The Polls of July: Recap and Analysis

July was filled with great Overwatch news and content. We'll be taking a look at the results of the most popular polls from our articles and what they could mean for the future of Overwatch! As always, we appreciate all of our readers' time and interest in our articles!

Top 5 most popular Overwatch polls

"Do you agree with the current ruleset including No Hero Limits?"

Yes 23% 77% No

This comes to no surprise, the vast majority of Overwatch players prefer 1 hero limit for higher level play. Many of us shiver at the memories of Twinston, Tucio, and Trey-Trey.

"Are you excited for more Overwatch coverage on television?"

Yes 94% 6% No

As fans of Overwatch, we definitely want to see this game grow! The better the competitive scene for a game, the better things are for the players. The interesting thing to note here are the 6% of No’s; why would an Overwatch fan not want to see this game on TV? TV Coverage would provide insane amounts of cash inflow to the Overwatch scene, prompting more investment and growth into Overwatch as a sport.

"What do you prefer?"

|A| 78% 22% |B|

A: Bigger Tournaments | B: More Tournaments

This question interests us. Bigger tournaments mean better coverage, funding, and growth for the Overwatch scene. More tournaments offer additional opportunities for smaller teams to have a moment in the spotlight. There is a balance and two scenes for tournaments: amateur and professional. Amateur scenes benefit from numbers rather than prize pool size, and the professional side benefits more from bigger tournaments. Most importantly, bigger tournaments attract far more viewers.

"Was the kit of abilities shown a pleasant surprise or disappointment?" [Ana]

|A| 93% 7% |B|

A: Pleasant Surprise | B: Disappointed

This is an important result because it is Blizzard’s first post launch character addition. Ana is clearly well received by the public and has a unique skill set. This is an extremely promising indication that the Overwatch scene is going to continue to grow just as strongly as it has from the beginning. Blizzard has demonstrated impressive responsiveness with tuning characters and overall design for their first FPS game.

"Did they pick the right roster?" [FNATIC picks up nubris]

Yes 81% 19% No

The community for Overwatch is one to be proud of. We all stand behind the teams in the professional scene, and cheer for them when they succeed. We see overwhelming support for nubris as they are picked up by FNATIC. Its crucial for the fans to stand behind the teams in Overwatch, and the strong support for the professionals that stream is a clear indication the community is headed in the right direction. The only question that lingers is for those that said no: what roster would you have FNATIC sign instead?

Notable Overwatch poll questions

"Do you watch many Overwatch streamers?"

Yes 84% 16% No

Following up on the comments for the FNATIC poll, we see that there are plenty of people watching Overwatch streamers. This is, again, crucial to the growth of Overwatch as a community and appealing to larger organizations and sponsors. The bigger the audience and interest in players, the more money to make from investing or sponsoring teams. Although, we don’t need a poll to see a certain bird is raking in tons of donations and subscriptions from his twitch stream. As the viewer base for professional overwatch continues to grow, we can expect similar growth for several other iconic Overwatch streamers.

"Are the rewards worth the grind?" [For reaching top 500 in Competitive]

Yes 21% 79% No

Earning the title of “Top 500” in any game, quite simply, requires an in-game item that brags for you. Many people feel underwhelmed by the reward for being in the top 500 for Overwatch (an animated spray). What about an option for a platinum or diamond weapon or character model skin? Gold weapon skins are a matter of grinding out competitive mode. It doesn’t reward climbing the ladder. A platinum or diamond weapon skin would be an extremely rewarding. Or, offering a character model skin would allow you to couple a golden weapon skin with a diamond/platinum character model skin.

"Do you think players from non-FPS games will do well in Overwatch?"

Yes 29% 71% No

Overwatch is not purely an FPS game, nor is it a MOBA. This prompts the question, “how will non-FPS players fare in this game?” The easiest answer (glances at a certain dwarf over in console land) is to play the characters that don’t require aim. “No brain, no aim, I’m a Winston main!”

The realtime decision making and situational awareness that go hand-in-hand with FPS games is ridiculously crucial for Overwatch. One does not have to be a hitscan god to do well in Overwatch, but solid game sense and intuition are required to excel. For those feeling as though their aim isn’t on par with the best, simply thinking more about the game can work wonders. A McCree that can hit the headshots but always pokes in front of the Reinhardt shield to get immediately deleted is way worse than a McCree that has decent accuracy and perfect positioning. Asking the right questions about where you should be and who to shoot first can make a world of difference.

"Saying 'Yes' to Changes: Good or bad?" [Coin flip time patch, bug fixes]

Yes 87% 13% No

This patch brought changes to the very unpopular sudden death mode in Competitive play. Timers were decreased on almost every map. This makes sense because “coin flip” is very unbalanced. Having a shorter time to capture the first point makes it more balanced for the defense. In the current state of professional Overwatch, we have had to say R.I.P. to first point defenses with the amount of nasty Genji diving (Ahem, ShaDowBurn). However, praise Torbjorn because coin flip is going away for the second season.

"Do you think this is a good way of recruiting?" [Recruiting ladder grinders]

Yes 38% 62% No

This is the last question we’ll cover. This is notable because we’ve seen a few teams recruit ladder grinders thus far. There are some rank 60-70 players that are much better suited for a professional environment than some of the highest ranked individuals. Personality factors such as attitude, professionalism, and modesty are crucial. However, due to the sheer number of Overwatch players rank is simple the quickest way to find players at the highest level. It minimizes having to test skill and you are able to focus solely on evaluating synergy with the rest of the roster.

It's simply efficient to use rank as a baseline for applicants. This is assuming, of course, that the role they try out for is what they played to earn a certain rank. A player trying out for a main tank position that reaches rank 70 playing only tanks is more impressive than a rank 75-80 player that arrived there playing mostly DPS. It can be concluded that rank is a good indicator for recruiting. Several other factors are, of course, evaluated.

If you enjoyed this recap on the month's popular and interesting poll questions, be sure to let us know!

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QUICKPOLL Would you like us to continue this monthly article series? Yes! A good read on reviewing the community's opinions.

Thank you for voting! No, I don't care much for the poll results.

Thank you for voting!