they change their mind.
To everyone, every other character is cancer. That was my point earlier. A huge amount of all complaints on the general forum want Widowmaker completely removed from the game. If you put all the characters in a ranking from what the community considers the most cancerous, these would be the rankings based on who gets the most complaints.

1) Widowmaker
2) Bastion
3) Torbjorn
4) Roadhog
5) Junkrat
6) Hanz0
7) Mei

McCree would have been in a place close to Roadhog, but his nerfs have moved him down a few pegs.

Don't believe me? Head to the general forum yourself. Read it daily (like I do).
Well, I can't speak to that, but I can tell you it's a lot easier to dodge the followup on Torbjorn than Soldier 76, and I think it's the smaller hitbox that is the difference. I've been able, often, to "learn" how a roadhog player aims after getting hooked once or twice - some guys aim high for the headshot, others aim low because Torb is short - and on subsequent hooks, I actually either duck or jump depending on what I've observed that particular player to do, and often end up surviving the shot. And god help that roadhog if I've got Molten Core ready to fire :D
Well, like I said, Torbjorn is a tank cracker. If you are able to use a little bit of skill to utilize your smaller size properly and kill him, then you are doing a proper job. Just like if a Mei catches you in her freeze while you have no cooldown to escape and no support to help you, she was doing her job.
 
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GasBandit

Staff member
Okay, well would you prefer if she had an ability on a five second cooldown that INSTANTLY freeze you, allowing her to head shot you? Basically a reverse hook? Will that make you feel better? Because it's either that or what we got now. She has to keep her utilize and damage, otherwise she wouldn't work in the defense slot.
Just get rid of the M2. She doesn't need the extra damage when she can hold her targets immobile so that her teammates can have free shots at them.



To everyone, every other character is cancer. That was my point earlier. A huge amount of all complaints on the general forum want Widowmaker completely removed from the game. If you put all the characters in a ranking from what the community considers the most cancerous, these would be the rankings based on who gets the most complaints.

1) Widowmaker
2) Bastion
3) Torbjorn
4) Roadhog
5) Junkrat
6) Hanz0
7) Mei

McCree would have been in a place close to Roadhog, but his nerfs have moved him down a few pegs.

Don't believe me? Head to the general forum yourself. Read it daily (like I do).
The difference is people on the general forum are idiots screaming "I'm scissors, nerf rock, paper is balanced" and I'm not :D Saying "everybody has a character they hate" does not refute my points.


Well, like I said, Torbjorn is a tank cracker. If you are able to use a little bit of skill to utilize your smaller size properly and kill him, then you are doing a proper job. Just like if a Mei catches you in her freeze while you have no cooldown to escape and no support to help you, she was doing her job.
The difference is, my job takes skill and trial/error (I gotta usually die a couple times to that hook-blast combo before I learn where he aims) whereas Mei is literally just holding down M1 until somebody is immobile. Once again you're conflating my occasional success at killing a roadhog who has hooked me to the rare opportunity to escape alive from Mei (without killing her) as a victory.
 
The difference is people on the general forum are idiots screaming "I'm scissors, nerf rock, paper is balanced" and I'm not :D Saying "everybody has a character they hate" does not refute my points.
Yes it does, because you are doing the same complaints in a different medium of forum. TomAto, TomAHto. You hate Mei because she kills you, and if she kills you, then you are not playing to her weaknesses. It's a simple outlook.

The difference is, my job takes skill and trial/error (I gotta usually die a couple times to that hook-blast combo before I learn where he aims) whereas Mei is literally just holding down M1 until somebody is immobile. Once again you're conflating my occasional success at killing a roadhog who has hooked me to the rare opportunity to escape alive from Mei (without killing her) as a victory.
Let me ask you this, why is your situation of dying to Mei all the time due to her freeze a better quantifier then the fact that I never die to her at all? Who can be right in this instance when we both drastically have different situations in contrast to eachother?

(Always and never are exaggerations, but I truthfully mean I never fear a Mei, because I kill her way more then she kills me)
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Yes it does, because you are doing the same complaints in a different medium of forum. TomAto, TomAHto. You hate Mei because she kills you, and if she kills you, then you are not playing to her weaknesses. It's a simple outlook.
No, it doesn't. Saying "everybody has a class they hate" doesn't refute my points, it dismisses them without addressing them because you've heard complaining about unrelated heroes in other places.

Let me ask you this, why is your situation of dying to Mei all the time due to her freeze a better quantifier then the fact that I never die to her at all? Who can be right in this instance when we both drastically have different situations in contrast to eachother?

(Always and never are exaggerations, but I truthfully mean I never fear a Mei, because I kill her way more then she kills me)
Which is why I usually don't say always and never, I say frequently and rarely... except when it comes to getting frozen by Mei because that is almost always a precursor to death by icicle-to-the-face.

I can't speak to your experiences with Mei outside of the games we've played together, but I can tell you Mei has sure as hell kicked our collective asses in quickplay. It's too bad you weren't with us last night, because there was a number of times in Liajang Tower where Mei enabled her team to steamroll our frozen asses like we were, well, standing still, and one desperate pitched defense in Anubis we barely won (which we usually kick ass at) where Mei coming in on the flanks usually took out 2 or 3 of us on her own while the rest of her team came from the front/other side. Mei has even managed to freeze-and-kill me while I was molten cored. Which should be numerically impossible.

Also, I don't think the "nobody plays her competitively" argument holds water because competitive isn't live and the sample size is small and skewed.[DOUBLEPOST=1466797893,1466797792][/DOUBLEPOST]
I think you both need to play vs. each other while on Vent.
Someone will get schooled.

--Patrick
The thing is, Scythrexx has been playing tank for a long, long, long time and is very, very good at it. I'll freely admit he's a better player than me, and can probably beat me 1v1 no matter who I play - even Mei.

But that doesn't mean he's right about class balance.

In fact, it's probably why he doesn't fear Mei, because the Meis we go up against are scrublords with shit MMRs like us :p
 
The thing is, Scythrexx has been playing tank for a long, long, long time and is very, very good at it. I'll freely admit he's a better player than me, and can probably beat me 1v1 no matter who I play - even Mei.
I have been playing every roles for a long, long time. I have played every character extensively for days, even Mei. I only tank for you guys since none of you like being tanks, and that is fine, since I love playing any and all characters to some degree.

But that doesn't mean he's right about class balance.
It does not mean I am wrong either.

Seriously Gas, even if we decide to remove the general quantifier of "experience" from this equation, your general opinion on what is, and isn't, balanced, is no great then my own. I could say Junkrat is the most overpowered thing in the world, and it won't go anywhere since all my data is quantified by my own experiences rather then cold hard facts. You seem to act like your opinion on this is the end all, be all, and that even my experience playing for months don't give me an increased insight, so then I ask, how are YOU right? Do you have quantifiable data other then "Mei kills me a lot!" or "Mei kills our team a lot!" because that is just as anecdotal as my own.

In fact, it's probably why he doesn't fear Mei, because the Meis we go up against are scrublords with shit MMRs like us :p
I don't fear Mei players in any MMR. :cool:
 
I might as well answer this too and put in my final two cents.

No, it doesn't. Saying "everybody has a class they hate" doesn't refute my points, it dismisses them without addressing them because you've heard complaining about unrelated heroes in other places.
It's bringing up the fact that everyone has a class they complain about. This isn't one guy just going "all these heroes suck because they counter me", it's a multitude of people that have heroes they hate for whatever reason, from them being low skill, to them being spammers, to them being too strong, or two weak, or too big, or too small, or having arrows the size of tree trunks, or a beam that melts armor, or a turret with 100% instant auto-aim. You have a beef with Mei, one that is not quantified by anything then your own anecdotal data, and not agreed with by both the developers (who have hard play data) or the players at large. I am pointing out that maybe that should tell you something, it's okay to be humble, it's okay to be... well... wrong.

In this instance, I feel you are wrong. You can disagree all you want, but like we said earlier, we can agree to disagree. I stand by my opinion that any removal of Mei's kit will make her worthless both at high and low end play. She will be a walking paperweight if we follow your ideas, and I would rather not see a character destroyed because one person does not want to learn how to handle her.

If you want to keep walking into her beam and getting salty about it, I can't really help you. I can just advise you to please stop.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
It does not mean I am wrong either.
I wasn't implying that, I was saying that a 1v1 "trial by combat" would not settle the question.

Seriously Gas, even if we decide to remove the general quantifier of "experience" from this equation, your general opinion on what is, and isn't, balanced, is no great then my own. I could say Junkrat is the most overpowered thing in the world, and it won't go anywhere since all my data is quantified by my own experiences rather then cold hard facts. You seem to act like your opinion on this is the end all, be all, and that even my experience playing for months don't give me an increased insight, so then I ask, how are YOU right? Do you have quantifiable data other then "Mei kills me a lot!" or "Mei kills our team a lot!" because that is just as anecdotal as my own.
It depends on how that experience is used as backup for an argument. When you open by saying "you guys have it easy, I remember when Mei was really really OP," that means your past experience gives you as much bias as it does insight. I, a comparatively new player, don't have the preconception of Mei's performance from beta (well, I was in open beta for the last weekend before launch but that doesn't count), and so I'd assert I'm looking at it with "fresh eyes." I'm not saying your experience is invalid (I AM saying the other people on the OW general board are whiny and unreliable though ;) ), but neither is mine, and mine is very far from unique.

It is entirely possible for characters to still be unbalanced post-launch. Blizzard decided McCree and Widowmaker needed nerfs. They said, and I quote, "In the right hands, Widowmaker can often feel unstoppable." Well, I wouldn't call Mei unstoppable... more like immovable :p

I don't fear Mei players in any MMR. :cool:
Yeah but if "nobody plays Mei competitively" then by definition all the Mei players ARE low MMR :p
 
It depends on how that experience is used as backup for an argument. When you open by saying "you guys have it easy, I remember when Mei was really really OP," that means your past experience gives you as much bias as it does insight. I, a comparatively new player, don't have the preconception of Mei's performance from beta (well, I was in open beta for the last weekend before launch but that doesn't count), and so I'd assert I'm looking at it with "fresh eyes." I'm not saying your experience is invalid (I AM saying the other people on the OW general board are whiny and unreliable though ;) ), but neither is mine, and mine is very far from unique.
I would argue that playing with her in a true overpowered state would give me more perspective. I feel the same about Torbjorn and Bastion, who were both EXTREMELY overpowered in beta, about twenty times worst then Mei has ever been. Is my perspective off that they are reasonably balanced right now because I experienced them in shit-tastic overpoweredness? Not really, it just means I saw the worst it could get.

If we went off "fresh eyes" Bastion would have been removed from the game on the first day.

(I realize my last question was asinine, so I removed it)
 
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GasBandit

Staff member
I would argue that playing with her in a true overpowered state would give me more perspective. I feel the same about Torbjorn and Bastion, who were both EXTREMELY overpowered in beta, about twenty times worst then Mei has ever been. Is my perspective off that they are reasonably balanced right now because I experienced them in shit-tastic overpoweredness? Not really, it just means I saw the worst it could get.

If we went off "fresh eyes" Bastion would have been removed from the game on the first day.

Or do you think Torbjorn and Bastion also deserve a nerf?
Honestly, Bastion could probably stand to have his accuracy reticle widened some in turret mode. I know he's already got damage falloff, but he's still a lot more effective at long range than he probably should be, and I don't like damage falloff as a mechanic - I think it's unrealistic and unintuitive. A more fair way to handle it would be to hamper his accuracy, so that the Bastion player can more easily see his limitations (I mean, really, how do you judge damage falloff range in-game?) and those on the receiving end of his bullethose will experience getting hit less at longer ranges.

As for Torbjorn, only console scrubs complain about the turret because they can't mouse, and thus should be disregarded from balance discussion consideration :p
 
I don't like damage falloff as a mechanic - I think it's unrealistic and unintuitive.
Agreed. So far it's my only real complaint.
The idea that a bullet will get softer and less lethal the farther it travels (at distances under 150m) is ludicrous.

--Patrick
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Agreed. So far it's my only real complaint.
The idea that a bullet will get softer and less lethal the farther it travels (at distances under 150m) is ludicrous.

--Patrick
I'll tell you what REALLY drives me up the realism wall is that Genji's melee attack, which is performed with a sword, does the same damage as, say, Lucio's melee attack, which is just him punching with his fist. And it's not like Lucio's got a spiked glove or a lot of muscle mass - dude's got arms like Riley Freeman.
 
Agreed. So far it's my only real complaint.
The idea that a bullet will get softer and less lethal the farther it travels (at distances under 150m) is ludicrous.
It has to happen though. Back before it was even added as a mechanic, McCree was able to snipe you from all the way across the map. I would literally be trying out Widowmaker and get headshot killed by a McCree a mile away from me.

Ever since it was added to him it's been sprinkling out to other characters to help designate their "core kit", like McCree is supposed to be mid to shorter ranged bruiser, Mei is similar. Bastion actually has much less falloff then people think, but still enough that he would only tickle a sniper. He also already has damage spread, this is why he kills a Roadhog from a distance way easier then say a Tracer, since all spread bullets hit the Roadhogs huge hitbox.

Hampering accuracy wouldn't work, it would gut him since it would make it easier for enemies to approach him, and he is already considered sub-par at medium to higher level play.
 
No disagreement. I am saying without damage fall off, his highly accurate hitscan revolver could head shot you for full damage at any range. He was supreme at all ranges because people played him as both a long range sniper and a close range insta-killer.
 
No disagreement. I am saying without damage fall off, his highly accurate hitscan revolver could head shot you for full damage at any range. He was supreme at all ranges because people played him as both a long range sniper and a close range insta-killer.
I didn't realize the game "helped" you with his aiming, but I suppose that's there as a trade-off for his low ammo capacity.

--Patrick
 
A lot of heroes have special options like that. Auto wall-climb for Genji/Hanzo/Riptire, show HP bars for Zarya/Soldier, etc.

Lucio's sets heal as your default song, and you hold Shift to speed boost, as opposed to toggle. It's really handy.
 
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