There is a myth in “Overwatch” in which when players hoard loot boxes and open them all at once, the chances of getting high-valued items are high. While this seems interesting, it is nothing but pure speculation. As a matter of fact, Blizzard itself confirmed that such process is simply impossible in the game.
On the official forum site of “Overwatch,” the studio’s community manager Lylirra reminded everyone that hoarding loot boxes is pointless.
Basically, players are trying to hold up all of the loot boxes as they wait for the promised update. The update, in particular, should bring significant changes to the system, one of which is decreasing chances of receiving duplicate items.
How loot boxes actually work
Blizzard iterated that, since the release of patch 1.13 on the game’s Public Test Realm, the number of players hoarding loot boxes has increased dramatically. Despite countless reminders from the studio in the past, players are back at it again. Again, for the nth time, the studio put out a gentle reminder that the items inside the loot boxes spawn at the time of acquiring and/or purchasing them, “not when they are opened.” Hoarding, in a sense, is nothing but a myth.
This simply means that any loot box “Overwatch” players acquire and/or purchase -- at any point prior to the release of patch 1.13 -- will not be in any way affected by the changes or improvements. Only those loot boxes that they acquire and/or purchase after the implementation of the patch should they see or notice improvements.
Changes coming the loot box system
Blizzard said that the upcoming changes to the loot box system in “Overwatch” are meant to make the experience more exciting and rewarding. Previously, the studio revealed that the main focus of the patch was to reduce the amount of duplicates. Now, they have unveiled yet another significant change coming to the said system. Basically, for the duplication to be compensated, the overall amount of credits players receive from loot boxes will be increased.
On an average, players should be earning more credits than they did before these changes.
At the time of this writing, the video game company cannot provide any specific release date for the patch. Currently though, the newly revamped loot box system is live on the “Overwatch” Public Test Realm. The developers explained that, in one way or another, some changes might happen for as long as the patch is being tested in the PTR.