What Pro paintball can learn from Overwatch league

So I just got done watching one of the first Overwatch league games, and I find myself sitting back and saying "THATs how you do it". It's worth a look on Twitch if you get a chance.

I'll pretty much just summarize some key points which make it more watchable (than it should be. Still a crazy hard game to follow). I've tried watching some older OW pro games and simply couldn't follow - partly because I don't play, but mostly because of the things below.

Blizzard have done several key things, and note this is only for the top level pro division. While yes, they've got almost unlimited cash to throw about, these are mostly just about making the right decisions.

1: *Regulated* team colours designed to make it easy to see who you're looking at from a distance, both for in game skins and effects but also for their IRL gear the players wear on stage. Colours are kept bold and large. You don't have to read anything to tell who you're looking at.

- Paintball has never tried this, as far as I'm aware. Right now paintball has a significant problem with black and red and mostly black. And detail that's lost.

2: and related - regulated uniform designs specifically to make things more watchable. Note how every player has their name on their shoulder in a place designed to work with the typical camera angle.

- Paintball tried this with the hopper numbers, but it wasn't the right solution as hoppers tend to get passed around. Angled shoulder numbers which look level when a player is viewed holding their gun from the side would be our equivalent, but it's never been done.

3: Objective based gameplay. I think this one's been done to death, but it's as relevant as ever. Objectives in a shooting game don't 100% create a focal point, but they certainly help you know what's important and make things easier to film and watch. Shameless plug for vball.

4: Variation in maps and modes

- This has sortof been done by paintball in old school NPPL, and we do change fields per event. Sortof. Changing game mode would be interesting though - what options are there for speedball to do similar? I dunno, it just an interesting thing.

5: Free streaming, with the business model being based on using the stream as a marketing tool. These days I think this goes without saying, but it also flows into a fairly open media policy. Paintball has an issue however where the streamed product simply isn't that compelling to use as a marketing tool - partly I think because some of the other ideas here haven't been implemented.

6: Lots and lots more, but mostly things that would cost a lot to implement in PB. Obviously 1st person cameras would be great in PB but definitely not easy right now. Top down views with arrows /circles showing where players are and where they're looking would be great, but also requires tech. Come the age of AR sports this will take care of itself even if we do keep the actual paintballs.

Other things that got me thinking, but that are less blindingly obvious than the above (and might not work at all) are things like the different player classes. It would be tricky, but definitely would change up the game if one or two players on a team were allowed FS, or if only certain players could touch the flag or score. You'd have to do some intense ROF and paint limit balancing to make that sort of thing work.

Can you tell I'm just plain bored with pro speedball as it stands?

Of course I'm not suggesting OW is the perfect "sport" to emulate. It's still freaking hard to watch and it'll still give you a migraine in a few minutes.