Dusttin Bowerman goes by the title Dogman, and he performs a imply Zenyatta for the Atlanta Reign, one among Overwatch League’s higher groups this season that sadly did not make the finals. In his second yr within the league, Dogman has seen the aggressive occasions shift from being held in entrance of roaring followers in an enviornment to the hum of an air conditioner in his house. Despite a unique method to matches, the league continues to search out success and ship spectacular reveals of participant talent, however there are a variety of drawbacks.
First off, how do you get began in Overwatch League?
Right out of highschool I began taking part in Overwatch. I used to be about 18 on the time, and I used to be attempting to do some school to remain at dwelling with my dad and mom. Eventually I moved out and tried to make [Overwatch] a full-time factor inside a yr. I obtained picked up by the Atlanta Reign academy workforce. After a fairly good season in Contenders, I obtained referred to as as much as the Overwatch League workforce.
You obtained a style of being on the stage to expertise the true imaginative and prescient of the league, and now the surprising blow of the pandemic. Can you discuss to me concerning the second the place you realized the whole lot was going to alter?
I type of realized it on the Washington homestand. That was the final homestand earlier than they have been all shut down. It was the place COVID-19 was getting extra discover, and other people have been paying extra consideration to it. Numerous the followers that often would have been [in the arena] weren’t there. They have been like, “I don’t want to go there and get this virus that is pretty deadly.” That occasion was missing by way of attendance. It was there the place I noticed that audiences may not exist as we moved ahead.
What was the communication behind the scenes between your teammates and other people from the league?
People firstly have been comfortable. They have been like, “Oh, we don’t have to travel. It’s nice that we don’t have to go anywhere.” But the league additionally informed us we wouldn’t do homestands anymore. It was fairly direct communication. After some time, a few of our gamers have been like, “I wish we were traveling again to our events.” Meeting followers makes it extra distinctive and a extra satisfying expertise.
The transition led to lots of questions of whether or not a league like this could possibly be performed from a distance, given the web being an unpredictable beast.
No one knew what was taking place. We have been all like, “How are we going to play these games? Are they going to cancel the league entirely?” For multiplayer games, it’s lots simpler to arrange the competitors than different sports activities because it’s on-line and digital anyway.
What checks and balances have been put in place to verify the competitors was even and truthful?
The league has an individual who reveals up like 30 minutes earlier than a game to verify your laptop. They have a digital system and so they take management of your laptop to verify your information. On prime of that, through the week it’s important to obtain a brand new replace for a construct of the game. I think about the replace makes it more durable to cheat. It additionally removes bugs and stuff like that. They have lots of precautions in place to verify we don’t have something open on our laptop that we shouldn’t, and doing what they’ll to make it a good game.
Everyone has to have the identical ping, proper? How are they dealing with that given the space between the groups?
The ping is a tough a part of it. Originally, everybody [from the Atlanta Reign] was within the house complicated that we dwell at in Atlanta, however we picked up just a few gamers who don’t need to journey on account of COVID-19. They don’t need to transfer given the season is only some months longer. Our new pickup, LR1S, he lives in Korea so he’s on excessive ping.
Has the upper ping created points?
Yeah. Of course. In any video game it sucks to be taking part in on excessive ping as a result of it makes it like the whole lot is a delayed response. It’s very arduous to compete on that. You can get used to it.
Do you alter your ways for that?
You can’t change what it’s. Me and him are competing for the beginning spot. I’m on low ping and he’s on excessive ping, so it makes it a bit of simpler for me.
You stated you’re within the workforce house. What type of security protocols does the league have in place -for -players?
We can exit, however Atlanta is fairly lax with what it’s important to do. We do need to put on masks once we are out. People in Atlanta haven’t been good about it. There are nonetheless lots of people who sadly stroll round with out masks.
Talk to me concerning the totally different circulation for the league? The tournaments in specific.
I like the brand new construction. Call of Duty League additionally has a match each week and I believe that’s a very good format. The tournaments add extra strain and stakes each week. I believe that’s a very good format to do weekly. Get rid of the necessity to play matches each week for the season and simply do a match. That’s a enjoyable and high quality thought.
And what’s your tackle the state of Overwatch general?
Genji was a bit of overtuned, however they nerfed him. There are some characters that at all times want altering. At this level, you possibly can’t actually fault [Blizzard].
Overwatch League’s Grand Finals kicks off on October eight with Seoul Dynasty taking up San Francisco Shock and Philadelphia Fusion towards Shanghai Dragons.
