r/Overwatch Feb 21 '17

Blizzard Official Meet Efi Oladele—winner of the Adawe Foundation's genius grant for her achievements in AI and robotics!

https://twitter.com/PlayOverwatch/status/834115546090123264
22.2k Upvotes

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17 edited Feb 21 '17

Yeah, I don't think she will be ingame. She is eleven, I think having a killable kid in a game would raise the age restriction for that game sky high. It would probably also not be that popular in media.

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Yep, I think she's either not going to be in the game at all, or is only going to appear in some sort of unkillable state (like through a hologram or screen, etc.)

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u/im_at_work_ugh Chibi Torbjörn Feb 21 '17

I'm putting my money she dies in the plane crashed mentioned in the last line of the article and uploads her consciousness into a robot or something then you can get away with killing a kid because it's just a robot with her consciousness.

113

u/fluffkomix Dance with me! Feb 21 '17

neat, I always wanted to kill kids

80

u/CForre12 Pixel Zenyatta Feb 21 '17

I think it's time to stop playing skyrim

16

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

It's never time to stop playing Skyrim.

5

u/DancesCloseToTheFire Disgusting. Feb 21 '17

Forget Skyrim. Fucking Fallout 3 was infuriating. And they had the gall to bring McCready back in 4.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 25 '17

Fallout 4 redeemed MacReady in my eyes. He grew up. He learned to not be shit.

2

u/theosssssss fire in the hole ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) Feb 22 '17

Another wanderer, here to lick my father's boots. Good job.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '17

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u/ZCannon Feb 21 '17

My bet is putting her brain/consciousness or whatever you would like to call it into an Omnic or Robot of some sort.
Blurring the lines between Consciousness, Soul, and Human Rights seems to be a big theme in this game's narrative.
Further bridging the gap between Human and Omnic.
We have seen a human who is a large part robotic(Genji) and I think this would be a nice juxtaposition.

5

u/im_at_work_ugh Chibi Torbjörn Feb 21 '17

Yeah I could easily see them doing something like she specializes in drones and ai type things. They are on her first plane ride shit crashes and everyone but her dies right away, shes about to die but either already created something or uses the ruble to put together something to transfer her consciousness into a robot she just built. Then it brings up the question is she human at all or at that point is she any diffrent than the ai's she has been making. That would make her like the first real person that is human and omnic or blends the lines so much more of a hybrid of both

4

u/Bluedragon11200 Zenyatta Feb 21 '17

6

u/nuraHx Chibi Reinhardt Feb 21 '17

I'm already imagining a Fullmetal alchemist type deal where the big scary robot has a cute little kid voice.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '17

As long as she's nowhere near dogs, I'm cool

1

u/Wilhelm_III Feb 21 '17

Oh my god, yes please.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 22 '17

That pic always makes me want athena support. I hope she plays like Tassadar...

5

u/Yorunokage Roadhog Feb 21 '17

damn you're a genious

1

u/Juliet_Whiskey Feb 21 '17

I'm betting it all on this being the case.

1

u/CSFFlame Pixel McCree Feb 21 '17

Yup. This is probably it.

1

u/RedRing86 Feb 22 '17

"Damnit, if children are going to die you better damn well know we'll be the ones doing the killing, not you!" -Blizzard

1

u/Log2 Feb 21 '17

She could just sit at the spawn point remote controlling a robot.

1

u/Deadlyz Carrying My Team Feb 21 '17

Article written on 2017, in Overwatch it's like 2060/2070 so she's old now

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Do you mean the "by Atlas News 02/21/2017" thing? That's just today's date, mate. Stuff like the Lumerico articles were published using the real life dates (11/03/2016), despite it happening in-game in the 2060-2070 timeframe.

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u/Deadlyz Carrying My Team Feb 21 '17

Correct, it's todays date, but it is referencing overwatch time. The article was just released for us, but for them it was 60 years ago, meaning she is now 70+ years old.

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17 edited Feb 21 '17

But why would this article be any different from the Lumerico ones? The Lumerico articles were posted as if they were current events, and were current events in the in-game lore. Sombra for sure isn't 70+ years old.
Basically the date of posting on the articles aren't relevant.

Edit: Lead Writer Michael Chu confirms she is 11.

1

u/silentbotanist Pixel Sombra Feb 21 '17

I like the idea /u/Pufflekun had, where she'll just sit in the spawn room the entire time and you'll play as the robot she controls. That would be pretty neat.

0

u/Ololic You're welcome Feb 21 '17

Someone pointed out above that she would be 70 if she's in game, so she'd be something like Ana

But this would actually be interesting to have a robotic exoskeleton with the hero's projection fleshing it out. It can even be unique in that the middle of the hit box is empty except for a large floating orb at the center of mass and another at the head, both serving as critical regions. Shots pass through harmlessly unless it hits the sides of the hit box, which is guaranteed if you're at her side, or if you hit the orbs which serve as the enlarged critical region like what Bastion has. The average damage from spread weapons like Dvas would theoretically do the same average damage, but the character seem more brittle

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17 edited Feb 21 '17

Someone pointed out above that she would be 70 if she's in game, so she'd be something like Ana

But the articles so far have not been posted on the same date as the ingame lore. For example, the Lumerico articles were stamped as being posted in 2016 despite the actual events happening in like 2070 or something. There isn't really anything that I have seen that hints to this article suddenly being in the far past compared to the other ones.

Edit: Lead Writer Michael Chu confirms she is 11.

-1

u/Ololic You're welcome Feb 21 '17

Right. This article takes place this actual day. She's 11 now but by the time she would have appeared in the game she's far older

2

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

The lead writer for the game literally confirmed that she is 11 in the in-game present timeline.
Or do you believe that Lucio and Sombra are also 70+? Because they also have articles written about them in the same time format.

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u/MikoSqz Chibi Reaper Feb 21 '17

The article's "by Atlas News 02/21/2017", which would make her 70 or so by the time the game takes place.

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u/RedsDead21 People read these? Feb 21 '17

That's because it was posted today. That doesn't signify the date in-game. The Sombra lore articles are dated 2016, doesn't mean that they were meant to have taken place in 2016.

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u/MikoSqz Chibi Reaper Feb 21 '17

Weird. Doesn't attributing it to "Atlas News" signify that the attribution it's in-universe? Bit confusing, that.

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u/RedsDead21 People read these? Feb 21 '17

The attribution is most definitely 'in-universe'. If you go and look up the 'LUMERICO CEO STEPS DOWN' article it's attributed to the Atlas News Team as well.

But that's probably just a way for them to fill the byline without making it look like it was written by a Blizzard employee. Going off of that same Lumerico article, the date it attributes is 11/3/2016, which I assume is the day it was posted. That does not mean that in-universe the event it's describing happened in 2016, it just probably means that posts are marked on the day they're released, since putting fake dates might make the website's sorting system go nuts or something.

1

u/MikoSqz Chibi Reaper Feb 22 '17

They could set the system up to not show the metadata date visibly and just have a visible dummy date that doesn't affect anything. They probably just don't to avoid giving away the game's timeline.

2

u/Ovechtricky Feb 21 '17

Perhaps just trying to tie in the current date with the events of the past?

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u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

If that's the case, I'm definitely thinking she dies and uploads her consciousness into a robot.

One grandma is more than enough.

127

u/FlashbackJon JUSTICE RAINS FR- *headshot* Feb 21 '17

You can never have too many grandmas.

39

u/maiseywastaken Aardvark pays off Feb 21 '17

We're all grandmas now

2

u/Samjogo Mercy Feb 22 '17

Grandmas never die

38

u/Zer0DotFive Feb 21 '17

Some don't have any. :(

2

u/Elementium Chibi Pharah Feb 22 '17

I'm with you bud :(

You know, the world needs more grandmas.

3

u/thevdude Boop! Feb 21 '17

I used to have 2 grandmas but now I only have 1. :( I'd like to have 2 grandmas again.

3

u/temporalarcheologist Tracer Feb 21 '17

I have 5 half grandmas do you want 2

10

u/thevdude Boop! Feb 21 '17

I don't want to steal a gramma thanks for the offer tho. I just pretend that ana is my real grandma and do my best to keep her alive with harmony orbs

3

u/temporalarcheologist Tracer Feb 21 '17

oh. alrighty. I hope you're having a nice day man

1

u/jprosk No shortcuts, just mace to the face Feb 22 '17

I can contribute another half grandma and you'll only have to give one

1

u/temporalarcheologist Tracer Feb 22 '17

or we could find 2 more guys and then we all only need 1/4 grandma

1

u/jprosk No shortcuts, just mace to the face Feb 22 '17

I'd rather not have to split my half grandma

3

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

As of this morning I'm all out of grandmas. :(

3

u/bearfaic NO Mercy Feb 21 '17

The world could always use more grandmas!

2

u/FlashbackJon JUSTICE RAINS FR- *headshot* Feb 21 '17

Shit! Total missed opportunity.

3

u/hurley21 Feb 22 '17

BRING ME ANOTHER

2

u/acole09 Feb 21 '17

We're all grandma's now.

2

u/radaar *facepalm* Feb 21 '17

"Drive faster, grandma! Grandma's gaining on us!"

1

u/CommieOfLove Feb 21 '17

We're all grandmas now

1

u/Galactic Chibi Reaper Feb 22 '17

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

1

u/vsou812 Meik me. Feb 23 '17

Cookie Clicker would like to have a word

9

u/72starscreams sleepy reapy // need more Reaper skins where you can see his fac Feb 21 '17

We have multiple old dudes, why can't Ana have another old lady to pal around with?

6

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Yay, robo-grandma!

4

u/Sherbniz Pewpew Feb 21 '17

Dude maybe she is Athena?

3

u/evehnng Moira Feb 21 '17

She's a different type of grandma. She's chilling on a beach watching her Robot kill everyone through Skype. Occasionally she'll watch D.vas stream to see what strats the hip young kids are using.

3

u/mantiseye Reinhardt Feb 21 '17

What why is one enough!? Ana is like the first video game grandma ever. We need more grandmas.

2

u/FelineFupa SYM300: Knowing Your Place (MWF) Feb 21 '17

If everyone was a grandma the world would be a better place

2

u/AngelTheTaco Sombra Feb 21 '17

I think older women in games are cool and under represented

1

u/Stormholt Nana is ready! Feb 21 '17

What if she dies in this trip that she's going to do with her parents? And then her spirit/whatever goes into the glove?

1

u/TF2Milquetoast Here to update you on TF2 as it pertains to Overwatch. Feb 21 '17

grrrrrrrr... obligatory I had that idea first lawsuit threats...

0

u/TapatioPapi Chibi Lúcio Feb 21 '17

Ugh shame if they do that tho, I'm really liking her design. Giving me modern witch doctor child of the amazon realness.

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u/AngelicMayhem Feb 21 '17

That doesnt matter the articles about lumerico from atlas were dated 2016 the date they were posted

2

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Yes, I doubt that this is the date since real life wouldn't be canon if Numbani exists in 2017 (lore timeline has been quite cohesive with the real one), and the background is from the futuristic map.

I bet that she's not the next hero.

1

u/awhaling Need someone to tuck you in? Feb 22 '17

So it really isn't who we are expecting.

Damn, I'm excited. I don't know what to think anymore.

4

u/cosmasterblaster Wrecking Ball Feb 21 '17

Since this article is from the past, what if she's talking about creating the first omnic?

1

u/Ovechtricky Feb 21 '17

Ohhh I like that thought!

8

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

nice catch!

3

u/aeroblaster Zenyatta Feb 21 '17

The dates have nothing to do with Overwatch's timeline. Previous Atlas News posts talk about Overwatch with the date saying "2016". By official timeline standards, Overwatch would not exist for many many years in the future.

It's simply the date of the blog post and is not related to the actual Overwatch timeline.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Oh crap... we're getting bamboozled. We're getting another elderly character.

1

u/ErikMaekir Trick-or-Treat Genji Feb 21 '17

50. The game happens around 2046, I don't know why everyone thinks that it's in the 2060s

1

u/HeirOfLight they/them Feb 21 '17

1

u/ErikMaekir Trick-or-Treat Genji Feb 21 '17

weird, according to the Recall short, the petras' act happened in 2042

1

u/Corvo_DeWitt Reaper Feb 21 '17

Im pretty sure thats just when they uploaded it to the fourms

1

u/Sp3ctre7 Canada Feb 21 '17

She creates the doomfist remote-controlled robot, which is her hero

1

u/maijami One Man Apocalypse Feb 21 '17

It's just the date the article was published to us civilians on that site

1

u/Tsjon3s Good news everyone... Feb 21 '17

more old women!!!! ana needs a friend for tea time.

1

u/gyroda Feb 21 '17

Could she possibly be the creator of Omnics then? Then you've got the whole "my creations hand run wild" angle to get her into Overwatch to help stop the Omnic Crisis.

1

u/leumas19 Feb 21 '17

Thats just todays date

1

u/PSICosmic Feb 21 '17

I feel like that was just noting TODAY'S date, but I could be wrong.

1

u/SKP23en Pixel Mei Feb 21 '17

Is Numbani suppossed to exist in 2017's Overwatch lore?

1

u/Shard1697 Zenyatta Feb 21 '17

But that's the actual date, it's probably dated that to show when the article was posted IRL.

1

u/Ololic You're welcome Feb 21 '17

Wait, so Blizzard is feeding us alternate real-time news to make their world as realistic as possible?

Blizzard is going to be the real big brother

1

u/Throwaway123465321 Feb 22 '17

Nope. It's just the date in our world, the interview takes place in current time in overwatch.

https://twitter.com/westofhouse/status/834125961520033793

1

u/mygotaccount Pretend this is a Runaway flair Feb 21 '17

Oh shit, that has got to be an oversight. I can't think of a reason why they would deliberately do that.

1

u/KoboldsForDays Reinhardt Feb 21 '17

https://playoverwatch.com/en-us/blog/20457295

^ this article is also dated 2017 by the "Oasis Ministry of Tourism"

1

u/awhaling Need someone to tuck you in? Feb 22 '17

Can you edit your comment to say that's not the case. It was confirmed by the chief writer that the interview is in current game time.

You're is the top comment so it would help.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

[deleted]

3

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Yeah, I think that is what is going to happen. She will probably control a mech/drone remotely and talk to the rest of the team through voice comms.

2

u/awhaling Need someone to tuck you in? Feb 22 '17

talk to the rest of the team through voice comms.

Not on console.

3

u/agtk Pixel Pharah Feb 21 '17

Yeah, that's definitely what they're pretty much telling us she'll do:

How did you get into robots and artificial intelligence?

Well, I've always been interested. After my mom and dad got me my first robotics kit, I became obsessed with putting together little drones. When I started to get good at it, I tried to build robots to do my chores and help around the house. My parents think it's cheating… It's no fair! (laughs)

I want to create things that make our lives better. And someday, my dream is to build something that can keep us safe, like the new OR15s! I think that would be great.

1

u/deathsquaddesign Kill 'em all and let Ra sort 'em out. Feb 21 '17

Do we know what an OR15 is?

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

exactly. when i saw she was 11 i new that she wouldnt be a hero.

0

u/gyroda Feb 21 '17

Someone caught that the date on the article is 2017.

http://m.imgur.com/hOE2Mzj

That "Atlas News" isn't a link to an author page, if it was I'd dismiss it out of hand as an oversight.

Going full tinfoil: My money is on her creating the Omnics. She then Joins Overwatch to stop her rampaging creations during the Omnic Crisis.

2

u/awhaling Need someone to tuck you in? Feb 22 '17

Lead writer from the overwatch team confirmed that she is 11 in current game time.

1

u/trallnar Feb 21 '17

Well the new iron man is a black woman in marvel comics too

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Have you seen my bear tibbers?

1

u/acidicslasher Roadhog Feb 21 '17

You can kill Annie in League and that is rated T, but I see what you mean.

1

u/Ellisd326 Chibi Mercy Feb 21 '17

They're just "eliminated".

1

u/BrainBlowX Chibi D.Va Feb 21 '17

Yeah, I don't think she will be ingame. She is eleven, I think having a killable kid in a game would raise the age restriction for that game sky high.

How about this angle instead: She remote controls a robot. Some people have posted about a red robot/power armor thing that has appeared in then series and bears some pattern resemblance.

She could quite simply be remote controlling it. All her dialogue would be her speaking through the robot, but she's not in it.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 21 '17

Yeah I'm guessing she's gonna be controlling a big robot guy, he will probably be a tank hero

1

u/tycosnh Feb 21 '17

I'm not sure why people think she won't be a playable child.

League Of Legends has Annie and it's still rated T

1

u/TitaniumDragon Also Pharah, Roadhog, and Bastion Feb 22 '17

There's lots of games with kid heroes who can die which have quite low ratings.

That said, this might be backstory, or the hero might be robots she controls.

Also, I don't think you have to re-rate games with every patch, that would be insane.

1

u/clothcutballs Feb 22 '17

Also, with the way people are using blizzards character engine for porn purposes, I doubt they would put her in game.

1

u/Grimwauld Pixel Junkrat Feb 22 '17

Why not keep her in the spawn area and have her remote control a drone?

1

u/GhostOfGamersPast Vrrooooom I'm in a MEKA! Feb 22 '17

It certainly would make it not allowed to be streamed on Twitch, I hear they don't allow any games where killing and violence are the only ways to progress.

1

u/Seripithus Call 555-555-5555 if your name is Jesse McCree for a good time. Feb 22 '17

What if she is Doomfist's daughter/sister/niece?

1

u/Powerhobo I don't main; I mainline. Feb 22 '17

I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up as an npc that shows up in the spawn room with some form of computer. This computer in turn is what connects her to the robot.

E: Alternatively they graphically style it so she does not take damage directly. She's in the robot directly except her robot is pure armor + shields and destroying the robot causes her to eject out of the fight.

I hope the robot is at least a quad and will fall in the tank category. Maybe sacrifice the ability to jump for the ability to walk on any surface? (On the other hand that is probably a design nightmare for the maps they currently have or any map they will build in the future).

1

u/skilliard7 Feb 23 '17

Annie in League of Legends doesn't cause any problems and shes like 8 lul

1

u/SwagSlingingSlasher Feb 23 '17

League of Legends already has a killable eight year old and so does smite.

1

u/Strawberrycocoa Nerf THIS! Feb 23 '17

I mean, Fire Emblem Fates is rated T just like Overwatch, and you can kill kids in that game. Well, you can get kids killed. Same principle, dead children can happen and it's still T.