- The Overwatch features allows certain experienced and qualified players to review reports and take necessary actions if the user who is reported, is found guilty.
- This feature, which is already prevalent in CS:GO, has been in the developmental stage in Dota 2 for the last three months.
- Data miners, Team Secret's manager, Cyborgmatt, and Canadian commentator, Neph, have all revealed the potential features of this system and how it would work.
Dota 2’s Overwatch system is expected to help regulate toxic player behavior and instances of possible cheating. The Dota 2 community has awaited the feature for several months now; finally, it looks like it is almost ready for deployment.
Over the last few weeks, there have been several leaks about this new system, which have showcased some key features and indicated what to expect from this new-age system.
We take a look at this Overwatch system and what changes it will bring to help mitigate game ruining behavior.
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What is the new Overwatch system in Dota 2?
Overwatch is an in-game replay review system that lets the community regulate itself by allowing qualified and experienced members of the community, called 'Investigators', to review reports of disruptive behavior, determine whether those reports are valid, and apply temporary bans if appropriate.
Valve had communicated in October 2020 that they were “working on a new Overwatch style system, similar in some ways to that of CS:GO” which would help reduce toxicity. In November 2020, Valve stated that the feature is in its “developmental stage.” Once the feature rolls out, it will allow “users to review suspicious matches and help identify bad actors, in addition to our existing systems."
Instances and Data Mines on this Overwatch system
A Dota 2 data mining group on Telegram, @DOTA_DM, had revealed certain details of this feature in December 2020.
According to the information, a few players would have the right to review cases of game ruining behavior and decide whether “reports are valid, and then apply bans if appropriate.” The reasons for reporting a player would fall in the categories of “Cheating”, “Feeding”, “Griefing”, “Suspicious.”
Team Secret's manager, Cyborgmatt’s revelation from earlier today is almost similar to what this data mining group had reported. Cyborgmatt’s screenshots are, however, from the in-game client.
During the BTS Pro Series Season 4: Americas’ match between Arkosh Gaming and 5ManMidas in early December 2020, Canadian commentator, Brynden "Neph" Barbour, had shown that the Overwatch system was already in the client by explaining how it worked.
A significant improvement that it will be to the current user experience, the Overwatch feature will help tackle the issue of toxicity in Dota 2.
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Valve had also announced that they were revamping their current system of detecting and banning smurfs. If both these features are able to get the desired result that Valve and the players are hoping for, Dota 2 will hopefully no more be one of the most toxic games.
