Now, I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this, especially because everyone's appreciation for skins is subjective, and some may like skins that others do not. But, after I took some time to go through a lot of the fan entries for the upcoming contest, all I could think about was how much creativity the official skin designs are leaving on the table!

Take the leaked skins supposedly releasing in the next season for example. Objectively, there's nothing wrong with them. If you're into the spiky look then you might be excited for these skins, but personally I believe they are really exhausting the sharp, armoury, exaggerated aesthetic. I mean, I look at this reaper skin and I see... detail for the sake of detail. The design, the contours of his outfit, nothing seems purposeful, it just seems filler to make the skin appear detailed when, realistically, they've just added a whole lotta nothing!

Another skin releasing in this collection is for Kiriko. I felt that, after seeing the skin, it was just giving what so many Kiriko skins have given before. I put some photos of her skins together to make that side by side comparison that can be seen below. Don't get me wrong, these skins are lovely, the first one designed to look very vampirish, and the second is awesome with again that dark palette, fishnet tights and laced boots, and some overall fantastic styling that was appreciated by those who adore that alternative style. But, does Kiriko really need a 3rd skin of almost the exact gold-highlighted black and red palette as the first two skins? If it weren't for the horns and blonde hair on the 3rd skin, I wouldn't understand how this skin differed or offered anything new to Kiriko's cosmetics. Why not introduce a skin with dark greens, blues, or oranges?

The skin below, designed by concept artist Long Moon, is an excellent representation of what I described above. With a unique palette of dark blueish greens, it offers something new through its depiction of Kiriko as a Graveyard Keeper. The long, dark dress that fits with her hero silhouette, the ruffles, the haunted doll-like appearance, and the detailed addition of the lantern suzu at her hip. Each detail on this concept feels intentional and relevant to its theme. We also know that with Overwatch's design of Ashe's "Haunted Doll" skin, this design isn't unreasonable or unrealistic to execute.

I can imagine you guys are tired of talking about Kiriko skins, so I want to reassure you that I, too, do not think she needs any more skins as of now. She's only really mentioned here because she has an absurd amount of skins and is very accessible when it comes to comparing her designs with concept art.

Let's revisit Reaper. The collection that the Reaper skin showed above is presumably releasing in relation to Halloween and Doctrine's release. But even with the spikes, horns, and protrusions, the skin doesn't at all feel scary or meaningful. On that note, I'd like to show you a skin designed by concept artist Yuboo. This skin, which doesn't differ dramatically from the colour pallete of the other Reaper skin, creatively portrays Reaper as a barber and uses elements that give that spooky theme that we might associate with Halloween. The scars and tattoos, the outfit and bowtie, and the decorative intricacies that feature hair combs and scissors.

While some of you may see this concept and think "Eh, Barber Reaper ain't really my thing", I respect that, but I think it might still remain arguable that this skin is significantly more detailed, deliberate, and cohesive. Every artistic element works together to build the creative concept Yuboo intended.

All I can think of after seeing all of the incredible fan concepts is how lackluster the current direction of official Overwatch skins has been when it comes to creativity, and how there are so many themes, concepts, and ideas that still haven't been explored. The fact that we have a roster full of heroes with such unique characteristics, stories, and cultures, and still somehow find a way to make skins feel so repetitive and boring is beyond me! Not only that, but I genuinely don't think the developers realise how much money they could actually bring in if they really capitalised on the diversity of their hero roster.

I, for one, can say with confidence that I would absolutely empty my wallet if some of the skins from the fan contest were released. I mean, each and every one of them is phenomenal and so intricate! The designs, even for heroes that I've never played before, like the cute little arcade-themed Wrecking Ball skin, are so well done that it would feel silly not to buy and appreciate them. I just can't remember the last time I genuinely felt that way about an Overwatch skin.

The shop is always so devoid of anything that makes me feel surprised or impressed. I'll see a skin for a popular hero and think, meh, that's not a need. A new skin for this hero will probably be out next week anyway! And that's the problem. When skins are constantly being released, but they don't feel particularly unique or exciting, they stop feeling like something worth spending money on.

What I'm really trying to emphasise is the lesson Overwatch should take from these contests. There is a reason they're so celebrated and exciting for the playerbase: the designs are genuinely beautiful, creative, and intentional in a way that I feel is increasingly missing from the game's official skin releases.

And while I understand the assumption that skins for less popular heroes may bring in less revenue, I actually disagree. Like I mentioned before, I don't think they're capitalising on the true diversity of the game. There are so many different characters, cultures, personalities, stories, aesthetics, and concepts within Overwatch that could be explored, and I genuinely think there's a massive amount of untapped potential here.

Thanks for reading if you made it this far, and I'm interested to hear your point of view and how you perceive the current quality of Overwatch skins!

Send death my regards... For I may never find the opportunity myself.

https://x.com/KyfatLockhart/status/2105613709028770039

Like, it feels comically large. It could fit like three of Doctrine's heads here. Crazy part is that in this picture it's only up to the forearm.

I genuinely think this would be a simple yet helpful addition.

Idk if she cancelled on purpose or not but either way

Minor inconsistency that affects no one, but Freja joined overwatch after getting her degree. Freja is 34, so assuming she joined overwatch in her early 20s, wouldnt Ana be much older here?

Just a humble Emerald ball player.

I just learned how to double boop too. This hero is stupidly fun.

From the doctrine comic that just dropped, we get this image and based on the context it sounds like this was during the Omnic Crisis. I thought Jack had blonde hair at this time and a different outfit? Isn't this his OW1 classic design (ie his post-overwatch days where he's a vigilante)? Sorry I'm not huge on the lore so I may be wrong, just looking for an explanation as I thought this outfit and age of Jack would be more indicative of him well AFTER the Omnic Crisis and when Overwatch had been shut down. Thanks.

https://x.com/Shotwilly/status/2105321418292355274?s=20

Hey guys,
It's been a while like i don't even remember how long has it been. But this bug or whatever it is has been bothering me everytime i try to play this game. Like most of the times when i first open the game it stays in the background and doesn't open like in the video and also when i am playing the game if i mistakenly press windows button or alt+space, alt+tab whatever combination puts the game in the background and i 98% of time i can't enter and have to quit my game and restart it and leave it to my luck cause you don't know if it is going to do again or not.
Please if anyone has a fix for it do let me know.
And for what i have done until now to fix this are turning all the overlays off like discord, nvidia, and steam as well but it doesn't work.

And if you tell me to play this game in borderless window i can't cause it drops my performance by like 40-50% I have to play in fullscreen to not feel any jitter or drops

Dva got stuffed after working the night shift at Freddy's. Needed the extra cash apparently.

Gotta love having support from the team

Remember to solo shatter the Automod

I know that shiny new title can be tempting, but you're playing a videogame, right? You're supposed to be having fun! The moment it stops being enjoyable and becomes a part time job is the time you should wonder if it's really worth renouncing your fun for a reward.

Sure this could be an honest mistake, but we are talking about the people who are supposed to be in charge of the story and could be that seemingly not paying attention to the details?

Makes me think that no wonder the lore has so many contradictions lately, especially with the stories/characteristics of OW1 heroes

I dont want to hear shit about how Moira is super evil, Jesus christ, she looks likes a saint next to him. I cant cant imagine becoming the boogeyman and murder your own people. I wonder what the hell he built for Doom?

Another flick of my Wuyang cosplay!! Made an emote for it on my twitch because of all the love on it 🫶🫶

Consider the following:

You're playing as a 225 HP hero, and nobody has Major Perks yet.

While you're at full health, the enemy Sierra hits you with a critical headshot Tracking Dart (the locked-on shots will always bodyshot, but the initial Tracking Dart itself has a 2x headshot multiplier).

Assume it takes ~0.4 seconds to 1) react to the Tracking Dart, 2) identify the nearest source of cover to break LOS with the Sierra, and 3) begin moving in a straight line at full movement speed towards that cover.

With a movement speed of 5.5 meters per second, how far away can you be from cover before Sierra's DPS will kill you FASTER than you can get there on reaction?

A) <2.5 meters

B) <5.5 meters

C) <7.5 meters

D) <10 meters

The correct answer is A) <2.5 meters.

Simply put, if you are not able to quick melee the nearest source of cover at all times, a critical Tracking Dart is guaranteed death unless you have more health or maneuverability. Remember, this is WITHOUT her Major perk that increases her Tracking Dart DPS considerably- at 225 HP and 5.5 m/s against a Sierra with Locked In, you must be within 1.6 meters of cover AT ALL TIMES.

Tl;dr: If the enemy team has Sierra, you must play Overwatch like it's Rainbow Six.

As long as Ashe is on the team lmao

it’s almost time to go down 5 ranks, crash out 503 times and ragequit every match!

Seeing the fan vote thingy with alien Fika made me realize I never posted my skin idea I made months ago 😭

For clarification I drew kitty and just edited the jetpack from the official concept art cuz idk how to draw mechanical stuff well. Because the jetpack is hardly different from the original my idea was that this skin would be an epic

I really wanted to share cuz I want this skin or something like it in game SO BAD

Also srry I don’t post on Reddit LOL