Overwatch is a team-based shooter game that consists of various roles. Among all of these existing roles, the support class is having a tough time each game. They are very prone to constant deaths aside from having low damage contribution to the opposing team. As result, supports are always blamed for every loss while not being able to receive any praises if the team wins.
Beyond the game's competitive standpoint, it appears that supports have more issues experienced especially the skill rating system, which is said to continuously punish healers. However, Overwatch game developers finally responded to the issue and said that they have not found a broad systematic issue as of now. The studio also added that the recent drama that surfaced online was caused by few misconceptions regarding the game's algorithm of calibrating the skill rating and "On Fire" status.
For those who are uninformed, a player who performed exceptionally well for a particular match is granted an "On Fire" status. Several complaints state that damage dealers receive the status too frequently compared to the support class. Meanwhile, others reported that healers receive lower skill rating than the other roles especially the damage class. However, Scott Mercer, Overwatch principal designer, posted on Battle.net to clarify the issue within the community.
Mercer said that calculating the skill rating adjustment after every match focuses on the performance comparison of other alike skilled players with a particular hero across the large pool of competitive matches. That means the system works by comparing the performances of similar heroes within a particular match.
Essentially, the current SR system is designed to warrant that players are evaluated on the performance with the perspective of each role they play. It is more reasonable than solely relying on the general criteria such as damage dealt and objectives met, as Game Rant reported.
For now, Blizzard's response will not likely repress the fire within the game's completive community. It is expected that the number of angry support mains will increase later. As for Blizzard, it should take a stronger stand as soon as possible to ensure the future of its player base.
