It may seem trivial, but some Overwatch players aren’t fans of Mercy’s multi-res ultimate taking over the kill feed in the recent PTR update.
As it stands following the latest update, whenever Mercy unleashes her resurrection ultimate upon multiple teammates, each resurrection is reflected in the kill feed as if it were a kill.
This has prompted some fans on the Battle.net forums to ask Blizzard to adjust the UI, making it so the kill feed is reserved exclusively for kills.
Always one to chat with Overwatch fans, game director, Jeff Kaplan, responded, saying it was something the team at Blizzard actually spoke about, but ultimately they decided to stick with the feed as it is now.
“We debated doing it this way originally but opted for the direction we chose for a few reasons,” Kaplan said. “If a player gets a big multi-kill, it blows out the feed — allowing you to know that something big just happened immediately without even looking at the details (think of a Reaper getting a team wipe with a Death Blossom). We wanted the same feel to a Mercy res.”
That … certainly makes sense. Multiple resurrections can be game breaking if utilised at the right moment. A good Mercy in Competitive Play can be the difference between a win or a loss.
Kaplan continued by saying that he felt Mercy’s res ult “should be that impactful”, in that players should know that something major has just happened.
“While the kill feed is highly informational,” he continued, “we also want it to be an intuitive gauge for players without having to overly study every detail. We want your eyes on the playfield … not the UI.”
Interestingly, Kaplan said that Blizzard had an open mind when it came to the kill feed.
“I think we’ll all be better informed when players play with it for a while in the live game,” he said.
What are your thoughts on the current shape of the kill feed? Would you like to see Mercy’s ultimate reflected as a single mention in the feed, or kept the way it is?
