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Overwatch New Hero "Echo" Revealed
- Thread starter NeoRaider
- Start date
To add to the support argument, French streamer Alphacast said it was a support and would release March 19th
www.dexerto.com
Rumors surface of new Overwatch support hero coming in March - Dexerto
A new rumor has surfaced regarding a support hero coming to Overwatch in March, but there seems to be some questions surrounding the claim.
www.dexerto.com
Going by US government classifications of race, yes. Sombra would have her ethnicity flagged as Hispanic though. lol.
That's a good point, lol. Though tbf, there is a different Chinese woman in the roster
Why are we waiting for the sequel to a game? They could've added her now and used Echo for the sequel?
I'm pretty sure Pharah is half Native American even if you don't count Egyptian.(which I don't get she's clearly not white but whatever.)
Why can't she come now? People have been asking for a Black woman since the game came out like 3 years ago. Why wait for a sequel? You know people want one, you've got one, why make people wait?
Ana, Pharah, Symmetra, Sombra, D.va, and Mei are all women of color. The fact that we haven't had a black female character yet doesn't mean we have absolutely no women of color at all in the game, and it's not really a good look to erase them as representation.
And that isn't the argument. No one is saying there isn't women of color in the game, but it seems suspect that this has been the one type of person Blizzard hasn't made playable yet. At this point they have to know there's a demand for one.
You can't say there being erased when they aren't relevant to the conversation at hand.
One of the inciting posts on the subject of representation, and the one that's been quoted the last few times, was this one:
This post is categorically false, and I was explaining why. Probably should've directly quoted it.
Which is why you should've omitted the 'black' women part. That arguement has little relevancy when discussing Overwatch's seeming refusal to add a black woman.
And that poster was kinda right. Efi isn't really in the game and Echo's creator shouldn't have been stuffed into the fridge.
That poster was not "kind of right" considering we've had playable women of color in the game since launch. We've also had a plethora of white men and women who are either secondary/background characters or disposable: Gerald, Vatya, Emily, Balderich, Sven, etc.
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As the person who said the post in question, I was making a facetious remark wherein I hedged on calling Echo's creator a black woman because I didn't know for sure. I've been playing Overwatch since launch, and while I'm happy with the game's overall representation, black women have been a specific omission. So seeing Echo's brown, possibly black creator being "killed," it just reminded me that the wait to Sojourn marches on. (Please give her other hair colors than white.)
I think Echo's creator is Dr. Mina Liao, a Chinese woman. So, yanno, there's that.
Regardless though, I think Overwatch has long since become a product that is conflicted between the admirable progressive ambitions of its creators, those creators' simultaneous blind spots, and the aggravating corporate hegemony of Activision-Blizzard as a whole. And from there I think a lot of the online discussions about its representation, while well-meaning (most of the time), can either undermine certain demographics over others, or undermine the game itself which I still conceive as an overall force for good in regards to shaping the gaming landscape away from one that is predominantely white, straight, and male.
I want more media that represents myself as a black woman, and thus Sojourn's late-game entry has been a sticking point with me, and the broader whining of "Why do we NEED a black woman?!" have been some of my most heated online arguments. But I also want to extend that same concern and interest to other groups too, hence the reminder that there are women in these games who represent other minority cultures that are just as deserving of the spotlight too, and that they should be considered worth celebrating. It is a bit frustrating, because when I have these conversations specifically about Sojourn I think it inevitably comes across as I'm demanding less in regards to black representation, and I don't want that to be the case. I just think we ought to be a little more careful the way we peruse these conversations, if that makes sense?
Regardless though, I think Overwatch has long since become a product that is conflicted between the admirable progressive ambitions of its creators, those creators' simultaneous blind spots, and the aggravating corporate hegemony of Activision-Blizzard as a whole. And from there I think a lot of the online discussions about its representation, while well-meaning (most of the time), can either undermine certain demographics over others, or undermine the game itself which I still conceive as an overall force for good in regards to shaping the gaming landscape away from one that is predominantely white, straight, and male.
I want more media that represents myself as a black woman, and thus Sojourn's late-game entry has been a sticking point with me, and the broader whining of "Why do we NEED a black woman?!" have been some of my most heated online arguments. But I also want to extend that same concern and interest to other groups too, hence the reminder that there are women in these games who represent other minority cultures that are just as deserving of the spotlight too, and that they should be considered worth celebrating. It is a bit frustrating, because when I have these conversations specifically about Sojourn I think it inevitably comes across as I'm demanding less in regards to black representation, and I don't want that to be the case. I just think we ought to be a little more careful the way we peruse these conversations, if that makes sense?
There's throwing shade, and then there's you setting up a canopy. :/
We've had women of colour, playable characters at that, since the game launched.
You've made a valid point. I fail to understand why people are knocking on the characters that exist in the game (Sombra, for example, is a fun character because of how much of a playful asshole she is to the rest of the cast). Hell, Sojourn is a black woman of military expertise (hailing from Toronto, Canada) is being added to OW2's roster. From what's been seen and shown in her reveal and in glimps of Storm Rising, he looks & sounds like a badass cyborg.
Yes, the games roster isn't perfect. Yes, I know the two biggest extremes we have to female body diversity is Mei and Zarya at two opposing ends (as the rest of the female cast are a variant of the hourglass shape). And they haven't been perfect with all of their new character inclusions (I'm looking at you, Sigma, as a failure to represent mental health properly).
But perspective, people. Overwatch is way more gender-representative than games of the past.
I'm sorry, this is a white woman?
And this dark skinned Mexican woman is a white hispanic?
I don't even know what "white" is anymore.
Hence why I hedged the way I did. I didn't know, I just went off the origin clip.
Either way, I'm aware of the nonblack women of color in Overwatch. The only WOC in the game, in fact. I think, from my limited perspective, they are all fine additions. My facetious joke in no way was meant to erase their representation.
You thoughtfully wrote how I feel about it better than I could have hoped to and it makes sense to me. My sentiments exactly.
That said, I really dig the characters design.
I don't think people are necessarily knocking on this characters so much as diminishing them and their presence, but then again I don't think that's out of outright malice either because a black woman as a playable character has been a sticking point in the fandom for years now, and heated up most recently when Apex Legends dropped with two black women in the original roster. Again, I think people can simply be a bit careless about things, but just as we expect Overwatch as a product to get better overtime, I think these discussions should be navigated with more tact on our end too. We can criticize Sojourn's handling and the creators' blindspots in regards to black (or any other ethnicity's) representation, without suggesting that Overwatch has no value anymore on a representative front.
Valid points all-round, and some thought to chew on.
The development team has, and always will, pilot a difficult course to navigate. Every new hero, every backstory, personality, pose, skin-tone and body-type is going to be scrutinized, discussed, & dissected. There's a long way to go until we really see heroes who break new ground, above and beyond the most basic representative check-boxes.
They will be judged constantly, for better or worse.
We lost Symmetra (a utility-focused Support Hero) already. Besides, you DPS goons have 16 heroes to choose from. (Five Hitscan, Five Flankers, and Six Utility). Don't be greedy. :P
If she's a support I hope she's skillshot ala Ana/Zen/Bap but I think it's more likely she goes the other way.
I like to think Echo would skew towards Ana, Zenyatta, and Baptiste, as far as being high skill-based. Especially with players complaining how "brain-dead" Moira and Brigitte are to play.
Considering her representation in the OW2 cinematic I'd guess her abilities revolve around the blue projectiles she shoots.
Lower skilled heroes have a place in the game too and they're technically due another support of that nature.
On the contrary, I think they've done a lot in terms of paving the way for demographics to hold roles and personalities you don't normally see in game...or even in media. If you can find me another black character in video gaming who openly started a violent social revolution to free his people without getting assassinated, jailed, or having his legacy undermined by white people (indeed, he got rewarded for it), I'll change my avatar to Symmetra for a month. |3
The development team have acknowledged they're (for the most part) developing Tank and Support heroes, with the exceptions being Doomfist and Ashe, as the former being a heavily requested character and the latter being a hitscan that serves as an in-between for Widowmaker and McCree.
Mauga was supposed to come out last August, but the development team had to put him on the back burner when they realized the kit they were developing for him didn't match his character or personality (he's basically a Talon Heavy Assault unit in size and strength, but can swap between being a cunning bastard to a sadist). So, a big brute who has two chain-guns doesn't fit a hero who can wield a barrier, so they instead focused on development for Sigma and released him instead.
Yeah, you got me. I got nothing. I can think of some examples in fiction and movies. In video games? Not so much.
The way I see it, is if you make a hero that's too simple to play and execute, then you have players get bored of playing that character after a while. I'm all for having lower skilled heroes (that can excel in areas outside of mechanical aim), but it's a tough balancing act to follow.
Amen. Each role should have the same number of heroes.
What about Asian men? They make up quite the portion of the world population.
Sometimes there isn't some nefarious plan to exclude someone.
Which is why there's two Asian men in the vanilla game.
They've had Sojurn longer than the games been out. Why take this much time to release her. Why release other heroes first?
Has this been confirmed? I've been thinking we get 6? Two for each category
Doh! Of course, you are right.
Well, Indian men then. Unless we count Zenyatta.
It's basically a similar process to how the original Overwatch was developed, as leading up to it's release, there were character trailers for the heroes that were going to be added to the base roster.
No, all that's been confirmed is it won't be ~20 new heroes. I was more in the ballpark of 8-9. They said "a lot" of new heroes.
Robots don't count for human representation. Closest you have in that regard tho is Sanjay, CEO of Vishkar.
I'm guessing at least the following will be added:
- Sojourn (Support?)
- Bad Omnic thing in the hood (???)
- Mauga (Tank)
- Junker Queen (Tank)
- Other member(s) of the Deadlock Gang (DPS)
- Maximilian (Support?)
And maybe:
- Sven (DPS or Tank)
- Jetpack Cat (DPS)
I would not count Zen XD
But there hasn't been an Asian anything added to the game since the OG cast. And South East Asia representation has always lacked, it would be nice to get a Thai/Filipino person in a game.
Sojourn has a gun + a arm that is a gun she is no support
plus we have these from the GI cover
Tomorrow 10am PDT