The beta period for Blizzard’s team-based shooter, Overwatch, has ended, with the game formally launching on May 24. In the meantime, they’ve released guidelines on how they’re going to handle cheating, including a warning warning about the game’s best players.
Though Blizzard themselves will be monitoring for cheaters in Overwatch, the community is encouraged to report suspicious behavior. So I couldn’t help but chuckle at this guideline about players who excel at the game:
“Some players are just really good at first-person shooters. Through practice and years of experience, these players’ movements and reaction times can occasionally appear unnatural (if not physically impossible) to those who may not have been exposed to that particular level of play before.”
In other words: don’t report people who kick your ass.
It sounds like Blizzard is taking a hard stance, promising that anyone found cheating, even if it’s a first offense, will be permanently banned.
“Not only does cheating undermine the spirit of fair play that all of our products are based on, but it works to diminish the fun and enjoyment of others,” said the company in a forum post.
Besides asking players to submit reports to hacks@blizzard.com, rather than publicly shaming players, Blizzard warned that glitches can sometimes be misinterpreted as cheating. For example:
“Our in-game camera system does not always play back footage at the same fidelity as real-time gameplay (this loss in fidelity applies to the killcam, Plays of the Game, Highlights, and—to a lesser extent—the spectator camera as well). This can sometimes result in a player’s aim appearing more snappy or less fluid in playback than it did in-game.”
I wish From Software was taking cheating a seriously in Dark Souls 3 as Blizzard appears to be taking with Overwatch!