History BrokenBase / Overwatch

*** Hero Pools were a contentious first major stab as rather than being chosen by players (either by the whole team or by a single captain), bans were dictated weekly and semi-randomly[[note]]The draw was random, but skewed the probabilities around for certain heroes based on playrate, also designed so that heroes couldn't be banned twice in a row[[/note]]. The argument in favor of them is that the inconsistency was good for shaking up metas and keeping players on their toes while still skewing towards player interest, and that for a game as fast-paced as ''Overwatch'', it avoids flow problems in ways a lengthy pre-game ban phase wouldn't. The argument against them is that a randomized, week-long ban on certain heroes in fact too strenuous for players with main preferences (this was reported to have affected pro players too), and that any "new metas" that came every other week were still dictated by the popularity of unbanned heroes, in turn dictated by their balancing, not bans. After months of tweaking, experimentation, and gathering feedback, Blizzard eventually sided with the latter and removed the system, and debates surrounding whether this was a good call and where to go from there have resurfaced.

*** Hero Pools were a contentious first major stab as rather than being chosen by players (either by the whole team or by a single captain), bans were dictated weekly and semi-randomly[[note]]The draw was random, but skewed the probabilities around for certain heroes based on playrate, also designed so that heroes couldn't be banned twice in a row[[/note]]. The argument in favor of them is that the inconsistency was good for shaking up metas and keeping players on their toes while still skewing towards player interest, and that for a game as fast-paced as ''Overwatch'', it avoids flow problems in ways a lengthy pre-game ban phase wouldn't. The argument against them is that a randomized, week-long ban on certain heroes in fact too strenuous for players with main preferences (this was reported to have affected pro players too), and that any "new metas" that came every other week were still dictated by the popularity of unbanned heroes, in turn dictated by their balancing, not bans. After months of tweaking, experimentation, and gathering feedback, Blizzard eventually sided with the latter and removed them, and debates surrounding whether this was a good call and where to go from there have resurfaced.

** Hero Pools were a contentious first major stab as rather than being chosen by players (either by the whole team or by a single captain), bans were dictated weekly and semi-randomly[[note]]The draw was random, but skewed the probabilities around for certain heroes based on playrate, also designed so that heroes couldn't be banned twice in a row[[/note]]. The argument in favor of them is that the inconsistency was good for shaking up metas and keeping players on their toes while still skewing towards player interest, and that for a game as fast-paced as ''Overwatch'', it avoids flow problems in ways a lengthy pre-game ban phase wouldn't. The argument against them is that a randomized, week-long ban on certain heroes in fact too strenuous for players with main preferences (this was reported to have affected pro players too), and that any "new metas" that came every other week were still dictated by the popularity of unbanned heroes, in turn dictated by their balancing, not bans. After months of tweaking, experimentation, and gathering feedback, Blizzard eventually sided with the latter and removed them, and debates surrounding whether this was a good call and where to go from there have resurfaced.

[[folder: Base Breaking Characters, Story and Lore]]

[[folder: Broken Base, Story and Lore]]

[[folder: Skins, Community, and other issues]]

* Mobility versus Crowd Control. Many players have claimed to notice a building "mobility creep" in ''Overwatch'', with many characters receiving buffs to their mobility (Winston, Widowmaker, Hanzo, Mercy, and Symmetra, just to name a few) and new, highly mobile characters being introduced (Sombra, Doomfist, and Wrecking Ball, in particular). This came to a head when, for more than a year, a "Dive Meta" featuring extremely mobile heroes (Tracer, D.Va, Winston, and Genji) was nigh-unbeatable at high levels. Blizzard made several attempts to reign these characters in, culminating in the release of Brigitte, a character that excels in AOE damage, stuns, and knockback to thwart the mobile heroes. But this shifted complaints to the abundance of "crowd control" introduced to the game since launch (stuns, knockback, disabling, etc.). Case in point, of the ten new characters introduced, ''EIGHT'' of them have at least one type of CC, while most have multiple types. This has sparked a debate over which is more overpowered: too much mobility or too much crowd control. Naturally, some players don't care what's more broken and would like to see ''both'' reduced so that characters who rely solely on aim or single-point defense can finally be viable again.

* Auto-aim weapons like Symmetra and Winston's primary fire. Players either have little problem with this mechanic or widely despise it; either it is an appropriate and balanced choice given the characters that have it (Winston has low DPS, needs to stick to targets to get his damage off, and is very vulnerable to focus-fire, while Symmetra's only other damaging ability is a slow-moving orb), or reduces those characters to [[AttackAttackAttack mindless attackers for whom the best strategy is to rush directly at the enemy.]]

** Should the League even exist? On one hand, ''Overwatch'' is the first HeroShooter for many, and there are many mechanics present[[note]]"low skill" heroes like Torb, Symmetra, and Mercy, heavy emphasis on hard counters causing matches to boil down to TacticalRockPaperScissors, wildly fluctuating and mostly imbalanced meta[[/note]] that don't point the game as being oriented toward professional play. On the other hand, the wide cast of playable characters create an interesting MetaGame, and while ''Overwatch'' can be less skill-intensive than other team-based, competitive-oriented shooters like ''[[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 TF2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CounterStrike CS;GO]]'', it has far more emphasis on team coordination, which is arguably more important than individual skill in those aforementioned shooters.

** The Support problem is somewhat less contentious, if only because the roles are far more straightforward and the definition of "Main" and "Off" Healer is more universally understood — a Main Support provides the bulk of the team's healing while the Off Support is more useful for utility and clutch defense. This simple definition, however, was tested by a nerf to Mercy's healing (down to 50 per second from 60) and the introduction of Baptiste. Mercy offers very little in the way of utility, but her lessened healing is often seen as lackluster on top of that[[note]]Mercy offers more consistent healing due to the lack of aiming, positioning, or resource restrictions, but her healing is far easier to out-damage than Ana or Moira[[/note]], leading to confusion as to what her role on a team is meant to be. While Baptiste offers lots of healing [[note]]75 per second with his secondary fire, plus another 30 from his Regen Burst cooldown, plus almost '''double this''' while his Ultimate is in play[[/note]], it's also much more situational. He also has one of the best clutch defense abilities in the game (Immortality Field), which debatably fits more into the Off Support role despite his amazing healing ability. Later still, Brigitte received a major "rework" to her kit that reduced her tankiness and increased her healing to (as the developers put it) make her function as a "primary healer". While her overall healing potential ''is'' much better, how well this rework succeeded is controversial for a number of reasons--for example, most of Brigitte's healing relies brawling with opponents and the reduced tankiness not only makes her less capable of that, but it also forces the other healer on her team to pocket her, which raises the issue of why anyone would use her when most other healers can take care of themselves AND provide more overall healing. Thus, the sub-categorization of those three characters is constantly under debate, while there's usually consensus about the rest.

** Following several controversies of major releases in 2017 which have implemented similar lootbox systems (including ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'' and ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'', the latter of which ended up [[OvershadowedByControversy bringing the mechanics to greater mainstream infamy]]), there grew a major surge in reassessing the mechanic in ''Overwatch'', for [[FollowTheLeader for popularizing the trend]], and where it should go, if anywhere, now that many governments are deliberating as to whether lootboxes should be classified as gambling (China bans the purchase of them, Belguim has banned them, and the UK is pushing for regulations.)

* The loot box system has proven somewhat divisive. Some are perfectly okay with the fact that loot boxes can be purchased with real money, as the game is already fairly generous with them if one plays regularly, while others feel that the inclusion of such an element tarnishes the game's otherwise fairly spotless business model and that the system can be extremely frustrating if good things refuse to drop. The fact that all drops are purely cosmetic does help soften the blow a little, as does the fact that duplicate items (later made much rarer) give credits that can be used to acquire specific or desired items.
** Magnified with the Summer Games event, where new event cosmetics could ''only'' be acquired through loot boxes. Combined with the limited time, some people don't mind the stronger rarity making those cosmetics more special, others take issue that the system clearly targets getting people to buy boxes with cash because there's no way to increase your chances (coins are blocked off and duplicates are still present, so only [[LuckBasedMission straight RNG]] is in play), and the limited window means that taking your time with free boxes isn't optimal. [[WinBackTheCrowd This was slightly dampened with future events]] where cosmetics were made available using in-game coins (albeit at ''triple'' the price), but some players who don't have enough coins are still peeved by the system.

** Following several controversies of major releases in 2017 which have implemented similar lootbox systems (including ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'' and ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'', the latter of which ended up [[OvershadowedByControversy bringing the mechanics to greater mainstream infamy]]), there grew a major surge in reassessing the mechanic in ''Overwatch'', with additional arguments as to whether it's at fault [[FollowTheLeader for popularizing the trend]], and where it should go, if anywhere, now that many governments are deliberating as to whether loot boxes should be classified as gambling.

* Hanzo is in a similar camp as Pharah, being that he is considered to have a less-defined story and personality, and is overshadowed by a relative. He's often overlooked (when he doesn't have a MemeticLoser status for the derogatory insult [[SturgeonsLaw "Hanzo mains"]]), and tends to get overshadowed by his younger brother Genji. Partially, this is because Genji's CyberNinja design helps him stand out more compared to Hanzo looking mundane by contrast, but also the fact that Genji is much more active and involved with the current story of ''Overwatch''. He's a former Overwatch[=/=]Blackwatch agent with all sorts of adventures, has a more developed character arc with more connections to other characters such as [[TheMentor Zenyatta]], [[ShipTease Mercy]], [[SociallyAwkwardHero Winston]], [[TheSquadette Tracer]], [[BashBrothers McCree]], [[BrokenPedestal Reaper]], and [[BigBadEnsemble Doomfist]], and was part of the Overwatch recall when the organization was reinstated, giving him even more potential for future stories. In comparison, Hanzo hasn't really done much after "killing" Genji besides leaving his clan, and canonically Genji is the only main character he's interacted with thus far. All of this is despite the fact that he is technically the ''main focus'' of ''Dragons'', considered one of the best shorts. But again, Genji completely stole the show in the short that Hanzo was supposed to be the star in, and the fact that said short doesn't paint him in the most sympathetic light doesn't help (see his entry in UnintentionallyUnsympathetic). However, as with Pharah, he is [[LGBTFanbase wildly popular]] in certain [[BaraGenre ships]]. The reveal that he was literally used to be the same character as Genji in development and was split in half explained a lot of his lack of backstory and development compared to Genji.

** Another division that became apparent after Ashe's announcement was the new ShipToShipCombat between [[BaraGenre [=McCree=]/Hanzo]] and [[LikeAnOldMarriedCouple [=McCree=]/Ashe]]. The fact that both [[WordofGod Michael Chu]] and [[WordOfStPaul Matthew Mercer]] confirmed that Ashe and [=McCree=] had never dated in the past provoked some debate. Were they giving in to pressure from angry [=McCree=]/Hanzo fans, or did they really never intend for [=McCree=] to have a romantic history with Ashe? Whatever the truth, it hasn't stopped people from shipping them together.

* Mobility versus Crowd Control. Many players have claimed to notice a building "mobility creep" in ''Overwatch'', with many characters receiving buffs to their mobility (Winston, Widowmaker, Hanzo, Mercy, and Symmetra, just to name a few) and new, highly mobile characters being introduced (Sombra, Doomfist, and Wrecking Ball, in particular). This came to a head when, for more than a year, a "Dive Meta" featuring extremely mobile heroes (Tracer, D.Va, Winston, and Genji) was nigh-unbeatable at high levels. Blizzard made several attempts to reign these characters in, culminating in the release of Brigitte, a character that excels in AOE damage, stuns, and knockback to thwart the mobile heroes. But this shifted complaints to the abundance of "crowd control" introduced to the game since launch (stuns, knockback, disabling, etc.). Case in point, of the eight new characters introduced, ''SEVEN'' of them have at least one type of CC, while most have multiple types. This has sparked a debate over which is more overpowered: too much mobility or too much crowd control. Naturally, some players don't care what's more broken and would like to see ''both'' reduced so that characters who rely solely on aim or single-point defense can finally be viable again.

** The Support problem is somewhat less contentious, if only because the roles are far more straightforward and the definition of "Main" and "Off" Healer is more universally understood — a Main Support provides the bulk of the team's healing while the Off Support is more useful for utility and clutch defense. This simple definition, however, was tested by a nerf to Mercy's healing (down to 50 per second from 60) and the introduction of Baptiste. Mercy offers very little in the way of utility, but her lessened healing is often seen as lackluster on top of that[[note]]Mercy offers more consistent healing due to the lack of aiming, positioning, or resource restrictions, but her healing is far easier to out-damage than Ana or Moira[[/note]], leading to confusion as to what her role on a team is meant to be. While Baptiste offers lots of healing [[note]]75 per second with his secondary fire, plus another 30 from his Regen Burst cooldown, plus almost '''double this''' while his Ultimate is in play[[/note]], it's also much more situational. He also has one of the best clutch defense abilities in the game (Immortality Field), which debatably fits more into the Off Support role despite his amazing healing ability. Thus, the sub-categorization of those two characters is constantly under debate, while there's usually consensus about the rest.

* Hanzo is in a similar camp as Pharah, being that he is considered to have a less-defined story and personality, and is overshadowed by a relative. He's often overlooked (when he doesn't have a MemeticLoser status for the derogatory insult [[SturgeonsLaw "Hanzo mains"]]), and tends to get overshadowed by his younger brother Genji. Partially, this is because Genji's CyberNinja design helps him stand out more compared to Hanzo looking mundane by contrast, but also the fact that Genji is much more active and involved with the current story of ''Overwatch''. He's a former Overwatch[=/=]Blackwatch agent with all sorts of adventures, has a more developed character arc with more connections to other characters such as [[TheMentor Zenyatta]], [[ShipTease Mercy]], [[SociallyAwkwardHero Winston]], [[TheSquadette Tracer]], [[BashBrothers McCree]], [[BrokenPedestal Reaper]], and [[BigBadEnsemble Doomfist]], and was part of the Overwatch recall when the organization was reinstated, giving him even more potential for future stories. In comparison, Hanzo hasn't really done much after "killing" Genji besides leaving his clan, and canonically Genji is the only main character he's interacted with thus far. All of this is despite the fact that he is technically the ''main focus'' of ''Dragons'', considered one of the best shorts. But again, Genji completely stole the show in the short that Hanzo was supposed to be the star in, and the fact that said short doesn't paint him in the most sympathetic light doesn't help (see his entry in UnintentionallyUnsympathetic). However, as with Pharah, he is [[LGBTFanbase wildly popular]] in certain [[BaraGenre ships]].

* The quality of the story in general has divided people into camps. Plenty of fans appreciate the effort put into the world and the characters as unique, captivating and a lot of fun thanks to the vibrant presentation and colorful cast, and they're excited to see where all this potential will lead. Others see it as just that: potential strung together with unkept promises and awful pacing that prioritizes flashbacks, irrelevancies and setbacks over progression toward anything the fans actually ''want'' to see[[note]]It doesn't help that the chiefest among these is the return of Overwatch itself, i.e. the lore's ''core premise''[[/note]]. A third disregards the story entirely as hokey, comic book nonsense and sees no reason to care for it, especially when it moves so slowly and rarely intersects with gameplay. A fourth camp tries to reconcile the previous three by saying the story is enjoyable on its own merits while simultaneously admitting most of the appeal lies in the potential for what ''could'' happen and that more could definitely be done to move the narrative along.

** Spinning off from this, Torbjörn's CharacterDevelopment in the "Binary" comic. On the one hand there are definitely fans who are happy Torb didn't let his distrust of Omnics blind him to Bastion's true nature, and like the OddFriendship that seems to be forming between the two. But there are also fans who feel it's way too early in the story for Torb to be getting over his major character flaw, and that having him form a bond with Bastion this soon robs us of a more interesting conflict between the two down the line. Still others agree with the general premise of the comic, but feel Torbjörn changed his mind about Bastion way too quickly for it to be believable.
* Is Overwatch returning a good thing? Sure, the game is named after them, and they're unambiguously the good guys, but how far does that justify how badly it failed last time? Winston, Reinhardt, and Mei are all excited by the prospect of Overwatch returning while Mercy and Soldier: 76 are skeptical. Was Overwatch a good idea that only failed because of one bad egg (Reyes) or was their downfall inevitable for a group only held in check by the ethics of its members?

* Mei's waistline. There's been a lot of fanart of Mei without her jacket. Some artists make her fat while others make her not much wider than most of the girls, but also sporting large breasts and wide hips. Which one's more in canon is up for debate as all of her in-game models feature her wearing very heavy coats obscuring her figure and the only art of her without her jacket is an [[http://www.pcgamesn.com/overwatch/overwatchs-new-heroes-and-the-design-behind-them early concept piece]] which may not fully apply to how her final version is supposed to be. However, during the Summer Games, one of the new sprays includes Mei without her jacket, and (in that art, at least), she's pretty slim.
** Fast-forward to the Lunar New Year event where Mei is given 2 new skins that shows she's on the slim side, but now the question becomes how slim is too slim? One base is upset that Blizzard is trying to stealthily make the character the perceived to be fat more sexy for the general audience while the other side say it's not far-fetched due to her heavy winter clothing and that there are already several images of the character without her coat (sprays and player icons) that show her as fairly slender. Turns out, Blizzard says Mei's skins '''are''' bugged, which causes her to appear slimmer than usual[[note]](The part of her jacket below the belt does appear to be floating, giving her the tiny waist look)[[/note]], which just brought out another group claiming it's all a lie so Blizzard doesn't take flak for crumbling to demands a la the Tracer incident.

* In a similar vein to Mei, Brigitte's body shape has drawn up a lot of debate and controversy within the fanbase, namely with how it's changed over time between comics, cinematics, and her in-game appearance. Is her more muscular appearance from the "Dragons" comic to ''Honor and Glory'' and her in-game preferable to her earlier scrawnier appearance? Does her in-game model alter her design too much from her pre-rendered ''Honor and Glory'' appearance, and if so, to what extent? Does she look more generic with PowerArmor? Is it “pandering”? If so, to whom? The list goes on.
* Sombra's OlderThanSheLooks design has sparked a big debate in the fandom with varying degree of reception and reaction. Some are adamant about this, citing a similar situation with Mercy. Some think that the first group is overreacting and point out that it isn't that far-fetched for her to be 30 years old. Others believe that the profile is just misleading, considering Sombra's history of hiding from a powerful organization and hacking skills.
* The reveal that Tracer is a lesbian has led to a few broken bases: Before the reveal, Blizzard had confirmed that at least one playable character was gay for quite some time. The fact that it turned out to be Tracer has led to a few major camps: those that are ecstatic that the fact that the face of the franchise (rather than a relatively minor one) is the character in question, making a huge point for representation; those that are disappointed that the reveal is that the character is the [[LipstickLesbian young, attractive woman]], claiming that it's a relatively "safe" choice and it can be pandering to those that think GirlOnGirlIsHot rather than actual representation; and those that are upset because for the opposite reason as the first group, and believe that the reveal is pandering to "social justice." Overlapping with all three groups are [[DieForOurShip shippers]] who have mixed feelings about Emily herself, making her a BaseBreakingCharacter. Depending on where you are, the reveal has been received very differently. The [=US=] forums were lit aflame, with dozens of topic created to discuss it, argue for/against, etc. The [=EU=]'s forum reaction? "Cool, and what about gameplay updates?"
* Much like with Tracer being revealed to be a lesbian, Symmetra being confirmed to be autistic by [[WordOfGod Jeff Kaplan himself]] (it was implied in lore but not outright stated). Some don't see how it's important and accuse Blizzard of PanderingToTheBase rather than working her autism smoothly into her character and the overall picture. Others are happy to see the autistic community see representation, something that is rarely done effectively in media all the while arguing that her gameplay is reflected of symptoms of autism. Others still are happy, but concerned that players who dislike her could use it as license to mistreat autistic players, already seen as AcceptableTargets within gaming communities.
* As with any work with LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, you'll have fans arguing with each other about whether or not a character receives [[SpotlightStealingSquad too much focus]], [[OutOfFocus not]] [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter enough]], or a balanced amount of attention. Of further debate is whether or not any of these outcomes are a problem. The characters that have been accused of taking too much focus so far include Tracer[[note]]Whose [[SeriesMascot status]] naturally entails extensive use in the game's promotional materials, as well as for being prominently featured in several comics and animations and having an abundance of merchandise and legendary and epic skins, to the point of having at least one for each in-game event except for "Halloween Terror". However, she's also effectively been sitting things out ever since her loss to Doomfist during his introduction in July of 2017, which has had the double-edged effect of mitigating her exposure to those who think she has plenty while also agitating her fans, who have increasingly come to feel like nothing she's done has [[ShaggyDogStory mattered]] and that (factoring in the eight month gap between ''Alive'' and ''Reflections'') a trend has emerged of following her most discouraging moments with her longest absences[[/note]], Genji[[note]]For being closely connected to Overwatch, Zenyatta and Hanzo, and for having major ShipTease with Mercy[[/note]], Ana[[note]]For having extensive history with all of the original Overwatch team members and several others, ShipTease with several other characters, her own Origins video and a major role in three comics ("Legacy", "Old Soldiers" and "Uprising")[[/note]] and Reaper[[note]]Who is the most prominently-featured of the villainous characters and has the most -- often far-reaching -- connections to other characters through his history at both Talon and Overwatch. Reaper's biography effectively makes him two very different characters, and he has received a commensurate amount of development to explore this, with the second story-based event of ''Retribution'' being dedicated to his StartOfDarkness. Ever since ''Recall'', he's consistently managed to appear with at least a cameo roughly once every three-to-four months, which would make him one of the game's most visible characters in terms of downtime between appearances[[/note]]. Those that have been cited as having too little focus so far include Lúcio[[note]]For not having any role so far in any of the comics, animations, or in-game story events, and for having a small number of event-based skins (until the Anniversary event, at least)[[/note]], D.Va[[note]]For the same reasons, although her Lunar New Year Skin, [[FairCop "Officer D.Va" Skin]], and "Cruiser" Skin were all well-received and helped alleviate the problem. Even when she received her own short with ''Shooting Star'', it did nothing to integrate her with the rest of the cast or the main conflict, leaving her confined to the South Korean MEKA program with no other connections for the foreseeable future[[/note]], and Zarya [[note]]Again, for the same reasons, [[WTHCostumingDepartment especially regarding the quality of her skins]]. The [[TheStinger final scene]] of ''Infiltration'' appeared to set up finally giving her the [[ADayInTheLimelight spotlight]] at some point, which belatedly arrived nearly eleven months later with ''Searching'' and revolved so much around Sombra that some felt it told us more about her than the comic's alleged star[[/note]]. Funnily enough, most of these characters HAVE received equal focus... in ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm''.
* Sahr Ngaujah as Doomfist. While few have any problems with his performance on its own merits, there's a divide in the fanbase due to the fact that Doomfist isn't played by Creator/TerryCrews, the guy that had a gigantic internet campaign to voice Doomfist, and he himself said he would love to play the character. Some say that Sahr's voice acting fits Doomfist better, giving him an applicable accent and a [[ColdHam stone-cold yet bombastic performance]]. Compared to Crews' mock audition which was [[LargeHam very hammy]], [[NotEvenBotheringWithTheAccent but lacked the accent]]. They also argue that it avoids turning Doomfist into another "meme character" like D.Va and Mei, given that his characterization is as one of Talon's leaders, it would be hard for him to be taken seriously if played by Crews. Also, ''Overwatch'' had primarily cast [[DarkhorseCasting lesser-knowns]] with even the best-known actors in the cast being nowhere near as famous as Crews, and having a CelebrityVoiceActor would be too distracting. However, Crews was [[JustForFun/OneOfUs such a]] [[BigNameFan big fan]] of ''VideoGame/{{Overwatch}}'' and was so passionate about the idea, that many feel it was a missed opportunity, not to mention that the campaign to get Crews to voice Doomfist was what [[AscendedFanon elevated him to becoming playable]] to begin with[[note]]Blizzard originally had no intention of making Doomfist playable in the game[[/note]]. Also, Crews is proven as an actor and it's argued he would be likely be able to capture Doomfist's character. In any case, Crews congratulated Sahr for his performance on the role, so it evidently doesn't bother him.

** On that note, the main conflict itself. So far, Talon has either worked around or met no setbacks with enacting their agenda and have ultimately [[TheBadGuyWins come out on top]] in each encounter they've had with Overwatch, who have spent years in-story and out being either swatted aside by their enemies or succeeding in ways that we [[ShaggyDogStory can't]] [[HappyEndingOverride fully]] [[OffScreenMomentOfAwesome appreciate]], and their main goal of rebuilding has barely been touched upon. Either you think Blizzard is laying the necessary foundation of stakes and rivalries to ensure a compelling conflict against a credible threat that will pay off later, or you think they've had more than enough time to move past the basics and have instead allowed the main heroes to come across as [[FailureHero ineffective]] and the narrative to deteriorate into [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption something antithetical]] to [[HopeSpringsEternal what was initially promised.]] Regardless of opinion, most agree that it is ''not'' the uplifting story of heroes reuniting it was billed as, and that if the writers even still want people to stay invested, they need to start offering more than a hypothetical scenario as an incentive.
* The lore's distribution model, which is spread across multiple platforms. Some are fine with it, as they find the game itself very fun and appreciate not feeling [[ArchivePanic pressured]] to follow its narrative while knowing it's there for them to experience at their own pace should they feel so inclined. But, considering how much emphasis the game itself places on the characters, others prefer to stay caught up and find it tedious to search and sift through multiple websites, blogs, videos, tweets, et cetera, and wish the lore was more centralized. Further compounding the issue is the game's [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters large and growing roster.]] The lore already has trouble juggling everyone, especially with its [[ArcFatigue frequent droughts of content]], and representation varies wildly among the cast. Even at a rate of one new character every four months, many fans think the cast is expanding at a faster rate than the lore can keep pace without risking some characters to [[OutOfFocus fall by the wayside.]] Even years into the game's lifespan with its current cast, some characters have ''still'' received no attention (most notably Lúcio and Zenyatta, both playable since launch; D.Va also went years with no attention, and when she finally got some with ''Shooting Star'', it still kept her isolated from the main plot and rest of the cast), and the narrative remains in its nascent stages with Talon's [[EvilPlan plan]] becoming only incipiently clear and Overwatch having only gathered a handful of its former members in response.

* Regarding the [[ArcFatigue tectonic speed]] of new lore releases, there are two camps: The optimists and the pessimists. For the former, it's speculated that Blizzard has planned something huge, all-encompassing, filled with lore goodness and storytelling, and potentially [[WhamEpisode momentous]] in nature, and are taking their time to prepare and ensure the reveal is done proper justice which means that smaller things like 10-page comics and the rare animated short are focused on less in the meantime. For the latter, they believe that Blizzard has lost interest, given up, or just plain forgotten about the lore as a whole and have regressed to only releasing new content when necessary (such as for the Archives event or new character introductions), relying on ''Overwatch League'' to promote the series. The latter feeling has intensified through 2017 and 2018, which even together have seen only a relative handful of lore materials released compared to the dozen or so individual pieces issued in 2016. However, the former got a boost when it was announced that award-winning SpeculativeFiction writer Alyssa Wong was joining the team as a permanent member, with the ad that got her hired specifying the ability to develop the story and universe, among other very promising details.
* And as time goes on with little progression made, the amount of attention the lore invests into backstory has increasingly become more divisive. On one hand, the history of Overwatch, its agents and its world is integral to the narrative's foundation, and a lot of fans appreciate the scrutiny this period has received for [[CharacterDevelopment providing context]] for the characters and their actions in ways the present can't easily accommodate. On the other hand, the main premise of seeing the organization rebuilt is inherently rooted in its future, not its past; and the issue has barely progressed since ''Recall'', with only four agents total confirmed to be onboard and the few strides they've since made severely [[HappyEndingOverride diminished]] by external factors. Many have come to find the theme of [[OrderReborn new beginnings]] to be undercut by a fixation on the past, which has offered the bulk of development to the old guard of the original strike team while the younger generation drifts aimlessly[[note]]Or even the old guard as well, for that matter. To wit, Soldier: 76 and Reaper currently share more screentime together and have received more development as Jack Morrison and Gabriel Reyes than as their present-day selves, and ''Honor and Glory'' is functionally a flashback episode about a young Reinhardt during the Omnic Crisis while his more familiar present-day self just mopes in Eichenwalde[[/note]]. Fans of Lúcio and Zenyatta are particularly frustrated, because [[OutOfFocus neither of them has received any focus]] despite being available since launch[[note]]D.Va was also infamous for receiving no attention in over two years until ''Shooting Star'' was released; tellingly, Brigitte automatically had more lore presence than all three of them ''combined'' at the time of her implementation in early 2018 due to having already made a modest number of appearances[[/note]], and even fans of more prominently-featured characters like Tracer, Ana and Winston are annoyed because they think the writers' reluctance to move things along has kept them stuck in a rut of [[ShaggyDogStory futility and loss]] for far too long. The flashbacks are still appreciated for the development and world-building they offer, but many have come to feel they've taken a disproportionate amount of attention compared to more pressing issues that have long gone unaddressed.
* Sigma's design, especially his barefoot became hugely controversial after the designer artist [[https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/24/20708347/overwatch-sigma-bare-feet-explanation-why-mental-health-concept-art stated]] that he is barefoot to "[[HollywoodPersonalityDisorders sell the asylum look]]". Horribly stereotypical and offensive or TruthInTelevision? Another group doesn't really care and want people to focus on the rest of his design.

* Soldier: 76 has received a mixed-to-negative response in term of gameplay, which has been deried due to its similarity to common FPS games such as ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty'' and ''{{VideoGame/Halo}}''. Next to the extremely colourful cast with their varied and interesting abilities, Soldier: 76 is extremely plain with his standard assault rifle and mundane sprint. Furthermore, his ultimate ability is essentially an in-game aimbot which removes the necessity of aiming and got ''worse'' the better you play at him, further damning his status among fans. This has split the fanbase, as some accept the character as a gateway for newer players to make Overwatch more accessible, while others condemn him for the same reasons.
* Mei. In gameplay, she's seen as simultaneously a nuisance and a benefit to both teams. If she catches an enemy unaware with her freeze ray, they'll usually be frozen before they can escape (even the ninja brothers have their wall-climbing disabled while being frozen). Her icicles can snipe almost as well as (and in some cases ''better'' than) Hanzo's arrows or Widowmaker's ''sniper rifle''. And her Blizzard is one of the better team-killing attacks, doing a similar job to Graviton Surge except enemies can't attack while affected by it. And finally, her Ice Wall gets hate from ''both'' sides, because it not only hinders the enemy but allies as well. Her ambushes in particular are so infuriating that [[https://www.reddit.com/r/WatchMeiDie a subreddit specifically dedicated to videos of her being killed]] garnered 5000 subscribers.
* Bastion. A team entirely of Bastions can halt a game to a nigh-crawl, and its style of combat is considered to be lazy and a way to farm Plays of the Game. The existence of strategies to deal with it only make matters worse, since they create a divide between players who think Bastion needs to be {{nerf}}ed and players who think Bastion is fine and that those struggling against it just need to learn how to counter it.
* Lúcio. He is either a character with a fun and unique playstyle that doesn't rely on aiming and dealing damage but on positioning, escaping and cooldown management or a boring low impact aurabot that is only considered a must pick since launch because of his speed boost. Of further debate is whether or not his rework has removed, alleviated, worsen or done nothing to this problem to the people who hates him or alienate his original fanbase.

* Pharah. After her flight got a buff, allowing her to stay in the air longer, the fanbase has been fairly divided about her. Some say she's impossible to hit due to her aerial mobility limiting what attacks can reach her, rendering some characters almost entirely ineffective against her. some say the complainers are just whining because they can't aim, that her pickrates at higher ranks do not support the argument that she's overpowered, and that her ultimate[[note]]While Barrage is powerful, it makes Pharah completely immobile, resulting in a lot of deaths while using it[[/note]],overall damage per second when compared to other characters and inability to inflict headshots balances out her advantages. some say she's fine until a Mercy comes into play[[note]] Mercy is just about the only support hero who can synergize well with Pharah, since her ability to fly to any hero and passive that lets her float slowly down instead of falling straight down let Pharah and Mercy fly together well, which, combined with Mercy's ability to boost the damage of any hero, has made for a famously good combination.[[/note]], and some say that she doesn't fit in Overwatch at all. The amount of threads on the official forums about her number in the hundreds.
* Doomfist's build-up made him highly anticipated among one section of the player base and dreaded among another for being, at the time, yet another offense-oriented character who would potentially further make tank and defense-oriented characters irrelevant. Once he debuted, his kit took some flak for being uninspired (a popular sticking point is how the ostensible melee character has a shotgun, apparently because Blizzard got cold feet about making a pure melee character), and his playstyle proved to live up to his hype a bit ''too'' well for a lot of the base; considered fair by some, by others as insufficiently balanced by his low range and by nearly ''everyone'' as misleading due to some striking HitboxDissonance. Then, practically overnight, the dynamic flipped: patches reduced his hitboxes to a debilitating extent, bugs were rampant with his design and players just gradually figured out how to counter him, sending him from the top to the bottom practically as soon as he'd arrived. Later patches have helped rebalance him to an extent, but players remain torn as to whether he is effective or easily countered; balanced or cheap; and memorable or now just another face in the gallery who made a chaotic first impression.

* Just about everything regarding Mercy's Season 6 rework[[labelnote:explanation]]Moving ''Ressurect'' to being a weaker basic ability and giving her a new SuperMode ultimate that greatly buffs her mobility, utility, survivability, and damage[[/labelnote]] is wildly contentious. Fair, considering she could undo a pentakill with just the press of a button in her old playstyle? Or highly hypocritical, considering most offense heroes' ultimate similarly amounted to "press a button for potential team kill"? Is her new ultimate a fair compromise that makes her gameplay more interesting but remains stable, or is it just making her pander more to players that just want to play DPS and makes other heroes (like Zenyatta or Orisa) redundant? As well, expect any further changes (mostly nerfs) to be a point of contention.
* Brigitte has broken the base like never before, with players either believing she's completely balanced or the most overpowered character ever introduced; thinking she's the most unfun character (boring to play as and frustrating to play against) or an extremely fun, high-impact Support; frustrated that a character with such easy execution is so powerful or satisfied with the amount of strategy and cooldown management that goes into playing her... and so on and so on. \\
Most of the debates come from her status as AntiMetagameCharacter and whether or not she should be a hard counter (picking the characters she counters makes you useless) or a soft one (picking the characters she counters puts you at a disadvantage, but you can still play around her). The former camp argues that it's about time Tracer and Genji finally get a reliable counter to them, that Brigitte isn't different from Pharah, Widowmaker, Reaper, Bastion and that the only reason the latter camp is protesting is that they want supports to be free kills and/or that she happens to counter Tracer and Genji, two of the most popular characters in high-level and professional play, which means that the complaints about her are unwarranted. The latter camp argues that the amount of zone and hero control she brings is too much and achieved with less effort than most other characters or compositions, that compositions built around her are more difficult to take down that most other compositions, and that even for a hard counter, her kit is overloaded, and the problem lies in the fact that while she does counter Tracer and Genji, she also counters a great deal of other characters in her doing so, notably sustained-damage characters like Soldier: 76.
* What sort of Tank is Wrecking Ball, and what factors (team/enemy composition, map, etc.) make him viable? In large part, the answer relies on how the person classifies the types of Tanks. (See the Main/Off debate below.) In the first year of his release, most high level players came to see him as a Main Tank, because the job of a Main Tank is to "make space" and provide a way for their team to get into a valued position with minimal risk. For Tanks like Reinhardt and Orisa, their shields make it obvious how to accomplish that. But for Wrecking Ball (and, to a lesser extent, Winston) this is primarily done by being an annoyance and a distraction; it's hard for a team to shoot at enemies when a giant space animal is knocking them around and attacking their back lines. Other players, particularly those in the lower or middle tiers of the online ranks, scoff at the idea that Wrecking Ball is a "Main Tank" at all and will always ask for a Reinhardt or another "Shield Tank".

* As is usual for any multiplayer exclusive title, the friction between casual fans who play for fun and competitive fans who play to win is just as intense here as you would find in any other similar community. Casual fans think Competitive mode is a pit of losers who take playing a video game too seriously and get inordinately angry at what should be considered entertainment. Competitive fans think Quick Play mode is a cesspool of morons who don’t even try to win and would happily form a team of six Meis just to amuse themselves.
* The fact that the game itself has no story mode beyond three weeks of the Archives event every year. Some are fine with that since they can play the games consequence free, while also enjoying the comics, books and videos for the lore. Others who prefer games to have a story mode state that the game isn't worth the price if it's just an online playground. Some people are just upset the game doesn't have a single player-mode at all, meaning you not only ''have'' to play with and rely on others, but you also have to be connected to the Internet in order to simply boot up the game (alongside a [=PlayStation=] Plus or Xbox Live Gold subscription if playing on consoles).
* Not unlike ''VideoGame/{{Touhou}}'', a significant portion of the community comprises [[FanworkOnlyFans "secondaries"]]: people who neither own nor play the game, but consider themselves fans through the appeal of the characters, lore and fan art. How well secondaries get along with "primaries" can vary drastically depending on the venue, with relations generally escalating from acceptance to tolerance to outright hostility as the level of competitiveness increases.

** Magnified with the Summer Games event, where new event cosmetics could ONLY be acquired through loot boxes. Combined with the limited time, some people don't mind the stronger rarity making those cosmetics more special, others take issue that the system clearly targets getting people to buy boxes with cash because there's no way to increase your chances (coins are blocked off and duplicates are still present, so only straight RNG is in play) and the limited window means that taking your time with free boxes isn't optimal. [[WinBackTheCrowd This was slightly dampened with future events]] where cosmetics were made available using in-game coins (albeit at ''triple'' the price), but some players who don't have enough coins are still peeved by the system.
** The ''Uprising'' and ''Anniversary'' cosmetics also suffer from this problem as the events were also limited in time, and has been a sore spot for those complaining about how much things are restricted to events, even lore events not tied to any real-world date, or anniversaries intended to celebrate the game's existence.

* Due to the variety of playable characters with unique playstyles, many players often disagree on a few characters' places under Overwatch's [[AnAdventurerIsYou Offense/Defense/Tank/Support]] labelling system, which is a problem especially for competitive players due to the importance of team composition. Is Symmetra a Support or a Defense hero? Is Mei a Defense or an off-tank? Is Zenyatta a Support or an Offense with a healing ability like Soldier: 76? Is Sombra really an Offense with her low damage or an aggressive and unique Support? Conflicts like this can be troubling when forming proper team compositions, due to equal parts of players who try to form teams on individual attributes to players who follow the game's recommendation system to a T. Blizzard simplified the classifications into Damage, Tank, and Heal to simplify things and make the recommendation system a little more spot on, but there's still some debate (like the aforementioned Zenyatta and Soldier 76's role between Damage and Heal)
* Auto-aim weapons like Symmetra and Winston's primary fire. Players either have little problem with this mechanic or widely despise it; either it is an appropriate and balanced choice given the characters that have it (Winston needs to stick to targets to get his damage off and is very vulnerable to focus-fire, while Symmetra's only other damaging ability is a slow-moving orb), or reduces those characters to [[AttackAttackAttack mindless attackers for whom the best strategy is to rush directly at the enemy.]]
* The Lúcio rework at March 2017[[labelnote:Explanation]]his healing and speed boost now have a radius of ten meters (down from thirty) but his healing will recieve a fifty percent boost both normally and when using Amp It Up, his projectile speed has been increased to fifty (up from forty), his Soundwave can now move targets vertically, and he now moves thirty percent faster while wall riding and recieves a brief boost of speed when he jumps off of the wall, and his Sound Barrier now has a radius of twenty meters (down from thirty)[[/labelnote]] on the PTR has caused some debate. Some argue that it was a long time coming, and that Lúcio was WAY [[ComplacentGamingSyndrome too dominant]] at higher levels of play and needed to be brought back into balance, and also argue that he was a very boring character to play (see BaseBreakingCharacter above). Others argue that this will severely hurt Lúcio's ability to do his job as a healer/speed booster, and that the solution wasn't a rework, it was to either create a hero who could also fill his niche or create a hero who more effectively countered his speed, and some are also worried that the much-reviled Triple-Tank Meta could be brought back with the changes to his healing.
* A common approach to team composition is to sub-divide the three categories (Damage/Tank/Support) into "Main" and "Off" roles. [[note]]For instance, Tracer, Soldier and [=McCree=] are "Main DPS", while Reaper, Sombra, or Symmetra would be "Off" DPS. Reinhardt and Orisa are "Main Tanks" while D.Va, Roadhog and Zarya are "Off Tanks", and Moira and Ana are "Main Healers" while Lucio, Zenyatta and Brigitte are "Off Healers".[[/note]] This causes a lot of controversy and disagreements, such as when two players pick two "Off" roles, creating what many perceive to be weaknesses in the team.
** This is most prominent in the Tank role, with many players having competing views of what "Main" and "Off" means--high level players define a "Main" Tank as one that "creates space" for their team by either making an area safe to use or by forcing an enemy to retreat, but low level players tend to define "Main Tank" by how capable a character is of shielding their team. Calling Wrecking Ball (or to a lesser degree, Winston) a Main Tank will often cause mockery from players who hold the latter perception, because Winston's barrier is not capable of withstanding enemy fire for very long, and Wrecking Ball has ''no type of barrier at all''. This is also partially the result of most players not knowing how to effectively utilize either character, whether playing as them or with them on their team. D.Va is also somewhat affected by this issue, as many people use her the same way Winston and Wrecking Ball are (diving and eliminating a single target) while in high-level play she's largely used to protect the "Main Tank" and other key teammates.
** The Support problem is somewhat less contentious, if only because the roles are far more straightforward and the definition of "Main" and "Off" Healer is more universally understood--a Main Support provides the bulk of the team's healing while the Off Support is more useful for utility and clutch defense. This simple definition, however, was tested by a nerf to Mercy's healing (down to 50 per second from 60) and the introduction of Baptiste. Mercy offers very little in the way of utility, but her lessened healing is often seen as lackluster on top of that[[note]]Mercy offers more overall healing due to the lack of aiming or positioning restrictions, but her healing is far easier to out-damage than Ana or Moira.[[/note]], leading to confusion as to what her role on a team is meant to be. While Baptiste offers lots of healing [[note]]75 per second with his secondary fire, plus another 30 from his Regen Burst cooldown, plus almost '''double this''' while his Ultimate is in play[[/note]], it's also much more situational. He also has one of the best clutch defense abilities in the game (Immortality Field), which debatably fits more into the Off Support role despite his amazing healing ability. Thus, the sub-categorization of those two characters is constantly under debate, while there's usually consensus about the rest.
* Mobility versus Crowd Control. Many players have claimed to notice a building "mobility creep" in Overwatch, with many characters receiving buffs to their mobility (Winston, Widowmaker, Hanzo, Mercy, and Symmetra, just to name a few) and new, highly mobile characters being introduced (Sombra, Doomfist and Wrecking Ball, in particular). This came to a head when, for more than a year, a "Dive Meta" featuring extremely mobile heroes (Tracer, D.Va Winston and Genji) was nigh-unbeatable at high levels. Blizzard made several attempts to reign these characters in, culminating in the release of Brigitte, a character that excels in aoe damage, stuns and knockback to thwart the mobile heroes. But this shifted complaints to the abundance of "crowd control" introduced to the game since launch (stuns, knockback, disabling, etc.). Case in point, of the eight new characters introduced, ''SEVEN'' of them have at least one type of CC, while most have multiple types. This has sparked a debate over which is more overpowered: too much mobility or too much crowd control. Naturally, some players don't care what's more broken and would like to see ''both'' reduced so that characters who rely solely on aim or single-point defense can finally be viable again.

* Vampire Symmetra: Whitewashing? Or sensible considering vampires are usually depicted to be pale and the first group is overreacting? A few members of the latter camp often point out that it's just a halloween costume and that Symmetra is likely just wearing makeup, but those who argue the former claim there is no good reason for Blizzard to give the darkest-skinned character in the game such a light skin, and that they should have gone for a darker greyscale.
* Zarya's skins, Legendary skins in particular have been very contentious among the playerbase, simply on whether they're [[SoOkayItsAverage just okay]] to [[WTHCostumingDepartment just plain ugly and gaudy.]] Zarya's "Cyberian" legendary released during the 1st Anniversary event is one of the most impressively divisive skins, with half the fanbase seeing it as Zarya being once-again cheated in the skin department, and the other half saying "Finally, Zarya's got a good legendary skin!"

* Some skins require playing ''VideoGame/HeroesOfTheStorm'' on the same Blizzard account to unlock. This is pretty much a non-issue for those who play both games, and there are those who like that it encourages people to play ''Heroes'' especially since the game is free to start, but others [[ScrappyMechanic dislike]] the notion of having to play a dramatically different game just to unlock skins. Then it was announced that the Oni Genji and Officer D.Va skins would be coming to normal loot boxes less than a month after the release of the latter. Some were happy that they didn't have to play ''Heroes'', others were pissed feeling that their hard work went to waste.

** One-tricking[[note]]The practice of only playing a single hero majority of the time on an account.[[/note]] is considered a hot-button topic especially in competitive circles, with many arguments revolving around whether or not it should be punishable. Many decry it as an annoying and selfish practice that hurts a game that specifically emphasizes proper hero picks, counters and adaptation, and say that it makes teamwork [[TeethClenchedTeamwork difficult, if not impossible]]. But it also has its defenders, citing the potential for off-meta strategies and compositions without being disruptive, stating that the only way to practice characters is to use them repeatedly, and arguing that the threat of being banned for not following in the meta makes the game restrictive and boring. [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/comments/7jtpsb/jeff_confirms_that_onetricking_is_not_bannable/ Blizzard has gone on record multiple times]] saying one-tricking isn't inherently bannable, but poor teamwork and disruptive play ''is''... [[DistinctionWithoutADifference which hasn't done much to quell the many arguments.]]
* How much is the community to blame for the game's faults, and how much of them are the developers' fault? [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnfzzz8pIBE Jeff Kaplan has stated]] that attempting to resolve toxicity is pulling resources away from other content, [[https://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20759346970?page=4#post-75 and also that responding to general feedback]] can be scary as devs due to the risk of extreme backlash, meaning they have to be very careful with their words. Considering Blizzard is such a big and successful company, there's been a lot of debate as to whether this is [[WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings unfortunate, but sensible]] in face of [[UnpleasableFanbase a huge, hard-to-universally-please fanbase]], or that Blizzard is completely capable of shifting resources among departments to solve issues the fanbase has with the game, but doesn't in favor for other priorities (their pride about changing things their way, not wanting to admit mistakes, their focus on the League(see below for more on that one), ...), and that Jeff is attempting to shift the blame from the rightful culprits onto the playerbase.

** Should the League even exist? On one hand, ''Overwatch'' is the first hero shooter for many, and there are many mechanics present[[note]]"low skill" heroes like Torb, Symmetra, and Mercy, heavy emphasis on hard counters causing matches to boil down to TacticalRockPaperScissors, wildly fluctuating and mostly imbalanced meta[[/note]] that don't point the game as being oriented toward professional play. On the other hand, the wide cast of playable characters create an interesting MetaGame, and while ''Overwatch'' can be less skill-intensive than other team based, competitive-oriented shooters like ''[[VideoGame/TeamFortress2 TF2]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/CounterStrike CS;GO]]'', it has far more emphasis on team coordination, which is arguably more important than individual skill in those aforementioned shooters.
** Is it taking too much focus away from developers to the depends of the rest of the game? In September 2017, jeff Kaplan stated that the slowing down of content was due to them shifting focus to prepare the Overwatch League (create a better spectator mode, etc...). Should the game still be for a casual audience, or toward professionals?

* Reaper, the game's "grimdark" hero, has several divided camps. There are those who unironically appreciate his edgy design, those who appreciate it from a [[NarmCharm cheesy-but-effective perspective]] or an unintentionally-hilarious perspective, and those who find him obnoxious and annoying.
** Reaper's motivations. The initial GreenEyedMonster characterization he received feels flat and unbelievable to many fans, and seems to ran counter to some lore releases. Coupled with the devs releasing hints that there's a lot more to Reaper's story than what has been presented and that his motivations may be far more complex, a segment of fandom--particularly those who ship Reaper with Soldier: 76--have come to speculate that Reaper is actually working to destroy Talon from within and is putting on an "edgy" act for the benefit of observers, friendly or otherwise, and wish that the devs would just stop mucking about and get on with his story already.
* While some applauded Zarya for being of a different build than all of the other female characters, others criticized her for being a stereotypical HuskyRusskie woman with a far more simple and generic design than all of the other characters. Given the view that she was designed to appease feminist criticism of the game, debates regarding her can get quite heated. [[WhatTheHellIsThatAccent Her dodgy accent]] also doesn't do her any favor for Russian fans.
* Tracer's dodgy accent combined with her role as a hit-and-run oriented harasser who appears to have been designed specifically to cause as much annoyance for the opposition as possible has earned her the ire of some players, especially those who see her [[GenkiGirl personality]] as cloying and one-note. Others find her frantic style of play to be exciting, fun and [[DifficultButAwesome rewarding]] and regard her capacity to remain so hopeful, kind and upbeat in the face of such overwhelming darkness and adversity to make her one of the cast's most charming and likable characters.
** Being the SeriesMascot also naturally opens her up to fire from some corners. Some think her unique combination of design, personality and playstyle makes her a good choice that captures the game's [[RuleOfFun spirit]] and stands out compared to the [[ActionGenreHeroGuy traditional]] shooter mascot, others wish her position was at least shared with other characters given the roster’s [[LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters size and variety]], and others go so far as to say she "doesn’t deserve" such a status.
** As the face of the series, she's been afforded a lot of attention in the story, leaving some to feel she's [[SpotlightStealingSquad overexposed]] or "has enough" compared to other characters. But others take the opposite view and think her appearances have poorly represented her by [[ShaggyDogStory rendering nearly all of her actions moot]] and by having her be little more than a [[CurbStompBattle speed bump]] to her opponent every time she goes one-on-one. You'll likely see this as either a necessary evil to maintain tension and prevent her from being seen as the [[CreatorsPet "favorite"]][[note]]Anyone who has followed Blizzard's work in recent years would know they are no strangers to the effect of [[CharacterShilling overselling]] a character and receiving backlash for it, so it's not unreasonable to assume they would exercise more caution with the face of a new IP[[/note]] or a frustrating disservice that's [[TheWorfEffect under]][[BadassDecay mined]] her credibility as both one of the marquis heroes and as a character whose whole identity is built on taking the initiative to make a difference[[note]]It also doesn't help that her low moments tend to have more "shelf life" than her high ones due to how her defeats have each been followed up by a complete leave of absence stretching over half or even an entire year[[/note]]. Particularly irritated fans are quick to point out Creator/StevenSpielberg portrayed her more constructively with [[Film/ReadyPlayerOne2018 a few small cameos]] than her own creators have in ages. And despite her screentime, she's been afforded [[AngstWhatAngst nearly no comment]] regarding some of her most grievous hardships, which has led to some additional concern over whether the writers are [[TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot neglecting her development]] or -- like so many other things -- if they're just [[ArcFatigue taking their time]]. Blizzard's own history with writing their heroines hasn't helped, as some of her more alarmist fans have gone as far to start doomsaying she's already on her way to becoming the next [[VideoGame/{{Warcraft}} Jaina]] or [[VideoGame/DiabloIII Leah]] while others try to stay hopeful and see no reason in jumping to conclusions while the narrative is still in its formative stages[[note]][[MortonsFork Of course]], referring to a period of two years as "formative stages" is liable to open another can of worms regarding the lore's pacing[[/note]].

*** While some find Tracer being a "safe" choice to make LGBT representation (being both thin and white which are very popular traits for mainstream gay characters) others were found it a bold move because Tracer is essentially the face of the game. She's on the cover of every game, is prominent on much of the merchandise, and is the go-to representative for Overwatch on other mediums and thus can't be ignored or brushed under the rug.

** Her personality is something fans have been split on liking, mostly depending on whether you find her competitive GamerChick persona bratty and obnoxious or endearing and cute. [[TakeAThirdOption Or both]]. Even those who do like her personality are [[http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/001/131/321/f12.jpg split on exactly]] ''what'' that personality is. Is she an ultra-cute and sexy {{Moe}} anime "waifu", or is she a foul-mouthed, Dorito-munching, Mountain Dew-drinking gamer? What we see of her in-game personality supports ''both'' interpretations; she's definitely cute and conventionally attractive, but she also has massive egotistical, immature and competitive streaks as well. And then there are those who otherwise don't mind her, but think her entire "trash-talking gamer girl" gimmick combined with her largely being divorced from the main Overwatch/Talon conflict makes her a walking [[MoodWhiplash tonal inconsistency]]. Then ''Shooting Star'' was released and threw enough of a wrench into the popular perception of the character to warrant its own section below.

** Her characterization in ''Shooting Star'' contradicts much of what was believed about her personality, with predictable results. Rather than the [[TrashTalk cocky]], [[AttentionWhore egocentric]] [[GamerGirl celebrity gamer]] she had been portrayed as up until that point, she is shown to be a hard-working, selfless and focused heroine who takes her duties very seriously and whose public persona is just that: a facade. Depending on who you ask, this either ruins her appeal by making her just like all the other heroic characters while also diluting the aspects that distinguished her or makes her more interesting by adding depth and layers that were only hinted at before. That she's shown to sometimes view her facade with contempt also struck some of her fans as a [[TakeThatAudience swipe against them]] from Blizzard for liking the character the way ''they themselves'' had been presenting her for years. Another group can appreciate both interpretations, but cry foul at the decision to portray her as one after depicting her as the other for so long with little foreshadowing. Further, the [[GameplayAndStorySegregation contrast]] between her in-game mechanics and how her MEKA canonically works also met with contention, especially the way its self-destruct is portrayed as a desperate, last ditch tactic prompted by shooting its malfunctioning core at a distance instead of as a built-in function of the machine.
* Mei gets a lot of both love and hate for a list of reasons. Before she was even released, she was criticized by fans (particularly Chinese ones) for not being sufficiently "Chinese", with some fans disliking her for ''possibly'' being the only "pudgy" girl in the game. On the other hand, Japanese fans love her cuteness, and "body-posi" fans enjoy the idea of a heavyset heroine. This got even worse when she was actually released (see above).

* Symmetra's position in the lore makes her into an example of this. One camp considers her a sympathetic [[TheWoobie woobie]] who was deceived by Vishkar since childhood and a compelling NobleTopEnforcer with autism. Another camp believes that merely serving Vishkar (considered an evil [[{{Hypocrite}} hypocritical]] MegaCorp) and going along with or justifying their ideals (combined with a smug attitude) makes her one-dimensional, delusional, unsympathetic and annoying. Since she can be given both DracoInLeatherPants and RonTheDeathEater treatments, it's hard to find a middle ground for her.
* Pharah is sometimes considered to have one of the least-defined personalities in the game, and doesn't interact a lot with other characters outside of inquiring about what Overwatch was like (when speaking to former Overwatch members) or talking about her mother. While she usually isn't hated to the point of being TheScrappy, her detractors often don't find a lot interesting about her character or place in the world of Overwatch (especially compared to her mother Ana), and though she has her own comic, characters with less story attention (D.Va and Zarya (until their short and comic, respectively), and Lúcio are usually cited) can seem to stand out more. On the other hand, [[LGBTFanbase among]] certain [[AmazonChaser circles]], she's wildly popular.
* Hanzo is in a similar camp as Pharah, being that he is considered to have a less-defined story and personality, and is overshadowed by a relative. He's often overlooked (when he doesn't have a MemeticLoser status for the derogatory insult "Hanzo mains"), and tends to get overshadowed by his younger brother Genji. Partially, this is because his CyberNinja design helps him stand out more compared to Hanzo looking mundane by contrast, but also the fact that Genji is much more active and involved with the current story of ''Overwatch''. He's a former Overwatch/Blackwatch agent with all sorts of adventures, has a more developed character arc with more connections to other characters such as [[TheMentor Zenyatta]], [[ShipTease Mercy]], [[SociallyAwkwardHero Winston]], [[TheSquadette Tracer]], [[BashBrothers McCree]], [[BrokenPedestal Reaper]], and [[BigBadEnsemble Doomfist]], and was part of the Overwatch recall when the organization was reinstated, giving him even more potential for future stories. In comparison, Hanzo hasn't really done much after "killing" Genji besides leaving his clan, and canonically Genji is the only main character he's interacted with thus far. All of this is despite the fact that he is technically the ''main focus'' of ''Dragons'', considered one of the best shorts. But again, Genji completely stole the show in the short that Hanzo was supposed to be the star in as well as the fact that said shorts doesn't paint him in the most sympathetic lights doesn't help (see his entry in UnintentionallyUnsympathetic). However, as with Pharah, he is [[LGBTFanbase wildly popular]] in certain [[BaraGenre ships]].
* Widowmaker tends to be a character who is appreciated more for story than for gameplay, where her reception has been [[TierInducedScrappy less-than-]][[MemeticLoser stellar]], particularly for bad players who intsa-lock her. That said, even in that regard there is some contention. Her backstory is generally seen to be the [[TragicVillain saddest]] of the entire cast, due to how she was ripped away from her life as the [[HappilyMarried loving wife]] of an Overwatch agent to be [[ForcedIntoEvil molded into a living weapon]] [[BrainwashedAndCrazy by no choice of her own]], ultimately killing the one she loved most for her first mission. Unarguably tragic. However, she is also responsible and gleefully unapologetic for some severely consequential misdeeds, sometimes directly to the detriment of other characters, and this unique blend of tragedy and villainy has divided people over how much leniency she should be granted. Some fans love her for having such a haughty, composed demeanor [[AwesomeEgo while proving herself to be lethally efficient]] and find her aforementioned backstory to offer her a great degree of sympathy in spite of her actions that makes her a tragically compelling figure. Others can't stand her for more or less the same reasons, seeing her instead as an [[SmugSnake infuriatingly smug]] KarmaHoudini whose victories have all come at the expense of less-nebulously sympathetic characters and whose humanizing qualities are no excuse for her otherwise loathsome behavior. In short, she has both pitiable and repulsive qualities, and your opinion of her will likely depend on how much you think one counteracts the other, as well as whether or not you've become fond of any character she has wronged and how willing you are to sympathize with someone who has hurt them with neither regret nor consequence.

** Even within her own fanbase, the issue is not entirely cut and dry due to a divide as to ''how'' they appreciate her. Many believe she should break free from the brainwashing and [[HeelFaceTurn pull an about-face]] to help bring down Talon as a member of Overwatch while [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone dealing with the guilt]] [[TheAtoner of the many atrocities she committed as Widowmaker]]. However, there's also a vocal portion of her fanbase who appreciate her ''because'' [[EvilIsCool her remorseless nature is a core part of her identity as the game's iconic villainess]], and believe that having her regret her actions and become redeemed is an overdone cliché that would make no sense, undermine her appeal and introduce a slew of new problems (as detailed above). The few -- but meaningful -- glimpses we see of her humanity resurfacing, with the implication that [[AndIMustScream her former identity still exerts some measure of influence and emotional connection from deep inside]], has allowed the pro-redemption side to gain an increasing amount of traction, but the odds of the community at large reaching a consensus are so long that upon the day an answer ''is'' given regarding her fate, whatever it might be, it's unlikely to make the whole fanbase universally happy.
* Sombra: a [[{{Troll}} fun and amusing]] addition to the roster who made all of her build-up worthwhile with a unique play style that rewards quick thinking and creativity and an introduction that carries intriguing implications for future story developments… or a smarmy, unlikable jerk who was not worth the hype with a maddeningly convoluted moveset, an introduction that diverted resources away from longer-established and less-contentious characters, and [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking an awful haircut?]] Bring her up anywhere the game is discussed, and you'll likely find responses ranging from one to the other to every possible variation in between. Time and separation from the ordeal of her introduction has allowed her to be viewed more objectively and accrue some goodwill, but some antipathy remains, especially among those who found other reasons to dislike her.
** ''Masquerade'' and ''Searching'' threw some more fuel onto the fire by diluting several of her accomplishments[[note]]The former reveals that Talon is aware of her actions with undermining Volskaya's assassination and are keeping an eye on her despite every precaution she took to keep it covert, and the latter reveals that the executive she forced to step down was reinstated, and it goes even further to have her carefully-hidden identity compromised by the end[[/note]] and revealing her to be guilty of some shockingly questionable decisions for someone of her credentials[[note]]What kind of expert hacker and master of stealth doesn't anticipate and account for ''security cameras?'' And what kind of criminal mastermind gets ratted out by a ''bakery?''[[/note]]. Not unlike Tracer mentioned above ([[EvilCounterpart which is rather appropriate]]), this has led to some concern within her fanbase over whether Blizzard even cares about writing her effectively anymore or whether it's just the logical consequences of a small-time criminal barging her way into something much bigger.
* Doomfist was added to escalate the threat and stakes of the main conflict, and while few question that [[KnightOfCerebus he did]], whether he ''should'' have and whether he helps or hurts the overall narrative is far more contentious. Some admire his prowess and see him as either an effectively intimidating figure whose performance, actions and ambitions make him highly credible as a menace substantial enough to warrant Overwatch's return. Others see him instead as a flashy [[GenericDoomsdayVillain "threat-over-substance" villain]] who exists to generate conflict literally for its own sake due to his straightforward motivation to instigate a war because he [[WarForFunAndProfit views conflict as its own end]], which for some just doesn't measure up to the emotionally complex standard set [[FallenHero by]] [[TragicVillain his]] [[WildCard colleagues]] and severely limits his potential for interesting developments beyond just being an obstacle. And others outright loathe him for [[HappyEndingOverride invalidating]] one of the series' earliest, most iconic moments and for being [[CutscenePowerToTheMax portrayed]] as hardly needing to try when going one-on-three against ostensibly credible opponents and dispatching two of them in seconds and literally singlehandedly[[note]]Furthermore, after the fight had been built up for years since the very first trailer, a lot of fans didn't appreciate how it depicts Tracer along with Genji more like collateral damage in a feud with Winston than as contributing participants in their own right, especially since the fight with Winston itself [[OffscreenMomentOfAwesome isn't even shown]][[/note]]. In conjunction with his other feats (such as breaking through a concrete wall ''without his gauntlet''), the primary divide rests on whether they are impressive and befitting of his stature as [[BigBadDuumvirate one of Talon's leaders]] or [[WillingSuspensionOfDisbelief absurd]], even by the lax standards of this setting, and indicative of the writers being too willing to show off the villains' capabilities at the expense of the heroes to foster as much confidence in the latter's own.
** Not helping matters is how, ultimately, none of the [[KnightOfCerebus implications]] of his return have come to any fruition despite over a year's time, and both parties to the main conflict remain largely unchanged since the day he arrived. Much of the hype surrounding him has consequently subsided, as increasingly more fans have become skeptical there was ever any greater plan at all. Some think the potential for the stakes he set will be worth waiting to see pay off and that the nature of his introduction was a harsh necessity to set them up and establish the threat he presents, but others are tired of waiting and think all his inclusion ''really'' accomplished -- at least for now -- was making the already-struggling good guys look like pushovers and the story as a whole more difficult to care about by actively withdrawing reasons to be hopeful.
** The nature of his introduction, which inherently negates the the events of the cinematic trailer, is another point of contention seen by some as an effective attempt to ratchet up the tension and keep the villains threatening and by others as a cynical move that undermines what little progress the heroes have made in a conflict that was already leaning heavily in the villains' favor. No one questions the need for Talon to be presented as a competent and credible threat, but some have grown concerned that the heroes' side of the conflict, which even before and since has been plagued by setbacks and a lack of progression in favor of backstory, has become comparatively [[FailureHero unimpressive and underwhelming]] as a corollary[[note]]Genji and Tracer fans in particular were less-than-thrilled to see them both [[TheWorfEffect treated like cannon fodder]] in order to put over a newcomer; especially the latter, for whom this came fresh off the heels of undoing her only appreciable victory at a time when ''Alive'' remains a bitter, unresolved memory[[/note]]. It’s worth noting that, while ''Rise and Shine'' eventually confirmed Mei as the first agent other than Tracer to acknowledge the recall, at the time of Doomfist's unveiling, there was ''still'' no confirmation of ''anyone'' else responding, leading some to declare Overwatch's return had become and remains a footnote in its own story. Some fans think his reveal would have been more meaningful and warranted as an escalation if Blizzard had just waited until the conflict was more evenhanded, and that instead we got an inflation of the status quo that grants the villains another advantage at the expense of one of the only things worth cheering for and [[YankTheDogsChain resetting the heroes' progress back to zero]]. Depending on your perspective, his introduction was either the point where the story finally got interesting by setting the stakes and shaking things up, or the point where it rebuked its own messaging and trampled on any reason you had to care.

* Moira debuted to a mixed reception, being either liked for [[TheEvilGenius rounding out]] Talon as their fifth member and having an interesting gimmick as an [[LifeDrain explicitly evil healer]]; or disliked for having almost [[RememberTheNewGuy no foreshadowing]], an [[NonStandardCharacterDesign outlandish design]] even by ''Overwatch'' standards, and a bland origin story that gives her a [[EvilutionaryBiologist stock motivation]]. Even as time has passed and people have had the chance to acclimate to her, things haven't really changed, especially regarding her characterization. Some find her to be engaging in a [[CreepyAwesome dark and eerie way]] while others find her to just be distastefully sneering and cruel. Granted, she is [[VillainProtagonist one of the bad guys]], and her colleagues have all exhibited similar behavior. The problem is that she is still portrayed with the same cold and vicious demeanor as a Blackwatch operative well before her [[FaceHeelTurn turn]], which to some fans just makes her a [[FlatCharacter shallow]], unpleasant character who also reflects poorly on Overwatch itself by inviting the question of why the ostensible good guys kept such a blatantly ruthless individual around for so long.

** Not helping is that, not too long before Hammond's introduction, Blizzard revealed that one of the original characters was a cat in a jetpack, which was cut for not fitting the tone the team wanted for Overwatch. Fans almost immediately began requesting that "Jetpack Cat" be brought back (some more jokingly than others). And then Hammond happened. Whether Hammond is evidence that Blizzard is receptive to its fans, or that they have no clue what they ''really'' want Overwatch to be and have lost control of their fictional world, and whether or not fans who joked about Jetpack Cat [[BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor got exactly what they asked for]], is a matter of debate.
* Genji's role in the story has attracted its share of fan criticism. Some fans regard him as an interesting and enjoyable character in his own right thanks to his [[CyberNinja cool design]] and his personal journey to make peace with himself and become a better person, but others see him as just a few steps away from being a standardized, angsty {{Shonen}} hero designed to lure in otaku or as a shameless self-insert for head writer Michael Chu, who has been accused of forcing other characters to revolve around Genji. For instance, Zenyatta's main connection to the game's plot is his role as Genji's mentor[[note]]As well as his relationship with his spiritual brother Mondatta, which thus far has only been acknowledged in-game[[/note]], and his own brother Hanzo's identity revolves almost exclusively around his guilt for nearly killing him, with his few connections to other characters restricted to in-game interactions. Chu has also gotten flak for supposedly "forcing" the Genji-Mercy ship into canon with a few sporadic hints that carry some [[ShipTease not-so-platonic subtext between them]]; on the other hand, many others see this as just an [[ShipToShipCombat excuse]] for fans of the popular Pharah-Mercy ship to be outraged over how the latter pairing has no canon evidence. The confirmation that Genji's "pelvic equipment" is intact, on the other hand, was generally well received after some [[SkewedPriorities initial skepticism]] as to its importance.
* Hours after the introduction of Ashe, people have been divisive. Many believe that [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks she looks and acts too similar to other heroes and adds nothing unique gameplay or lorewise]], other think her design is still quite entertaining and fits with the NewOldWest aesthetic of Deadlock and [=McCree=]. There's also her backstory as a [[SpoiledBrat filthy rich teen]] who became a villain [[ForTheEvulz for fun]] which either frustrates fans for how [[FlatCharacter boring and shallow]] her motivations are compared to [[FallenHero Reaper]], [[TragicVillain Widowmaker]] or [[WildCard Sombra]], or is a breath of fresh air for those who think not every backstory/character has to be complicated/tied into the larger plot or be extremely competent. That being said, Ashe's partner B.O.B was very well received by everyone.
** Extending that, many were upset that her original concept design (who was a brown skinned, possibly Latina, woman) was changed to a white woman. Some say that Concept!Ashe looked better would have added more diversity into the game roster, while others say it's for the best since that would make [[UnfortunateImplications yet another dark skinned hero a villain.]][[note]] While people can argue that Moira is one of the most reprehensible characters in the story, there is no denying that out of the seven dark skinned heroes, four of them (Doomfist, Reaper, Sombra, Symmetra) are on the bad guy's side and are given the most attention (sans Symmetra). While Pharah, Lucio, and Ana are firmly on the good side, only Ana has any attention actually ''doing'' something. [[/note]]

* Similar to Tracer, Soldier: 76 has been confirmed to be gay in the short story ''Bastet'', leading to a very divisive fanbase. Some are happy that another main character has been established as gay, and Soldier: 76 is right behind Tracer in terms of facetime for the game, plus lacks the "safe" choice elements, as he's a grizzled old military guy, not typically where you find the gay representation in media. Others feel this is "virtue signalling" and some even claim that it was done deliberately to try to distract from the negative press surrounding Blizzard Entertainment's other titles and controversies. Some people are claiming that this was being forced on the fans without any warning, despite others praising them for putting subtle hints and clues to 76's sexual orientation in previous media.
* Sigma's feet has ignited an entire feud. Debates abound about whether or not it looks silly, whether it's kinda neat, whether it's silly but [[NarmCharm kinda endearing]], whether it's offensive to mental health patients or relatable to mental health patients, whether or not the feet look too big or too small relative to his body...and on and on and on.
** Specifically people are focused on how he is barefoot to "sell the asylum look" which sparked a slew of questions asking whether it made sense or if it's offensive. Not helping that one of Sigma's legendary skins is ''named'' "Asylum" and changes his jumpsuit into a straitjacket and he is now sporting a [[Franchise/HannibalLecter Hannibal Lecter face mask.]] Is it horribly offensive and ignoring the backlash or just a nice ShoutOut?

* The fact that the game itself has no story mode beyond three weeks of the Archives event every year. Some are fine with that since they can play the games consequence free, while also enjoying the comics, books and videos for the lore. Others who prefer games to have a story mode state that the game isn't worth the price if it's just an online playground. Some people are just upset the game doesn't have a single player-mode at all, meaning you not only ''have'' to play with and rely on others, but you also have to be connected to the Internet in order to simply boot up the game (alongside a PlayStation Plus or Xbox Live Gold subscription if playing on consoles).

** This is most prominent in the Tank role, with many players having competing views of what "Main" and "Off" means--high level players define a "Main" Tank as one that "creates space" for their team by either making an area safe to use or by forcing an enemy to retreat, but low level players tend to define "Main Tank" by how capable a character is of shielding their team. Calling Wrecking Ball (or to a lesser degree, Winston) a Main Tank will often cause mockery from players who hold the latter perception, because Winston's barrier is not capable of withstanding enemy fire for very long, and Wrecking Ball has ''no type of barrier at all''. This is also partially the result of most players not knowing how to effectively utilize either character, whether playing as them or with them on the team. D.Va is also somewhat affected by this issue, as many people using her the same way Winston and Wrecking Ball are (diving and eliminating a single target) while in high-level play she's largely used to protect the "Main Tank" and other key teammates.

* Sigma's design, especially his barefoot became hugely controversial after the designer artist [[https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/24/20708347/overwatch-sigma-bare-feet-explanation-why-mental-health-concept-art stated]] that he is barefoot to "[[HollywoodPersonalityDisorders sell the asylum look]]". Horribly stereotypical and offensive or TruthInTelevision? Another group doesn't really care and want people to focus on the rest of his design.

* Sigma's design, especially his barefoot became hugely controversial after the designer artist [[https://www.polygon.com/2019/7/24/20708347/overwatch-sigma-bare-feet-explanation-why-mental-health-concept-art stated]] that he is barefoot to "[[HollywoodPersonalityDisorders sell the asylum look]]". Horribly stereotypical and offensive or TrueInTelevision? Another group doesn't really care and want people to focus on the rest of his design.

** Following [[InternetBackdraft several controversies]] of major releases in 2017 which have implemented similar lootbox systems (including ''VideoGame/MiddleEarthShadowOfWar'' and ''VideoGame/StarWarsBattlefrontII2017'', the latter of which ended up [[OvershadowedByControversy bringing the mechanics to greater mainstream infamy]]), there grew a major surge in reassessing the mechanic in ''Overwatch'', with additional arguments as to whether it's at fault [[FollowTheLeader for popularizing the trend]], and where it should go, if anywhere, now that many governments are deliberating as to whether loot boxes should be classified as gambling.

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFUWNuAHu2I A patch released in August]] causes "gg ez" chat messages, often used by {{Troll}}s and {{Griefer}}s, to be filtered and replaced with some comedically childish phrases. This feature has split the fandom into four factions. One part of the fandom thinks it's [[Funny/{{Overwatch}} comedy gold]]. Another part thinks that it's pointless and that Blizzard should focus on patching "more serious issues". The third part argues that it's outright censorship, while the fourth argues that Blizzard should make it stricter, changing the filter from "gg ez" to just "ez", among other things.

[[folder: Skins, Cosmetics, and other added content]]

* Mobility versus Crowd Control. Many players have claimed to notice a building "mobility creep" in Overwatch, with many characters receiving buffs to their mobility (Winston, Widowmaker, Hanzo, Mercy, and Symmetra, just to name a few) and new, highly mobile characters being introduced (Sombra, Doomfist and Wrecking Ball, in particular). This came to a head when, for more than a year, a "Dive Meta" featuring extremely mobile heroes (Tracer, D.Va Winston and Genji) was nigh-unbeatable at high levels. Blizzard made several attempts to reign these characters in, culminating in the release of Brigitte, a character that excels in aoe damage, stuns and knockback to thwart the mobile heroes. But this shifted complaints to the abundance of "crowd control" introduced to the game since launch (stuns, knockback, disabling, etc.). Case in point, of the eight new characters introduced, ''SEVEN'' of them have at least one type of CC, while most have multiple types. This has sparked a debate over which is more overpowered: too much mobility or too much crowd control. Naturally, some players don't care what's more broken and would like to see ''both'' reduced so that characters who rely solely on aim or single-point defense can finally be viable again.

** This is most prominent in the Tank role, with many players having competing views of what "Main" and "Off" means--high level players define a "Main" Tank as one that "creates space" for their team by either making an area safe to use or by forcing an enemy to retreat, but low level players tend to define "Main Tank" by how capable a character is of shielding their team. Calling Wrecking Ball (or to a lesser degree, Winston) a Main Tank will often cause mockery from players who hold the latter perception, because Winston's barrier is not capable of withstanding enemy fire for very long, and Wrecking Ball has ''no type of barrier at all''. This is also partially the result of most players not knowing how to effectively utilize either character, whether playing as them or with them on the team. D.Va is also somewhat affected by this issue, as many people who play her using her in the same way Winston and Wrecking Ball are (diving and eliminating a single target) while in high-level play she's largely used to protect the "Main Tank" and other key teammates.
** The Support problem is somewhat less contentious, if only because the roles are far more straightforward and the definition of "Main" and "Off" Healer is more universally undrestood--a Main Support provides the bulk of the team's healing while the Off Support is more useful for utility and clutch defense. This simple definition, however, was tested by a nerf to Mercy's healing (down to 50 per second from 60) and the introduction of Baptiste. Mercy offers very little in the way of utility, but her lessened healing is often seen as lackluster on top of that[[note]]Mercy offers more overall healing due to the lack of aiming or positioning restrictions, but her healing is far easier to out-damage than Ana or Moira.[[/note]], leading to confusion as to what her role on a team is meant to be. Baptiste offers lots of healing [[note]]75 per second with his secondary fire, plus another 30 from his Regen Burst cooldown, plus almost '''double this''' while his Ultimate is in play[[/note]] but he is much more situational. Thus, the sub-categorization of those two characters is constantly under debate, while there's usually consensus about the rest.

* Hours after the introduction of [[EvilAlbino Ashe]], people have been divisive. Many believe that [[ItsTheSameNowItSucks she looks and acts too similar to other heroes and adds nothing unique gameplay or lorewise]], other think her design is still quite entertaining and fits with the NewOldWest aesthetic of Deadlock and [=McCree=]. There's also her backstory as a [[SpoiledBrat filthy rich teen]] who became a villain [[ForTheEvulz for fun]] which either frustrates fans for how [[FlatCharacter boring and shallow]] her motivations are compared to [[FallenHero Reaper]], [[TragicVillain Widowmaker]] or [[WildCard Sombra]], or is a breath of fresh air for those who think not every backstory/character has to be complicated/tied into the larger plot or be extremely competent. That being said, Ashe's partner B.O.B was very well received by everyone.