The most popular conversation about the game we all wish we owned is about Hero swapping after each death. After some concerned tweets and popular threads on the Overwatch sub-Reddit(all on the topic of Hero switching mid match) Senior Game designer Jeremy Craig must have felt compelled to make a comment. He recently tweeted this in response to the growing uneasiness about the ability to change Heroes after your hero dies:
When playing @PlayOverwatch you need to be comfortable with switching. Having a "main" and playing only that can make things harder for you.
— Jeremy Craig (@Jaerock83) September 6, 2015
Having played Overwatch as much as I physically could at the multiple press events I have attended, I echo these sentiments almost exactly. Switching Heroes in Overwatch is a huge component of the games balance because some team compositions are heavily disadvantaged against others. It would be extremely frustrating if players were forced to endure these unfavorable match ups for an entire match, as would be the case if Hero switching was not allowed.
Advocates against Hero swapping mid-match have called for a separate game mode which disallows switching. This way, teams would be able to choose a balanced lineup ahead of time that isn't countered so easily. Personally, I hope this doesn't happen for multiple reasons. FPS games get better when they are more about outplaying your opponent and accuracy. Sometimes, you won't stand a chance because you went into a situation out gunned. But, after dying, a player needs a chance to adapt. Overwatch hero swapping allows this to happen and, without it, Overwatch gets blander.
And if such a mode were to exist, all it would do is create a predictable, "don't deviate from the tier list" tension when it comes to selecting a Hero. Blizzard avoids this scenario like the plague, having learned from past mistakes that no one likes to be told how to play or punished for not playing a certain way.
A good team player is always asking the question "How am I helping the team right now?" Overwatch hero swapping allows players to answer that question in an awesome, dynamic way. You can switch to a support the moment your team needs it, and after a few minutes, switch back to an offensive hero after your opponent has adapted. It's hard to feel useless in Overwatch because you always have the ability to try something new.
Hero swapping allows Heroes like Torbjörn to exist. His niche play-style can be chosen at any point in the game.
Nothing feels worse than being flamed for picking your favorite hero. The ability to switch heroes at re spawns allows for niche hero design and awesome moments. Never thought you would enjoy playing Bastion? You will once the enemy offensive heroes that has been killing you all game suddenly have something to fear.
It's easy to understand fear people imagine. It's easy to fall in love with certain heroes with prospect of "maining" them. These Hero loyalist don't want to be forced to switch just because the because the enemy re-spawned as 2 Reapers to aggressively hunt down their playmaking Mercy. Jeremy Craig confirms that life will be harder for the Mercy player if she doesn't adapt, but don't we want a game that rewards on the spot adaptability?
The Hero swapping is subtly responsible for some of the most fun of the game. It's very hard for one strategy or technique to dominate a match because all players have the opportunity to learn from their mistakes and come at it from a different angle.
There were times playing Overwatch when I felt a serious sense of rivalry between a certain player on the enemy team. I was Widowmaker (because I love the Hero) and found a really great hiding spot that allowed me to completely cover a long corridor that the enemy frequented. Widowmakers defensive strengths shined and, essentially, that corridor was strict "do-not-enter" zone for the enemy. It was fun to see my opponents try over and over again to breach my teams defensive, and even more fun when they started trying out different heroes.
Eventually, the strategic switch to Reinhardt allowed the opposing team to make it past the corridor and the battle moved to another location. It was fun for me re-locate and change my strategy, just as it must of been satisfying for the Reinhardt player to identify the problem, solve it with a character swap, and lead his team forward.
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