Fans ofOverwatch 2have had an assortment of changes to get acquainted with since the game’s release, some of the most discussed tweaks being those made to the scoreboard and “On Fire” features.Overwatch 2has shaken up its predecessor’s formula quite a bit, causing several features from the original game to be removed as a result of the new design choices.
These new choices have brought along a variety of changes for the game, ranging from subtle things such as hero skin redesigns and map changes to crucial gameplay amendments, including the move to 5-player teams and the focus on a single tank per team. These changes brought withOverwatch 2, along with the server issues and introduction of a newbattle pass system, has made the game a particularly hot topic across social media recently.
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The “On Fire” meter allowed players to measure their performance as their player portrait would light up in flames upon making an impressive play such as a multikill. Each hero character in the game even had their own unique lines of dialogue for when they become On Fire. Strangely enough, those voice lines can still be heard through gameplay despite the removal of the feature - evenOverwatch 2’s three new heroeshave their own ‘On Fire’ voice lines. This has given players further hope for the return of the feature, as the beta’s official patch notes from Blizzard state: “We do plan on revisiting the Fire system in the future, as it can provide excitement and positive feedback around awesome plays made by you or your teammates.”
Blizzard continued to explain in the patch notes that the decision to remove the Fire and Medal systems was made as a result of thenew scoreboard system inOverwatch 2, which allows players to see key statistics such as eliminations and deaths for themselves and their teammates in real time during the course of a match. While this system is common in most other online FPS games, Blizzard go on to suggest that “this new layout should provide players with an overall more accurate view of the game,” presumably rendering the Fire and post-game Medal systems obsolete.
Despite the developers' intentions, many fans have expressed their discontent for the change. A portion of the community claim that the Fire system felt more rewarding than the scoreboard system, and that it had an aspect of gameplay convenience as it would allow teams to recognize proficient players without pausing to read the scoreboard. Another side of the community argue that the Fire system was more gimmicky than it was practical, and that the new scoreboard system offers more clarity for player stats. Many players remain hopeful that Blizzard later decide to bring the Fire system back alongside the new scoreboard, as that would seem to give players the best of both worlds. Although for now, with so much feedback from fans, it’s likely that Blizzard will be focusing its efforts elsewhere as theycontinue to polishOverwatch 2' PVPalongside the development of the game’s PvE content scheduled to release sometime in 2023.
Overwatch 2is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.
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