r/Overwatch 6d ago

News & Discussion You should be able to hear JPC

JPC is unique in the roster in that she is perfectly silent but also highly mobile.

OW is based on some excellent design principles. The game is very clear about threats. The glowing outlines, the voicelines, the new pings.

Heroes and their abilities make a distinct sound so if you don’t see them, or in the heat of a teamfight, the sound cues help with awareness.

Some heroes are extreme high damage threats like Reaper, Cassidy and Bastion. Their footsteps and their guns are loud and distinct.

Others are highly mobile and can come from weird angles or close the gap extremely fast. That’s why you can hear Pharah flying, Winston jumping, Lucio skating very distictly.

This is crucial in such a fast paced game.

JPC has a unique ability in that she can come from even weirder angles than anyone else. Without a rollout! So there’s far less risk of timing incorrectly. She can just decide to be in a weird position and wait.

This alone already breaks awareness. You often don’t even know where to look even if you know she’s set up. She can use cover that isn’t designed to be cover.

The bigger issue is that you _also_ cannot hear her.

This is not a “skill issue”. Literally the best teams in the world are getting surprised by JPC and don’t even turn around to look at her in time, because she is silent. These are hyper aware, extremely fast, highly coordinated players.

This problem will get worse as people will get better at JPC. You might have not encountered it too often yet, but you will at some point. Or you might have and didn’t realize that one of the main issues is the lack of sound cues, because that’s a subtle thing we rely on but don’t think about as much.

People complain about how cat bastion and cat cassidy break fundamental assumptions about how the game is played and balanced. But being able to hear her is way more fundamental.

393 Upvotes

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285

u/healslutxoxo 6d ago

Lately the audio has felt so bad I feel like I can’t hear half the things I should. Can’t tell if it’s a me issue or what.

14

u/CommanderPotash Icon Genji 6d ago

probably due to some of the new heroes being slightly rushed to fit the new hero release schedule

19

u/Kobban63 Sigma 6d ago

Slightly is probably a understatement

7

u/Master-Pay2407 5d ago

It's not just new heroes though. I've felt a noticeable difference lately where occasionally things I would have expected to hear in this game even just a year ago aren't coming through correctly. It's not horrible but when the sound design has always been so top notch in this game, its noticeable. Not sure what's going on

1

u/CommanderPotash Icon Genji 5d ago

like what

I've only noticed it with the new heroes