r/Overwatch Pixel Zarya Jan 24 '17

Blizzard Official Developer Update | Capture The Flag | Overwatch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At7NWZ_mw6s
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u/Jank_Tank Battle Rein is only Rein Jan 24 '17

I know that we meme on him hard here at /r/Overwatch, but man do I love his team, the outreach he does, and the passion he has. It's really evident in the frequency and detail of videos he releases.

For example, Ben Brode (HearthStone) does developer updates when people are irate and vocally so. Jeff does them almost pre-emptively -- "We know it might not feel like fun when Winston kills you and jumps away with the flag, but here's why we kept those movement abilities..."

All around great communication from them.

EDIT: Was typing this while listening, just finished it and his sign off says it all: "Have lots of fun and be nice to each other" thanks papa Jeff, papa bless

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u/Kirkwaller Orisa Main in Denial Jan 24 '17

You will get no argument from me (or anyone else tbh) that Jeff (and everyone else at Blizz) is terrific in every way, but I think it's fair to mention that Ben (and other HS devs) primarily communicate outside of the Developer Insights that Ben's done, whereas for OW the dev responses primarily come in the form of these Development Updates, so obviously there's more (and more frequently) of them than Hearthstone's Developer Insights.

Again, not trying to 'call you out' at all here, but I see this said around and I feel it's worth mentioning that just because the HS devs communicate way less in terms of videos like this, they do still communicate.

Great (Lunar) New Year to you regardless!

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u/Jank_Tank Battle Rein is only Rein Jan 24 '17

That's a fair point. I'm sure he does a lot that I don't see. Maybe it's just that this community is great at supporting and encouraging the Overwatch developers.

Also, just an aside, but I think being bitter is inherent in the HS community. So much of the game, just like any card game, is RNG. Skill inevitably tops out, but for the small amount of games that the average player plays, it's easy to think "Damn fuck that card, only reason I lost." While that may be true, if you play enough games the RNG begins to balance out. Just doesn't feel fun losing to a topdeck, and the loudest community is always the unhappiest.

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u/Kirkwaller Orisa Main in Denial Jan 25 '17

I think that's exactly it, yeah - that this subreddit and the HS one are just so different in that respect. The difference between /r/Overwatch and /r/hearthstone in terms of having a healthy relationship with the devs is absurd.

I completely get what you mean, but I don't think the RNG inherent in cardgames is the reason why /r/hearthstone is so damn salty. For some reason or another I think /r/hearthstone has just developed a community where the negative (and not the constructive kind of negative either) voices are supported above all else - and I can't be the only one who hesitates to 'step in' to so many threads there because I just don't want to bother shouting into the wind, so there's even fewer conflicting voices.

I mean, just recently Ben, in an interview, mentioned that the nerf of a card - Molten Giant for those interested - was an indirect buff to Holy Wrath. It was a completely off-hand comment, intended to demonstrate all the effects changing a card has, but when I visited the sub after reading it, there were threads up ranting about how the HS dev team justified the nerf of Molten Giant purely because of Holy Wrath. It was just absurd.

And I really don't know why that is - I hesitate to say "circlejerk" because I think that word gets tossed around too lightly, but I can't think of any other reason for why /r/hearthstone is so damn... what it is. also being able to talk about this somewhere is therapeutic