overwatch Dev Update: Avoid as Teammate - Updated

[Starym 3,779]

 

Jeff from the Overwatch team is back, introducing a much requested feature. As the title quite clearly states, we can now choose not to play with people we're in a game with. What that does exactly is take up to two selected players of your choice and prevents them from matching with you (on your team at least) for 7 days. The feature is going to be in testing soon, and should be available some time before Season 10.

Jeff goes into detail on the system, when you might want to use it, how it will impact queue times for various skill levels, the warning (and consequences) you get if many people are avoiding you and more:

01:21 – Introducing new feature, Avoid as Teammate!
01:37 – Players you select with the feature will be avoided for seven days
02:22 – How to use this feature to help control your game experience
03:32 – There might be side effects of this system, but we’re closely monitoring it
04:10 – Thoughts on why we limit how many people you can avoid
04:40 – How this system affects those who have a high number of players avoiding them
05:52 – We are paying very close attention to how this feature performs
06:00 – We will continue to create features to help you craft your experience in Overwatch

So, how much do you think you'll be using the new system once it goes live and do you think it's a good way to address these issues?

Update - Here's some additional info on the new system:

Scott Mercer (source)

With the release of Patch 1.22, I wanted to talk about the new and updated tools that can help players create a better and more positive gameplay experience. Before diving into those details, I first need to thank everyone who has been helping us identify toxic behavior. We have seen a steady increase in usage of the Player Report tool, and these additional reports allow us to identify and action toxic players more quickly and at a higher accuracy. Players have also been reaching out via social media with reports and videos of blatant toxicity, and we have investigated each of them and taken appropriate action. The best way for everyone to continue helping us combat toxicity is simple: just use the Player Report tool whenever you encounter bad behavior and give an accurate and detailed report.

To help with the accuracy and clarity of reports, we are making a couple changes to the player report categories you can choose. The first change is renaming the “Griefing” category to “Gameplay Sabotage”. Griefing is a very broad term used in many different ways amongst the community. The intent of the category is to be used when a player disrupts the game or harasses other players through the use of normal gameplay mechanics. A clear example of this is Symmetra teleporter exits being placed at the side of cliffs so teammates immediately drop to their death. Another example is players intentionally allowing themselves to be eliminated by the enemy team. This is often referred by the community as “feeding” or “inting”.

It is NOT gameplay sabotage if a player simply makes a mistake or has a poor match. Everyone does that from time to time, even the very best professionals in the world. Players can also have a rough match without a lot of mistakes, simply because the other team is making better plays and performing well. For a player to be reported for Gameplay Sabotage, they must intentionally be trying to disrupt and harass their teammates or actively trying to lose. Note that playing a non-meta Hero does not mean someone is taking part in Gameplay Sabotage. Players who are trying hard to help their team to win should not be reported, regardless of the hero they choose.

The other change we’re making to the player reporting categories is removing the “Poor Teamwork” category. Many players were using this category in a very similar fashion to the “Griefing” category, because both categories could be interpreted very broadly to include diverse types of bad behavior. This made it more difficult for us to action players appropriately.

The addition of the “Avoid as Teammate” option also gives players another way to improve their gameplay experience online. If you use the “Avoid as Teammate” option on a player, that action is will be effective in the next match. The matchmaker will no longer place you on a team with the avoided player for one week. Sometimes you don’t want to play with someone as a teammate because you disagree with their playstyle or hero choice. Sometimes your personalities or communication style simply clash. These can happen without either party being toxic.

The use of Avoid as Teammates does NOT take the place of reporting someone for things like Abusive Chat, Inactivity, or Gameplay Sabotage. If you ever encounter a player being toxic, please take the time to report them for that behavior. It truly helps us make playing Overwatch a more positive experience.

[FanOfValeera 253]

This includes the friendly (!) Symmetra, who sets a teleporter in the middle of nowhere in Numbani, so anyone passes through that in spawn, just falls off and die, no?

I hope so.

[solitha 84]

1 hour ago, FanOfValeera said:

This includes the friendly (!) Symmetra, who sets a teleporter in the middle of nowhere in Numbani, so anyone passes through that in spawn, just falls off and die, no?

I hope so.

I assume the post was updated since your comment, as the quoted post literally used that as an example :)

I will use the heck out of Avoid, and I hope it gets expanded. I was so desperate to get Avoid back that I posted to the official forums very recently asking why I am getting punished having to leave queue (losing consecutive game XP) just to get away from someone I'd already reported.

I dislike the removal of the Poor Teamwork, though. I don't consider it gameplay sabotage for a Torbjorn to spend the entire game doing nothing but keeping his turret alive, nor is he inactive. He's contributing, just much less than he should be.

[FanOfValeera 253]

31 minutes ago, solitha said:

I assume the post was updated since your comment, as the quoted post literally used that as an example :)

I will use the heck out of Avoid, and I hope it gets expanded. I was so desperate to get Avoid back that I posted to the official forums very recently asking why I am getting punished having to leave queue (losing consecutive game XP) just to get away from someone I'd already reported.

I dislike the removal of the Poor Teamwork, though. I don't consider it gameplay sabotage for a Torbjorn to spend the entire game doing nothing but keeping his turret alive, nor is he inactive. He's contributing, just much less than he should be.

I missed that part :) 

I had that experience so recently, thats why I wrote that.