Dear Diary, Please Help!

So, as some of you will know, I recently received a season long ban from Competitive play. Personally I think a season long ban is slightly harsh but enough of that, I made my point quite clear in my last post here.

At first the ban really bothered me. How the hell am I supposed to keep myself entertained in Quick Play for the remainder of the season - we're talking nearly 2 whole months after all. Don't get me wrong I enjoy Quick Play as much as the next person, but I need a goal to work towards. That's what I find so appealing about Overwatch - it feels like a sport. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy Quick Plat, but most of the time It just feel like going through the motions. So I was really concerned that I would get bored of just playing Quick Play. I had to come up with a plan, a goal to work towards. 

Anyway, after much thought I decided to start a 'smurf' account. I know, I know, I am one of "those", however I feel like Blizzard have forced my hand. 

So I created an account dedicated solely to OVA:done and have been working towards reaching level 25. The idea is that once I get to level 25 and into Comp, I am going to start a new series where I concentrate on improving on a set Hero, and document my progress - sort of like a diary if you will. 

In this "diary" I'll be posting stats, targets, and general thoughts on how I need to improve. This will serve as a great learning tool for myself, but hopefully you guys too. 

So keep posted, the new series will begin as soon as I reach level 25! Now, where's that damn diary?!

Red Carded

So, I've been banned from Competitive for the rest of Season 4, for consecutively leaving games "early". "Good, so you should be you dirty quiter!"

I've never been banned from anything in my life! Looks like I'll be keeping the bench warm for the remaining on the season.

Now, I just want to explain, I am not actually an early quiter! I admit I have been guilty of leaving games "early", however when I say "early" I mean leaving games at the 'play of the game' or 'defeat' screen once the game has been concluded, not whilst the game is still in play. In my defence (well, kind of) I wasn't aware that leaving the game at the conclusion counted as an early leave until I Googled Overwatch bans.

Surely this doesn't warrant a season long ban?

Do I believe people should be punished for leaving match early whilst the game is still in progress? Yes. I can't stand it when people leave halfway through a game. 

Do I think people should be punished for leaving the match once the game has been concluded? Personally, no. The result has been determined, and leaving on the 'defeat' or 'play of the game' screen does not, in my opinion, hurt or involve the other players on the team. 

Overwatch can be a frustrating games at times, as we all know! Let's face it, that's why it's such an addictive and fun game. If it was easy, it would get boring very quickly. So I'll be honest when I say I get frustrated, especially when I've gone on a losing streak and at the fourth consecutive loss I leave the game "early" at the 'defeat' or 'play of the game' screen. I've never shouted abuse at people, I've never "thrown" a game because we're losing, I've never trolled anyone. I always try to play fairly and to the best of my abilities. All I am guilty of, as it seems, is leaving a match at the conclusion of the game. 

Now, if leaving the game at the conclusion is indeed a punishable offence, then I am willing to hold my hands up, take my punishment like a grown up, and learn from my mistake. However, this said, I do believe a season long ban in this case is a bit extreme. I appreciate that the system probably just registers it as an early leave, and cannot distinguish at what point the player actually leaves, which makes sense. But surely Blizzard employ the support guys to review individual cases? 

Anyway, I have written to Blizzard to see if I can get my ban reduced, or even lifted. However, from what I have read on other forums, this is unlikely to happen. I am really gutted I've been banned for a whole season, which essentially means I won't be able to play Comp for 2 month.

The only positive that has come from this is that at least we now know Blizzard do punish those annoying quiters!

UPDATED

So, I got in contact with Blizzard. Sadly they are unable to lift bans. I am pretty annoyed to say the least, surely Blizzard should look at individual cases if bans are questioned?! 

I have to say, they were very quick to respond to my email, so cannot critise their customer support. 

Anyway, it looks like I won't be playing competitive unit next season. 

No, Not Again

So, my season isn't turning out how I had originally hoped. "No s@&£ mate! This is Overwatch we're talking about here".

My placement games went well. I won 6, drew 1 and lost 2. I was placed in high Silver around 1780 SR, which I thought was fair as my all-time season high in Season 3 was 1873 SR. 

Since my placement games I've fallen as low as 1520 SR. The worst has come over the past couple of nights, were I have lost all 10 of my last games. 

Last week I wrote a blog outlining my goals for Season 4. One of the goals was to not concern myself with my skill rating. I can honestly say I am not getting bogged down with my SR this season. But, what is really getting me down are the massive losing streaks I keep having. It's REALLY REALLY frustrating. I am sure most of you can relate?!

What's making it even more annoying is that I don't think I am actually playing that badly. "Yeah whatever you say, buddy".

Now, I am honestly not the kind of person to blame the team - honestly. I always look at what I could have done better. However, it's very hard not to judge the team when I am a Reinhardt and halfway through the game I've got a gold medal with 10 eliminations, especially when the team has a Soldier 76 and McCree. I would just like to point out, I am not even very good with Reinhardt, and only picked him on this occasion as I felt the team needed a Rein.

Please don't get me wrong, I am not saying I am some sort of amazing Overwatch player. Trust me, I know I am where I am in Overwatch because that's where I deserve to be - in Silver. But I can defiantly tell the difference between high Silver and low Silver/ bronze games.

When I was playing in high Silver, the teams felt a lot more balanced and would be more composed (or seemed to be, anyway). However, in low Silver, the teams seem unbalanced and uncoordinated. I've tried communicating to try and lead the team (again, another of my season goals), but no-one seems to communicate at lower Silver. Some of you that follow my blog know I am a support, and being in a team that's unbalanced and doesn't communicate makes it very hard for supports, like myself, to do our jobs effectively. 

"Ok , calm down, chill, it's ok" - sorry, rant over. 

Who knows, maybe I just got lucky at the beginning of the season and was put in teams that included better player than Silver? Thus making me think I am a better player than I really am?

The thing is, I just can't seem to get a win for love or money at the moment and it's getting me down. I know I need to look at myself and try to improve but I honestly don't know what to do - I am stuck. I suppose that's what makes Overwatch so interesting and fun! If it was easy we would all get bored very quickly. 

Season 4 Has Arrived!

It's been a long week, but finally the wait is over - Season 4 is here. 

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoy playing in the off-season. It gives me a chance to play Heroes I wouldn’t normally play in Competitive, without the added pressure of worrying about my SR. That's not to say I don't play to win - trust me, I ALWAYS play to win. 

Last week I posted a blog summing up how my Season 3 went. Basically, I made the silly mistake of setting my Season 3 goal too high by trying to get into Platinum (I was, and still am, a Silver player). Yep, crazy I know!

Anyway, I want to make some clear and achievable goals for Season 4, and not focus on my finishing position or rank. If you think about it, this makes perfect sense. I am sure not every football team in the English Premier League say "right, this season we're going aim to win the league and become champions". No, they set key targets that are realistic, and focus on achieving these targets. Where they finish in the league will depend on how well they executed there target (sorry for the football analogy, but it helps demonstrate my point).

So, I’m going to set myself 4 realistic targets that I want to improve on, and my final position and ranking will take care of themselves.

Anyway, these are my 4 REALISTIC targets;

1. Be happy with WHO I am

I am going to stick to what I know this season, and play my "mains". 

Last season, for whatever crazy reason, I swapped from a support role (which I am most comfortable with) to a DPS role. Over this period I dropped 400 SR! NOT GOOD!

It wasn't until I reverted back to a support role that I started to climb the ladder again. So this season I am sticking with support roles, and by beloved Mercy. 

2. Be happy with WHAT I am

Right, this is easier said than done, but I am not going to fixate on my SR this season. I am a silver player, and I am proud of it! "Yeah right, you keep telling yourself that mate"

Honestly, I am going to try. Too many time last season I would go on a losing streak and could feel myself tilting. NOT GOOD!

So this season, once the game has finished, I am just going to leave. I won't even look to see the SR screen!

I am also going to try my hardest to keep calm, and keep playing. “So what if you lose, keep going, you'll be fine - honestly, you well”!

3. Positioning

This season I am really going to focus on my positioning. When I analysed a lot of my gameplay last season, I was shocked to find one of the main reason I (and the team) where losing, was down to bad positioning. There were times I would find myself in the middle of a massive 5 v 1 (remember, I’m a Mercy main) and get absolutely destroyed! I'd like to point out this wasn’t always down to me ha-ha. But seriously, there would have been loads of options I could have done to help minimise, or even prevent, that situation. What could I have done better? Maybe I could of hid and flew in after to revive everyone? Or maybe I could have focused more on boosting a fellow hero, rather than focused on healing another?

So, this season I am going to be more aware of my position and try to get my team to take up better positioning. This leads me onto my next goal..........

4. It's good to talk

This season I am going to communicate better with the team. I have no problem using a mic and communicating with people, however I really struggle to talk and play Overwatch at the same time. 

What I've come to realise is that you don't need to know the Reinhardt players life story, you just need to communicate short and sharply. "Reaper behind", "D.Va low", "They are two players down, push the point", "Need healing" (those 2 words haunt my dreams). Clear and to the point!

Also, I am going to try and be more of a leader if needed, because every team needs a leader! Someone with a game plan. Maybe it's communication an attack idea in the spawn, or maybe it's POLITELY asking a player to switch to a different Hero. I am normally happy for others to take this role, however, as I am a support I believe this is a skill/ role I should be comfortable with. So I am going to try and get better at this aspect too. Don't get me wrong, I am not going to start bark out orders and telling people who to pick. I am just going to prompt the discussion.

Anyway, these are my 4 targets. Hopefully they’ll help me improve. I'll do another end of year review at the end of Season 4. Let's see how I get on. As always, feel free to add any comments in the comments box below.

Goodbye Season 3, and good riddance......

Only joking! But yes, Season 3 has come to an end. In this post I want to reflect on how my season went. What were my goals at the start of the season,? Where did I place? Where did I finish? What have I learnt and what could I have done better. 

Well, at the start of the season I wanted to try and break into Platinum. I finished in Silver the previous season so thought this would be a reasonable target. How wrong can one man be! But more on that in a bit. 

Anyway, I played my placement games, which put me in high Silver with an SR of around 1750. I started off well, played a few games and got up to the dizzy heights of 1835 SR. "All's going well, gold here I come" I thought! Well, that was until I had a real bad day and went on a losing streak and fell all the way down to 1420!!! Damn it!!!!

I hovered around 1400 - 1500 for ages, and just couldn't seem to progress. "Surely this can't be my rank?!" Then it dawned on me - I hadn't been playing my "mains". Now this sounds real obvious, but at the time I was clueless to this fact. See, I had been playing support roles (Mercy, Lucio or Symmetra) during Season 2, and at the beginning of Season 3. But at some point (most likely when I fell to 1420 SR) I started playing DPS roles. "Surely if I'm a high silver support player, I must be a high silver DPS player"! NO man, you're not!!

Anyway, towards the end of the season I reverted back to supports (my beloved Mercy) and started heading back in the right direction. As it turns out I did manage to beat my seasonal best, and finish the season with an SR of 1873. So I didn't QUITE achieving my seasonal goal!

So, what was the main thing I can take away from Season 3, and what can I do better next in Season 4?

Well, I am not a high Silver DPS player, that's for sure! But being serious for a second, I thing my main issue was setting myself a ridicules goal of trying to get two tiers above my previous tier. I now know I belong in Silver, and that's fine. I need to concentrate on improving as a player, setting smaller goals i.e. positioning, communication, aim, etc. See, if I had concentrated more on improving, and spent less time fretting over my SR, I honestly believe I could have made it into Gold and possibly Platinum.

I will be writing another post outlining my Season 4 goals. However, one thing is for sure, I will not be setting myself crazy targets!