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"Why Does Everyone Hate Mercy?" [Overwatch exploration of support stigma/misogyny]

aeolustl

Member
Another thing I really enjoy when I play Mercy is that the enemy team ignore me even when I fly across them. But I also change to another hero right away when my teammates don't protect me when I try to heal them
 

Kysen

Member
I was a mercy main S1-2 (62/masters) and anyone saying she isn't easy to play is lying to themselves. In fact it was detrimental to me so much so that when I stopped player her it was like playing a different game. Nothing carries over, all you learn playing her is how to listen for the 1 shot heroes and to stay hidden for res.

Now that I moved away from her onto other heroes I finally see just how infuriating res is as a gameplay mechanic is. I can't believe i was causing this much grief. She needs a rework like Lucio got to raise the skill ceiling drastically.

This season has been an eye opener as the amount of mercy 1 tricks is pretty high. Yesterday I had a match where the enemy team had 2. I new that game was won before it even started. I just camped the one trick till she switched to Lucio(less than 30min played) essentially throwing.
 

FarmerGiles

Member
As a fairly good Ana main, fuck Mercy.

Picks Ana at the beginning of the match (130+ hours of her)

"Guys, we NEED a Mercy!"

Other support picks Zen, fair enough

"Guys we NEED a Mercy, otherwise we're going to lose"

Explain it'll be fine, that I've solo healed before on this map (which have been some of the best wins I've had)

We lose a team fight early on, poor DPS and a wayward suicidal Reinhardt

"Could've won that with a Mercy res, switch Mercy"

I proceed to switch to the yawn-fest that is Mercy, get less healing in than I probably would have as my main, and we proceed to lose anyway. Get a nice 4 teammate res in though "Nice res!".

I just hate when people feel that they need a certain character as a crutch, and Mercy's definitely the definition right now as a crutch character. She takes the least amount of skill (I've played her w/ controller in PC occasionally with great results), has the most ridiculously quick building and annoying ult, and to top it off, people are literally using these two facts to climb the SR ranks with little trouble.
 

Ikuu

Had his dog run over by Blizzard's CEO
People who "main" a character in these games like it's a fighting game, lol.
 

Liseda

Member
People who "main" a character in these games like it's a fighting game, lol.
Indeed, I don't get this mentality.

What's the point of playing a game if you just keep to the exact same hero every single game?

How are you supposed to be any good at the game if you just stick to one hero?

So yes, I do hate people who "main" heroes.

They are pretty much just one-trick ponies, they become 100% fucking useless in your game most of the time.
 

SugarDave

Member
Playing aggressively with Mercy is so much fun. She has the best traversal ability in the game on a one second cooldown. Zipping around the middle of a fight where the enemy team can't seem to hit you is a blast.

I wasn't aware anyone hated Mercy.
 

FarmerGiles

Member
Indeed, I don't get this mentality.

What's the point of playing a game if you just keep to the exact same hero every single game?

How are you supposed to be any good at the game if you just stick to one hero?

So yes, I do hate people who "main" heroes.

They are pretty much just one-trick ponies, they become 100% fucking useless in your game most of the time.

Yeah.. pretty sure it's fine having a main character you play, as long as you remain flexible and have other characters that you're good at. I doubt anyone who plays hero-based games doesn't gravitate to a certain character that you get exceptionally good at.

I main Ana, but I play well as Soldier, McCree, Winston, and Mei and will switch to them as needed.
 

JimiNutz

Banned
I love having Mercy on the team but find her boring to play as.
Zenyetta or Lucio for me if I'm playing support but a Mercy on the team is always welcome!
 
I don't even understand how people have fun playing Mercy. Zen, Ana, and Lucio are way more engaging and have a ton of utility.

Mercy is also a sitting duck. People can literally just run dive comp and she gets destroyed.
 

HeatBoost

Member
Something that I've found very strange with Overwatch, as someone who has never stuck with a first person shooter long enough to see this kind of pattern develop, is the complaining about whether or not a character requires "skill"

It's like... what the fuck does it matter? Do you really care how relatively easy a character's toolset is long as the team succeeds? How can people complain about high skill ceiling characters like snipers in one breath and then turn around and go "OMG NO SKILL" for Mercy or Bastion or Torbjorn? I thought the point of the game was to win, not to master the most complex set of mechanics?

Is this some MOBA shit or has this always been a thing with classed based shooters?
 

zam

Member
Maybe this is a US server thing, or a Grandmaster & above thing. I solo/duo-queued my way to Master maining mostly Mercy (though I play all the other supports pretty much at the same level as I do Mercy) on EU servers and barely got flamed at all, or heard any complaints when I picked Mercy. While the SR system makes it easier to climb as her, playing Mercy well still requires a lot of game sense & awareness.

Makes me sad all the times I see Mercys get caught in ults they shoulda been expecting, or hanging back hiding instead of being in the action. My favorite part about Mercy is how agile & slippery she can be with her Guardian Angel. Just see Blinky's Mercy guide for all the stuff you need to know to play Mercy well https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03huZXJ3q8k

Also the video of all these pro players and streamers getting tilted and mad about people picking/playing Mercy, going so far as to try and profile shame players, what a bunch of manchildren.
 
Most of the hate I have seen towards Mercy is related to the matchmaking artificially inflating SR ratings of Mercy one tricks. Combined with the current meta actively encouraging them to play hide and seek when they have ult.

I also say this as a healer/tank main: Mercy has the lowest skill ceiling of any healer.
 

benzopil

Member
Author of this article has no idea why people hate Mercy
Something that I've found very strange with Overwatch, as someone who has never stuck with a first person shooter long enough to see this kind of pattern develop, is the complaining about whether or not a character requires "skill"

It's like... what the fuck does it matter? Do you really care how relatively easy a character's toolset is long as the team succeeds? How can people complain about high skill ceiling characters like snipers in one breath and then turn around and go "OMG NO SKILL" for Mercy or Bastion or Torbjorn? I thought the point of the game was to win, not to master the most complex set of mechanics?

Is this some MOBA shit or has this always been a thing with classed based shooters?
People in this thread already explained why does it matter. What you are learning from the game by playing Mercy won't help you at all if you try other heroes. Even with Bastion you should always change you position, be unpredictable, know when to transform etc. I'm talking about higher ranks of course, in lower you can sit in one place and nobody cares.
 

zam

Member
Author of this article has no idea why people hate Mercy

People in this thread already explained why does it matter. What you are learning from the game by playing Mercy won't help you at all if you try other heroes. Even with Bastion you should always change you position, be unpredictable, know when to transform etc. I'm talking about higher ranks of course, in lower you can sit in one place and nobody cares.
I'd say knowing how to position well as a support is something that carries over to other (support) heroes.
 
I would definitely say Mercy is the easiest medic character in Overwatch and more so if you play 3v3 but at least then you can only use her once a game.

I've had quickplay matches where I just queue with a friend and one goes Mercy and one goes offense. Just follow them around and it's really easy to get a ton of kills and capture points quick if the attacker is good.
 

Paltheos

Member
Huh I thought ppl loved good support players? Most ppl just don't like being the support.

The overwatch community is weird

To quote Seagull, Mercy is an anti-carry and that's not fun. Say you wipe out the whole enemy team, but Mercy was hiding in a corner you didn't happen to check (or she moved from). She flies out, rezzes the whole team, and you're back to square 1 (or worse if you've lost people already).

Fights can turn into 'we have to kill Mercy first' but even that's not always a good solution. At the end of escort maps or the second point on assault maps, that just means Mercy will respawn around the time her whole team's dieing, so good luck!

There's more to it than that, but the anti-carry element is something I think everyone along all rungs of the ladder agree on.
 
I find it laughable that the defining trait of mercy otp from what they say is their postioning as if every single hero in the game doesn't require good positioning to be effective.
😂
 

Twookie

Member
remove ress, add übercharge = problem fixed tsk tsk thank me later

Author of this article has no idea why people hate Mercy

pretty much

I find it laughable that the defining trait of mercy otp from what they say is their postioning as if every single hero in the game doesn't require good positioning to be effective.
😂
this

I find that confusing too - you can be easily punished if your positioning is shit compared to your enemies regardless of who you play
 
I think Mercy is dope and prefer people to use her. It's only a problem with bad players that are slow on the uptake of healing (your no.1 job) or those that cling to one player only, even though a few others are in very near proximity. You get good Mercy players and bad, just like any other character.
 
Indeed, I don't get this mentality.

What's the point of playing a game if you just keep to the exact same hero every single game?

How are you supposed to be any good at the game if you just stick to one hero?

So yes, I do hate people who "main" heroes.

They are pretty much just one-trick ponies, they become 100% fucking useless in your game most of the time.

Well considering people typically don't play healer, especially Ana, I main Ana. I can play any hero effectively if Ana isn't working or if we already have 2 healers. There's nothing wrong with "maining" a character as long as you can adjust when needed.
 

kami_sama

Member
I 100% don't think people don't like Mercy for either the woman or the support angle. (well almost nobody does)
If it was true nobody would play Orisa or Ana or Sombra, and the latter two are used constantly in the competitive scene.
And there is no stigma about support characters, like I said Ana is used all the time, as Zennyatta or Lucio.
 

KdotIX

Member
Never knew Mercy got so much hate. I don't tend to play her much but I always appreciate a good Mercy (be it on mine or the enemies team). She can make or break your game. I usually play Symmetra for a laugh and she gets a lot of hate. Symmetra takes skill and game sense as well, ya'll!
 
My only problem with Mercys is when they're in a party with someone, more so when it's a party of 2, and they only heal the person they're with. I'm not even talking about Pharmercy here.

I use her quite frequently, like she's in my top 10 I think, but I try and keep everyone healed/the players who are doing the most damage buffed.
 
Something that I've found very strange with Overwatch, as someone who has never stuck with a first person shooter long enough to see this kind of pattern develop, is the complaining about whether or not a character requires "skill"

It's like... what the fuck does it matter? Do you really care how relatively easy a character's toolset is long as the team succeeds? How can people complain about high skill ceiling characters like snipers in one breath and then turn around and go "OMG NO SKILL" for Mercy or Bastion or Torbjorn? I thought the point of the game was to win, not to master the most complex set of mechanics?

Is this some MOBA shit or has this always been a thing with classed based shooters?

Highly skilled and competitive FPS players enjoy dueling with skill based aim, hitting difficult shots on fast moving/airborne targets, pulling off tricky movement, etc. They do not enjoy getting forced to play braindead-easy classes if they want to win, or wiping out the enemy team only to have them resurrected by some clown who spent the last five minutes standing in spawn. If enough players get bored with this and leave, then your game is dead.

It's the same reason competitive TFC and TF2 leagues implemented class limits and "gentleman's rules" regarding turtling (and, in TF2's case, weapon restrictions) and the like. People spent plenty of time debating the merits of these rules, but if you actually played competitive matches, you understood why they exist and generally follow them.
 

Angel_DvA

Member
Not even close, the issue with Mercy is not gender related, sure some people are probably bitching about it but it's a minority for sure, what sucks with Mercy is her fucking rez.
 

Blues1990

Member
To quote Seagull, Mercy is an anti-carry and that's not fun. Say you wipe out the whole enemy team, but Mercy was hiding in a corner you didn't happen to check (or she moved from). She flies out, rezzes the whole team, and you're back to square 1 (or worse if you've lost people already).

Fights can turn into 'we have to kill Mercy first' but even that's not always a good solution. At the end of escort maps or the second point on assault maps, that just means Mercy will respawn around the time her whole team's dieing, so good luck!

There's more to it than that, but the anti-carry element is something I think everyone along all rungs of the ladder agree on.

Basically. And it's becoming frustrating when the game will revolve around players yelling at each other with lines, such as "KILL THAT WINGED RAT OR ELSE SHE WILL RE.... FUCKING HELL!" or "Why didn't you kill her, "Insert Hero Here"?!"

I mean, is it that much to ask to slow down Mercy's charge rate for her ultimate? They did with with the rest of the heroes (especially Zarya), so I don't see why they can't with Mercy.
 

ZeroGravity

Member
I mean, is it that much to ask to slow down Mercy's charge rate for her ultimate? They did with with the rest of the heroes (especially Zarya), so I don't see why they can't with Mercy.
What pisses me off most is that when Mei's ultimate was becoming oppressive because she was getting it every team fight back in season 2, they nerfed her charge rate harshly (more than the rest of the heroes), and she hasn't been close to being a meta pick since.

Mercy gets her ultimate every single team fight and Blizzard doesn't bat an eye.
 

Blues1990

Member
What pisses me off most is that when Mei's ultimate was becoming oppressive because she was getting it every team fight back in season 2, they nerfed her charge rate harshly (more than the rest of the heroes), and she hasn't been close to being a meta pick since.

Mercy gets her ultimate every single team fight and Blizzard doesn't bat an eye.

Yeah, I don't get it, either.
 

singhr1

Member
Author of this article has no idea why people hate Mercy

People in this thread already explained why does it matter. What you are learning from the game by playing Mercy won't help you at all if you try other heroes. Even with Bastion you should always change you position, be unpredictable, know when to transform etc. I'm talking about higher ranks of course, in lower you can sit in one place and nobody cares.

But it fucking does. Keeping track of your teams and the enemy team's ults, good position to avoid enemy fire and flank routes, being mobile enough and giving good callouts for enemy ults so you can have an escape route. She builds all the fundamentals to knowing how to play OW well besides having precision aim.

It might not "make you aim better" or "know when to flank the enemy team" but neither does fucking Reinhardt??

Also fuck the whole "all you do is hit SHIFT + LEFT CLICK." THAT'S LITERALLY EVERY HERO. SOLDIER IS THE LEAST MECHANICALLY INPUT HEAVY HERO YET PLAYED ONE OF THE MOST. You fucking aim and shoot. The most Call of Duty ass generic hero. He's not OTP but im not going to learn how to be a good tank playing S76.
 

r8er34

Member
I've played Mercy a few times in Mystery Heroes and I'm ass with her. I died very quickly. Lucio and Zenyatta for me.
 
What pisses me off most is that when Mei's ultimate was becoming oppressive because she was getting it every team fight back in season 2, they nerfed her charge rate harshly (more than the rest of the heroes), and she hasn't been close to being a meta pick since.

Mercy gets her ultimate every single team fight and Blizzard doesn't bat an eye.

Occam's Razor: Mercy fans spend more on boxes.
 

Anne

Member
What pisses me off most is that when Mei's ultimate was becoming oppressive because she was getting it every team fight back in season 2, they nerfed her charge rate harshly (more than the rest of the heroes), and she hasn't been close to being a meta pick since.

Mercy gets her ultimate every single team fight and Blizzard doesn't bat an eye.

So fun fact, Mercy's Rez used to charge about twice as much as it does now. That's when her ult got nerfed. Her ult charge rate hasn't really changed much in awhile, but she shot up in soloq due to the invuln buff. She's also still kinda asscheeks in competitive. From all the evidence we have combined with Blizz's stats, I'm positive in saying that the charge rate isn't the problem. The way the ult functions in general and how she interacts with soloq are major enough that some big things are gonna have to happen.

SOLDIER IS THE LEAST MECHANICALLY INPUT HEAVY HERO YET PLAYED ONE OF THE MOST.

It's almost like aiming, positioning, and managing cooldowns is a lot harder than holding a mouse button and having basically no cooldowns.
 

edgefusion

Member
Everyone always blames the healer. It's a thankless job.

Yup! Nobody will ever thank you, but they'll crawl out of the woodwork to tell you what a skill-less piece of trash you are for picking Mercy.

Mercy has the entire enemy team gunning for her like a pack of rabid dogs at all times, but she takes no skill to play.
 

888

Member
I play Support as my main. Mercy isn't about skill, she is about common sense and risk. Half the time flying into a battle to save a player needs to be weighed out. There is nothing inherently hard about playing as her, playing her effectively is the challenge.

So fun fact, Mercy's Rez used to charge about twice as much as it does now. That's when her ult got nerfed. Her ult charge rate hasn't really changed much in awhile, but she shot up in soloq due to the invuln buff. She's also still kinda asscheeks in competitive. From all the evidence we have combined with Blizz's stats, I'm positive in saying that the charge rate isn't the problem. The way the ult functions in general and how she interacts with soloq are major enough that some big things are gonna have to happen.



It's almost like aiming, positioning, and managing cooldowns is a lot harder than holding a mouse button and having basically no cooldowns.

If you change the controls you don't even have to hold the button for mercy, just click and sit.
 

hodgy100

Member
It's not because mercy is a female character FFs.

It's the Play style that's unfun. It's neigh on impossible to take out a mercy if they are flying in to res in casual play. And all they've done is hide and wait for their entire team to die. It's not fun to play against.

I can see blizz changing her ult to be a single target Res with a much shorter ultimate charge time. I think that will encourage tempo rezing ( which is much better anyway)
 

Nottle

Member
I only play quickplay and arcade, the only people I see blamed for anything are Hanzo and Widowmaker which I think is also dumb at times unless the situation REALLY doesn't need a sniper.

I always like healers.
 
Indeed, I don't get this mentality.

What's the point of playing a game if you just keep to the exact same hero every single game?

How are you supposed to be any good at the game if you just stick to one hero?

So yes, I do hate people who "main" heroes.

They are pretty much just one-trick ponies, they become 100% fucking useless in your game most of the time.

what a sad reason to hate someone, and you even bolded it for me
 
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