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Overwatch Players Misusing Priority Pass Will Be Issued a Manual Action Wave

By Adeline Susanto

Overwatch team will punish players who misuse Overwatch Priority Pass
Overwatch team will punish players who misuse Overwatch Priority Pass / Courtesy of Blizzard Entertainment

Since its inception, Overwatch Priority Pass has been under the spotlight with its pros and cons. While its intended goal was to reduce match wait times due to the role queue amount imbalance (most players, unsurprisingly, queue for Damage), a lot of players have been misusing the queue flex and Priority Passes which resulted in frustration in the community. In the latest statement in Blizzard forum, Overwatch's Community Manager Josh Nash shared that the team has issued a manual action wave against players with confirmed instances of gameplay sabotage.

Overwatch Priority Pass is intended to give players a reward for queueing for Flex to help fill the most needed roles with the lowest population at that time, which further helps increase the rate at which matches begin. In short, the more people queueing Flex, the less the wait times for a match. Players will be rewarded with different amounts of Priority Passes based on the final result of the match. The accrued Priority Passes can then be used to "skip the line" when queueing for roles that are experiencing high volume.

While the goal is to incentivize players to play underpopulated roles and help players queue for their favorite role quicker, some players have been queueing for Flex and intentionally throw the results for the purpose of earning Priority Passes. Overwatch team stated that they will be making an active effort to identify the behavior (e.g. penalty to a player's account) to encourage fair play. In an update issued on Dec. 22, Blizzard explained they have issued a manual action wave against players with confirmed instances of gameplay sabotage.

The reception of the Priority Pass in the community has been mixed. Some players, especially those who wish to just have a quick match, praised the system. On top of that, it is a chance for players to master other roles aside from their main. Some others are unhappy citing that the wait times are still atrociously long even when they queue with Priority Pass.