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"Why Does Everyone Hate Mercy?" [Overwatch exploration of support stigma/misogyny]
- Thread starter Spring-Loaded
- Start date
Oh yeah this is the worst.
Unless you're Lucio at that moment, and you're bad so you're in bad lobbies and they all got revived by a cliff and you Soundblast them off
Then it's the highlight of your whole game time.
This is true, a bad Hanzo gets hate for being useless or if you're like my best friend who is REALLY good at Hanzo, you STILL get hate and people call you a cheater. Hanzo gets hate no matter what.
BronsonLee
Member
Lights and Waves
Member
Same. I main her and D Va
AlexFlame116
Member
AWizardDidIt
Member
As I understand it, "Mercy Mains" are derided because at high level ranked play, you really benefit from having a stock of characters your good at because there's always a chance another person who "mains" your character will take them first (or you'll take it from them). I'm not going to claim Mercy doesn't require skill, she does, but the skill Mercy requires doesn't really transfer to other characters. So if you have two "Mercy Mains" in a game, you essentially have one player who isn't really playing up to the rank they achieved and it's a large disadvantage for your team.
The sexism component is, of course, absolutely there and is shitty. I know a few women who ended up playing Mercy because at low ranks the healer role is one that people hate filling and because they wanted to support their team they consistently pick Mercy to help the team. It's shitty that a desire to best help your team gets turned into a misogynistic stereotype.
The sexism component is, of course, absolutely there and is shitty. I know a few women who ended up playing Mercy because at low ranks the healer role is one that people hate filling and because they wanted to support their team they consistently pick Mercy to help the team. It's shitty that a desire to best help your team gets turned into a misogynistic stereotype.
It's pretty rampant at the moment. Most Mercy mains don't even talk in voice chat, because the abuse is so common. Resurrect needs communication to coordinate around, so you get Mercies pulling off random Rez's whenever they can (or even worse, dying without using it at all), because they're not talking to their team. It leads to a lot of frustration for everyone.
Mercy hate montage
The most popular player in Overwatch has a video on his YouTube channel named "I Hate Mercy So Much". And he's not joking.
IME support players don't really get hate, most are supportive of you in OW despite you not actually playing well (I'm a support main). Support in OW is not a role most are forced into, I play support heroes because I find them fun, and so do support mains. I usually run into more support mains in competitive than I do DPS mains.
At the end if the day it's all about getting the objective and snipers always forget they need to get their ass on said objective.
That's why we hate widow/hanzo.
As for Mercy I used to play her but I get raged at for solo res or duo rez no matter how much I keep healing the team. 21k healing is not enough sometimes for some people. If they want me to hide my ass for that magical 4 or 5 man rez they can pick Mercy next time because this ain't my life.
blue_phazon
Member
I definitely agree that 90% of the hate directed to Mercy players is about gameplay (like hiding around for a rez and not contributing during fights), but lets not pretend there isn't this sexist notion in the overwatch community that only girls play mercy because it's a low-skill character.
Drillary Clinton
Banned
I wish that when I played on console people hated Mercy. I always get screamed at for playing Ana and begged to switch to Mercy.
Plus a team tends to blame a Mercy when she doesn't get game winning Rez's often pushing that blame towards her when it could ultimately be the Group's or one or two players skill thats effecting the game, and need "Game winning* Mercy Rez's to counteract their low level of plays.
Being a Mercy main I have switched to Lucio and have enjoyed it way more the pressure is no longer there, when you play Mercy often you don't play as a full group so there are many factors that hurt your ability to Rez people, often people don't keep a eye out for you or protect you and then ask *where's the Rez* shes to dependant on her ult and its become no longer fun to play.
AcademicSaucer
Member
There is just hatred for healers because you can just blame them for not healing you if you die. I remember that shit in WOW for example.
AlexFlame116
Member
I had a Mercy player get mad at me for becoming a healer in Quickplay. She said (yes it was a girl) that she was the only healer they needed. I relented and switched to D.Va as she requested.
We lost the match. She blamed me for being Lucio first.
super-famicom
Member
Agreed. Those are the only bad Mercy players.
Drillary Clinton
Banned
Man, unless y'all were on defense on like, the first objective on Kings Row or Anubis then there should be no reason someone should feel comfortable solo healing.
Mercy one-tricks and those that pick Mercy in completely inappropriate situations (such as running her instead of say, Lucio on koth when we already have a Zen or something) are the only ones that annoy me.
Other than that, her play is mostly one-dimensional and difficult to counter.
Other than that, her play is mostly one-dimensional and difficult to counter.
AlexFlame116
Member
Nope it wasn't either of those two levels! She had vocal support from this random guy (they weren't in a group) though and it was too early to begin a discussion so I switched after she got more annoyed. Maybe she was trying to see if she can do it? I don't know.
I would have brushed the loss away if she didn't start blaming me for the defeat.
The biggest problem with these games are when players with a large enough gap in skill are grouped together. I've never played OW but from what i've learned about the game is that as a "mercy main" it is very easy to rank up even with sub 50% winrates. So as a result you get this kind of hate. Blizzard needs to fix they're SR system for mercy as the necessary first step to fix this.
Ghostbound
Member
I feel like this would happen to me almost every other match when I was still playing comp. Just one of the many reasons I quit playing this game.
VanillaCakeIsBurning
Member
Most of the dislike towards Mercy I've seen is because she's boring to play with no interesting mechanics. She doesn't require any special skills beyond what everyone else uses to track and determine spacing.
Ana is a step in the right direction.
Yeah, this is a problem with role based games where one or two roles get shafted in favour of DPS because DPS always get the most fun stuff.
I don't think I've ever played a role based game where there were more tanks or healers than DPS.
Most comp games there are people trying to force other people to play tank or healer because they don't want to play with a tiny pool of heroes.
I used to play healer a lot but I realized how they created this role that they expect people to fill yet they only give you a small number of tools to use compared to DPS and you're supposed to be fine with that.
The best way to solve this problem of forcing people to perform vital team functions with less options that aren't as fun as the others is to eliminate roles and make things flexible so everyone can chip in.
As a random example, Monster Hunter does a great job of letting you bring whatever you want to the hunt but allowing everyone to perform support functions as they are able to/desire.
Ana is a step in the right direction.
Yeah, this is a problem with role based games where one or two roles get shafted in favour of DPS because DPS always get the most fun stuff.
I don't think I've ever played a role based game where there were more tanks or healers than DPS.
Most comp games there are people trying to force other people to play tank or healer because they don't want to play with a tiny pool of heroes.
I used to play healer a lot but I realized how they created this role that they expect people to fill yet they only give you a small number of tools to use compared to DPS and you're supposed to be fine with that.
The best way to solve this problem of forcing people to perform vital team functions with less options that aren't as fun as the others is to eliminate roles and make things flexible so everyone can chip in.
As a random example, Monster Hunter does a great job of letting you bring whatever you want to the hunt but allowing everyone to perform support functions as they are able to/desire.
Drillary Clinton
Banned
I main Ana and absolutely love playing her. She's the most rewarding character in the game to play for me.
SirNinja
Member
Huh. I mostly play Mercy (after years of mostly playing Medic in TF2, because no one would ever go Medic), and I usually get most of the votes after a match. People love getting healed in Overwatch, they love getting damage boosted, and they especially love getting resurrected. There's a lot to like about a character who can turn the tides so dramatically with just the press of a button.
I started playing Mercy when my team needs it and its hilarious how easy it is to get carried with that character. 1. never battle mercy unless 100% necessary 2. if no one needs topping off damage boost them to charge both of your ults faster. 3. Don't die with res but also don't be afraid to still heal when you have it.
Shes super fucking easy to be good with.
Shes super fucking easy to be good with.
I don't think i've ever seen as much salt around ranking points as this overwatch season, and i've played MOBA's and CS.
Like, people are always asses about rank, but this meta around which character to pick to rank up and the hate about characters that get more points is hilarious.
Like, people are always asses about rank, but this meta around which character to pick to rank up and the hate about characters that get more points is hilarious.
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Most of these is from people who tunnelvision chase one guy and scream for healing from across the map.
Meanwhile...
Meanwhile...
breadtruck
Member
Mercy is awesome.
The haters in this thread must be salty Hanzo/Widow mains who are mad that Mercy is on the frontline actually helping the team, unlike them... :-0
The haters in this thread must be salty Hanzo/Widow mains who are mad that Mercy is on the frontline actually helping the team, unlike them... :-0
timetokill
Banned
"Oh man I'm awesome putting out all this damage and --"
"OH MY GOD I DIED I'M TOO AWESOME TO DIE THE HEALER MUST HAVE FUCKED UP"
"OH MY GOD I DIED I'M TOO AWESOME TO DIE THE HEALER MUST HAVE FUCKED UP"
TimeEffect
Member
Mercy is easy to play though. Doesn't matter how much awareness you need, you just hold the heal button and stay back because most of the time, opponents are too dumb to target you. And when they do, you just fly around or just die and do it again.
Its mind numbingly simple and so is her revive mechanic, which is annoying.
Also, Mercy is easily the best support role and a MUST to bring to the game. She is easily a sure-fire support over any other healer, and you absolutely need a healer to win.
I hate Mercy because of how damn necessary she is and how annoying her ultimate is.
Its mind numbingly simple and so is her revive mechanic, which is annoying.
Also, Mercy is easily the best support role and a MUST to bring to the game. She is easily a sure-fire support over any other healer, and you absolutely need a healer to win.
I hate Mercy because of how damn necessary she is and how annoying her ultimate is.
Frozenprince
Banned
After four matches of people throwing because they got pissy I picked a healer tonight.
Yeah, nah, they can fuck themselves. If you push too far I ain't saving you. If you suck, I ain't saving you.
Git gooder or die.
Healers get no respek.
Yeah, nah, they can fuck themselves. If you push too far I ain't saving you. If you suck, I ain't saving you.
Git gooder or die.
Healers get no respek.
TimeEffect
Member
I feel like you are over-valuing her gameplay.
I heal whoever has a giant red cross on their name and don't really prioritize the order because it doesn't usually matter. In a frantic moment, Ill probably heal squishies first, but Im really just holding down a button and keeping meters up.
Soldier is not much more skilled, but his ultimate at least requires some thought-- positioning, targeting, and timing. Mercy's is not the same at all because hers is simply to zoom into the skulls and press a button. Mercy doesn't need to target anyone in particular, and really doesn't even need good positioning or timing.
She can time a 4-hero Rez, but she's just as able to target a 2-hero Rez and do well enough to turn the tide.
Mercy is picked because the rest of the healers suck ass at healing as well as she does. If the enemy has a mercy, you best take a Mercy yourself or else you are at a disadvantage and will lose.
So Mercy just ends up being a boring, stale, and brainless character that has to be taken by someone who is willing to put their need to win over anything else.
The hate for Mercy is when you get Mercy one tricks in comp who aren't good at any other characters. Overwatch is a game about adapting your team composition to fit the map/enemy team, and Mercy isn't always the right choice. It has nothing to do with her being a female healer, otherwise you would see similar complaints about Ana.
TheCthultist
Member
Exactly what I was thinking. I play almost exclusively supports in most games and, while I wouldn't say Mercy is my favorite in OW (I usually only play her when I'm confident more utility/offense vs straight up healing wont be needed) she's exceptionally good at being a great healer... But she really does fall off when compared with other supports who can bring healing AND other benefits to the table.
You can usually count on things being a little less tense when there's a descent Mercy jumping around healing your team... But that said, it doesn't take much effort to be a descent Mercy. A little common sense and awareness is pretty much the extent of what's required.
AlexFlame116
Member
Grrrrr.....Pharmercy....
TheRedSnifit
Member
I started going through leader boards on Master Overwatch, looking at win%. Every time I came across a <50% win rate, I closed my eyes and guessed "Mercy main?" They were indeed a Mercy main, every time.
SpiceMelange
Member
Playing exclusively Mercy is the fastest way to reach GM, for some reason with this character you get way more SR for your wins.
Yeah support is always got a ton of flaks despite it's being the most important role in any game with role division. They got a fair of polarizing love/hate relationship from the community regardless the gender of the support characters. People perceives support character to be simple because support tends to behind the lines and "only" do buffs, healing, and shits like that (ignoring the fact that those "only" things is make or break of a support). I rarely see people blame and hate a support character for their gender, because even the toxic part of competitive community are more likely to accuse you playing a female character because of "waifu" than for being a female gamer.
These kind of analysis now days are tend for being too quick to jump the gun. Most of the time love or hate of a character in video game, especially multiplayer one, is decided by their gameplay design. Characters with bad visual appearance regardless of gender can be loved as much if they offers a great gameplay mechanic/opportunity and so does vice versa.
Female support characters have existed way before Mercy and if it does happened like what the author suggest, then we should see the exact hate aimed at those characters too.