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The fourth season of Competitive play for Overwatch began today. Blizzard detailed some of the major changes between this season and the third season.
Top 500 Changes
We're also making some changes to the Top 500 leaderboard. Previously, any player who managed to break into the top 500 at any point throughout the season would receive a special spray and player icon at the end of the season. This meant that many players no longer had an incentive to maintain their status as the season progressed, which could result in less competitive matches toward the end of the season.
Starting today, these rewards will only be granted if the player is in the top 500 leaderboard at the end of the season. This will make the end-of-season leaderboard rankings much more competitive as players fight to reach the top 500
Respawn Changes
Until now, stalling an attack by repeatedly throwing yourself at the point has been a common defensive strategy on Assault, Escort, and Assault/Escort maps—even when the attackers have a decisive advantage. Typically, this tactic doesn’t change the outcome of battle; it simply delays the attackers’ progress.
This season, we’ve implemented a respawn time delay that’s activated when the attackers outnumber the defenders on a contested point. If the point hasn’t been captured and the defense hasn’t regained the advantage after a specified time, the defender respawn timer will slowly begin to increase until it hits a maximum value. If the defense manages to gain the upper hand, the timer resets to zero.
We hope this change will improve the attackers’ ability to capture the point (when they have the advantage), encourage defenders to group up and retake the objective, and reduce the number of ties. However, we are currently working on a more robust solution for breaking ties on Assault maps.
We're also making some changes to the Top 500 leaderboard. Previously, any player who managed to break into the top 500 at any point throughout the season would receive a special spray and player icon at the end of the season. This meant that many players no longer had an incentive to maintain their status as the season progressed, which could result in less competitive matches toward the end of the season.
Starting today, these rewards will only be granted if the player is in the top 500 leaderboard at the end of the season. This will make the end-of-season leaderboard rankings much more competitive as players fight to reach the top 500
Respawn Changes
Until now, stalling an attack by repeatedly throwing yourself at the point has been a common defensive strategy on Assault, Escort, and Assault/Escort maps—even when the attackers have a decisive advantage. Typically, this tactic doesn’t change the outcome of battle; it simply delays the attackers’ progress.
This season, we’ve implemented a respawn time delay that’s activated when the attackers outnumber the defenders on a contested point. If the point hasn’t been captured and the defense hasn’t regained the advantage after a specified time, the defender respawn timer will slowly begin to increase until it hits a maximum value. If the defense manages to gain the upper hand, the timer resets to zero.
We hope this change will improve the attackers’ ability to capture the point (when they have the advantage), encourage defenders to group up and retake the objective, and reduce the number of ties. However, we are currently working on a more robust solution for breaking ties on Assault maps.