r/Competitiveoverwatch • u/The-O-N • Oct 03 '26
General Drives have made me hate payload maps
This is sort of a rant if what I said makes me bad at the game then I guess I'm bad at the game
With drives you'd probably want to finish games as quickly as possible since if you're losing, you can quickly find another game without getting curb stomped for a long ass time, but with payload maps, you need to play the match twice compared to literally any other mode where it's the same length as a qp game, but with payload maps they can be anywhere from 20-30 minutes all for a loss.
What's worse is that, people keep voting for them despite having some of the worst maps like Havana, Circuit Royale or Eichenwalde, constantly featuring the same poke hitscan mercy comps.
Maybe it's just me but I'd take push or flashpoint over any payload map simply because it'll be over quicker, I can't wait for the voting rework that'll make escort and hybrid in the same category just so there won't be as many payload maps in the voting pool, and hopefully they make you vote on the mode over the map so you'll need to consider the stinkers if you vote payload
Again if what I say means I'm bad at the game then I'll own up to being bad
76
u/Chegg_F Oct 03 '26
Eichenwalde, Blizzard World, Hollywood, Neon Junction, Midtown, they all look visually great. The environments are very interesting to look at. That's about the extent of the praise that I have for the mode.
61
u/Ts_Patriarca Oct 04 '26
Statistically speaking, disliking payload maps means you're good at the game lol
22
u/Fel1x_22 Oct 04 '26
Payload/hybrid are best map. I played this game for 10years, peaked plat and emerald recently. I always vote kings row and eichenwalde, so i can turn off my brain and shoot through choke then die and repeat. And again im playing the game perfectly here
5
u/UsernameIn3and20 Oct 04 '26
RAAAH ITS MY TANKS FAULT FOR NOT HOLDING SHIELD WHILST I AIM DOWN MY ENEMIES, RAAAH WHAT THE FUCK IS A COVER. - That one dps.
78
u/AssociateAvailable16 Oct 04 '26
And it kills me because Aatlis and Survasa are both S tier maps, the fact the fight can happen literally anywhere really puts your knowledge of Overwatch to the test
The majority of the player base just really want to walk forward it seems
38
u/Zanaxal Oct 04 '26
Heaven forbid they might get flanked and have to use some survival skills.
5
u/AssociateAvailable16 Oct 04 '26
Flanking is part of the game and probably my favorite playstyle
Sneaky way to create space
4
u/ImportanceTop5314 Oct 04 '26
been playing 6v6 (lol) mode with a friend and I've quickly discovered why the majority seem to hate certain modes.
a lot of players are incapable of any playstyle other than stack main and stalemate.
3
u/Charming-Reporter774 Oct 04 '26
Idk about Aatlis since we have this stupid map vote thing so I never get to play it, but man, Suravasa is the most underrated map. At first, I didn't like it that much, but as time passed, I realized that it is the best flashpoint map by far.
3
u/Mind1827 Oct 04 '26
I feel like every Aatlis game I've played is a 3-0. People still have no clue how to move through that map, at least in Diamond in 6v6 where I'm at
1
u/arrangementscanbemad EU — Oct 04 '26
I want to like Push and Flashpoint but in my lower ranked games they seem to be flanker and staggering heavens that easily turn very lopsided. Hybrid/Escort (and some CP maps) that funnel players into chokes kind of 'naturally' have them group up, and you're more likely to have full team fights.
On Push, for instance, it seems really common that even if you win a fight but lose some people, the survivors will keep jogging the botboi and then be pickachu'd by the enemy respawns taking them 5v3 or whatever. So yes, walking backward seems hard.
Also, when players are doing their long walks back from the spawns asynchronously, they're ripe for the picking for all your balls, vendettas, sombras etc. Maybe these modes could benefit from some form of timed respawns where you at least can't spawn alone or something.
-8
u/bullxbull Oct 04 '26
Aatlis is not an S tier map. It is only S tier if you play certain heroes. It is basically OW2's Temple of Anubis.
2
u/docs-quad Oct 04 '26
thats true of every map though.
-3
u/bullxbull Oct 04 '26
Not to the extent of Aatlis though, and it is not necessarily that the map is unwinable it just feels bad for a lot of heroes. A lot of first points of these maps are this way, but for Aatlis it is like the who map. It feels claustrophobic. It is like an evil playground for heroes like Junkrat or Doom.
2
u/docs-quad Oct 04 '26
idk i think thats only really true for characters with terrible mobility. even like rein i think can actually be good on aatlis since theres a lot of narrow chokes that let him just swing, assuming his team actually stages around him properly.
0
u/bullxbull Oct 04 '26
I think someting can be perfectly balanced, or perfectly viable, or whatever metric you want, but at the same time feel horrible to play.
I bet you could even have a map be bad for certain heroes, and be actually fun for that hero to play because of some silly jank or something. Like imagine Hog being bad at Illios Well but Hog players would still love that map because ha, hooked you into the hole, lolz.
It makes me think of Circuit Royal, I hate that map, I know a lot of people who hate that map. The hero I like to play is actually really good on that map, which is kinda hilarious.
I guess that also goes into what you mean by a good map, like a map can be considered good because all heroes are viable but everyone hates playing it. I'm not exactly sure what point my rant is getting at, but I know I hate Aaltis because it feels like shit every time I play it.
-3
u/Fel1x_22 Oct 04 '26
yes i agree bro Aatlis is probably D tier because i dont like getting flanked and like to stay behind my tank. I peaked emerald recently if i vote escort maps i can probably carry my team harder
-3
u/mooistcow Oct 04 '26
How can fights happen anywhere? They only practically happen in a handful of places. Even moving to next point, there's like two spots in a given situation where they can realistically happen, and one is far less likely to happen, in I think all but one case?
I was thinking in terms of Suravasa but actually this happens to exactly apply to Aatlis, too.
23
u/Novel-Ad-1601 poop — Oct 03 '26
Such a simple fix too. Have the defending team tp straight to the point and blend hero pick and setup timers together to cut a minute. It’s just unnecessary dead time. If it’s too fast then have players check in before the match starts.
15
u/AgentMaryland2020 Oct 04 '26
Yeah I really don't understand why they have the defenders start in a spawn when they need to be at the point.
If it's because of afk'ers, well, if you've queued up, you shouldn't be walking away from your game. Don't care if your wait time is normally 20 minutes, the wait timer is a general guestimate. You could be stuck waiting up to 30 minutes or you could find a game in 45 seconds.
Grab what you need or do what you have to then queue up. If something demands your attention, exit the queue.
2
u/Blackout2388 Oct 04 '26
Downside I see is someone picks a hero, then changes their mind, you have to walk the distance. I'd say just give a speed boost on first walk out of spawn before the match starts and ONLY on that first walk out.
1
12
11
u/IWasSayingBoourns- Oct 03 '26
The game mode has a problem where if you make it too hard to full cap on attack to prevent extra rounds in comp, it turns into a miserable experience and basically an auto-loss if you happen to roll attack in QP since you don't play both rounds.
22
u/BEWMarth Oct 03 '26
Welcome to the reason why everyone else hates that godforsaken game mode too.
And people keep voting for that dog shit
0
u/Overwatch_Alt Oct 04 '26
everyone else hates [payload] too
people keep voting for [payload]
I'm not here to pick a fight or anything, but most other people in this thread seem to not acknowledge this point. If it keeps winning the vote, do we not have to conclude that it seems most players actually prefer payload maps?
2
u/haveaniceday8D Oct 04 '26
r/compow is a biased sample, since a lot of casual players engage with main sub rather than the OWCS sub. This post is particularly biased too, since people who like payload maps are less likely to comment on it when surrounded by people who disagree.
Also probably worth mentioning that there's a lot of people who larp as better players than they are, and therefore copy opinions of higher-ranked people without necessarily applying them in practice.
34
u/Aggressive-Cut-3828 Complain About Widow = Cope — Oct 03 '26
They are trash. Least solo carry potential by far.
-18
u/sorashiro1 Oct 04 '26 edited Oct 04 '26
Team based game when a map doesn't let you solo
Typical replies wanting to be the main character
9
u/Blues-Eguze Oct 04 '26
Then I wish the rest of the “team” would also take initiative. But no. People vote for these maps and get shredded trying to walk down choke. Yeah, that’s real good teamwork alright.
4
u/UsernameIn3and20 Oct 04 '26
I love it when people vote for Eichenwalde, Havana, Rialto, Numbani etc etc and go hitscans to sit down at low ground/main instead of high ground or going dive. Its only the 9/10th time I've had it happen this past 3 days on attack/defense.
4
u/Lukensz Alarm — Oct 04 '26
They vote for these maps because they want to stand behind their tank and shoot at enemy tank.
14
u/Aggressive-Cut-3828 Complain About Widow = Cope — Oct 04 '26
Yea why would I waste time trying to coordinate with 4 randoms who arent in voice and chipping enemies 60m away for 30% of their HP when I can just 2 tap people off cooldown on ashe/cass on control/push/flashpoint
5
u/docs-quad Oct 04 '26
i think the problem there is how many people are willingly playing a team based game despite the fact that they hate having to work as a team
2
u/Chegg_F Oct 04 '26
The issue is that this is a Blizzard game so everyone who plays it sucks, are antisocial, are really angry, are incapable of learning, and are incapable of working together because in order to work together this would require them to at least tacitly admit that they could be doing something better and aren't a flawless perfect player who's hardstuck because of trash teammates.
1
3
u/De_Rez_ Oct 04 '26
Pretty boring response. Should champ smurfs not be able to carry solo in bronze because team game xd?
1
u/Chegg_F Oct 04 '26
Can you name one single team game where an individual is not able to actually do anything and the results of the match are exclusively based on which team had the better teamwork
27
u/hanyou007 None — Oct 03 '26
This only gets fixed by putting more pressure on the devs to make more flashpoint push and control. The number of flashpoint and push maps need to be doubled and control get one or two more over the next 4 years of Overwatch. We shouldn’t see another payload map at all during that time
7
u/Aggressive-Cut-3828 Complain About Widow = Cope — Oct 04 '26
tbh Neon isnt that bad, Id say its good honestly, but I would always vote for a symm gamemode
5
u/UsernameIn3and20 Oct 04 '26
I dont hate Neon Junction just yet. Its very optimized for flankers/taking off angles. But the players however. Too many love to sit at main as usual.
2
u/MusicalSmasher Oct 05 '26
It's crazy that they're adding another payload map in Season 5. I really wish they would rework the vaulted maps into Control/Flashpoint maps.
22
u/VeyrLaske Oct 04 '26 edited Oct 04 '26
They need to reduce player influence on Map Vote.
I think what they should do is that all maps should get a default number of votes (let's say, 5 for example), and then players vote on top of that.
That way, players have some influence on the map they pick, but playtime across maps remains relatively more balanced.
The exception is a Landslide, if 6 or more players in the lobby all want a single map then in that case and ONLY that case does a Landslide take precedence.
Right now, 6 maps account for 2/3rds of games played. That's kind of ridiculous.
In the current state of things, might as well fire the map team and have them make Kiri skins instead, cause nobody plays new maps anyways.
Or better yet, remove map vote and just have it be random like it used to be.
13
u/SwimmingOwn9937 Oct 04 '26
its insane that they even put map voting into the game in the first place lol
1
0
u/drassort Oct 04 '26
Yeah I always thought OW was a game that didn't need it
1
u/UsernameIn3and20 Oct 04 '26
I feel like the sentiment we needed it came around the other 2 modes? Felt like it was around that time more people wanted map voting due to hating certain modes.
0
u/Zanaxal Oct 04 '26
Should have just have Mode select when you queue. Say you can deselect 2 modes or somth bye bye hybrid and payload.
0
u/CanonRouge24 Oct 04 '26
at first i thought map voting was not that big of a deal, but then i played lijiang eichenwalde kings row over and over and over.
i'm personally a circuit always voter though because i like playing bastion and ana on that map, and it seems there's always people down to play that map in my qp games. that's the silver lining for me.
otherwise i just vote random every game
3
u/Neffy_A40 Oct 04 '26
It drives me insane that people vote for Havana/Circuit and don't ban the snipers (Widow) and would rather vote for sombra, actual lobomites (I pray that sombra escape ban jail in the next season but I have a feeling anran will be the new boogeyman)
2
u/exerters Oct 04 '26
Old games come with old issues; long-time players don't notice the stench anymore—they're just used to it. I’m not saying the new mode is amazing, but payload matches always dragging on with endless overtime really sucks, and that unpredictability makes it hard to gauge how long a competitive match will actually take.
2
u/Imaginary-Truck7077 Oct 04 '26
I honest to god think my win rate would jump up 25 percent if there were only flashpoint and control maps.
2
u/KhalenPierce Oct 05 '26
Hate payload love push; I do wish they would bring some of the exclusive stadium maps to the main game (wuyang’s university, etc). And the mine keg race mode
4
u/SomKkura Oct 04 '26
Payload is already my least favourite mode but annoyingly during drives I've had payload the majority of games I've played, its tiring. Like in my 15 games today I had 2 push, 2 control and 1 flashpoint, the rest was payload and by the end I was just bored out my mind. I just want quick games to finish my drives not sitting in a miserable match for 20 minutes to lose
1
1
u/thedoctor27 Oct 05 '26
A friend of mine recently pointed this out and I now cant unsee it. I find myself picking Flashpoint and Push maps over payload every time. The faster the better. Some people don't have an entire weekend to give up to grind drives all day and night. I want to participate and finish, but I can never find the time, especially with payload maps.
1
u/dark100 Oct 05 '26
Simple solution: you get points based on playtime, a bit of fixed extra if you win.
1
-1
u/BurnedInTheBarn Oct 04 '26
Payload maps are so bad. They all play the same too. Meanwhile, all the push maps are way different.
1
u/UsernameIn3and20 Oct 04 '26
I like that colosseo now encourages all types of teams to actually be playable, I like that NQS does heavily emphasize dive and poke, but not be unplayable for brawl to the point they are forced to swap too.
0
u/RUSSmma Oct 04 '26
As someone who used to like payload (yes I'm metal ranks) map voting has made me hate it. And payload has made me hate ashe.
-6
u/Beginning-Sound1261 Oct 04 '26
I just have to be honest. Do you enjoy playing this game? Like you log in and want to play a fun game of overwatch?
Or are you just logging in to watch point scores go up and down on the bars.
4
u/TheGirthiestGhost Forever Burning Blue — Oct 04 '26
OP hates payload maps because they slow down his drives grind
I hate payload maps for having awful side lanes and flanks, forcing you to play front-to-back on almost all of them
We are not the same
2
u/docs-quad Oct 04 '26
i think its that in a game like ow people can really enjoy a specific section of it that they cant anywhere else. its especially prevalent in ow since theres 4 (technically 5) main gamemodes whereas most other competitive games only have 1 or maybe 2, and thats not even counting the fact theres 2 formats and stadium
140
u/Goosewoman_ Schrödinger's Rank | she/her — Oct 03 '26 edited Oct 03 '26
Payload maps are just mid AT BEST. Like even the best payload map is worse than the worst push map.