The first Overwatch Experimental Card details have been revealed by Game Director Jeff Kaplan, and this one is a doozy: they're going to be trying out a new Role Queue system with 1 Tank, 2 Healers, and 3 Damage.
Take a look at the Overwatch Experimental Card developer update that explains this new system coming soon:
If you're a bit out of the loop, Overwatch Game Director Jeff Kaplan previously revealed the plans for an "Experimental Card" a little over a month ago on the game's official forums. He stated that the dev team wanted to try to find a way to shorten DPS queue times and that they were experimenting with changing the ratio of roles to 1 Tank, 2 Healers, and 3 Damage.
Before you get all worried, this isn't going to be a permanent change. The purpose of the Experimental Card is to test out things that the dev team just isn't sure about in the long run. This is not representative of a future vision of the game insomuch as it's them trying to gather more data.
As an upside, players won't have to download a separate PTR and console players won't be excluded, either. You'll still be able to gain your levels and loot boxes — event boxes included — by playing on the Experimental Card whenever it happens to be active.
What Changes are Coming to the Overwatch Experimental Card Triple Damage Role Queue?
Overwatch has effectively been designed around 2-2-2, so the shift to 1-2-3 would mean that one particular group of players can get screwed: the off-tanks.
You see, off-tanks like D.Va, Zarya, and Roadhog don't necessarily have the ability to survive on their own or protect their team as well as the Main Tanks like Reinhardt, Winston, Orisa, Sigma, and Wrecking Ball can. A shift to 1-2-3 could mean that these tanks are left out in the cold. That's why this Overwatch Experimental Card for triple damage Role Queue is also bringing with it some crazy balance changes so that every tank is viable on their own.
The Overwatch team is primarily going to be focusing on how the damage role queue is affected during this experiment. You'll be able to try it for yourself on all platforms when the Experimental Card makes it debut on February 25, 2020.
What do you think about the first Overwatch Experimental Card? Do you think triple damage can work? Let us know in the comments below!
