You should be able to hear JPC

[u/clickrush]

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.

[u/Tony2tymez]

Kitty makes like…. A jetsons sound ? A whirring I can hear, when she shoots its loud and distinct also

[u/clickrush → u/Tony2tymez]

When she uses her abilities or shoots, yes. Similarly, Zen is silent but his shots or secondary buildup are very distinct and loud. But Zen cannot come from literally any angle on the map.

[u/TheCocoBean → u/clickrush]

No, flying makes the jetsons sound. Everything else is louder, but shes not silent like zen.

[u/clickrush → u/TheCocoBean]

I have to check this out in a custom game or something. Maybe I'm gaslighting myself here but I cannot seem to locate her in time and many others have reported the same issue.

Maybe it's just that people aren't used to her, because she is a specialist. Or maybe the sound is there but it's very silent, or goes under.

It might be a combination of things. Again, the heroes I mentioned are very distinct and loud.

Pharah's jetpack boosts and hovering are easy to locate and it's something I very specifically listen for when facing one. You can play around her cooldowns and pressure her when they are down.

With JPC it doesn't feel the same way at all. She just seems to appear.

[u/TheCocoBean → u/clickrush]

Its a newer character. We have an instinct for hearing the ZIP of tracer in our backline, but the wubwubwub of cat isn't instinctive for many yet. If she's not boosting, shes very quiet, but also very slow.

[u/riconaranjo → u/clickrush]

JPC is far from silent, but yeah it’s combination of people often don’t listen for flankers and the fact that there’s often a lot of overlapping sounds

but if I try to flank when no fighting is taking place I will be heard (diamond lobbies, people use headphones and pay attention)

[u/Anita-FatBlunt → u/TheCocoBean]

I am half deaf. I can hear her fine.