Разработчики Overwatch 2 опубликовали новую статью из серии "Еженедельный сбор", в которой регулярно делятся разной информацией о своих подходах к работе над игрой, успехах и неудачах, новинках и прочих волнующих их и игроков моментах. Свежая заметка посвящена некоторым системным новинкам "Стадиона" в 18 сезоне.
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Weekly Recall: Stadium SmorgasbordHappy Season 18 launch week from us, the Stadium team! Since this is such an action-packed time for Team 4, we decided to give you an early Weekly Recall so you can spend more time making waves with Wuyang or racking up Stadium wins this weekend.
Full disclosure: we've been internally describing Season 18 as "beefy" and everything coming to Stadium is a delicious example of what you can expect. Today, we’ll be feasting on big improvements to existing modes like Stadium Competitive, new ways to play with friends, and tasty quality of life changes.
Let’s dig in!
A Quick (Play) AppetizerSince Stadium launched, the most popular request from the community has been a quicker, more streamlined Stadium experience with less pressure than Competitive. More importantly, you wanted to queue up with friends across different platforms!
We’ve got you covered with Quick Play Queue. It's much more than Stadium without ranks; think of it as a faster, easier way to get the hang of Stadium and try out new strategies or Heroes. Quick Play Stadium is a best-of-five format where you’ll earn Powers on rounds 1, 2, 3, and 5 to dive into your Hero’s kit as quickly as possible. We’ve sped up the economy to grant more cash in a shorter timeframe so you can whip up a Build at Tracer speed.
Our new Backfill system ensures that you and your new team will have a fighting chance; once you join in, you’ll be given cash equal to the average amount your team is working with. You’ll also get a full minute to choose your Powers and Items.
The best part? Cross-play is fully enabled so friends from console and PC can finally wreak havoc together in Stadium. We’ve heard some concerns about queue times, but we believe that the speedy Quick Play experience and the grind of Competitive appeal to distinct groups within the Stadium population so they shouldn’t be an issue. It’ll be closely monitored, though!
Ranked: It’s What’s For DinnerIt might take a four-page menu to lay out all the changes coming to the competitive side of Stadium, but we're going to try our best.
If you’re new to Stadium, you'll have to win 10 games in Stadium Quick Play in order to unlock Stadium Competitive. We’re now tracking Stadium matchmaking rating (MMR) in Quick Play, which will carry over into Competitive and help new folks arrive at their correct rank more quickly. This should improve the overall quality of matches.
It also feeds into our new dynamic rank system for Stadium competitive. Stadium Points are no longer static values (aka a set amount after a win or loss) and will now be determined for every match based on current and predicted rank. If you’re in Novice, for example, but your MMR looks more like those of Elite players, you’ll quickly accelerate through the ranks.
You'll still be protected from rank loss until you get close to your predicted rank, no matter which tier you’re in, but you’ll gradually lose more Stadium Points for losses once you reach that predicted rank. Not only will this reduce the grind it takes to climb to higher ranks—if they’re more appropriate for you—but it should help everyone progress to the correct ranks much more easily. That means fewer unbalanced matches, too.
To improve matchmaking quality even more, we’ve enacted grouping restrictions for Stadium Competitive. There are no grouping restrictions below Elite, but restrictions escalate the farther you go up the ladder. Pros can group within 15 divisions, All-Stars can group within 10 divisions, and Legends can only group within 5 divisions.
Not to sound like a late-night infomercial, but wait—there's more! Draft Mode will let teams make strategic decisions right from the start of the match. A randomized snake draft will cycle through both allied and enemy teams as you choose Heroes to play. Tanks will never get the first spot since that position is the most likely to get mirrored and a fair tank matchup is a huge priority for us. If you aren’t a tank, you can shift positions with teammates to get your clutch pick in first or hang back and flex.
One important note about Draft Mode: mirror matchups won’t be allowed, so keep that in mind when you’re strategizing. This should improve the variance of Stadium Competitive matches and reduce the likelihood of static metas. We’ll also be keeping a close eye on this feature to see how it pans out. Let us know what you think!
Get Some QOL On The SideYour feedback has been critical for finding pain points in Stadium and the biggest issues seemed to be the two Ls: leavers and losses. Overall, you said that leavers negatively impacted the Stadium experience and that close losses felt unfair since you got nothing for the experience.
We heard you and got cooking. In Season 18, you’ll lose fewer Stadium Points when someone on your team leaves; if you’re on the opposing team, you’ll still gain the same SP for the win. And when you lose a close match, you’ll be given SP for each round won in a Stadium Competitive to reward you for the time you spent giving it your all. This does stop at All-Star and Legend ranks, but everyone will get Competitive Points for their efforts. No more heartbreaks over those seven-map matches!
Stadium is all about making strategic choices and camera perspective is one of those. It turns out that many players had no idea they could switch between first-person (1P) and third-person (3P) perspective. We’ve added a one-time banner that gives new Stadium players a chance to make this choice and a new footer shortcut has been added to give you quicker access to that menu from Hero Select.
Mmm, Sweet Rewards for DessertTime for a shiny finale to this beefy update: new rewards! Our favorite gamer—D.Va—will get the All-Star skin for Season 18. If you’re worried you can’t quite get to All-Star, no worries. This season, we’re introducing brand new Elite skins for three Heroes. Older skins will be available through new challenges.
If you make it to the Elite tier in the tank role, you’ll earn a very handsome Reinhardt skin. The same goes for Ana and Mei in the support and damage roles, respectively. Imagine the bragging rights you'll get if you earn all three!
Thanks for joining us for this massive Stadium update. There are even more changes—new and improved Items, three new Heroes, and our entirely new Payload Race mode—that we couldn’t get to today. You’ll just have to hop in and see them for yourselves when Season 18 launches!
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