The Overwatch training bots are, in our opinion, definitely underappreciated. Not only do they allow us to shoot them whenever we so choose, but they don’t laugh at you (unlike the people you call your friends) whenever you mess up a shot or charge so far as Doomfist that you end up falling off the map and to your death. Their real nice bots and we respect them and everything they stand for. But now, thanks to a change on the PTR, there’s something else about them that’s leaving us a little conflicted.
PTR changes, particularly balance changes for the Overwatch heroes, are common so you’d be forgiven for not noticing that something strange indeed has happened with the training bots. Unlike before where they were just silent, understanding bots that allowed you to shoot them without complaints, now these bots actually communicate with you.
This information comes from Reddit user BlizzconX, who posted a video about what occurs if the player decides to say hello. As you can see from the link, the training bot not only replies back with their own hello, but also decides to do an adorable wave along with it. What makes this interaction cuter than it already is is the little wave that comes with it, because who doesn’t like interacting with an adorable robot?
Though now that we’ve thought about it, there is a sense of wrong about shooting a robot in the head now that it says hello to you. We’re not saying it should trust us but maybe we shouldn’t be so harsh on it? Maybe we should just skip the training room altogether and go against AI Overwatch enemies, at least those just want to kill you and not talk to you.
So, thanks Blizzard. Now you’ve really made us question our morality.