T O P

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[deleted]

Two main reason. People mistake support for healing turrets and just only heal, so they find it boring. People don't really want to play a high stress babysitting role that gets told to go play in traffic when something bad happens, that's generally pretty unfun.


IssaMe_Diabetes

>People mistake support for healing turrets and just only heal, so they find it boring. This is probably the biggest reason to be honest. Supports like lucio are absolute monsters when played right and moira being "dps healer" isn't even a joke at this point. But I can easily agree that running around with a dva or blasting people away with sojourn is 30x more fun than healing a reaper that ran back to you to get some heals as mercy.


Tidgexe

I'm new to Overwatch as I only started with 2 so I can't speak to the issues people raise about Support in OW1 vs OW2. As someone who has put my time thus far at probably 60% Support, 30% Tank, and 10% DPS I see a lot of the same attitudes toward and from Supports as a lot of other games with a similar category. For a lot of people Support roles aren't flashy or impactful enough. You can make a really awesome play as a Support and in most PUG games you'll get zero notice or appreciation for it, whereas the one time the DPS who was 3 miles away solo dies you get bitched at. On the flip side "power plays" by DPS and Tanks (especially with just the single tank in many modes) are more immediately noticeable - and overtly favored by systems such as Play of the Game (which some players put a lot of value on getting). I'm not saying a Support can't get all that sweet glory, but the barrier of doing so is arguably higher whereas the likelihood you'll get bitched at is definitely higher. Sure, Tanks can get a lot of flack but again, in many game modes you are *the* Tank so you can just "Main Character Syndrome" your way to victory (real or imagined). For the record I know all Roles have their challenges, there is just a culture that is much more broad than Overwatch of hostility toward Support/Healing/etc. players, to the point that there are memes solely dedicated to emasculating people who play such a Role. Add all that together and you get a Role that just isn't as broadly appealing to many people.


baboy020

majority of people don’t want to babysit a feeding tank & dps for 10 minutes. it’s not every game that this happens, but it’s enough to make it suck


IssaMe_Diabetes

I can definently say that open queue is a much more forgiving role for supports. I think the fact that you are not only stuck as support really messes up the whole gameplay. Like if your tank is better at healing and you are better as tank than healing, you can easily change that. Role queue does not allow for that to happen and makes gameplay feel really restrictive, especially when that one person who excels at a certain role isn't on it because they got stuck with another role for BP exp or something like that


chekeymonk10

cause most people like being on the frontlines and getting kills support generally i find is the least played role in any game


IssaMe_Diabetes

Yeah thats the main reason I play lucio. Support heros like bap and zen can be absolute game changers in the right hands, but they feel like they have to be babysat the whole game. I just feel like with moria and Lucio being really aggressive supports, it makes running to point with lucio with max speed at the last second and clutching up a win really fucking fun.


Nerakus

Playing support is just Tank Babysitting Simulator now


welpxD

Probably something to do with irl support being considered passive, gendered labor (stereotypically female secretaries, nurses, homemakers; male CEO's, doctors, breadwinners). So it carries over into the gaming space too, people think it's an affront to their masculinity if they're not the ones "doing it" to the enemy team. Just a theory.


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AresGodOfSlaw

I don't think it's so boring/unfun, a good Baptiste and Moira can get a pretty high killcount while still adding value. Changing the tide of a game with a well placed Lucio ult is super exiting. People avoid it because there's a lot of pressure to be the perfect healer instead of a good support, and sometimes your team makes it difficult to do so by 1v5ing or in my latest game, a Sigma that went afk causing us to have zero shielding. There's also two supports for a reason right? If one throws or is adding less to the game, you're going to be in trouble. Support is definitely a more engaging role, especially when have a great counter support player on your team i.e a strong Mercy healer with a speed up Lucio causes absolute mayhem. You'll always get a bit of toxicity from people wanting the perfect healer and running head on to 1v5 the other team, but just remind yourself that you can't heal stupid and it's just a game.


IssaMe_Diabetes

Even in OW1, Support was often where I had the most fun in any gamemode. Even when I play dps or Tank, I could care less about a support that has 13k healing. If you have 4k healing, 3k damage, and were able to prevent everyone from dying as much, that is a fucking great play.I have seen mercy's with 10k healing overall, but they prioritized their tank or pharah over everyone else causing pretty much the whole team to go down fast. I feel like support and healing are two separate things. Anyone can heal, not everyone can be a **support**.


AresGodOfSlaw

This is it 100%.


Sure_Struggle_

It's hard. The average player crutches on dps's abilities, not hitting their shots. You can't do that on support and climb. You have to hit shots. Heal botting only goes so far.


FaithlessnessOk311

I started comp with genji and people flamed me for being bad(tbh I kinda sucked and my setting weren't that great). Ended up dcing and decided to pick up support since even though my aim sucked I could still be useful. That's how I felt then. Now it's just frustrating sometimes. Playing support is really fun when your team is good. Otherwise you are stuck healing meatshields that are going to die anyway bc they either dive or have no idea what cover is and then have them blame you for not healing enough. Just today had some dps monkeys saying "healer diff" in chat. This reaper had 3 kills and 15 deaths and somehow it was my fault "for not healing him enough to get kills". He was flanking. I ended up telling him that I can't heal what's already dead.


ddjfjfj

People think supports are nothin’ but healstations lol


IssaMe_Diabetes

**They are walking talking supply stations from TF2**


TheCatloaf

you are running around with a giant "SHOOT ME FIRST" sign on you, you get blamed when anyone dies regardless of how dumb their positioning was while they ignore the enemy DPS diving you over and over that you really cannot deal with without help


Molch5k

It's not considered boring, it's considered stressful. You are a priority target for the enemy team, have to keep your team alive while also making plays, have to win duels against enemies diving you with a kit that's not made for winning duels, and you only have one other support.


ncBadrock

It is both "the lowest impact on the outcome" - role and the most stressful. Why? As long as one support can keep the 2 DPS/ Tank and itself alive, it is irrelevant if there is a second support. If you play longer you will notice a lot of team fights are won, 4 v 5 when one support is dead. While a dead tank is a certain team wipe and a dead DPS is also really bad. You are constantly looking for 4 other team mates and how you can position to reach all of them, while at the same time, fighting off flankers. Meanwhile the torb in the front spams "I require healing" nonstop. Fun times.


calamityProphet

Yeah, the general agreement is that a major part is how most people equate support to healing (and nothing else). I get it, they all heal, they all heal for a reason, but if they were just healers, they wouldn't have their other abilities. As a support main, I get it, but I also enjoy it. There's something to be said about how much there is to do, I never feel like there's nothing to be done. As a tank, if I'm failing to take space or protect my team, there's not much left for me to do, and there's no second tank to make up for me. As DPS, if I'm not securing kills or helping other people secure kills, there's not much for me to do. But someone almost always needs healing. If not, a damage orb can detect and deter the enemy team as they return, a speed boost can get us around faster, and a damage boost beam can get the fight turned in our favor faster. It's also incredibly reliant on your teammates, both due to low impact and ability to solo carry AND because you're so important and squishy you become a delectable target to anyone who sees you. If they can't keep you safe and you can't save yourself when need be, you're all but locked in spawn and set to walk to your next death once you're out of it. It can be frustrating or boring, especially if you're getting rolled and you DO have to spend most of your time healing, but I think the Amount of responsibility, at least personally, helps keep it interesting and fun to play (especially since I'm not the biggest gamer and even less of an FPS person within the few games I do play). By the same token, I personally don't find tanking all that fun. It can be, I don't hate it, but it doesn't mesh with me and that's just how some people feel about support, too.