go to game browser
create game
choose preset: practice range
go to “lobby” options
choose “enable” for “use experimental if available”

welp… my team is laughing at me right now.

you can already do this in the game browser by creating a custom game, putting up the practice range and enabling experimental

we can look into making the process a little more streamlined though

you’ll see a mix of changes on the experimental card. we have some more “interesting” things planned but those things usually require a lot more effort. it’s still useful for us (and for the community) to test balance changes as well.

we’ll try to figure something out. i understand where you’re coming from on this one.

thanks for all of the feedback in the thread so far!

just as a reminder, we’re always open to iteration. we’ve changed this system quite a bit since we first implemented. if someone is causing issues, we’ll keep a close eye on it and make sure to address it.

we’re still experimenting with ping concepts. junho has been championing this idea for some time.

we wanted to get the communication changes out as soon as possible though rather than wait on the ping experiments to yield something.

we’ll keep trying.

we actually had a “prefer” system in the game.

because of the population size, it worked less than 1% of the time. we ultimately removed it to reduce UI and matchmaking code complexity.

obviously, we like ideas like this – that’s why we tried it. we’ll continue to brainstorm along these lines.

fyi: the experimental card is causing issues so we had to bring it down. we’re working on bringing it back up but it is unlikely to happen today. apologies.

later this afternoon we will be deploying changes to the experimental card (hopefully)

i wanted to give a little insight to the changes that we are trying. the term “crowd control” or “cc” is used to refer to abilities that heroes can do to other heros that cause them to lose control of their character. examples include mei’s ability to freeze you, reinhardt knocking you down with earthshatter or getting stuck in junkrat’s trap.

in overwatch, we need to walk a fine line with crowd control abilities. on the one hand, we are a highly competitive first person shooter. on the other hand, one of the defining things about overwatch is the fact that our heroes have amazing abilities and mobility. we understand that crowd control abilities can cause a lot of frustration. any time, control is taken away from you it generally doesn’t feel good.

so these experiments are targetted at certain heroes, specifically at their crowd control abilities, with the intent being that they will affect you less...

yes. we have actually tried it. the scope of work to do it properly is the equivalent of rebuilding all of the maps. it’s not a “minor redo” or rework level of effort. it’s almost like building a new map from scratch.

we discuss 2cp all the time. it’s one of the top discussions we have in the design group. we’ve spent more time trying to address that gamemode and trying changes than any other mode. we’ve also reworked the maps the most.

the mode has some fundamental flaws, depending on the context you’re coming from (professional play vs. comp vs. quick play).

contrary to what some communities would have you believe, not everyone dislikes the modes or the maps.

we’ll continue to try solutions for both the mode and the maps. it’s definitely something that’s top of mind for us. there just aren’t easy silver bullet solutions.

we detected and reviewed multiple cheats on this account.

goodbye

currently our plan is to change this system for ow2. we’ll find a way to recognize your accomplishments for those who care but the current plan is for those borders to go away and be replaced with a different system.

you should try the LFG system. it allows you to do exactly what you’re asking for.

switch is the newest platform with the lowest population above level 25. the other platforms have had 4 years to build an eligible competitive playerbase.

not in the arcade when these stats were pulled

glad you’re enjoying it. we’re discussing the future of the mode right now.

it’s interesting to see what regions and platforms are responding to the different modes in the game.

i know you all enjoy stats so have fun theorycrafting with this chart (keep in mind this is just data from one day):

this hotfix is going live within the hour

(we’re also fixing a bug that affected the scaling of hit markers in this hotfix)

we’re working on a cool update that will address this feedback. more info in the next dev update (sorry no ETA because… world)

the next experimental card changes are targeted at CC reduction across multiple heroes.

we’re not currently working on bastion changes but are happy to listen to any feedback you have.