"Overwatch 2" release forces change for Overwatch team

When does the Plinth release mist?

BEN NGUYEN Editor-in-Chief

Overwatch 2 releases on Oct. 4, and with that, the Overwatch team must adapt to the incoming game change.

The Overwatch League—known as OWL—has been playing on a beta version of Overwatch 2, so players already know that the game will be quite different from Overwatch. The sequel will replace the original game, as those servers will be taken offline.

Overwatch 2 has 5v5 instead of 6v6 gameplay, cutting down one tank from the previous game. Alongside rebalanced heroes, as well as new ones like Junker Queen and Kimiko, the new game will play entirely differently from the original. Without access to the new game, computer science senior, coach and tank player Luey Salinas says that the team is preparing for the sequel by practicing their mechanics and working on their team synergy.

“We’re just focusing more on individual play, practicing on your own, reviewing your own play,” Salinas said.

players to shine. I would like to have for them to have more impact. So hopefully that’s not the case going into Overwatch 2, but I think that’s really gonna make it or break it for some teams … like which one has more synergy, who gels better together, who can actually solidify the meta and get it down.”

Some collegiate teams were able to start playing Overwatch 2 earlier by way of the Contenders League, including Redbird esports. This early play time has given them the opportunity to answer the hard questions about how to transition into the new game and figure out the new meta (or strategies), but Salinas says that he isn’t worried about the disadvantage.

“We do what we can, you know, it is what it is,” Salinas said. “I’m not gonna complain or cry about it. We’ll still kick some ass, beat some teams, take some names.”

Kelly Kinnard, Assistant Vice President for Facilities Services, said that the schedule of the mist column is on 20-minute intervals. It turns on for three minutes and off for 17 minutes. The timing is designed so that the pipes underneath the fountain would not get ruined, based on manufacturer advice.

Eugene McDermott was one of the founding fathers of UTD. When he passed away, his wife, Margaret McDermott, made UTD a campus with more aesthetic appeal and constructed things like the magnolia trees, the Plinth, and the mist column at the Plinth. “What you see here [gestures towards the plinth area] all the way down to Campbell was a gift from her in 2008,” Kinnard said. “She wanted an actual campus, not just a corporate campus. This was what her vision was.”

The Plinth has become a major attraction on campus for students and visitors, and many organizations hold events there for fundraising and outreach. One of its most prominent features is a mist column in between the Student Union and the Eugene McDermott Library. Due to Texas’ heat and humidity, the mist column was constructed to cool off passersby.

“Because if you’re standing close to it, it cools you off,” Kinnard said. “That's what it was for. It was to, it was to offer a little bit of relief from the heat and all this concrete.”

The mist column also lights up at night, which provides the campus night life a source to continue hanging out or study throughout the late hours of the night.

“One of my favorite things is to stand down there by the entry circle [gestures towards the area] and look up this way at night,” Kinnard said. “It actually feels like a college campus.”

The infrastructure is surrounded by a type of vine called Wisteria. Eventually, the plant will grow all around the outside border of the Plinth and act as a roof covering the area. The wooden planks on the perimeter of the struc -

“And then, just getting the team to gel a little bit better. That’s been our primary focus.”

Going into the sequel, Salinas said that with the removal of a tank, damagedealing players (known as DPS players) would get the chance to showcase their play more. However, as was evident in OWL, team play and cohesion remain more important to the overall meta, with a popular team composition being JOATS. JOATS draws inspiration from the previous GOATS team composition, which relied on coordination and space control using only tanks and healers. Salinas said that he hopes the release patch will shift the game away from this style of meta.

“I hope it’s not just another GOATS type deal,” Salinas said. “I want DPS