Chapter 434: Strongly Demand a Bastion Nerf
Amid a joyful atmosphere, the match ended.
After the victory, the interface displayed a full-team close-up of the winning side. Each hero struck their respective pose, and everyone gleefully took screenshots.
To everyone’s surprise, the settlement screen didn’t pop up immediately. Instead, a "Play of the Game" clip appeared first.
"Play of the Game: Pursley."
Old P’s Genji stood before the camera, striking his default classic pose. After flashing three shurikens in his hand, he sheathed them and looked into the lens.
Following the pose, the screen switched to a first-person highlight reel of Genji’s perspective.
Since it was in VR mode, everyone could immerse themselves even more deeply, witnessing just how effortlessly Old P’s Genji cleaned up the remnants of the fight. They also saw the full process of that pivotal battle.
Old P’s Genji first climbed a wall to a high vantage point, evading the enemy’s line of sight. Then, he descended from the sky to attack the Bastion on the payload. The moment Bastion fired at him, he activated [Deflect], bouncing all the bullets back. After that, he used [Swift Strike] and a close-range blade attack to continuously finish off the low-health enemies, completing the cleanup.
Immediately after, the screen displayed the relevant ratings. Old P’s Genji earned an S-tier rating—an exceptionally high score. Not only his teammates but even the opponents gave him a thumbs-up.
Additionally, three other standout players were highlighted, such as the enemy team’s core Bastion and their own team’s effective damage-dealer, Pharah.
There was also a "Details" button. Clicking it would reveal all players’ ratings for that match, along with detailed data on the heroes they used.
Taking Old P’s Genji as an example, several data points were prominently marked: eliminations, eliminations with ultimate, ultimate survival rate, and damage deflected by [Deflect]. These stats all showed that Old P’s Genji excelled at cleaning up fights and had a high survival rate.
The damage deflected by [Deflect] also demonstrated how Old P’s Genji significantly restricted the enemy Bastion, effectively countering it.
In the Play of the Game and related evaluations, Chen Mo had also made some minor optimizations.
Beyond output/healing amounts, eliminations/assists, and skill effects, two new weighting factors were added: one was the complexity and spectacle of the relevant actions, and the other was the impact on the match.
For example, if a player using Tracer made three daring incursions into the fight, drawing a lot of attention, then successfully stuck a Pulse Bomb onto a key enemy and secured multiple kills, such high-difficulty maneuvers would earn bonus points.
Furthermore, if a critical team fight occurred—like successfully saving a control point from a dire situation or effectively blocking the enemy from pushing the payload into the city—players who performed exceptionally in that fight would also receive extra points.
Thus, based on the comprehensive evaluation, the Play of the Game wasn’t awarded to the mindlessly shooting Bastion but to Old P’s Genji.
"Whoa, P-Senpai is 6666!"
"I give this play a perfect score!"
"P-Senpai has some serious guts! I thought we were done for in that fight, but then P-Senpai’s Genji went deep alone and took out the enemy leader from amidst thousands of troops. Respect, respect!"
"P-Senpai, carry me!"
"The Genji P-Senpai plays is a completely different hero from mine!"
"This VR immersion is insane! Even just in spectator mode, it feels amazing!"
"Let’s start another round! Huh? It’s already started?"
Before anyone could react, the game had automatically begun the next match.
[Welcome to Route 66. Please select your hero.]
"What the heck, it automatically starts the next round?"
"So sneaky! Feels like I’m stuck in an infinite loop—can’t get out!"
"Haha, this is great! Everyone, hurry up, let’s go again!"
……
Soon, the official forums for Overwatch became lively. Players from all over were posting, sharing their game experiences.
"The Most Complete Noob-Friendly Analysis of All Hero Skills!"
"Sharing Torbjörn’s Best Turret Positions on Each Map"
"On Balance: Is Bastion Too Strong?"
"Suggestion: Rename the Game to Bastionwatch"
"Analysis of Attack Modes on All Maps"
"Tips for Hanzo’s Arrow Shooting"
"Anyone want to play together? Add me as a friend!"
……
At this point, most of the popular posts were guide-oriented. Since everyone was still learning, these guides were the most sought-after.
There were also some daily discussion threads and praise posts.
However, the funniest ones were the newbie experience posts.
"Is this route guidance broken? Playing on Ilios Well, why did the arrow lead me straight into the pit?"
"This DJ’s healing wave is amazing for healing people! My healing output was solid the whole match!"
"To the above: Do you have a misunderstanding about this hero? Lucio heals with an area-of-effect aura, not with his weapon…"
"My first time playing Torbjörn was hilarious. I heard you can upgrade the turret by hitting it with a hammer, so I kept hitting it for ages with no reaction. Turns out, the Bastion on my team asked, 'Torbjörn, why do you keep hitting me with that little hammer?'"
"I really want to ask: On payload maps, does pushing the payload increase movement speed? I pushed it for ages and felt like it was still so slow!"
"I feel like I’m still a newbie. I heard other people’s Pharahs go, 'Justice rains from… ah!' while mine goes, 'Justice… ah!'"
"When I played Zenyatta, I put orbs on all my teammates as soon as I left spawn, thinking this round was in the bag! Later, I found out you can only put an orb on one person…"
The players were all having a blast. As an FPS game, Overwatch had a richer game mechanics than most other FPS games, so the learning curve was steeper. But since everyone was still inexperienced at the start, this period became the most joyful phase for everyone.
Winning brought happiness, and losing allowed for a quick start to the next match. Occasionally getting Play of the Game was satisfying enough to save and rewatch repeatedly, and it was a great way to show off to friends.
Moreover, the game’s win rate was roughly maintained at around 50%. Solo players wouldn’t run into premade teams, and there were no long losing streaks, so everyone was having a great time.
However, some players also raised concerns: Was Bastion too strong?
In a post titled "Suggestion: Rename the Game to Bastionwatch," many players were venting.
"Bastion is way too OP! Once it sets up, it’s invincible!"
"Yeah, if you have a Reinhardt buddy protecting you and a healer keeping you alive, it’s just ridiculous!"
"And the craziest part is, isn’t this a defense hero? But you can totally play it as an attack hero—just sit on the payload!"
"Strongly demand a Bastion nerf! Add an overheating mechanic to the minigun!"
"Exactly, or halve the healing while it’s set up!"
"Agreed! Strongly demand a Bastion nerf—it seriously ruins the game experience!!"