In Overwatch, getting stuck with an imbalanced team can be rough, and good team composition can often make the difference between a hard-won victory and a crushing defeat. That’s why the game is implementing the new role queue feature, which is now live on the public test server. Basically, the new role queue will require players to choose which role they wish to play — tank, damage, or support — when queuing up for a matchmade game, and teams will then be matched to ensure each team has two of each role, which the devs hope will “create an environment that fosters teamwork and encourages players to bring their very best to every match.”
Of course, as anyone who’s played an MMO with a role-based group finder can tell you, queue times can vary drastically between roles, with tanks and healers usually having a slightly easier time of it than DPS. To help even out queue times and incentivize players to branch out a bit, the new role queue system will grant additional rewards to players who queue as a role that’s currently in high demand. The role queue will also change the way that competitive placement matches work: Players will now have to complete five games in their role of choice to earn their initial skill rating, meaning that players who want to earn their seasonal rankings for all three roles will have to complete a total of 15 placement matches. This change will also be accompanied by some tweaks to the way Competitive Points will be doled out at the end of the season, the full details of which you can find in the role queue dev blog over on the official site.
