Blizzard changes role selection with the advent of experimental mode in Overwatch – Gaming – News

Blizzard has released the ‘Experimental mode’ in Overwatch. With this mode, which is also referred to as “Experimental card,” the company wants to test new additions to the game. The first temporary experiment is a mode that reverses the mandatory role choice.

The game director from Overwatch, Jeff Kaplan, announces in an update that Triple Damage is being introduced as part of the Experimental Card. This makes it possible to play rounds in which not two, but three damageoriented heroes can enter the battlefield. That differs from the Role Queue introduced last year, with which Blizzard then introduced a system of two tanks, two damageheroes and two support players. That now becomes three damage heroes, two supports and a single tank.

Kaplan explains that the main purpose of this change is to see if it improves the waiting times that players face when they choose to play a damage hero. The lines to come in a round with such a hero are longer than when a tank or support is chosen. Blizzard will also check whether this has an effect on the waiting times for Quick Play, Competitive and the various Arcade modes.

Another change that the introduction of Triple Damage entails are changes that are being implemented exclusively for Triple Damage for the heroes Roadhog, D.Va and Zarya. These heroes are known as off tanks, a role in which they are more or less a backup tank. Because only a single tank becomes available in Triple Damage, the three heroes mentioned are upgraded to be able to function as full tanks. This way Roadhog gets a new one ability. According to Michael Heiberg from Blizzard he would be too strong in the traditional Role Queue distribution, so that these adjustments are limited to experimental mode.

Blizzard describes the addition of experimental mode as radical and something the company is not sure about. The mode differs from the separate public test realm, which is mainly intended for the detection of bugs. Experimental mode revolves around major gameplay changes that the developer likes to receive feedback about.

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