Overwatch is heading into Season 2 with some much-needed changes. One aspect it takes care of is the seemingly unfair map voting, and another one is punishing ranked losses.

Blizzard's latest update, the Reign of Talon Season 2, arrives on April 14. It shows a clear shift towards player consensus, and also makes Competitive play less punishing on unfamiliar ground.

For years, players have dealt with a voting system where split decisions produced unexpected results. But after this update, a majority rule system comes into effect. This ensures that the most-voted map actually gets selected.

This change might not look big on paper, but in reality, it is. This map voting change gets rid of the inconsistency where a low-vote option could win due to split preferences across other maps. Now, if a map secures the majority of votes in a lobby, it will automatically be selected.

In a director's blog post, Associate Game Director Alec Dawson shared the simple rationale behind this change.

"We don't want to entirely remove the joy of variety, but when most of the lobby wants something, we want to honor that," Dawson wrote.

At the same time, Blizzard is also adding a "Random Map" option. So if a good number of players select that option, they will get some variety instead of repeatedly selecting familiar maps like King’s Row. However, popular maps are still expected to dominate rotations.

There is another backend adjustment, wherein the pool of three maps presented to players will prioritize those that the players have voted for the most in previous games.

Competitive play is getting a change as well. If players lose on new or reworked maps like Antarctic Peninsula, they will face lesser rank penalties than on other maps.

Looking at these updates, Blizzard is now clearly prioritizing player preferences, even if it sacrifices map rotations.

Mercy, Reaper, and Pharah receive core ability upgrades in Season 2

Besides the map system, three veteran heroes are getting permanent upgrades to their base kits in Overwatch Season 2.

Mercy's Flash Heal has now become a standard ability. This means she gets an immediate burst healing without the need for a perk, making her crucial in high-pressure situations.

On the other hand, Reaper permanently gets his long-range volley. This addresses his heavy reliance on close-range combat in a faster meta. Hence, Reaper stays relevant even when fights are more spread out.

Last but not least, Blizzard is integrating the Drift Thrusters to Pharah's base kit. She can now move while using her ultimate ability.

These changes replace older perk-based systems, with new perks expected to take their place.

Read more at Gaming Community by Max Level!

Written by

Nilendu Brahma

Edited by

Yask Kotak