Blizzard is rolling out a new feature in
Overwatch that should make queuing for a match in the competitive shooter a much less stressful experience. The brand new Role Queue feature, which is now in testing on PC, allows players to choose the role they want when entering the queue.
By selecting the role they want to play as — tank, support, or damage — before a match begins, it should alleviate some of the stress and prevent arguments that sometimes comes with random matchmaking. As explained by Blizzard, the new feature is designed to
"improve match quality, give players more control over their gameplay experience, and provide more positive social experiences between teammates."
Currently in Quick Play and Competitive Play, a lot of important decision-making happens in the 40 seconds before a match even begins, as everyone selects their heroes and responds to others’ role choices. It’s not uncommon for players—who may all have different goals and play styles—to feel tension, pressure, disappointment, or even hostility as a team composition comes together. The Role Queue system is designed to help take the edge off this process, ultimately leading to matches that feel fairer and more fun, where players are in roles that they want to be in.
In its current form, the Role Queue matchmaking system for Competitive Play and Quick Play will have three distinct roles that represent the three character classes: tank, support, and damage. The matchmaking system will then match two tanks, two supports, and two damage heroes to create a team of six. Upon entering a match, players will then select the hero they want to play as within that chosen role.
In limiting the number of roles on a team, the new 2-2-2 format will undoubtedly result in longer waits for the less popular roles. Each queue will have its own estimated wait time displayed at the role-selection screen. Although "several factors" will go into the estimated time, it will generally reflect the number of players queuring for that particular role. Blizzard is contemplating offering rewards as an incentive to get players to queue for roles that are in high demand.
As for matchmaking in Quick Play, each player's matchmaking rating (MMR) will be on a per-role basis. Things get a bit more granular in Competitive Play where players will earn separate skill ratings (SR) for each role, for a total of three distinct SRs.
This rating will be a number between 1 and 5000, with higher values indicating a greater skill level. Players will also be assigned a tier per role based on their rating—Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Diamond, Master, or Grandmaster
As player’s skill rating between roles can vary widely with Role Queue, matchmaking will be calculated using the SR of players’ selected roles. We believe this change will help players feel freer to choose different roles while also creating matches that are fairer and more fun.
Each role will now require players to complete five placement matches to obtain a seasonal skill rating for that particular role at the start of each Competitive Season. Anyone who completes a placement match in any role during the season will get a special spray and player icon. End-of-season Competitive Points will be rewarded based on the highest Skill Tier obtained per role.
Instead of granting a single pool of Competitive Points, we’re separating the total across three pools earned by completing placement matches in each role. This change allows for players to earn more Competitive Points overall if they complete their placements in all three roles.
This is obviously a pretty big change, especially the switch to a 2-2-2 forced team comp. As such, Blizzard recognized that some heroes needed to be reworked to better fit their role, so Brigitte's kit has been updated to provide more healing overall while decreasing her survivability.
Overwatch's Role Queue is currently in testing on PC and will arrive on the live servers with a Role Queue Beta Season in Patch 1.39. The Role Queue Beta Season will run for two weeks from August 13 through September 1, at which point Role Queue will be fully implemented for Quick Play and Competitive Play at the start of Season 18.