OW's first 'event': The Olympics and new lootboxes

So, out of all things, OW is going to have itself an Olympic Summer Games tie-in event. From what it seems like, there's going to be a massive dump of new cosmetics, all of which are only obtainable via the new Summer Games Lootboxes. They are not obtainable via currency.

A decent chunk of the playerbase is up in arms about this, and it's not entirely unjustified. However, that being said, I would MUCH rather that this be the monetization model for most new MP games where I get 'core' gameplay-altering content for free rather than go back to the season pass model of a few years ago.

I just hope that every lootbox earned via levelling will be a Summer Games Loot Box until the event ends. The fact that your currency is useless on all this new content is also a bit of a kick in the teeth, and that's the only way I think of that would balance it out.

I just really goddamn want anything Zenyatta related.

The image I saw of Zenyatta in a karate gi made this whole thing totally okay.

Edit: Turns it everything is not totally okay.

Here is a gallery at PC Gamer of every skin from the event. Most of the ones that I had been excited about don't actually exist, and are just sprays. Cool.

Kinda neat, and good on Blizzard for not just catering to the whales.

Yes, I like that these kind of things are not able to be purchased, either with real money or in game money. It gives the whole thing some value, like getting one of the skins for yourself and been super happy about it. Then once the event is over you'll have it to show off forever. Yeah you probably won't have everything but that's fine in my opinion.

I love the hero's in their different sports wear, such a goofy thing. The only thing I wonder about is the fact that it's much easier to earn loot boxes at lower levels that higher levels (at least I think the expansion needed increases every level), and are they fine with this?

Edit - I suppose you could spend money on loot boxes and guarantee yourself 1 item out of each.

Don't these loot boxes cater specifically to whales? You can purchase these loot boxes with real money, but can't craft any of the Summer items with currency. Add to that the fact that only one summer item is guaranteed per loot box and they're only available for a limited time, the people who are able to get the most complete Summer collection are the ones who spend the most money on boxes.

@frodobaggins Experience required increases by 500 per level up to level 23, then resets after level 100.

Yeah, the combination of "Limited Time Availability + Can't Buy With Credits + CAN Get Dupes + Only Guaranteed One Per Chest" is... rough. Like, if I actually like one of the skins the fact that I have to either spend a ton of money or play Overwatch like nuts over ~20 days is a little crappy. Especially since I have a good number of credits saved up and could probably hit 1000 easier than I could luck into anything I'd want.

@mike: Ah nvm, I misunderstood when reading the currency bit.

Are all those images even going to be skins in the game? I've seen a lot of people saying there are only actually 3 new skins.

And this is just shitty no matter what way you look at it. I would be okay with having cosmetic items that are "pay only", but the way this is now you're only guaranteed to get a single new item per loot box and can get duplicates which will just give you currency you can't use.. So even if you buy 50 loot boxes, there's a good chance you won't even get what you want. And obviously you can forget trying to grind out the items by leveling up.

@dragon_puncher: I'd be super bummed out if the only skins are the Tracer, Zarya, and I think it was Lucio. The best ones I saw were Karate Zenyatta, Archery Hanzo, Fencing Genji, and Swimming Roadhog.

Can't wait to get my hands on those sweet, sweet Summer Games inspired sprays for my collection!

I don't need to buy keys to unlock these boxes ?

Me too.. But that seems to be what people believe is coming.

What about Wrestling Reinhardt? I'd put him up there with those other skins.

The problem is that it seems like there are only actually 3 new skins and the rest are just sprays. I think most of them actually look pretty good, but would kill for the Karate Zenyatta.

Speedo Roadhog or bust.

Hmmm, hard not to interpret this as a tacit endorsement of the apparent garbage fire that is the Olympics this year. Also ew randomized and limited time is kinda the grossest combo for DLC.

@starvinggamer said:

Yeah, you'd kinda hope that it would only be a "limited time" exclusive sort of thing where you could eventually buy the items with the normal currency. Also, who knows if they're actually endorsing the Olympics? Maybe there will be a Pharah-as-Zika-Mosquito skin (OK. No. But it would be kinda funny).

Where is the actual information about all this? I'm not seeing anything in either the PC or PS4 version.

Well that's assured I'll play it more often the next couple of weeks

Ok, if those are just sprays, then that's a bummer. Karate Kenyatta, Golfer 76, BMX Reaper and Wrestling Reinhardt are definitely my favorites and those are the ones that I hope end up being skins too. Weight Lifting Zarya is actually kind of funny if you think back to the news that the Russian Weightlifting team is banned from the Olympics due to the country's doping scheme. Yet Zarya is totally fine.

@starvinggamer: I give Blizzard a free pass with this kind of thing because they give me maps and hero's (you know, the things that actually matter) for absolutely nothing.

@frodobaggins: If I knew how to to get OW for absolutely nothing I probably would own it too :P

The fact that these are buy as loot-boxes only put this firmly in my "fuck that" list. I love Overwatch and all, but I'm not in the mood to toss money at cosmetic loot boxes like I would for a phone game after paying $40 for the PC version. I know it's cosmetic only and the new maps/heroes are free (which is cool), but at least allow a way to earn them in game. I'm already sitting on 2000 credits I haven't spent because I'm not sure what I want to get.

But then again, the Olympics are once again looking like a dumpster fire so par for the course I 'spose.

@madman356647: it sounds like you can earn them in game?

1 summer game item per crate is what I understood, and you can get crates from levelling up.

@yesiamaduck: I stand corrected.

https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20216482

I still think it's dumb I can't use my credit stash though but I'm on defcon 3 angry now.

I feel really good about only paying $40 for this game, and having no intention of ever spending another cent on it. It's well made, but it gets kinda repetitive after a while, and I expect to see events like this more often than actually getting new characters and maps.

I actually find that this is just a really lame theme for them, I tried the new football mode as well and that was kinda boring.

I really, really hope that by the last couple of days of the event they will allow things to be purchased with gold, because as a D.Va completionist, not being able to get some of her items is going to drive me nuts.

Just want to say that Lucioball is terrible.

This has been great. Lucioball is exactly what I want from a weekly brawl, a fun little distraction that is different from the main modes but that I can play a handful of games of when I am bored. It is also much more than I would have expected for this event. I am a bit bummed that you can not purchase the new skins with gold as I refuse to buy any loot boxes with real money so there is a decent chance that I will not end up unlocking any of them. Other than that this seems good and excites me for what they are going to do in the future (I am thinking Halloween is likely for the next event).

They need to concentrate on making new maps instead of a mini game.

Completionists will be traumatized.

You'd have to open hundreds of boxes to get every single item in this capsule-toy system.

Which is fine, completionists should break their OCD habits anyway.

Lucioball is a great reminder that it's not easy to make a game that feels as good as Rocket League. The movement is too slow, the ball passes through you and it's impossible to have any meaningful control on where it's going to go. One round was enough for me.

You can use Lucio's speed boost skill, you can infinite wallride with an added speed boost, and you can use the bounce pads to cover a lot of distance, so it's definitely not too slow.

I do kinda agree about the ball control though. It didn't always seem intuitive the distance you needed to be to hit stuff, especially with that sound blast.

@zeik: For my first matches I thought sound blast didn't do anything to the ball. I used it on a ball that was heading towards me and it didn't have any effect, the ball kept rolling past me and ended up in our goal. It seems like it doesn't work unless you are at the right distance.

Just played this and man, the lag is REAL. Haven't experienced lag in the game before (ps4). That said, it's pretty fun and makes me think I should really get back into Rocket League.

This being Olympics themed definitely brings up topics of how to have equal athletic competition in a world of human augmentation and sentient robots. It's a cliche idea but Overwatch has set themselves up too perfectly to not engage with it.

As someone who spent a lot of pre-match time shooting soccer balls, basketballs, and cardboard boxes in the game, I'm excited to try out some Lucioball.

@blackout62 said:

Well, the only real problem I see here is Zarya. In keeping with the spirit of these Olympics, they should ban her character for the duration of the event. A Russian weightlifter? I mean, just look at her. There's no way you get that huge and stay clean.

@blackout62 said:

Don't worry, we have Deus Ex: Mankind Divided to provide nuanced commentary on human augmentation?

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@bisonhero: Sigh, they just can't seem to get the idea that making references invites comparison.

@lawgamer:

That would be amazing haha

Man, I really hate Lucioball. It feels so god awful. Half the time the balls slides through me, the melee is worthless, and trying to aim the shots is nearly impossible. Plus since everyone just smashes into the ball as fast as possible it goes flying in wild directions. This is a neat idea but the execution is incredibly half-assed.

Opened the free loot box and got one of the legendary skins for Tracer. This event is all right.

As someone who has just now spent $80 on 100 Loot Boxes, I can say that you will get ALOT of duplicates and very rarely get the costumes you are looking for. I.E. the Tracer, Lucio and Zarya full outfit changes. They are very rare. I wanted Tracer's Track uniform and didn't get it until after my first 50 loot boxes. I have a buttload of new sprays and more currency then I can count currently and I GREATLY regret my poor financial choice. Especially when at the end of the day I'm not a huge fan of Tracer anyways.

I DID however get some rad stuff like McCree's America outfit and a Ribbon dance emote for Symmetra. So it wasn't all bad. I probably need to be better with my money in the future tho.

I will pass on that one - the rate of skins I would like to have to all possible drops (I read somewhere else, that the Olympic boxes actually also contain the regular drops) is just so bad that even if every single item would have the same chance to drop - which of course isn't the case - rates are extremely low to a point where you could make an argument that this is me gambling.

@acidbrandon18: there has to be a better use for that money, there just HAS to be.

I got the Legendary skin for Tracer from the free log-in box.

Best event ever.

Man, I actually kinda want that Tracer skin and everyone saying they got it from the free box is bumming me out. All I got out of that was an (admittedly pretty alright) BMX Reaper spray.