'Overwatch' gets new anti-abuse system with improved features

Blizzard's hit game "Overwatch" has just received a new report system. This feature appears to have significant changes than the title's previous anti-abuse feature.

Players can try the new feature in the game's Public Test Realm (PTR). Reddit user Arsenal 2454 has provided a clip of what the system looks like in PTR.

It appears players can report others for specific abusive behaviour. These include the following: Abuse Chat, Bad Battletag, Cheating, Griefing, Inactivity, Poor Teamwork and Spam.

Blizzard appears to have included very specific descriptions for what every category represents. For instance, "Abusive Chat" is any chat that contains discriminatory, hateful, obscene or disruptive communication. Meanwhile, "Bad Battletag" is for players or teams with inappropriate, offensive or obscene player names or team names. "Poor Teamwork" is for players who do not complete map objectives, and for those that communicate in a negative way.

The publisher added below descriptions what these categories do not include. For instance, it said that "Abusive Chat" is also not giving suggestions to other team members and asking players to switch to different characters. A "Bad Battletag" is also not a player name in a different language. Lastly, "Poor Teamwork" is not for players who choose to stay silent in chat or for those who choose players others do not consider "optimal."

Kotaku reported that the system is now much more "specific" compared to its previous report systems. However, whether or not it will have significant changes in the game is yet to be seen. A clip of the new anti-abuse system was posted by Reddit user Arsenal 2454 in a Reddit thread.

According to a Kotaku interview in 2015, "toxicity" in the game remains a big concern for game director Jeff Kaplan. While a reporting system has already been in place back then, Kaplan admitted it needs improvement.

“There are some systems that under the hood we’ve been tweaking as well,” Kaplan said. He said the new system would hopefully be "more aggressive" when handling toxicity among players.

"Overwatch" was released on May 24, 2016 for the PC, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. It was well-received by players. In fact, the game already earned multiple recognition from The Game Award last year. It was awarded "Game of the Year," "Best Multiplayer Game," "Best ESports Game" and "Best Studio/Game Direction."

The game has also just begun season 4 of its competitive play. This is expected to end sometime in August. Meanwhile, the title has just released its 24th hero, the robot Orisa, on March 21. She is set to arrive in competitive play next week.