Sir_NutS

Kris and I sorta co-reviewed this, so her vote falls pretty much in line with my opinions on this track. I'll add a couple more comments, I think my issues with this remix stem mostly from the way its delivered, it has sort of a hard/classic rock approach but the delivery of the riffs feels lazy and there are some ugly harmonies that work in the context of the original but really don't work in this adaptation. Kris already mentioned some key points, but I'll also add that the clarinet performance at the start sticks out as something that doesn't quite belong there, and the performance couldn't be more flat. The solo clarinet section, as sparse as it was, was the one I enjoyed the most as it felt coherent. That is, until the guitar hits again at 03:20 and the clashing harmonies come back with a vengeance. 04:10 and on the entire mix starts to fall apart, I know you're trying to convey a feeling of disarray or desperation but it ends up feeling very messy, it needed more of an organized disorder approach, imo. Regarding the source usage, as Kris pointed out it seems fairly liberal, even with the references you offer there are some sections that are hard to justify what they are supposed to represent such as the section with the sirens. I would love to hear other Js opinions on this one as this track kind of puzzles me because the delivery doesn't seem to be working at all for me. NO

Yeah this makes complete sense to me. Symmetra and Torb are characters used almost exclusively on payload defense. What's the thing we know about payload defense maps in quick play? Nobody gets to the payload or the objective, it's much easier to win payload on defense in quickplay than KotH.

hmm I'm gonna have to side with Deia on this one. Right off the bat on the first listen I noticed the rigid quality of the arrangement, structure and performances, and it became a bigger sticking point on subsequent listens. I agree with the Danny Eflman-esque quality of the arrangement, and it is a fun one to listen to but I think that's due in a big part due to the originals sounding this way first. Another thing is the medley quality of the structure, we tend to encourage arrangements that mesh different sources to form a coherent whole and I personally feel that its better to try to marry the different sources in a more natural manner than in the form of a medley to achieve a better flow in the song. Some medley-sounding songs can and have been accepted but in this case I think more could be done to add to a more natural and cohesive blend of the two themes. NO (resubmit)

This one started pretty strong, with a lot of energy and cool effects giving some flair to the arrangement, but as the song progresses I realized the song was repeating itself over and over. There were some changes in the way things were each section was presented, so it's not exactly copy-pasting, but they still felt too similar and the structure felt overly rigid. There were basically 3 sections to this arrangement and it went 1-2-3 in order each time until the end. Besides that, some of the synths were a bit dry and simple, but they did their job most of the time, however the drums felt overly simple, not in its sequencing but in the actual sound and processing of them. I think more needs to be done regarding arrangement and structure so the song sounds less repetitive and rigid for me to pass it. It's not that far, as I think switching up a section or two would do the trick, but still needs work. NO (resubmit)

I wanted to quote-vote Gario but Kris beat me to it. Nothing much else to say, I remember this from the competition, and I thought it was pretty good back then. Solid production, but I have to agree with the others on the tenuous relation to the source, I'm familiar with most mmx songs and even I have difficulties making the connection. I'm very sure that this song will have some people scratching their heads in confusion, but we can't argue the source is there however disguised. YES

Well, this is a fun one, this got a few chuckles out of me. Repetitiveness didn't bother me, as there are subtle touches here and there in the arrangement, the articulations on the lead and the bass and simple flairs in the beat to keep the arrangement away from falling into autopilot. LOVED the yaya bass, man. So many times I hear yaya bass synths used in such cliche ways they just make me roll my eyes, but the quirky way it's being used here is perfect for the source material. I'm fairly certain the empty soundscape is a stylistic choice rather than the result of inexperience, as the artists takes advantage of this to emphasize the quirky arrangement and sound palette, plus some of the techniques found here, arrangement and sound design-wise, strike me as the work of someone who knows what he wants to accomplish. The second section had some very nice textures and is less out there. I liked it but I felt it was a bit static and could've been developed a bit more before the song reached its conclusion, so for me this is the part that perhaps could've been expanded. Nevertheless, it's in my opinion that this would be a great addition to the site as, aside from being a well crafted remix, this kind of deliberate quirkiness is something we don't get often and we could use more mixes this fun that would bring smiles to people's faces. YES

Good high-energy track. Production is alright, I thought the drums felt a bit vanilla and dry but they do their job well. Some of the textures feel pretty vanilla and static as well, such as the choirs and strings. Its quality is obscured for most of the tracks, but for moments such as at the breakdown when they are exposed, their low quality and static-sound is very evident. Other than that, the pulse leads were well handled but perhaps a bit too loud. I would've appreciated a change at some point to an instrument with a different texture, not a big deal but something I would've preferred and I think would've added more interesting things to listen to in the track. Arrangement is solid, and the fusion of the two tracks is done transparently for the most part. I wasn't feeling some of the variations and quick arps introduced in the lead melodies, as sometimes it felt like the melody alone would suffice without the exaggerated glitching. I felt that the transition towards the ending could've made shorter and less abrupt at the same time, but that's a nitpick. Solid work overall. YES

I'll agree with Gario on the Intro, just great. The mix is a bit on the quiet side but in my opinion is not low enough that I have to bump the volume up too much. The mix balance was passable to me, it could've had more air and the low/low mids could get more separation but I would be ok with this. My main issue with the production is the clipping, and this is something you can fix easily by just slapping a limiter on your master. The arrangement was solid, as previously mentioned the Intro was on point and the track evolves pretty well, the performances are pretty good and although you won't hear a great departure from the source material here, it's definitely interpretative enough. As it stands, I would've borderline passed this if the clipping issues weren't there. Please fix those and while you're at it try to get a cleaner bottom end on your mix and you'll be gold. NO (resubmit)

This. Mercy is one of the most powerful champions atm, so it's a great pick for beginners. I think I have one of the highest win ratio with her. Lucio is a good pick too but his Q is more clutch IMO, so requires a bit more teamwork and knowledge of when its right to use it. Zarya is good but she's also requires a fair amount of skill to play her well.

Thank you. On another note, it seems like they're doing tests to implement higher tickrate soon. Also the mention of custom servers in the future sounds just awesome. http://us.battle.net/forums/en/overwatch/topic/20744975070?page=2#post-36 Also confirmed McCree fan the hammer dmg nerf, and likely D.Va buffs (scary!) http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-06-07-overwatch-blizzard-answers-the-big-questions That was me, check this video:

I don't know what this position is. I've yet to find a position where a turret is completely invulnerable to proper attack but if you can be more precise about it that'll help. You can't assume the team will have competent genjis or whatever seeking out your snipers, because I can do the same and say that my team will have competent players countering those too. Which is one of the reasons why balancing around stupidity or lack of skill is... stupid. And no good competitive game does it. Fair enough, though I never said it destroys a turret, I said its one of the things you can do to counter torb, among other things. If you think players at the top of a competitive game don't play a character out of popularity then... I don't know what to even say. Players at the top of any competitive game will do ANYTHING to min/max their performance. Switch to a powerful character, play a certain meta, etc. Also the competitive scene for overwatch has been there for over 6 months now, I think probably over 9 months. With professional teams, sponsors, and money tournaments. Pro players didn't start playing on launch, they started on the beta. I can't say the meta is completely stable after just 1 year of competition, but I can say its fairly stable and it would take a huge shift in power to bring torb from 3% usage to the top. McCree has been an issue for half a year now, it is not a new thing, teams have been running double McCree on most maps for a long time now and YES they do have a small issue with him. McCree has been proven more useful than expected on ALL levels of play. It makes sense to nerf him, even though I wouldn't care either way. nerfing Torb because it's not even op in casual play? wut? nonsense. Yes. Like I said, it comes down to balancing a competitive game. Balancing around low levels of play is stupid. Absolutely nobody does it. If it worked, blizzard would be doing it on sc2, Riot would be doing it on LoL, Capcom would be doing it on SFV and Valve would be doing it on CSGO. But they don't. Because its stupid and it doesn't work. They balance around the meta, which is set by the highest levels of play, which makes sense, because on low levels of play the meta is diluted and there are 1,000 ways to play the game which is impossible to balance around. Now, Torb is OBVIOUSLY counterable, because he's almost got his own tier due to how low he is. McCree on the other hand, shows strong at all levels of play, and creates a problem where other DPS classes just don't see much play. Torb is fine. Git gud. Nobody balances a game around casuals. Now it may be that Blizzard does find Torb powerful, which would puzzle me to no end, but if that's the case, then I'll concede the point and say that you guys are right. Until then, I'll go with logic and common sense in the meantime.

I know they aren't exactly the same. That's why I pasted the comment I was reffering to, which mentions aspects in which they ARE the same. 1-TF2 turrets turn almost instantly. 2-Then being firing into your face. 3-they lock onto you and track you all the time. 4-Bullets have 100% accuracy (missiles do not, however. Those can be dodged)

Yes, yes it does.

^This however is something I've noticed as well but I thought it was just Hanzo's arrow hitbox being huge. May be a contributing factor to those weird deaths that seem impossible and most of us attributed to the slow af tickrate.

Tough one. Very hard to pinpoint source usage in a purely percussive and atonal track. Though there's a very small tonal pad section in the source that lasts for about 2 seconds at 0:39, so I'm just going with source usage from the percussive elements which is the majority of the elements in the original: 1:03-1:41 2:51-3:13 That's clearly not enough source usage. But to answer Kri's question: yes, this is very much music. But I'm not sure purely percussive/atonal music is something we're looking for at OCR. In my opinion, if source usage was more prevalent, and the main percussive sections were used in inventive ways this would be a YES for me. This mix definitely shows creativity and it even sounds like it belongs in a Silent Hill game. But since we're not getting enough source this should be automatically a NO. I liked the sound design, specially since it was something you sampled and transformed yourself. If other Js concur that this type of submissions is something we accept at OCR, then I would ask you to make the elements of the source more prominent in your mix so you comply with our source usage rule (50%), and play around with variations and derivations of it, as right now it's pretty close to what the original presented. If this is not something we're looking for, then I still applaud your sound design and creativity with this. For now though, NO (resubmit)

hmm I have to disagree with Wes on source usage, if you listen carefully there are derivations and variations of the original melodies and harmonies going on in the background most of the time. However the main problem with this song is that, most of the melodies seem in the background, while drums, bass and pads take precedence. I can even hear melodies in the background that could serve as lead with the proper instrument (i.e. the instrument around 1:28) . I also found the artist's name plug at the start cheesy and out of place for the feel of this track. Overall I personally enjoyed this one and I'm actually borderline on it. If one listen closely there's not that much repetition and the background keeps changing constantly, though I agree the track could be shortened by a fair amount and we wouldn't lose much. I think asking for a recognizable lead instrument on top of the track is asking for limitations on freedom of interpretation and genre adaptation. In an ambient track like this one you don't really need a lead cutting through the mix and asking for that would compromise genre authenticity, but I do think that something could be done to bring attention to your melodies and the source material, which is what we want in a remix. In my opinion, shorten the duration to present your ideas concisely, and find a way to make your melodies take precedence over your drums and bass without compromising your ambient approach, and you'll be on the right path. I did enjoy this personally but needs adjustments to get a pass for the site. NO (borderline/resubmit)

It works exactly this way in tf2 and in 2300+ hours of gameplay I never heard whining about it. It won't kill you instantly either. how do you, as hanzo or wm, have to deal with an entire enemy team? unless you're going to the frontline there's always vantage points you can take to snipe them. Yes you will get attacked but again, they won't kill you instantly. If you know how to peek and shoot they WILL go down without issue. Again, git gud. If they're using reinhart or other players to protect it, then they are using TEAMWORK to win, not a single player strategy. And so should you. Yes, that's why you need to be smart about it, aka git gud. If you go while nobody's attacking of course you're not going to kill it. If you go in while there's ANY kind of distraction then you will. Or when you have your Q ready. If your team is going in one by one and dying, you're not losing because Torb is op. Oh but it IS an effective argument. Because Torb turrets pose no problems for me, nor it does for any pro player as Torb sits at less than 5% usage(not that I'm comparing myself with a pro, as I'm only average). If you know how to approach them, then they don't pose more of a problem than any other good character. If I die to them, I never blame Torb being OP but me being dumb about approaching them. Again, you can whine all you want but we'll see the patch notes. I highly doubt any nerfs will be coming for Torb and since that will be the case I advise you to git gud because you're going to have to deal with them, that's reality. EDIT: This reminds me of this great article I read recently about the NA CSGO scene, NA CSGO had been the butt of many jokes for quite some time, as they have never won a major. NA CSGO teams and players kept making excuses as to why that was the case and why EU had the superior teams. Then comes along the Brazlilian csgo players and teams and in a span of about 2 years grow to become a contender and Win a major and place above NA teams. I liked a quote at the end of said article: " A winner will find a way to succeed, while a loser will find an excuse not to. " Which is a motto I hear often in the fighting game community too, and it's one I've found to be true in every competitive game I've played. https://gamurs.com/articles/the-thorin-treatment-brazil-exposes-north-americas-excuses

It's not omnipotent, and it can actually be taken down in a matter of seconds by a half-decent sniper. Being able to rebuild it matters not. Level 1 turret does minimal damage and goes down almost instantly. Oneshot if you attack it shortly after being deployed. In tf2, you need an uber to destroy a well positioned engi nest, and it requires equal amount of teamwork to defend it. Nobody thinks engi is op in tf2, because its not, its easily countered, just as Torb is. Or, get a tracer and ulti the turret. Or, get a genji to E it. Or many other ways. Like I said, you guys can whine all you want, but I'm pretty damn sure Torb isn't getting any nerfs anytime soon, and the patches in the upcoming months will show that. At most, he will probably receive a rework so he's actually usable in high competitive, but I don't expect that to come anytime soon. Git gud has never been truer than in this argument.

It doesn't take a fair amount of teamwork, it takes the most basic amount. In some cases, it doesn't take any amount and just a half decent hanzo (I should know, as I'm a half-decent hanzo myself). I can bet you that we won't see torb nerfs anytime soon. He is completely fine.

It is a simplified version but people still try to follow it to the best of their abilities. Again, balancing a game around people not being able to shield a hanzo while he takes two shots at a torb turret is not logical. Neither is balancing league around people not saving their stuns for master yi, or balancing killer instinct around people not being able to combo into manual from an opener. Not unless you want to have real balance, which is why every competitive game is balanced first around the high tiers of play. Mobas, fighting games, fps games, its all the same.

They are not pointless, since we're talking about reality. The reality of the thing is that like I said, when competitive hits, torb will be useless around the rank where teamwork is at a bare minimum, which should be mid-tier. It's not just the korean (or in this case, the europeans and north americans, since there isn't a korean scene yet) at the top. Meta picks, comps and strats trickle down to lower tiers from the highest, and in the end of every mature competitive game, a meta is established and followed. This has happened with league, csgo, dota, and every other team game. Inevitably, some things in a competitive game have to be balanced around the meta, and not around a guy who plays casually, it doesn't make sense, and you can't really have both most of the time.

Torb is fine. Torb will be pretty darn useless at anything above low tier after competitive hits. You don't see any torbs in pro games since beta for that very same reason. Any coordinated effort shuts down torb easily. He's currently sitting in the bottom tier of competitive meta along with mei. He's less used than Mei. The issue you've faced lies more with the nature of casual quickplay than with anything remotely conected to torb's power. He doesn't need any nerfs, casual quickplay is an inherently unorganized play mode and the ability to stack champions to cheese matches makes it worse, that's all. It's the exact same with Bastion. Champion stacking is fine in casual quickplay. It shouldn't be a thing in competitive though, and I hope Blizzard doesn't allow it there. Right now the meta is stabilizing but it's still sort of a wild west, so team comp/champion power aren't taken into account as much, but once the game matures a little, and the meta settles, having champion stacking means that the most op dps champion of the moment (in our current time, McCree) will be stacked along with one tank and one support because it's just the best thing. This is because synergy between dps classes isn't a big thing, only between different roles, so you can get away with stacking the same dps champion (and pro teams are doing it right now) and not losing much synergy or utility. EDIT: I do agree that, if anything should be done to McCree, it lies in his accuracy at long range, it's unfair for him to be able to kill people effectively at any range, when soldier 76 and tracer have issues doing this at long range, and aren't as effective as him at close range.

This is why I hope there will be hero limit in competitive. Sure this strat won't work in very high elos, but in low and mid tier ranks (and casual) stacking torbs and bastions is almost always a free win.

Gario said pretty much everything that I wanted to say after listening to this. The mix is just a big mess, and way too compressed. The heavy sidechained growl bass basically obscured everything when it came in, including the rolling bass you had going (2 bass synths, rarely a good idea). I felt the rolling bass was a cool choice, but the lead synths weren't as strong. Near 3:20 the voice effects are too distorted and piercing, and I hear clipping at some spots like this one, and towards the end it becomes near unbearable. When limiting make sure you limit to -0.1 db to prevent these kind of issues, but the compression and mixing issues are something that will require more finesse to fix, but a good start is to just make everything less loud. The arrangement seems ok though I do question some intonation choices surrounding the growls in context of the rest of the music... but the production issues are just too big of a deal for me to give it a pass, and distracting enough that they make evaluating the arrangement on its own pretty difficult. NO

Yeah I saw that yesterday. was wondering if there were already hacks in the game because I met one sniper whose every shot was a snap flick directly to the character from even 90 degrees away. I hope this continues so we don't end up like csgo.