Blizzard Entertainment’s battle against toxicity and in-game bad behaviors seems endless. Jeff Kaplan, the “Overwatch” game director, released a video a few weeks ago that tackles about in-game toxicity. Kaplan claims that these issues are slowing down the game’s improvement. Because instead of developing new features for “Overwatch,” the developer’s team is busy regulating player’s inappropriate behaviors. But luckily, Blizzard Entertainment might have found a way to fight in-game toxicity.

Blizzard's solution to toxic player

According to a report from DotEsports, in the latest “Overwatch” update, the developer added a new Escort map and made some major changes to characters like Mercy and D.Va.

These major modifications were included in the game’s official patch notes. But Blizzard also added a new feature for Xbox One players that could play a big role to fight the said toxicity issues. Xbox Live players now have the capability to label other players as “Avoid Me.”

What is 'Avoid Me' label?

Players that have been labeled with “Avoid Me” will be automatically muted by the “Overwatch” system. Players whose reputation that has been downgraded to “Avoid Me” will be banned from the in-game voice chat. But the good thing is the player will still be able to match-make. Players should take note that the new reporting feature is not managed by Blizzard Entertainment. So if a player has been downgraded, players should talk to Microsoft, not Blizzard.

Automated punishment feature

The new feature has not been introduced on PlayStation 4 as of yet, but it is expected to arrive soon. The developer might also add a new automated punishment feature that will target players who leave the competitive games without finishing. Players can expect that the said punishment will be much harsher than the "Avoid Me" feature.

According to Games Radar, there are already 480,000 “Overwatch” accounts that have been punished worldwide.

Mercy's new abilities

Mercy is a support hero in “Overwatch.” Players are commending her because of her support skills, but some players are mocking her because of her low and weak skill ceiling. Blizzard Entertainment noticed Mercy’s issue and decided to upgrade its offensive skills.

The developer added a new skill called Valkyrie, which grants Mercy the ability to fly without using any boosters. The Guardian Angel ability is also improved. It can now cause more damage and will have further range. But Mercy’s resurrect ability has been downgraded. Instead of resurrecting five teammates together, Mercy can only revive one teammate at a time.

D.Va's new skills

D.Va, on the other hand, has a new ability called Micro Missiles. Micro Missiles has the capability of firing small rockets at any time. D.Va's Fusion Cannon is also updated and it can be used even while flying. The developer found out that her Defense Matrix was too strong. So the developer decided to downgrade it, and the meter will now deplete twice as fast. Her energy regeneration rate is also increased to 12.5 percent.
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