Who doesn’t love voice lines in Overwatch? They let you say hello. They can help your teammates stay abreast of your ultimate percentage. If you play DPS, you can use them to spam messages about how you need healing until everybody else’s ears seal closed like ancient pharaoh tombs. But soon, Blizzard is going to add a voice line feature that speaks to me on a very personal level: the ability to apologize.
In a new developer update video shot from a corner of his own home featuring what appears to be a leaf sculpture, a decorative bowl, and a conspicuously barren wall—one of those corners that raises the question “Why that corner in particular, Jeff? What was your thought process? Please email me about this. I’m not joking. I seriously want to know”—Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan announced that customizable character voice line functionality will soon be added to the game. Every character will receive a slew of new voice lines that players can trigger when typing is too slow or they don’t feel like jumping into voice chat with their teammates. You’ll then be able to choose which ones you want on your mid-match voice wheel interface. These will include requests that your teammates fall back, farewells, and of course, the ability to say “sorry.”
Until now, only one Overwatch hero has had the ability to apologize: Mei. Her “Sorry! Sorry. I’m sorry. Sorry” voice line is more for flavor than utility, and if we’re being real, the only thing Mei has to apologize for is being exceedingly annoying to play against. Soon, though, every character will be able to apologize in their own voices, with gusto and aplomb, such that nobody will have to ask “What are you saying sorry for?” when I make Tracer mournfully chime in after I totally whiff one of her pulse bombs, or let Reinhardt sigh in shame after I charge off a cliff, or have Pharah dutifully but insincerely apologize when I won’t switch off playing as Pharah. This, for me, someone who feels a constant, overwhelming need to apologize for everything, is a dream come true.
On that note, I am sorry for centering this post around saying “sorry” when I could’ve spent more time on Kaplan’s discussion of competitive queue time improvements, in-game patch notes, or new Workshop features. To quote a terrible snow goblin I know and sometimes enjoy playing as: Sorry! Sorry. I’m sorry. Sorry.
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