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by Erin Hawley
Overwatch is my favorite video game – I play it every day. What initially drew me to the game was its accessibility, and how every skill level is considered – from people who have trouble aiming, to expert first-person shooters. Overwatch originally prided itself as having a hero for everyone, but the development team is slowly deviating from that mission statement. When I first started playing, I was a D.Va main, a tank hero who can shoot and dive into people. There wasn’t a lot to think about or mechanics to manage with her; aiming was involved, but she was more about mobility and blocking with her defense matrix.
However, they’ve reworked D.Va so she now requires somewhat precision aiming with her new rockets, and the matrix is no longer as useful as before; she definitely requires extra physicality to master. As my disability progresses, I am having trouble with such heroes.
I’m now relying more on characters who don’t require as much dexterity, aiming, or precise timing – one such hero is Symmetra. In her current state, she has a beam that auto-locks on enemy targets, orb turrets to set up for extra damage, a small energy barrier to stop projectiles, and a teleporter ability to transport your team from the spawn to the control point. The auto-locking is key, as you just have to point in the general direction of an enemy, and you’re set.
Three days ago, a new Symmetra was introduced on the play-test server (aka PTR). She no longer auto-locks on enemies; her primary fire is a straight beam, much like Zarya’s, and requires you to aim. This change alone now makes it so disabled gamers who have trouble aiming can no longer play Symmetra effectively. Check out the video below to see the difference. If this change goes through, Mercy, Reinhardt, and Brigitte are the only heroes left whose primary weapon doesn’t require precision aiming.
Developers also reworked her teleporter; it is a secondary ability, and you can only place it in Symmetra’s line of sight. The teleporter is up for ten seconds, and players have to press an extra button to teleport; you can’t just walk into it like before. While you can rebind this key, it’s yet another button to use, and can be time consuming to utilize – especially if you consider the time to set it up, which also asks you to aim. This renders the new teleporters useless for me. I don’t want to spend part of my fleeting ten seconds reaching for another key, especially when trying to pull off a complex move.
It’s clear that these changes were made to appease the “hardcore” gamers who strive to be in the Overwatch League, or people in high ranks. Symmetra is difficult to counter in bronze, silver, or gold ranks, but easy to play and master – and I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that. There’s a reason why she isn’t picked in professional ranks; if you can aim, she is effortlessly countered with her low HP. But, again, there’s nothing wrong with that. Instead of changing a character completely to placate some gamers, especially a hero that is extremely accessible to disabled and low-skill gamers, just make a new hero entirely. Disabled gamers are tired of creators dismissing our accessibility concerns.
Everything isn’t bleak with PTR Sym, though. Her orb turrets are now projectiles, sticking to the nearest surface. There is some aiming involved, but you don’t have to be exact. These turrets make attacking from behind easier – it gives her greater mobility. Her new ultimate is a version of the energy shield, except it spans indefinitely in all directions, requiring no aiming as in her previous shield. If developers wanted to update Symmetra, these two changes refresh the hero while still feeling like the same character.
I hope the Overwatch team considers their disabled players. Symmetra is canonically autistic. Overwatch has more disabled characters than any other video game out there. But we want to be able to play a game that represents us so well within its story. So leave our Symmetra as she is now, accessible to play by all.
