It's Finally Official: Playing Off-Meta Heroes In Ranked Is Against The Rules And Will Result In Penalties

https://postimg.org/image/bh8of05oh/

I got reported for playing off-meta heroes many times. I got silenced many times based on these false reports. I got these silences overturned as I never abuse the chat. But now I got *this* reply instead. It's from a Game Master that actually consulted the issue with his supervisor so it's as good as an official announcement because it's how Blizzard treats these cases now, as opposed to how they treated them previously. Why the change? Beats me.

The relevant part is:

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"One player stubbornly refusing to adapt can be a significant source of frustration (...), negatively impacting the experience of other players on the team and their enjoyment of the game.

In other words, actively refusing to switch character can and will have just as negative an impact on your team as if you were trolling and insulting them in the chat.

As such, and after discussing the case with my supervisor, I'm upholding the silence penalty."

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Well, it sure is nice to know that playing your favorite hero is not allowed as long as there's a single person who doesn't like it, and that Blizzard will let your account stay silenced to prevent you from doing that. Oh wait, it doesn't actually prevent it, I can still play the hero I want and I'm planning to. But with a silenced account, because it makes perfect sense.

Good job, Blizzard. Good job.

I'm sure with the "updated" report system, this silence will soon become a ban because who cares if you make your favorite hero work? If little meta-crazed Billy and his friends get upset by it, it's as good as trolling because the effect is the same, i.e. little Billy's upset! And the fault is not his of course, lil' Billy's the victim of the evil troll who dares play off-meta heroes in defiance of lil' Billy's commands! Unbelievable.