Overwatch Hitbox
Via https://youtu.be/_UU8jqxAiHQ?t=34

Hitbox Disparities in Overwatch

Jun 13, 2016
-1.7k
1716
Via https://youtu.be/_UU8jqxAiHQ?t=34

Hitbox disparities are commonly cited as an important issue. If Overwatch expects to be a top eSport, some problems need to be addressed.

Should we have hitbox disparities?

Developers make decisions based off of their game-design philosophy. Nintendo’s Super Smash Brothers explains the idea.

Unexpected hitboxes are inherent to every game. Some Super Smash Brothers Melee hitboxes extend well beyond their character models. Instead of seeing that as a weakness, competitors welcome the feature because it raises the skill ceiling of their game. They know how the hitboxes differ from their visual representations. It gives them an edge.

The opposite approach is to adjust the distance. For example, the newest Smash Brother uses rolling updates. Some of these address hitbox disparities. Game-designers cater to casual players when they make these changes. It makes the game more attractive to new players.

Hitbox generosity

Force Gaming made a video showing that head hitboxes are larger than their corresponding avatars. He calls the concept “hitbox generosity”. You can see how Blizzard simplifies the game to attract new players.

Hero model hitboxes

Mercy

Via http://i.imgur.com/h6UwgQN.jpg

Mercy’s wings don’t take damage. Her wings cause a visual deception. Maybe the wing’s aren’t meant to be solid objects. Even so, new players and competitors both suffer from the annoyance of shooting through Mercy’s wings.

Widowmaker

Widowmaker has a skin with feathers on her head. With the feathers in the way, the top of the head is much harder to discern. Landing headshots on the opponent Widowmaker becomes complicated. So, this skin gives you a slight competitive advantage. Some might argue that Blizzard unwillingly introduced pay-to-win elements to the game.

Ability hitboxes

Genji’s ultimate hitbox is counter intuitive. It is said to be shaped like a cone and extends almost twice as far as it is visually represented. Below you can see a demonstration of the problem.

The trade-off

This discussion boils down to opinion.

I don’t think that accurate representation is necessary. Certain tweaks should be made for balance.

You May Like

The problem is that Blizzard’s largest audience are casual players. In my opinion, hitboxes should be matched to avatars. Oversimplification reduces strategic depth. I think that it’s more fun to watch complicated games.

Conclusion

It seems fair to say that new players are more sensitive. People who take advantage of hitbox viewmodel disparities would play the game anyway. Given that competitive play isn’t significantly affected, Blizzard should seek to accommodate casual players. Rewarding casual players is the best way to popularize a new game.

tick
Jun 9, 2016
1112
Jun 7, 2016
607
Jun 5, 2016
1443
Jun 3, 2016
865
Martin Stuessy
41 POSTS
TFT mourner. CS:GO addict. Philosophy at Ohio State. English/German/Spanish/French in order of ability. Culturally diverse. Writes about Overwatch, CS:GO and other topics. Follow @MartinStuessy on Twitter.
What do you think?
react-1

ayy lmao

react-2

Nice.

react-3

Meh.

react-4

No.

react-5

Whoa!

Previous articleWidowmaker Nerfed: What to Expect on the Battlefield
Next articleOverwatch Quick Play on 20 Tick. What’s the Deal?