The purpose of most of the patches you’ll find on the Overwatch Public Test Realm (PTR) is to allow players to test out hero tweaks or any additions in the modes. However, some of these patches also include much-needed quality of life changes that will make the game better.
The most recent PTR patch was added on September 23, and the great thing about this patch is that it has a more thorough profanity filter update especially since Overwatch’s censorship system is lacking most of the time.
In addition to that, the PTR patch has also made some changes to the elevators, as you will now need to activate them and they won’t run in a never-ending loop anymore.
Profanity Filter
Just like your regular online, team-based game, Overwatch has had many issues concerning players trolling, harassing, or becoming too toxic on the chat. As such, Overwatch implemented a profanity filter system that you can opt to turn on or off.
However, even if you do decide to activate the filter, players could still find loopholes around the asterisks by using words in creative ways. Many players have been complaining about the toxicity issues in Overwatch for many years, and now, the developers have finally come up with a better solution.
In this PTR patch, Overwatch is testing out a new three-tiered system, where you get to choose between three levels of profanity filtration: Friendly, Mature, or Unfiltered.
If you choose the Friendly setting, the game will filter out all the words it deems vulgar or offensive based on its “constantly updating list.”
Moving on, the patch notes state that choosing Mature will let through “obscene or vulgar” words. We assume that this likely refers to sexually-charged words or minor swears. That said, this setting will still filter out words that are considered to be “extremely offensive.”
Last but not least, the Unfiltered setting, as the name suggests, has no filters whatsoever. The developers go on to say that they don’t recommend this setting, as it will contain “extremely offensive language.”
Elevator Update
Overwatch elevators have constantly been in a loop, for four years to be exact. With this new PTR patch, they can finally take a little breather. Now, the in-game elevators will wait at the bottom until a player decides to step on them.
Once they reach the very top, the elevator will pause for a quick second before going back down. A lot of players seem stoked about this one.
Hollywood elevator on PTR pic.twitter.com/AZLdNzCjVZ
— Lutional | 루셔널 (@Lutional_) September 23, 2020
That being said, this change will only affect maps that do have elevators on them, such as Hollywood and Volskaya Industries. You’ll find that the elevators there will finally stop looping continuously, and will need player interaction in order to work.
Hero Changes
There aren’t a lot of changes made to the heroes in this patch, except that Reinhardt has a new voice line added to his collection. When he does his ultimate ability Earthshatter, allies will be able to hear him say “For the Crusaders!”
It’s definitely worth remembering that these changes have only been applied to the test realm, so there’s no guarantee that they will be added to the live servers.
If you’re interested in checking out the Overwatch PTR patch, you can do so if you’re a PC player by using the Battle.net client.