It's no secret that Overwatch is a fantastic game. Blizzard is a studio that's completely unwilling to ship anything that's less than amazing, and Overwatch is a perfect example of this.
Sure, the game may have taken longer to develop than others in the genre, but the quality of its gameplay and design are almost unrivaled. Everything has been polished to a mirror sheen - maybe if other games in the genre were so polished, the industry wouldn't be going through this first-person shooter fatigue.
Then again, the game's not perfect. For all of Overwatch's various strengths, there are a few deficiencies: namely, the game doesn't really know how to properly reward players. Things start out promisingly enough, but anyone who's been playing the game since launch will tell you that the game isn't great at giving out decent loot.
For those who have yet to play the game, Overwatch's reward system is relatively simple: every time players level up, they receive a Loot Box. Upon opening said box, players will receive either cosmetic character gear or coins to spend on specific items. It's nothing that gamers haven't already seen before - that being said, there are some serious issues with how Overwatch handles its unlockable rewards.
Firstly, players only receive a Loot Box after leveling up - and, while this sort of pacing works for the first few hours, it doesn't take long for the wait between leveling up to start getting out of hand. Basically, the game slowly stops rewarding fans for continuing to play the game - in fact, dedicated players are often rewarded less than those who have just started playing the game.
Secondly, all unlocks are completely random. That may not sound like a big deal, but the randomized nature of loot means that players have no way to influence what sort of rewards they're trying to unlock. For instance, if someone wants to try for a rarer piece of loot, they're completely out of luck.
That wouldn't be so bad if Overwatch wasn't constantly giving out duplicate items. It's entirely possible to spend a few hours trying to level up only to be rewarded with that same Junkrat voice line for the third time in a row. Duplicates are, to put it bluntly, a waste of the player's time - or their cash, if they decided to purchase a Loot Box with actual, real-world cash.
The entire unlocking process boils down to the luck of the draw: seeing as there's no way to buy in-game currency, Loot Boxes are the only way to unlock new items. This means that players who don't want to spend money will have to wait and hope for something decent (which may never come), while anyone buying Loot Boxes with actual cash have a good chance of straight-up wasting their money.
Finally, Blizzard could introduce some sort of tiered rewards system. Again, looking at Halo 5, players are able to choose between a number of differently-priced REQ packs. Cheaper packs are easier to come by at the cost of any high-end unlocks, while the more expensive REQs guarantee at least some Legendary loot.
It would take some work, but there's no reason why Blizzard couldn't implement some sort of similar system. For instance, if players wanted to save up a few thousand coins or drop a few extra dollars, they could purchase a Legendary Loot Box, with a better chance at unlocking high-end gear. Again, it helps remove the randomness of the current system while keeping the game's economy intact. If Blizzard still gets to make money and players don't have to feel shortchanged all the time, isn't that a win-win for everyone?
So, what are the odds that Blizzard will change how Overwatch's loot system works? Well ... they're not good.
True, there have been plenty of complaints about the system, but that doesn't change the fact that Blizzard is still making a ton of money on Loot Boxes. Simply put, it doesn't matter if players are getting the items they want - as long as they're spending real-world cash on the virtual slot machine, Blizzard really has no reason to change its strategy.
Even so ... can't a man dream?
Overwatch's next big update, which will add in the newly re-balanced Competitive Mode, is set for release sometime later this month.
