u/Grand-Lab-7321

Greetings humans and omnics alike.

I have had some really good games as Lifeweaver weaving life here and weaving life there but the last game was like something out of SAW 😔.

I had never met the Hog player on the other team prior (Maybe I had ..it was all JP characters) yet ALL game he focused entirely on me. He would camp spawn but hide in slightly different spots each time then hook and kill.

Now I know others have had this issue with Sombra players but I genuinly was struggling to get around this. Even grouped up with my team i'd be hooked away and in response they'd spam the usual 'I nEEd heAlInG'.

What when playing support could have countered this. He seemed to have 100% hook accuracy. I reported him for griefing and smurfing but honestly Redditoranians it knocked my confidence as LW despite all my previous games this morning being beautiful.

Good evening all!

Now I underdstand how contentious a topic this is but for me one i've never had a clear answer for so would appreciate a non toxic response (of course).

Now I played the original Overwatch religiously, every comp season, all star skins and every event - I was committed.

Back then there would always..ALWAYS be people talking in voice chat and alongside the deep lore, reward loop and personality what made the game so great was how much of a blast it was finding that perfect team cohesion and synergy. I have autism and bpd/borderline personality disorder, have no friends and have been hospatalised multiple times for SI so the sense of community Overwatch offered back then alongside a few other games but especially Overwatch was so important for my mental health as due to being bullied and rejected so often outside the safety of Home it made things a little brighter and me less isolated.

I skipped/missed OW2 due to being very unwell and only returned to OW in the past 3 weeks and although the richness of the game World remains it still manages to feel soulless because virtually everybody now plays it like a single player game.

Now before anyone cites perceieved 'toxicity' as to why voice chat is avoided that doesn't exactly explain why people USED to use mics as thier were idiots/less personable people back then too. Back then I'd be adding new people everyday, 'staying as a group' after a decent game then staying as a group all night having a blast.

Now I join games to find any of these scenarios:

1. Nobody is on vc.

2. People are in vc but leave IMMEDIATELY once another person speaks.

3. People join vc then sit in silence ALL game.

Discord is nowhere near as useful as the original OWs in game 'look for group' feature as it involves far more organising around timing and ranks wheras the original OW would find you other groups within your specifications instantly.

No Anas giving any heads-up about who they will nano, no combo ults, no ult prediction,no Sombra hacks called and ult called, no shotcalling and a plethora of people claiming 'Its not that serious' insistent on treating it like a run n gun military shooter not a hero shooter.

My only theories are:

1. People in this zeitgeist have become so immersed and reliant on content and convenience culture that they've become scared of talking to other humans hence why they leave vc the moment someone says 'Hi' but are happy to hide behind text chat being toxic but will adamantly refuse to join vc if asked whilst continouing to be toxic via vc.

2. F2p has perhaps given the illusion OW is a casual game so only requires the bare minimum of input.

3. All lvl 5 endorsement bearers other than myself do not shotcall, combo, call strats but seem to be endorsed just for going support..just for picking a role.. further taking away from the importance of communication in a hero shooter as the aforementioned are not covered by the ping wheel.

Any feedback and thoughtful responses are appreciated.

Thank you for reading!