Blizzard is going to revise the reporting system in Overwatch . New features and options are supposed to assist players.
In the official forum, there are ongoing complaints about the reporting system of Overwatch, which is simply not matured enough. Some players wish for more control, such as a “votekick” feature – but these players seem to be in the minority.
As a counterexample, World of Warcraft is frequently mentioned, which has a kick function for dungeons, but is often abused to kick people for “trivial” reasons.
Jeff Kaplan joined the discussion:
“It’s nice to participate in a discussion on this topic and we are just as concerned as you are.
Our first step is to revise the current reporting system. This is already taking place and we have some design changes that we think will help. Once we bring the reporting design up to date, we will also revise all our conduct rules – including the penalties.
I wish this would happen faster, but at least there is progress.”
In response to concerned inquiries from some fans, Kaplan also reacted. Often, players are reported simply because they do not “play the hero that others want them to play.” This has led to a die-hard Torbjörn fan, who plays Torbjörn in every match, being temporarily banned over 12 times – and yet reaching the Master League.
“We keep cases like this in mind” said Kaplan.
Blizzard is keeping an eye on such cases and also considers adjusting usage policies and sanctions. Therefore, anyone who reports players in the future just because they are playing a hero that they personally dislike should be careful. “False reports” could then also have consequences.
Cortyn says: The frequency with which people are reported or encouraged to report in Overwatch is clearly getting on my nerves. I enjoy – yes, even in Competitive – the matches where characters other than the usual 8 “We are currently the meta because the pros do it this way” characters appear. Especially the “Play healer X now or we’ll report you” threats take the fun out of Overwatch. Anyone who can’t handle that other players prefer different characters should perhaps only play with friends.
