Here's how the Overwatch system keeps your CSGO skin
collection safe from unsavory players. There's also the hows of the system, as
well as a bit of an update for the Chinese version.
The presence of hackers, griefers, and generally rude
players in CSGO is a given. They're such a nuisance to ranking up and
collecting CSGO skins. That's why Valve introduced the Overwatch system. It's
not related to Blizzard's competitive shooter game. The system lets players
self-regulate. ‘Investigators' review collected evidence of unwanted behavior.
Depending on their verdict, recipients may get permanent or temporary bans.
Keep in mind that Steam Support has no jurisdiction over the
application of these bans. This means they can't revoke or reduce the duration
of the punishment. As a result, players who receive permanent bans from this
system have to make another account or buy the game again just to resume
playing.
How It Works
Investigators receive clips of a player with an outstanding
pattern of complaints. That pattern can either be a spike in reports or many
that built up over time. The investigator would then review the replays and
judge whether it is ‘Evident Beyond Reasonable Doubt' or ‘Insufficient
Evidence'. They can also ‘Postpone' judgment and restart it later.
However, those replays are also sent to other Investigators.
There must be an overwhelming verdict before setting a ban on a player or not.
It's not one person who judges and has the final say. The more times an
Investigator submits accurate verdicts, the more Overwatch points they receive.
XP rewards from participating scale with those points, so this can help with
ranking up.
The pool of Investigators increases steadily. Players who
play in official Competitive Matchmaking often have the best chances of getting
chosen. Other criteria are account age, play time, and skill level. The
selection is random so it might be a while before you can become one.
The System in Perfect
World
Now that CSGO has come to mainland China through Perfect
World Entertainment, the Overwatch system also migrated. While it has almost
been a year, there are still many bugs and kinks to work out. The latest update
for the launcher, however, made downloading evidence much
more reliable.
Considering the newness of the Chinese servers and launcher,
there's bound to be problems that will come up in the future. The Investigator
pool will also be smaller than the one already established in the West.
Let's look forward to the continued improvement of the
Overwatch system and launcher, as CSGO – Perfect World gets better.