DEV BLOG: REVERSE FRIENDLY FIRE

We are planning to activate Reverse Friendly Fire on the Test Server. This is the latest feature we are working on in our efforts to address toxicity.

The goal of this system is to contain the impact of players abusing the friendly fire mechanic, while maintaining a degree of flexibility for accidents. We will collect data and feedback from both ranked and casual playlists on the Test Server, and iterate before releasing it live.

IMPACT ON OFFENDING PLAYERS

With Reverse Friendly Fire, when a player shoots an ally or the hostage, a warning message will appear on the offending player’s screen. The same will occur if a player uses their unique operator gadget to hurt a teammate (i.e. Maestro's Evil Eye or Twitch's drone).

After a player’s first validated team kill, all further damage inflicted upon teammates or the hostage is reflected back to the player. When a player uses a unique operator gadget to deal this damage, reflected damage will impact the gadget itself.

A message will pop up for the offending player to notify them when Reverse Friendly Fire has been activated. All players in the match will be notified of this change to the offending player's status through the kill feed.

TEAM-VALIDATED TEAM KILL

During the kill cam, a team kill victim is able to validate whether they were intentionally team killed. If the player confirms that the kill was intentional, Reverse Friendly Fire will stay active for the offender. If the player believes it was unintentional, Reverse Friendly Fire will be deactivated.

Should the victim not make a decision, Reverse Friendly Fire is activated by default.

PENALTIES

After an intentional team kill is validated, Reverse Friendly Fire will stay active for the match instead of kicking that player. We will continue to track team kills, and we may issue appropriate sanctions after multiple offenses.

We will continue to address toxicity as we proceed into Year 4 and beyond. We look forward to hearing your feedback and findings on the Reverse Friendly Fire system through the forums and on the official subreddit!