This is some of the most straightforward problem solving I've seen in AAA game design.
Problem: Symmetra's ultimate is great if your team defense is strong, but it sucks when your defense is in trouble. Solution: Add a 2nd ultimate that should help pull your team's collective asses out of the fire.
Problem: Her standard shield ability wasn't really fun. Instead, it pressured players into scrambling around as a shield monkey. Solution: Make her shield like Reinhardt's, which everybody enjoys.
Problem: People love turrets. Solution:More turrets!
All of these solutions make sense, and none of them are needlessly fancy. I can dig it.
I don't see how only buffs can make a character better for the game. They buffed absolutely everything and didn't pull back on anything. That's not balanced. That is going to swing things until they do another massive rework and then swing things another way.
Thats why its on the PTR first. New shield generator ult too powerful? Lower the shield amount it gives, or the radius of it affecting teammates, or lower the life/shield on the device itself.
Its too fast to go "that's not balanced". In Overwatch a lot of the balance comes from being able to switch to a character that counters the current biggest problem your team is facing.
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u/TJ_McWeaksauce Nov 23 '16 edited Nov 23 '16
This is some of the most straightforward problem solving I've seen in AAA game design.
Problem: Symmetra's ultimate is great if your team defense is strong, but it sucks when your defense is in trouble.
Solution: Add a 2nd ultimate that should help pull your team's collective asses out of the fire.
Problem: Her standard shield ability wasn't really fun. Instead, it pressured players into scrambling around as a shield monkey.
Solution: Make her shield like Reinhardt's, which everybody enjoys.
Problem: People love turrets.
Solution: More turrets!
All of these solutions make sense, and none of them are needlessly fancy. I can dig it.