A topic which is often seen as controversial within the gaming community. Players have become more interested in the physical appearance of other players rather than their abilities. This can easily be attributed to players’ decisions on who they would like to play with and against. According to the “Gamer Motivation Profile” by Quantic Foundry, Blizzard’s Overwatch has the most diverse player base of competitive first-person shooters as overwatch players are more in number. However, almost all FPS players have in common is their preference for fair skin complexion. People are obsessed with appearance rather than skills and how they can work together to win the game.
What Attracts Overwatch Players For Overwatch:-
There has been a lot of controversy over the “attractiveness” of Overwatch players. The website OverPwn conducted a survey, and they found that over 90% of respondents believe that attractiveness can affect whether or not another player decides to form a team with them. This concern is valid; when you win more games, the chances of receiving a loot box increase.
An experiment was conducted in which overwatch players were allowed to play with and against other players in Team Fortress 2 and Halo: Reach. The results were consistent across both games; when playing with another player they believed to be attractive, they were more likely to play with them again than if they believed the other player was unattractive.
However, when playing against another player they thought looked attractive, participants were willing to spend less time in-game and more time crowing about their victory. Also, if they lost the game, they would play longer. On the contrary, when players were against an unattractive opponent, they would spend less time celebrating their victory and more time gloating to them in hopes that they would feel depressed about losing.
These are reasons why gamers are attracted to become Overwatch Players:-
In a survey conducted by OverPwn, 62% of respondents admitted that they would be more likely to play with a more attractive player than themselves. Also, 90% of the people surveyed believed that someone’s appearance could affect whether or not another person will team up with them in Overwatch.
It is easy to blame your team when you lose games instead of yourself. The way that someone looks make them an easy target for anger and frustration. But when you win games, it is much more satisfying to beat people who look “unattractive.” This can easily be attributed to the stereotypes in Hollywood, such as the jock having better abilities than the nerd or the geek girl not having the same ability as the popular girl.
The gamers of Overwatch believe that attractiveness does affect their gameplay experience but is it true? One experiment conducted by an article on OverPwn was to play Team Fortress 2 with and against another player who changed their game settings to make them look like an “average” gamer. The experiment results were consistent across both teams; participants would play with an average-looking person longer than they would against them. People are more willing to put up with average-looking people because they do not intimidate or threaten them as much as someone attractive. This can be attributed to the fear that many people will be judged based on their appearance.
Concluding on topic Overwatch Players:-
Besides the fact that gamers are obsessed with how attractive another player is, it does not affect their decision to play with them or against them. Hopefully, this information gives game developers more insight into what game mechanics can be implemented to make Overwatch more enjoyable and less frustrating.
There is controversy about whether or not appearance affects gameplay, and this article debunked that myth by saying it doesn’t really matter what the other person looks like, just as long as they can play well with you. We learned from this article that gamers are mainly concerned with how other people look because it is a stereotype that has been instilled in our society.
In conclusion, attractiveness doesn’t affect gameplay experience as much as people think.
There were many forum posts on various websites asking whether or not the game’s player base is large enough for people who are not attractive. There was also a forum post (on Reddit) about how Overwatch has an “attractive majority.” Many gamers will play using voice chat, which allows them to hear other players’ voices. The type of voice one could affect their teammates’ performance in-game. A higher-pitched voice may be less of a distraction for their teammates rather than someone with a deep or husky voice.
The players’ attractiveness also affects game performance because the game relies on visual cues. If someone has a higher chance of not being distracted by other players, they are more likely to perform better in-game.
Regarding forum of Overwatch Players:-
There was another forum post on Overwatch players base about how people become more cautious around attractive strangers and less conscious around unattractive strangers. Whether this is true or not, people have different preferences for the players they are willing to team up with, affecting their overall performance.
