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By Kemmer Cope
What ’ s a first person shooter without a gun ? Of course , you have a pistol , but that ’ s more for aesthetic than utility . Your tricked out caduceus staff is the only item you should need . No , the staff isn ’ t for hitting people . It ’ s for healing . You have one mission : keep your team alive . You are Dr . Angela Ziegler a . k . a . Mercy , a literal guardian angel of a healer who can fly to any of your five teammates when they ’ re in need — and you ’ ve just been brutally cut down by the other team ’ s hammer-swinging juggernaut , Reinhardt . Again . For the second time this round , this eight-foot-tall giant clad in half a ton of steel armor has taken leave of his team to charge directly at you .
You resist the urge to flame , to go off on your teammates because they aren ’ t protecting you . You don ’ t respond to their repeated calls of “ I need healing !” with a snarky “ It ’ s hard to heal when I ’ m dead .” Instead , you respawn and run back towards the action . By the time you find what ’ s left of your team , Reinhardt ’ s hammer descends on your last living ally .
HE SEES YOU .
He doesn ’ t charge this time — he has to wait a few more seconds before he can do that again . You press ‘ 2 ’ to pull out your pistol . He runs toward you , and you take aim . You unload a twenty
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HEROES NEVER DIE
round magazine into his chest plate before running away to reload . He ’ s almost on top of you when you turn around and shoot again , landing two lucky headshots and eliminating him . Fast forward to the end of the game . Your team wins , but just barely . On the written chat channel , one of your teammates thanks you for playing as a support class character . A Reaper player who goes by Edgelord326 disagrees , and over the voice chat he proclaims with an agitated prepubescent crackle that “ the heals sucked .” You finish the match with seven eliminations and over 5000 allied health points healed , earning a bronze and gold medal respectively .
Believe me when I say that a Mercy with her pistol out has seen enough shit to drive any sane player to the edge .
Before Blizzard ’ s first person shooter Overwatch was released in May 2016 , I had no idea that I would rack up most of my play time on support units . I don ’ t play support out of some self-righteous motivation or compulsion to help others in a virtual world . Masochistically , I actually think that playing support is fun . Occasionally , however , the fun gets lost trying to collaborate with stubborn players who insist on trolling , separating from the team , or playing exclusively as a character they ’ re terrible with . I have had few gaming experiences more frustrating than such rounds .