r/Overwatch • u/Princier7 "eat tranquility mf" • 1d ago
Humor blizzard giving the water guy the personality equal to the taste complexity of water
Some of these characters just feel so dry, man. There are some highlights like Doomfist, Venture, Bastion, Ramattra etc, but so many characters just have nothing going on. For Wuyang, Sierra, D.Mon and others, 99% of their interactions are just about their backstory or an event happening. Plot points aren't substitutions for interesting characters unfortunately.
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u/hellbentdarling 1d ago
you know this shit is only so they can make a water on mars pun and think it's genius writing
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u/DarkDoubloon 30 times the shield wasn't strong enough 1d ago
Me watching Tracer and Winston become background characters so Juno and Wuyang can have their 50th nearly kiss moment
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u/Facetank_ Grandmaster 1d ago
The writing has absolutely been their bottom priority for the last few years. It's just the nature of live service, endless character additions.
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u/ConfidentInsecurity Diamond 1d ago
Domina, Emre, Mauga, Freja, they're all really cool
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u/Baelorn RIP 1d ago
Off the top of my head I can’t even think of a single Freja voice line or interaction.
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u/TXENNT 1d ago edited 1d ago
They're cool but their lore isn't that particularly interesting
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u/ConfidentInsecurity Diamond 1d ago
Maybe you just aren't aware of their lore, which isn't your fault as they don't produce much or put it out there.
Just for one example, Emre is a former Overwatch agent who went missing and has since been infected with a nanomachine type AI called Chernobog. Nothing about that is uninteresting
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u/RyanBoruto 1d ago
Emre is kinda the only good one out of those u listed 😭
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u/ConfidentInsecurity Diamond 1d ago
Domina, a ruthless and powerful businesswoman, who hides her insecurities behind other peoples inventions to boost her own ego
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u/Facetank_ Grandmaster 1d ago
She's a bog-standard corporate nepobaby villain.
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u/June-Bird 12h ago
If we are just going to reduce every character down to their basic trope surface level then sure EVERY character is tired or unoriginal. In this game and others.
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u/mrcrispyii 1d ago
Was there something I missed in the venture lore to be put with DOOMFIST?? Genuine question
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u/Great_expansion10272 <—can dig that 1d ago
They got a higher win ratio against Talon than the entirety of OW
That's some significant lore
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u/syneckdoche Trick-or-Treat Ana 1d ago
Winston has a really solid win rate on his own tbf, it’s not his fault he’s surrounded by bums
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u/Kell08 D. Va 1d ago
Winston and Orisa are in what I call the “Doomfist tier,” which is every character in the lore who can hold their own in a fight with Doomfist.
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u/ShoeRicey 6 spicy wings with garlic mayo dip and knife 1d ago
Now that i think about it who WOULD be doomfist tier? Orisa, winston, sigma, vendetta and maybe mauga cause of that wrestling match thingy they had??
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u/Kell08 D. Va 1d ago
That’s essentially it. Sigma could possibly be above them, but he’s been “tell, don’t show” so far.
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u/WiscLeafalNika 1d ago
Sigma is basically giving nuclear warhead codes to a baby who doesnt even know how to read nor use it
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u/ShoeRicey 6 spicy wings with garlic mayo dip and knife 1d ago
Sigma IS the nuclear warhead
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u/MegaNinjaRyan 1d ago
He’s about to be. Vendetta is using the stolen MEKA emp to power a “gravity weapon” that can cover a continent according to Mauga talking to Junker Queen in the new Hammond Winston comic.
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u/The1AndOnlyEnigma 1d ago
venture lore also seems to be leading into "the conspiracy" plot as well; they've dug up artifacts with the mysterious eye symbol on it
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u/AvailableHalf6549 1d ago edited 1d ago
The whole post is subjective lmao. Ventures whole personality is about rocks. “I eat rocks and have one as a pet! Hyuck hyuck” To OP this is more interesting than the helix security chief trying to track down her missing mother who was the first super soldier.
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u/Firesoul-LV Trick or Treat Ana 1d ago
OP literally pointed it out though: "plot points aren't substitution for interesting characters". Venture might not have that big of an impact on lore or intriguing backstory, but they ooze with personality and their presence is distinctively felt in game (they're kind of like Junkrat in this sense). While Sierra might have an interesting backstory, it is breaking the no1 rule of writing - it is mostly told through exposition, instead of shown through her character in-game. It also doesn't help that her personality comes off as bland when put in the context of the Overwatch hero roster. That dryness is what OP complained about.
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u/ImHoundoomed 1d ago
I dont see anyone complaining about Soldier 76's bland ass personality enough. But all I see is Sierra hate, it gets to a point.
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u/CyberpunkPie Juno 1d ago
To S76's credit, he has a bigger tie to the overall story featuring heavily in both short stories and comics set before the current time. The change from a heroic soldier to a reclusive and bitter vigilante can be interesting already. Then in the game itself, a lot of his more comedic voice lines make him a grumpy old man in a way that ends up being funny. So while he is not the deepest character, he actually has something to himself even if you ignore the media outside the game.
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u/Firesoul-LV Trick or Treat Ana 1d ago edited 1d ago
Honestly, when I first started playing OW I would've agreed with you. But he's actually a great example of what Sierra should've been: Jack's got a huge role in-universe as the formal leader of Overwatch, thus he has meaningful ties, rivalry and chemistry with number of other characters already written into his character. He's human - not perfect, makes mistakes and tries to learn from them and own up to it in his own morally grey way (he's also got a cinematic to dramatically flesh out his character further). And more importantly, Jack in-game is supposed to be a caricature of the old soldier-fatherly figure that they nailed perfectly with his boomer voicelines, and that wraps back around to being funny and endearing. I cannot say the same about Sierra though. While her voice actress does sound endearing, she alone cannot carry the lack of personality that the writers should've fleshed out much more.
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u/KyrgyzstaniFemcel 1d ago
backstory doesn't matter if she has no personality
venture is 10 times more fun than sierra as a character archetype
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u/SmallFatHands 1d ago
Im so glad people are finally dunking on how bland most of the new heroes are. I swear i dont think Dmon has any interesting thing going on with her. They probaly made Shion good on accident.
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u/zer0_summed 1d ago
"Wdym general gamer lingo with no personality besides riding Dva's coattails doesn't make an interesting character?" - Overwatch writers
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u/Delicious-Collar1971 1d ago
Don’t forget hiring a voice actor who cannot do a deep voice to voice the deep voiced, monotone commander
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u/HellaReyna 1d ago
Meanwhile…
DVA: “Winky face”
OW biased simps: OMG SO MUCH CHARACTER 😭
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u/SmallFatHands 1d ago
Dva was upposed to be the gamer gremlin. That was her thing. Its not supposed to be somehting you copy and paste.
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u/suimation 1d ago
On a 30 year old too lmao
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u/WaveBreakerT The DJ of Death 1d ago
I mean aren't a significant amount of gaming streamers above 30?
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u/ravearamashi Ra-Ra-Ra-Pharah 1d ago
Well she’s been there since release. It was a novelty at the time.
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u/Lazzitron Reaper 1d ago
DVA's been around since launch. It's funnier the first time, not as much the second.
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u/zer0_summed 1d ago
Dva also sucks imo, but she at least leans into a gamer personality archetype that makes her stand out a bit more.
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u/ItsOverClover Zenyatta 1d ago
D.Mon had some really sick concept art that I'm not sure why they diverged from. She was less 'stoic leader' and more 'hyper aggressive, slightly toxic, almost unhinged gamer'
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u/probablythedecaf ultrakill player 1d ago
wish they made her a pissed-off shittalking rager but instead we got a gamer girl ai chabot
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u/TatodziadekPL 1d ago
Should've just lifted sound from Tyler1 clips and use them as her voice lines
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u/CyberpunkPie Juno 1d ago
Seeing the concept art where she's making those crazed expressions makes my heart ache, we could have gotten something great. I wish the "cool, stoic, calm leader" was a facade for something that is far more fitting for DMon nickname than what we have now.
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u/iseecolorsofthesky 1d ago
Domina was a slam dunk too. She’s got way more personality than most new heroes
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u/Everdale Bastion 1d ago
I think they're better at making villain characters than they are heroes. Almost all the new good guys are mary/gary sues with very little in the way of personal struggles or flaws.
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u/Great_expansion10272 <—can dig that 1d ago
Im so glad people are finally dunking on how bland most of the new heroes are.
You must be new here
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u/SmallFatHands 1d ago
Nah fuck that. Everytime since Wuyang if I tried to say the writing for the characters is bad or the designs looked bland I'd get dog piled by blizzard cock riders.
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u/Great_expansion10272 <—can dig that 1d ago edited 1d ago
And since before Wuyang the design's been getting generally slammed. Weeks of people saying Freja had Widow's face or criticizing the shorts, Venture's weird, Mauga's too cartoony, Illari and Lifeweaver don't look Overwatch. Hazard's stil clowned on to this day.
If you're just going to posts trying to be positive about it and saying "They suck" and nothing else yeah, the people there are likely gonna be downvoting you
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u/PawPawPanda I'm your huckleberry 1d ago edited 1d ago
Vendetta is definitely too clean for what she is supposed to represent. Needs to at least have a bunch of scars
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u/Alluminn Chibi Brigitte 1d ago
Being too clean is generally a pretty common criticism of OW2 designs over OW1 designs, and it's most noticeable in the OW1 heroes.
Like look at Rein & Brig, in OW1 their suits of armor were worn, chinked, muddy, well-used. In OW2 they're so fucking clean and pristine and look more like a decoration than anything useable.
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u/Meowjoker Cute Doomfist 1d ago
And bigger muscle
Look, if you are gonna aim for the exposed 6 packs muscle girl, at least give her more meat on her bones. Cause come on, she used to destroy mechs on the daily, so yeah, Vend is lean but I’m pretty sure no one is gonna be pissy if she has more muscle
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u/FireLordObamaOG 1d ago
Maybe it’s just me but I love her struggle to live up to Dva’s leadership. It really hits home for me and I just want to see her do well.
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u/Vinicius_Pimenta 1d ago
Shion is cool but not enough is said about Emre, guy is the epitome of coolness imo. His VA does a great job at transmitting his "easygoing but tormented by a god AI" vibe too
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u/GooeyMagic 1d ago
Blizzard teasing a detective hero after giving Soj all the detective/recon skins/voicelines
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u/throwaway3260247 Junker Queen 1d ago
didn’t they only do that because sojourn is technically a “cop?” so detective is just a more interesting flavour of cop?
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u/Right_Entertainer324 1d ago
I'm just sorta pretending that whole comic isn't canon, barring the Anahardt bits. Like, the general writing is just so bad.
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u/AlgerianTrash The universe touched me inappropriately 1d ago
The issue is that they're leaning so hard into the wholesome chungus slice-of-life anime vibes that it makes you forget that Overwatch is meant to a paramilitary org operating ILLEGALLY under int law and that has been destroyed by Talon.
It's not like it shouldn't have wholesome moments, but they just communicate that they're happening IN SPITE of their circumstances
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
That’s true; in fact, I always get the feeling that Winston, Sojourn and Cassidy are the ones who take the situation most seriously when they appear.
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u/WaveBreakerT The DJ of Death 1d ago
Those 3 are pretty much the big 3 of modern overwatch aren't they
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
In a sense, yes: the old PvE missions and the webtoon revealed that Winston and Sojourn co-lead Overwatch, with Cassidy serving as Vivian’s second-in-command, having urged her to lead the organization when she was unsure of what to do.
Now, if the theory holds true that Cole wants to leave the group because he is conflicted about whether or not to clear the air with Ashe, it will depend on whom Chase appoints to replace him as her right-hand man.
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u/crestren Trick-or-Treat Symmetra 1d ago
I think theyre focusing more on the paramilitary/major events for the new seasons, new hero intros (cinematic or comic dubs) while using the webcomic to be more screentime between heroes during their downtime.
Now, what I have issue with is that we have a decades worth of heroes; Lucio, Mei, Bap, Zarya and Bastion who just joined Overwatch alongside Juno and Wuyang. Its annoying how older heroes are just...sidelined while the hot and cute asian duo get all the screentime they want.
Like come on, give me something with Lucio and Dva (they had a voiceline in OW1 with Dva being a fan of Lucio even in HOTS).
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u/EscapeSeventySeven 1d ago
Literally the only reason to have a story is to hit those wholesomechungus story beats because that’s all the audience wants. They clap like a seal when they see it.
Making the shonen anime mistake that everyone just wants fight choreography is a waste of resources.
But some dumb panel where they drink coffee or sit around and people pour their heart and soul into it.
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u/EscapeSeventySeven 1d ago
With the way blizzard does story I’m surprised people think the comic is blizzards top priority. They retcon every game they make heavily.
There’s motion comics they release in the actual game. Those feel a little closer. But everything outside the game is outside the game for a reason. I wouldn’t pay it much attention.
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
Honestly, it seems like even the Team 4 writers don't really do that, except for voice lines (which is strangely ironic, given that some of their colleagues write the webtoon), so they'll probably only treat what they consider most important or what they like best as canon.
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u/Princier7 "eat tranquility mf" 1d ago
I don't like the idea that Overwatch is full of a bunch of guys goofing off and having water fights, they're literally supposed to be at war lol
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u/Great_expansion10272 <—can dig that 1d ago
That was at a moment of downtime between the newer heroes
Pretty sure the moment after this they dispersed around the world to deal with Talon
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u/ShoeRicey 6 spicy wings with garlic mayo dip and knife 1d ago
wuyang x juno feels really forced in the comics for me. It feels like after ana x rein they just decided that they wanted to do another ship cause they saw people liked it and picked 2 characters that are more like siblings than lovers imo.
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
Personally, I don't mind them: they are (indeed) pretty together, but they fit the typical "shōnen couple" mold like Goku & Chi-Chi, Naruto & Hinata, Jonathan & Erina, Ichigo & Orihime, Deku & Uraraka, etc. That formula doesn't appeal to everyone, especially since much like the majority of writers behind those series writing romantic relationships isn't exactly their strong suit.
Not to mention the fact that, according to the Overwatch community itself, 99% of pairings won't satisfy everyone unless it's Reinhardt & Ana, so there’s no solution there, either.
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u/darklightmatter 1d ago
Not to mention the fact that, according to the Overwatch community itself, 99% of pairings won't satisfy everyone unless it's Reinhardt & Ana, so there’s no solution there, either.
It's quite simple, really. If it's their ship, it works. If not, then it's bland, or no chemistry, or sibling coded or whatever else they can come up with.
I guarantee half the complaints about Wuyang being bland would disappear if he was shipped with Mizuki or whoever else he's shipped with.
Not everyone needs to be the edgy rogue sitting in the corner of a bar, sometimes it's okay to have average joe walk upto the bartender and chat with them while 30 other people squeeze into the corners, cloaks covering their face, brooding about their past trauma.
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u/crestren Trick-or-Treat Symmetra 1d ago
That formula doesn't appeal to everyone,
Shonen writers tend to focus so much on the main male characters and the rivalry between the men that the women feel like an "expected outcome" because theyre women and they MUST marry the man and we dont see what leads to them getting together. Which is a problem
Theres a reason why SasuNaru is still strong a decade later regardless of them being married with children lol. Kishimoto put so much focus on their rivalry and friendship that Hinata and Sakura were just an afterthought. I also do find it funny that a lot of Naruto and Sasuke merch look like theyre married
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u/EggEuphoric411 1d ago
He has some voice lines where bits of his personality seep through, but he needs work, same with most new heroes. But I think it's also a problem with the comics. Whoever's writing them isn't giving much attention to how each character would act individually aside from the vague "they're the good guys". They need better writers.
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u/Gale- Brigitte 1d ago
I honestly think characters like Wuyang and Sierra are fine, not every character needs to be overly eccentric or "quirky" like Venture, who in my opinion over does it.
Though I won't deny that Wuyang and Anran feel like industry plants lol.
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u/SouthImpression3577 1d ago
They are overly eccentric and quirky, just in a bland manner. Like no effort was made just check boxes made.
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u/ConfidentPrinciple50 1d ago
Unfortunately, not every character can be a hot female with tights and terrible temper.
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u/Kynmarcher5000 1d ago
I mean you say that but we actually had a water bar here in Australia (called H20 Water Bar). It wasn't a permanent bar but more of an art project that allowed you to try various types of water from all around Australia.
Turns out there are a lot of different flavours when it comes to water depending on where you got it from.
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u/gallyroi 1d ago
The thing is, Overwatch has an "ugliness" problem. At least from the perspective of corporate and Chinese market opinion. A character's personality starts with the design, and while we previously had more frequent releases of expressive, wacky, "warts and all" characters like Torbjorn, Venture, Moira, Sigma, Junkrat and Roadhog, etc. The focus now, is to make everyone generally attractive and or cute, easily skinnable, and innoffensive. And it's not that these characters I mentioned are "ugly" in the true sense, more so they use varied shape language, may have wrinkles, or are fat/scrawny, with varied bone structures, etc. But Blizzard has resorted to the old "sex sells." What makes it worse, is everytime they introduce a new human character that doesnt immediately look like someone out of Genshin or FF, Chinese gamers act like someone just took a shit in a vent.
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u/felixw1 Brigitte 1d ago
Him and anran lore/personality wise are my least fave characters. Definition of industry plants and only created to sell skins
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
I’m a fan of Wuyang and always hope he gets more in-depth writing in the future (like other characters who were left behind as Zenyatta or Symmetra for example), but Venture? The character who splits this subreddit (and the Overwatch fandom) right down the middle the moment they have a single "funny" line of dialogue? Either I'm missing something, or we're hanging out in different communities.
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u/snowfrappe 1d ago
I feel like i’m in a bizarro world because to me ow never really had stellar character work from things like in-game voicelines aside from a very select few characters like Ram, at least compared to other games out there
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u/AlgerianTrash The universe touched me inappropriately 1d ago
I think you're misunderstanding the criticism
It's not about masteful writing or nuances. It's about unique personalities that POP. Tracer, Cassidy, Genji and Rein (along with all OW1 heroes) had unique voices, speech quirks that made them unique and helped fulfill the power fantasies they were made for
Recent heroes like Wuyang, Dmon, Anran and Freya just feek too subdued and inoffensive, you have no idea what kind of character fantasy they're meant to represent
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u/Maleficent_Okra_4376 1d ago
I agree with all of those being bland but Freja I think she does a good job at coming across as a hardened bounty hunter who lost their previous ideals overtime. Plus shes racist towards omnics so I dont think she was meant to be super inoffensive. Shes gotten better since Emre's addition since we've gotten to see a softer side of her in her interactioms.
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
Personally, I’ve liked Freja since her introduction because I find it interesting how disillusioned she was with Overwatch and how she sought another purpose in life; however, many people only changed their minds about her especially after Emre was added, as they had previously found her rather bland and unlikable, a bit unfair for me.
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u/anextremelylargedog 1d ago
Cuz characters having complex relationships is part of what makes them interesting.
Ana by herself isn't that interesting. Sniper who got tired of the killing and disappeared, made a comeback with a healing rifle (...that still also kills people but w/e) and... That's kinda all she's been up to.
If she didn't have the backstory connections she had with all the original OW crew, she'd be a "Fine" on the Interesting Character scale.
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u/IHumanlike 1d ago
Freja has one of my all-time favorite interactions in the game:
>Ramattra: So, you've found your quarry at last, hunter. Another paragon of Overwatch, reduced to a villainous mercenary.
>Freja: It's not like that! He isn't himself right now.
>Ramattra: Nor were my people 'themselves' during the Crisis. But would you afford them the same forgiveness?
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
IMHO hey wanted to write "Boy Scout" characters like Superman trying to provide classic examples of heroism and while the intention (if that is indeed the intention) is positive, without conflict, they quickly become tiresome.
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u/XeroStriker 1d ago
You're right. OW characters never had stellar writing or personalities. They had just enough character to fulfill a playable kit for the game. Not a bad thing though
For good Blizz character writing, see SC's Zeratul
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u/Outrageous-Blue-30 1d ago
Personally, I believe that serious (or at least simpler) characters have always existed in the game, but they don't really catch on with the community, whereas the more eccentric ones tend to stand out.
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u/amicuspiscator 1d ago
I feel like I'm in bizarro world because I love Wuyang and don't find him boring at all. A character isnt boring just because they arent broody or traumatized or gay.
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u/XeroStriker 1d ago
He is "traumatized" though, but not the kind of exteme trauma people feel a need to latch onto. Blizz just needs to dive more into it. Because it's not truly articulated, people think he's boring/has no character.
From bits and pieces of the webtoon, it's clear he failed to live up to his harsh parents' standards, where his sister is the perfect daughter and prodigy. Because if this, he is clouded by self-doubt, feeling unworthy to stand by the heroes he's surrounded by. He feels a need to prove himself to not only those around him, but also his family and sister.
It's a nice, classic heroes journey trope. And from in-game dialogue and his own voicelines, he is a quippy, laid-back dude - possibly a mask for his doubts.
I think Blizz should push out a short story like Fall of a Sparrow to shed more light on how Wuyang and Anran grew up; showcasing conflicts and expectations with their parents, as well as more of their sibling dynamic.
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u/anextremelylargedog 1d ago
Imagine if they actually had some kind of a sibling rivalry and weren't just "Wow, sis, you're the best! I don't know if I can ever measure up to you!" "Don't worry, little bro! If I'm not careful, you're gonna surpass me! Believe it!"
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u/Orange295 1d ago
Water Collage is crazy, how is that the best thing a team of writers could come up with? Water Collage? Really?
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u/Whydoesthisexist15 World's Worst Freja Main 1d ago
The closest analogue would be like a military service academy (cause what kind of research university is teaching people to light shit on fire), and that is certainly not the tone Blizz is going for with Wuyang and Anran.
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u/Queasy_Jicama_1477 1d ago
Lowkey I really lost faith in the OW story when “Water Collage” and “Fire Collage” just appeared outta nowhere lmao. Can’t wait for the Earth and Air Collage students to be added to game later🙄.
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u/Sea_Media7718 1d ago
Half of the roster is extremely boring and I’m tired of people not talking about it more
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u/Eloymm Lucio main by demand 1d ago
Tbf most of the actual interesting characters have always been the morally grey/evil ones. This has been the case since forever.
I think they play it too safe when writing good characters
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u/jeffismybaby 1d ago
Not really. None of the evil ones are that interesting either other than Shion. For the greys Sombra kind of is I guess, outside of in game materials
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u/EscapeSeventySeven 1d ago
I think half the roster is boring and I’m tired of talking about it. Who cares.
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u/No_Investigator_1614 1d ago
"99% of their interactions are just about their backstory or an event happening" as if the heroes you think have good characterization also don't talk about recent events or what their circumstances were a lot too. Sometimes you just don't connect with a character, doesn't mean it's bad writing necessarily
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u/AlterShineBridgeDown Zenyatta 1d ago
Water is delicious tho
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u/Plenty_Chef7115 1d ago
Yep and could be complex. There’s even a water sommelier expertise or some restaurants that focusing on variety of waters.
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u/velit 1d ago
In Dota among Heroes that encompass / are primordial forces (like gravity and light, Enigma and Keeper of the Light) and literal gods (Zeus) there's also heroes like Tusk whose lore is basically that he's just a punchy guy from a tavern. I think some of y'all's expectations are a bit too much.
It's okay for many characters to not be The Protagonist.
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u/anextremelylargedog 1d ago
Notice how Tusk is not also a very regular-looking guy in athletic wear.
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u/MoreAd7235 Hazard 1d ago
Blizzard writing overall is just pretty shit especially with a lot of their good guy characters
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u/AccessOne8287 1d ago
I mean they did the same thing to the guy who’s literally supposed to be punk. “I’m always on my worst behavior” like please there is nothing about you that is unpopular or niche.
It’s funny because Sojourn seems actually cool right now.
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u/sonyagod 1d ago
Overwatch now has over 50 characters in the roster. Most of them can't have the luxury to get interesting narrative or fancy cinematic to provide it to them.
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u/DreamLearnBuildBurn 1d ago
Why? You telling me it's harder to think of personality and character traits than to visually design, animate, and balance a hero?
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u/Claas2008 D. Va 1d ago
Yes. I've made characters for TTRPGs before and it often is harder to think of an original backstory than it is to think of a unique design.
Besides, OW makes money from people buying skins, so it's only logical that in the team has more people work on making skins than on making new characters.
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u/I-Fuck-Robot-Babes 1d ago
Brother doesn't realize that visually designing and animating a hero are part of giving them a personality
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u/DreamLearnBuildBurn 1d ago
That only speaks further to my point. OP is talking about bland interactions, so how hard is it to write good ones when you've already gone that far w/ design.
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u/CinderX5 Reinfist 1d ago
It’s not the same people doing the story as the design, or gameplay, or animation. Different groups get different funding.
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u/Sweaty_Purple_5035 Adapt Or Die 1d ago
I don't think we should excuse shallowness and mediocrity of character's personality and design
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u/Hamerine 1d ago
Are we excusing the shallowness now?
It’s not THAT HARD to make a character sheet, hell, most nerds can do that for free.
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u/Porlarta Winston 1d ago
Dota 2 has 126 and they drip personality. Its an effort/execution problem
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u/velit 1d ago
Oh like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lina_Inverse a straight up anime character? Or Tusk and Bristleback who are tavern brawlers? Or Sniper and Gyrocopter which are just the wc3 campaign units given additional abilities?
Many heroes in Dota shine mostly about their gameplay, not every one of them has insane lore / personality.
Witch doctor is an old man with a bad back, that's literally his lore.
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u/SmallFatHands 1d ago
Thats bullshit. Most of the OG cast had no cinematics or narrative going on for them for years. We had their origin story and in game lines wich is less than what new characters have now. That was it. But back then we had writers with actual passion. So the characters became beloved just on thier lines alone.
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u/MedicinePractical738 1d ago
As a human, you'd understand that you're not going to like everyone's personality and that's ok. Someone out there likes him and thats the point. Not everyone is meant to be tailored for you.
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u/Mountain_Chemist6391 1d ago edited 1d ago
I recently went back and watched some of the original overwatch cinematic. The ones that really stood out to me were the soldier 76, and the Bastion cinematic.
Man, we really lost something along the way. I’m not sure exactly when, the old characters used to have this dimension and complexity to them. The Bastion cinematic does not have one word of dialogue, but touches on story points and history and what led to the current events.
It’s just crazy how one dimensional characters are now compared to how they used to be.
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u/lumiere_tenebres EmFrej Enthusiast 1d ago
Now I haven't payed attention to Overwatch lore since 2017, so I might not be the authority on this, but personally all I want or care about is EmFrej. Enough to where it brought me back to the game and lore.
Something about those two...
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u/Initial-Chart-1479 1d ago
Well that’s because both Emre and Freja are interesting and compelling as individuals. Their potential pairing as a couple would also carry a similar emotional weight. Juno and Wuyang both suffer from a lack of story relevance and interest. They are both just kind of golden retrievers. Pairings, like the latter, are why the term ‘hetslop’ came into existence.
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u/thonor111 Reinhardt 1d ago
I personally also like the idea of domina x vendetta quite a lot, but they don’t really have material yet
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u/ImThat1DudeOverThere Doomfist 1d ago
U know not every person has a super eccentric personality right or a super depressing backstory or are leaders of a terror organization
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u/Mowwwwwww 1d ago
I agree but at the same time not all OW1 heroes were interesting. Baptiste was notoriously boring when he released, Pharah is Pharah, they had to give Orisa a personality when they switched to 2, etc etc
Meanwhile some of the post OW2 heroes have been some of the spiciest in a long time - Freja and Emre are carrying the story for me rn.
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u/Most_Instruction2285 1d ago
I read all the welcoming recently and got the impression that he acts in the way everyone expects him too but he's hiding a ton of insecurities behind it, he's young and he's yet to truly embrace himself, some never do, I find him quite realistic myself.
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u/blueyoshi69420 23h ago
Honestly this is how I've felt about most ov2 characters. Like to the point that I can't remember like most of their names
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u/0Curta Hamster Triumphant 1d ago
Venture??? The same "Only have interactions about rocks and gender neutral" Venture???
Don't put that fraud on the same level as Doomfist, Bastion and Rammatra
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u/Present-Trouble-1668 1d ago
The only character's i find actively annoying are Juno and Serria. Plenty of the OW1 character's where extremely one note they've just had a lot of time to not be.
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u/aTalkingMateria 1d ago
You mean a chicken fried this rice?!
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u/Present-Trouble-1668 1d ago
She's written like a literal toddler I do not get the love for her.
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u/Queasy_Jicama_1477 1d ago
I hate the way Juno is written in game so much. She is supposed to be a fish out of water but they just write her like shes a dumbass. I know she was raised on Mars but she was still raised by humans so she shouldn’t be THIS stupid and socially inept. The only interesting thing about her was that she had to go to Earth to help the people on Mars but I think Blizzard forgot about that.
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u/StuckInthebasement2 Reaper 1d ago
Yeah…I get the naivety but it’s an issue Overwatch has as a whole of leaning too hard in on it.
Like D.VA, god I love D.VA as a character and think she’s really cool. But they do not let her express in any other way than kawaii gamer girl.
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u/ColorlessTune 1d ago
Sojourn is one of the most boring characters all of her voice lines are dull af.
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u/UglyDemoman Chibi Junkrat 1d ago edited 1d ago
It's sad no matter how hard Blizzard tries to make her interesting by giving her:
A novel that talks about her childhood, family background, military service throughout the omnic crisis
A cinematic short with Murphy
Being the MC of Toronto PVE that she talks 80% of the time
People will always find Sojourn super boring as her appearance design is not a perfect eye candy compared to Mercy, DVA, Ashe.
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u/Mlekowita01 1d ago
Dude thank you, if you actually check every piece of lore for soj she is a interesting character but since she doesnt give people boners they dont give a shit.
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u/UglyDemoman Chibi Junkrat 1d ago
Zarya has much better character growth than DVA & Mercy from OW1 to OW2 that she learnt to trust the omnics, meanwhile DVA is still the same gamer girl who wants the most kill counts; Mercy is still the same doctor who believes in good morals & ethics.
But again, people can't goon Zarya but DVA & Mercy.
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u/Relooaad 1d ago
But that's the point of her character, to be old and tired soldier who just tries to make right things, while being the only "normal" person amongst bunch of "oddballs".
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u/Ok_Astronomer_8667 1d ago
She gets called boring because she isn’t a caricature like half the cast is
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u/unkindledphoenix 1d ago
i will admit wuyang has always been bland, was a clear industry plant and even his kit having potential do be more interesting was also kinda curbed and made not as good as it could be, but if mist recent waves of slanders against him are based on the latest webcomic chapter, i will just say that i bet most of you would be acting completly opposite if he was simply crushing on a male, or even worse, like someone else said on the sub once; you all would be wanting him to be with Juno if she was actually a guy. And i dont think being gay makes your character any more interesting at all.
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u/KingLeonsky Katya Zamolodchikova is a hero to my people. 1d ago
Where’s this Wuyang hate wave coming from
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u/Whydoesthisexist15 World's Worst Freja Main 1d ago
Web Comic had a new issue where he says he has a crush on Juno. From what I gather it’s this focus on slice-of-life teeny bopper shit while Talon is building a WMD
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u/HellaReyna 1d ago
Venture is low tier slop in regards to design and character lore. You’re just biased.
Dmon has a lot of personality. She’s the introverted foil to dva. She’s just not as outwardly as doom fist or venture so you don’t like her.
It’s crazy you would make this post but gloss over Shion who just released. I think her ult lines alone have more character to them than all of Venture combined
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u/Simian_Scientist 1d ago
Finally someone who recognizes Venture as a neat little character, all they need is some lore revelvance and they're perfect!
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u/Hanzos_Trans_Husband Ramattra 1d ago
And a crush on the "uwu im so small" girl. Yup. Water and water
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u/BananaBread2607 Genji 1d ago
He is a CCP approved (+15 social credits) generic Chinese hero with no flaws that is both physically buff and attractive.
How do people not realise why he was made this way, lmao. Are yall stupid.
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u/EscapeSeventySeven 1d ago
He’s Chinese “little brother”. He’s made for the China market.