Overwatch 2: How to solve account merge, queue issues and missing items-Radina Koutsafti-Entertainment – Metro

Get all the support you need! (pic: Metro.co.uk)

The first few days have been rough for Overwatch 2, as players continue to face problems ranging from account merge issues to long queue times. 

Blizzard had promised that the transition to Overwatch 2 would be as smooth as possible, but this doesn’t seem to be the case so far. The launch of the sequel on October 4 marked the start of a new, rocky era for the game, as the original was wiped out of existence. 

Game launches are tricky as it is, but Overwatch 2 doesn’t seem to catch a break, especially after suffering not one, but two DDoS attacks in the first 24 hours of its life. This means that launch issues, such as missing player data and locked heroes, were further accentuated by the hacking attempts which caused long queue times and log in errors. 

To address these issues – and hopefully ease players’ frustrations – Overwatch 2 developers wrote a detailed blog post and rolled out some patches to help smooth the path forward and provide transparency. 

When will queue issues get resolved in Overwatch 2?  

The biggest cause of frustration among those who are eager to jump in Overwatch 2 has been the long queues that prevent players from entering a match. If you’ve tried to play Overwatch in the last two days you may have seen your queue numbers jumping around, going from a small number to a larger number. 

According to Blizzard, this is due to there being two queues for players, one through Battle.net, and then one through the game itself – a process which is usually invisible to players. To solve this issue, devs have made changes to simplify the queuing process, so you should now only be experiencing one queue before entering a match. 

Must be tough to have 30,000 ahead of you (pic: Blizzard)

In terms of Overwatch 2’s stability, devs have confirmed that they’ve rolled out a patch for a server that ‘is critical to the login experience’, and this change should increase login reliability. Beyond queues, there’s also another server update on the way that should reduce the chance of players being thrown out of a match, for no apparent reason. 

Blizzard also revealed the player database being overloaded is the main reason you might be getting dropped out of queues or being unable to log in at all. This problem is also being addressed by various processes that might add pressure to an already stressed system but should eventually improve the experience for players across multiple fronts (fingers crossed!).  

What’s happening with account merge in Overwatch 2? 

If you logged in to the game and saw some of your items or your progress from Overwatch 1 missing, you don’t need to stress after all – but do make sure you know how to merge your accounts. One cause for this is also due to a bug with the launch build not providing an account merge prompt on some consoles, according to devs. 

Overwatch 2 already received a partial UI fix to help some console players progress through the account merge flow, however, devs are still working on fixes for additional UI issues. 

Did you get this prompt to merge your Overwatch accounts? (pic: Blizzard/Reddit)

In the other half of reported cases for this issue, things are just taking longer than expected for items from the original Overwatch to transfer and populate in Overwatch 2 – so there’s no need to panic, as all of your high-tier cosmetics will eventually make it to the game. Blizzard also confirmed that in all cases, ‘no player data has been wiped or lost.’ 

Another bug that caused problems with account merge, where players who had merged their console and PC accounts were experiencing problems logging in, has now also been resolved. 

So, if you’ve been experiencing any of these issues, why not try logging in again and check out what’s happening now? 

Why are some Heroes locked in Overwatch 2? 

Some players have been having issues where heroes and items that should be unlocked for them are appearing as locked. Though this sounds kind of similar to account merge problems, it’s ultimately a separate issue that is related to Overwatch 2’s new First Time User Experience (FTUE) flow incorrectly being applied to existing players.  

In most cases, simply re-logging into the game should resolve this issue, but if you’re still experiencing problems, Blizzard advises that you should open a support ticket through customer support.  

Devs also stated that, on the day of launch, these issues were exacerbated by the two DDoS attacks, as they made it more difficult for them to work on these issues. 

Do you have to register with SMS Protect in Overwatch 2? 

The SMS Protect system requires all Overwatch 2 player accounts to have a registered postpaid phone number and was put in place to block some prepaid services such as Cricket Wireless or Google Voice in a bid to reduce in-game cheating. This meant that players who are using prepaid phones, which are a low-income alternative to getting a rolling phone plan, can’t have access to Overwatch 2.  

Many players complained about the issue on social media, claiming that it’s not fair to be left out of the game simply because they didn’t have the right kind of phone. Responding to player feedback, Blizzard has decided to remove phone number requirements for ‘a majority’ of existing Overwatch players. 

So, if you have a connected Battle.net account you won’t need to provide a phone number to play. The change also applies to those who have played since June 9, 2021. However, new accounts will still have to meet SMS Protect requirements to help battle in-game cheating and disruptive behaviours. 

The changes affecting the SMS Protect system are set to go live on Friday, October 7. 

Hopefully, this will help you solve some of the problems you may have been experiencing. Though if you’re waiting for the storm to calm down, why not see if you can claim a free Legendary-tier Kiriko skin, or even if you qualify for more freebies through the Founder’s pack.

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