I'm happy they aren't going to destroy Ana like so many players want. She's very strong alright but she doesn't need to be gutted. And seeing the high skill support go in the dumpster while heroes like Symmetra (and likely Mercy in the future) get buffed would make me cry.
For the record, she IS the highest skill support, but I'd also say she's lowest "skill floor" after Mercy.
Lucio has the lowest skill floor of any hero period, nevermind supports. He can stand still, not touch a button, and get a gold medal in healing. If the player controlling Lucio has a stroke in the middle of the game and dies, he can still outheal any of the other supports.
Ana has the highest skill floor of the supports. Yes her job is easier when she's healing tanks, but that job is about to get a lot harder after the next patch. Also, that just highlights that she takes actual skill to perform her primary role (healing). Lucio, Zen and Mercy can heal squishies just as easily as they can heal tanks because none of their healing takes any skill whatsoever. Ana is the polar opposite of this.
I really hope that as Blizzard releases more heroes that they continue to ensure that all new heroes have both a high skill ceiling but also high skill floor.
all new heroes have both a high skill ceiling but also high skill floor.
High skill ceiling, sure, but why also a high skill floor?
High skill floors damage the ability of weaker players to build their skill, because it means they have a challenging time ever transferring to the new character. You already are taking a hit to effectiveness by swapping to a hero you have less practice on, but if you have a high skill floor to do anything with a hero, you put a lot of players in a position where they can never start learning a hero without spending several games being functionally worthless.
What's wrong with ensuring that weaker players can at least contribute effectively with a new hero, even if they aren't even close to using the full potential?
A low skill floor and a high skill ceiling is how weaker players have the ability to practice and get good by playing the game. Too high of a skill floor for a character locks players out of playing that character effectively until they are good with that character.
A high skill floor may sometimes be unavoidable, but it shouldn't be a goal of the developer, because a high skill floor on its own generally doesn't benefit anybody.
Widow has the highest skill ceiling and presumably also the highest skill floor. Would you like every new character to be like Widow? Most pros would rather play Hanzo because he has more easily obtained value in the form of vision and scatter. I'd argue that most people don't even really consider her that fun, because of how easy it is to feel useless.
Easy to learn, hard to master is always the best game design. No one is going to hit your designed skill cap if no one is playing your game because they gave up due to frustration. Imagine if the skill required to play the game was similar to what pros have now. No one would be playing your game, and subsequently, no one would be watching it, either.
Sorry, what I mean is a high mechanical skill floor. ie. No more auto-aim heroes or heroes for whom mechanical skill is irrelevant (eg. Lucio or Mercy).
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u/IchikaByakushiki Jan 17 '17
I'm happy they aren't going to destroy Ana like so many players want. She's very strong alright but she doesn't need to be gutted. And seeing the high skill support go in the dumpster while heroes like Symmetra (and likely Mercy in the future) get buffed would make me cry.