Season 9 brings a plethora of new changes and penalty updates to discourage leavers are one of them. Here’s what players had to say about them.
As we get closer to Season 9’s launch in Overwatch 2, Blizzard has shared the changes players could look forward to, ranging from new Jade Weapons, endorsement changes, rank reset, and many others.
Among these changes is an update to the leaver’s penalty system. In a recent post, Blizzard explained that their adjustments to the previous update have “yielded positive results,” claiming that the number of leavers has been significantly reduced.
Following this, they’ve taken the initiative to extend the leaver penalty to other game modes in Season 9, such as Mystery Heroes and Hero Mastery: Gauntlet. “Leaving four or more games will activate queue restrictions until you can play your games to completion,” they explained.
An update to discourage leavers is coming to #Overwatch2 🚨With Season 9, the leaver queue restrictions will be extended to Mystery Heroes and Hero Mastery: Gauntlet. Leaving four or more games will activate said restrictions. pic.twitter.com/IknCZGUvMR
— Overwatch Cavalry (@OWCavalry) February 8, 2024
That said, many players don’t seem to welcome these changes. Players have flocked to Overwatch Cavalry’s post on X, which mentioned the update, sharing why they’re against this idea.
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“This needs to be only for competition. Why punish people for leaving casual modes?” one user wrote. This take pretty much reflects many of the replies, with others complaining that it “barely makes sense” and “ridiculous” as it only applies to casual and arcade modes where players mostly just want to have fun.
“I still don’t understand the logic of implementing these changes in non-competitive modes… literally who gives a s**t if people leave a quick play game lol,” another chimed in.
On the other hand, one user explained why the whole lever system is the reason they’ve been distancing themselves from playing Overwatch. “My dad is disabled and my internet is sh**ty. If I need to leave, I need to leave. I would rather leave and give my teammates a better shot at winning with backfill.”
Still, despite the majority seeming to dislike the penalty updates, some players think that they’re needed regardless. Speaking from experience, they mentioned that leaving ruins the experience of others and that players need to “learn to accept an L.”