I have to say, for a game that's only a multiplayer objective-based kill-fest, it's done a great job pulling me away from WoW. With it's engaging game-play, memorable characters and lore presentation, you can see why so many love this game. Maybe even love the game too much. To the point where fun doesn't matter anymore and winning means everything. People getting tilted over silly mistakes, making people switch characters because they're aren't 'in the meta', or just flame their whole team because they're being held back. This is where the toxicity starts.

As much as I enjoy a competitive match here and there, I just couldn't handle the crap I had to deal with just to up my rank. Many times I had a team member flat out leave the game in the middle of match...even if we're winning! Connection problems aside, (they usually return right away) people get way too salty when they believe things aren't going their way. I've seen it happen on the other team as well. I mean, the win is great, but I don't want it happening to me, therefore I don't other people to suffer. Overwatch is one of those games where anything is possible. You could be defending point B all the way to the last 30 seconds, and all it takes is one good push from the offending team to make all that go to waste. This is why I never understood people quitting so early in a match. There were many games where it started incredibly shitty for my team, and at the end, we end up victorious.

It's scary to see, but Overwatch is becoming no different than any other multiplayer online game. It wasn't until one competitive game, where one player felt like he had the need to drop the "N" bomb at another player the end of the match because...I really don't know. Of all derogatory words you would use, why that one? I don't play Call of Duty or any other FPS shooter because of this mess. Not just because of the "N" word, just the whole crudeness of it all. I understand the anonymity of the internet and such, but are people just that hateful inside? I will never understand the need to get a kick of pissing someone off that I don't know just to make oneself feel better. I've been in matches where people start in a horrible mood, and will go out their way to make it known. Or proceed to talk down a team mate due to their hero choice. It's like why even log on the game if that's how you feel. They really should be doing something more productive, like jumping off a cliff or something.

The easiest way to combat this abuse (outside of reporting and blocking the fuckers) is play with friends...assuming you have any. And assuming you can play together with them every time you log on. That's a problem for me, as the friends I do have are never logged on when I start to play. It doesn't help that my current play time is very random and oftentimes late night. One thing Overwatch could implement is some type of clan/guild system. That way you can find a group that has players on at different times throughout the day and have no problem getting a group. That's the gist of the idea; I'm sure there's some tweaking needed here and there. However, if that doesn't seem like that's going to happen for you and you must solo-queue to up your rank, you just have to suck it up. Or better yet, be the change you want to see happen. Be as engaging as possible, communicate with your team, try to be encouraging, and ultimately block/ignore those who are deliberately trying to tilt you. Don't sweat it if someone initially doesn't like your hero choice; just show them what you can do! (this is assuming you do know how to play said choice well)

At the end of the day, a video game is supposed to be about fun. If you stop having fun, stop playing the game. That's what I do, and I think this is where most people forget about. We get some worked up over a digital rank or shiny loot that we forget that enjoying ourselves is also part of the game. Once that is gone, it begins to feel like work, and who plays a game akin to working a non-paying job, outside of Black Desert and Eve players? (I kid...kind of) I'm glad Overwatch is trying to improve the toxicity a bit with updated report options, but I feel the community itself needs to improve on how we treat each other in order to see real change.