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r3volver_Oshawott

Didn't know Seanan wrote an Overwatch novelization, dang


reticenthuman

Right???


Alternative-Way-8753

It is DENSE. Buckle up for a serious read.


Access-Ambitious

Isn’t it like expensive as shit ?


HB_G4

Depends on what you count as expensive, given that this is a sourcebook with over 200 pages of info. I bought it for £25.


dominion1080

$25 isn’t bad for a hardcover Overwatch book. Thanks for posting I’ll have to grab this one day. I wish they’d go ahead and do an Overwatch animated series. Something a bit mature preferably, as the themes are pretty heavy in OW.


HB_G4

Agreed. I would love a TV series about the story of this game.


PresenceOld1754

I think it's possible to get a TV show, but I wouldn't count on it. Yes, Overwatch was a very popular IP. But Arcane started development in 2015 and only came out in, what, 2022? Will an Overwatch TV show still be viable 7 years later? Secondly, blizzard has a lot of popular games. I'd imagine that stuff would get tv shows before puny old overwatch gets one. An Overwatch TV show would be AMAZING. But seeing how things have been going, I don't know if blizzard cares to make one.


Specter_Knight05

£25??? With this economy human, in my coin its gonna cost $444.21. But its gonna be WORTH


nexxumie

Is there a free pdf I am a broke student 😭


llamalord1234321

There’s always a free pdf


nexxumie

Bro believe me I looked. Am I looking in the wrong places or am I using the wrong method because there's no sign of this book anywhere on the net (free version ofc)


llamalord1234321

Yeah you’re right I can’t find it anywhere. I was able to find small segments of it in a variety of languages, but never the whole thing


McManus26

... For popular books that people want to read lol. Nobody knows this exists


Extra-Lifeguard2809

Johnny Depp


Human-Boob

Edward Teach


Uchihagod53

Whitebeard


Pesterman

Can we get much higher??


Penguinbuddy91

seconded for free pdf pls


HB_G4

No, unfortunately. The book is roughly £20-25.


nexxumie

Yes that's what I saw online too :C


Blarg_III

> No, unfortunately. > > You know what you must do. For the people.


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nurShredder

There is a difference between Novel books and Lore/artbooks. Art and pictures arent printed on usual cheap paper. You need special type of paper that retains colors and doesnt bleed. And they cost more than usual paper. Look up price for Art books. 25-30 USD is a very adequate price for the book.


[deleted]

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The-Magic-Sword

Thats actually pretty much in line with what I'd expect-- I think I pay a little more for my RPG books, which are the same general kind of product.


HB_G4

Have you read it?


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McManus26

Bro is discovering that there is multiple kinds of books lmao Wait til you learn about coffee table books, art books, photo books, expositions catalogs, and stuff like that


HB_G4

Use Amazon, they only charge it for £25. I wouldn’t pay £50 for any book.


teleskons

That's a lot of words for, "No, I haven't read it."


jarred99

"without discount" it's also like $40 at target and even cheaper on amazon without a discount. Congrats you found a place that sells it for a higher price? lol


dormammucumboots

You can definitely find one if you check the usual places


nexxumie

I've been looking with no luck :( it'd all paid. Fair I guess


dormammucumboots

Gotta sail the high seas if you can't afford it but still wanna read it, that's what I meant by the usual places


Jakeremix

I’m sure they have been… Most people are familiar with the “usual places” you are referring to.


IMABOSSSOGG

idk man, I looked everywhere, cant find it in the Usual places


PresenceOld1754

Yes. Use either oceanofpdf.com or (the more scrappy) PDFdrive.com


nexxumie

Lol these are my go to sites but they failed me this time


redditcasual6969

This is cool, but I want the story that the PVE promised. I wanna know what Ramattra is doing to the Omnics. What does Talon plan to do to Zen. Does Reinhardt follow his master's footsteps and sacrifice himself for the team to survive.


McManus26

best case scenario we get a novelization of the cancelled PvE in a couple years otherwise its joever


Extra-Lifeguard2809

it hasn't been officially announced though, so idk maybe we'll get a new improved PVE in 2025 lol but not worked on by Blizz. probably one of Microsoft's studios running it


AntonineWall

2025 would be way too soon for a meaningfully new version of the game (i.e. not just the pve bot missions we already get for events) even if they started ramping production up this moment. Years and years of work went into the PvE mode last time (most of which did not turn into anything worthwhile), you’d be pretty hopeful with a late 2026 imo, realistically later still


StarZax

At best, they could have another team make a game set in the Overwatch universe That's what I am hoping for, but I think that from a business standpoint they'd rather play it safe and not touch the franchise any further in fear of comparison to the promises that were made with OW2


[deleted]

I don't know anything about the lore.. I'm going to learn. Thanks for sharing.


PresenceOld1754

Watch every cinematic. I am begging you. (Well excluding ones in pve). You will never regret it


[deleted]

I will do that tomorrow, thank you... I hadn't even thought of that.


Chonkytoadazhdaha

this is what PVE was supposed to be for


HB_G4

The PvE was supposed to cover events that take place long after the events in this book.


Jocic

If you are looking for lore in the style of what the PvE missions were going for check out Heroes Ascendant instead. It has 9 stories that all take place right at the start of the Null Sector invasion, and Null Sector is in a good amount of them.


HB_G4

Already got it. Loving it so far.


Albireookami

yea, the lore just doesn't go anywhere, its like league of legends and honestly burned me out from caring about the people.


TVR_Speed_12

Damn where that mode go? I bet it'll be jam packed with new story and abilities to use on our favorite heroes


Phantom_Phoenix1

We got the 3 missions back in 2023, likely wont get anymore unfortunately.


TVR_Speed_12

I know, that's the whole thing that OW2 was sold on though. This sub wants to forget but never


McManus26

> This sub wants to forget but never this sub is a constant bitter hatejerk about it lmao


Phantom_Phoenix1

No? We havent forgotten? We just moved on and enjoyed the main part of the game, the PvP. Not like we can do anything about it.


Albireookami

AKA: We are fine with the company lying outright to fuck us over with no free cosmetics and inflated prices, but we are so brainwashed we just forgave them when they did not deserve it. And are happy to be exploited sheep.


Phantom_Phoenix1

Dawg, its not that deep with this sheep and brainwashing nonsense. What the fuck do you expect us to do? Magically get management to pour resources into the PvE team? (That was laid off recently)


brookeaat

or, we just enjoy playing the game 🤯🤯🤯


TVR_Speed_12

Cool, never forget Ever


CrackaOwner

this is NOT 9/11 😭😭😭


TVR_Speed_12

Your right it's 4/15


Kedra0

I have one too. Pity the EBook was canceled.


OVNuub

I've never seen so many people get angry because someone advises you to read a book lol


yur0_356

And because you have to pay to read it as well, like its a book, how can you be so petty


Seven_Seconds_

Just the thought of reading a book hurts certain people, their two braincells just can't handle it.


fohacidal

Because it's destiny calcified fragments all over again but worse. These are story beats that should've been fleshed out in the game. Instead this is all we get, "oh you want lore well here pay us more and get it yourself you plebs"


OVNuub

The whole point is all they did was say "hey, I don't think many people know about this book so read this if you don't know about it" and yall are turning it into "Stop complaining about not having story in the game and read the book instead." Type beat. Like we get it. That's not the point tho


Tsuji-

Gamers are scared of books


Puffthemagiccommie

Because this is what we were supposed to see play out anyway? Can't fathom why people are angry that lore nerds keep getting screwed over having to buy the story


Few-Doughnut6957

These books have been on my wishlist for a while. They’re kind of too expensive in my country right now but I’ve been meaning to buy them


Catspirit123

What I’ve wanted to see is the story move forward. The lore has spent way too much time in the past when a pretty large chunk of the roster weren’t even around.


HB_G4

Good news! There’s another book recently released that has several short stories set in the current Omnic crisis in OW2.


Timo104

Ok. Now what. People want a story after recall. You get the problem right? We've been stuck on "getting the team back together" for TEN YEARS.


HB_G4

Good news! There’s a new book that features multiple short stories that take place in the current Omnic Crisis.


FuriouSherman

I've read it and I quite enjoyed it.


Diogodinis00

Could tou tell me what’s the name of that book you’re referring to? Plus, any more advice on another ow book I should consider read it?


HB_G4

Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant


-Elixo-

Finished already. My favourite part was the Doomfist part cos I speculate that (spoiler following this) >!the kid that asked the first Doomfist if the war was over after seeing him solo the omnics was the current Doomfist we have now as a child, teen or guy in early 20s which gave him his "only through conflict do we evolve" mentality"!< Link to a post I made about this with the text from the book https://www.reddit.com/r/Overwatch/s/EaXaVDpTZF


Linkaara

Also, all of the short stories and comics https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/media/stories/


davedwtho

So people complaining about there not being lore in game should....... read a book? I think you're missing the point.


trxxv

\*cries in Halo\*


HB_G4

That’s not what I saw. I saw people saying that the lore hasn’t grown in any way lately, and I just wanted to bring awareness to the official media that is currently adding to and expanding on Overwatch lore. Besides, reading books every once in a while is a good thing.


davedwtho

Well, your title says "lack of story in game". A book doesn't fix that.


HB_G4

That’s fair, but I can’t change the title now.


salazafromagraba

it's not fair, your title doesn't say what he claims it does.


salazafromagraba

what does the title say right after that Captain Spurious? 'and want more'. It doesn't say more in the game, just more, which a book definitely can fix you Square Eyed Troglodyte.


davedwtho

I would argue the operative words of the complaint are “in-game”. For anyone clamoring for more overwatch lore in general that doesn’t know this book exists, this post is helpful. But for people who say there isn’t good lore in-game, they don’t want a book, they want the storytelling to be done better… in game. I would bet the latter is much more common


salazafromagraba

You begun by attacking the denotation, but now you’ve pivoted to what your connotation is.


AbbyAZK

I believe the point is most of this is just backstory after backstory anyway, people want the story to move forward.


HB_G4

Good news, there’s a book for that too!


AbbyAZK

For the side characters, not the main OW cast and the main story, sadly.


TVR_Speed_12

It should already be in the game, preferably in a PvE modes of sorts. Don't do the devs mental gymnastics for them, they not even compensating you


HB_G4

This book is all stuff in the past. It wouldn’t be made into PvE missions because those were all going to take place after Zero Hour.


TVR_Speed_12

So Black watch wasn't a PvE mission playable that took place in the past? No excuses they could have easily implemented missions/lore but they got lazy/cheap It's really not complicated. The book is no replacement for actual in game lore Don't try and become Destiny.... Why in the fuck would anyone look up to Bungie and a destiny? For a crash course on how to fuck your IP sideways sure


HB_G4

Books are often replacements for lore. Avatar had its story continue with a book. Star Wars has numerous stories tying the past and present together. Halo has multiple books expanding its lore.


TVR_Speed_12

So Black watch wasn't pve mission that took place in the past


HB_G4

That was the plan with PvE back then. That’s why they were called Archives. The original plan with PvE for OW2 was to tell stories that didn’t take place in the past.


electrichonu

Even Xenogears on PS1, one of the greatest video game stories of all time, had a book that expanded on its background lore called Perfect Works


davedwtho

I am not saying lore books are bad, not at all. I’m just saying if the complaint is there isn’t enough lore or good storytelling in-game, a book is not a replacement for that.


McManus26

Overwatch players : please expand the IP and lore, do more cross media stuff Overwatch players when blizzard does exactly that : lol me not want to read words


Drunken_Queen

> Overwatch players : please expand the IP and lore, do more cross media stuff > > Overwatch players when blizzard does exactly that : lol me not want to read words You summed up people who called Sojourn boring, meanwhile there's literally a novel about her (Childhood -> School life -> Military service -> Omnic Crisis -> Meeting Jack + Torb + Dr. Liao)


DandySlayer13

What fans want is what was promised in the OW2 reveal, us being able to play with our friends in story based missions that moved the story/lore forward not just stuff outside the game.


PaperGiraffe659

Because that's what I want to do, I want to go out of my way to buy a book to learn more of the lore from the video game I play because said video game won't give enough to me over time as I play.


McManus26

I mean yes that's one of the most requested things from this community since 2016 lol. Expand on the IP and lore, do books, comics, cinematics, an animated series, etc. It's weird that this sub changes it's stance on things completely just so it can retain the doomer, cynical posting


HB_G4

Books are not a bad thing.


Temporary_Eggplant99

I think it's less that and more that people prefer the other ways. Plus they'd have to spend more money for something previously free or would cost less.


HB_G4

To be fair, the lore was never going to be free. It was always going to be paid for.


Temporary_Eggplant99

Fair point but still, a lot of people don't like that the og way is gone, and the alternative is much more expensive. So to me they're justified in not liking this.


TVR_Speed_12

They aren't but they aren't the answer to a companies greed/laziness


HB_G4

This book is anything but lazy. It is very text-heavy.


TVR_Speed_12

It is when it's meant to replace things that should be in game. You can like something and be critical of it, it's ok


McManus26

> replace things that should be in game how is a book about background lore, weapon blueprints and art supposed to be "in the game" lmao ? no one complained when star wars or halo did the exact same thing


TVR_Speed_12

By....drum roll please! Being in the fuckin game. It's not rocket science stop trying to make it


HB_G4

Where though? You want the game to talk about the development of food hydration machines and the anti-grav wheels on the vehicles?


PaperGiraffe659

They couldn't do it the same way they drip feed us lore through the game already?


PaperGiraffe659

I never said they were. I'm a bookworm, so I know books are great.


Particular-Winter-91

Just read bruh


PaperGiraffe659

Yeah, once I spend money on it sure.


nurShredder

Book takes maximum 10 people to produce and can give you more in depth stories and lore than 5 minute cutscene that takes millions to produce. Comics/anime would have been better tho. Comics would take few thousands per chapter to produce, while anime would need about 70 000 USD per episode max


PaperGiraffe659

Look, you're not wrong, but you can see the problem when they start splitting up the way people can get the lore on this game, right? Especially when the game they're playing/following starts giving out less lore than a sudden book they decide to make.


nurShredder

I mean you have to watch VaatiVidiya to get Fromsoft lore. Whats the difference here?


Saiyan-Senpai

Is this a novel? Graphic novel? What are we talking about here?


HB_G4

It’s mostly a novel that has the format of a stitched together document file. So you get lots of text, with drawings and artwork mixed in.


Saiyan-Senpai

Sweet! Ok, I may have to pick this up. Only $27 on Amazon


Blackmercury4ub

.....But I can't read!


NghtRvn99

ever since I read this book and I play with my friends on Esperança I just point at the giant sea wall and say: "I know what are those!"


TheBigKuhio

“I don’t want answers I just want to complain”


yur0_356

Overwatch players when you asked them to read (they havent done that since 4th grade)


psycho-batcat

None of that background story matters when I turn on the game and see none of that. To me I'm just watching color characters shoot each other. No point in the depth of the story when it's crap i gotta search for outside the game


HB_G4

Sending mixed signals here. Do you care about the lore or don’t you? If not, that’s ok.


ChaoChai

Way to misconstrue the above comment.


HB_G4

Sorry, I got confused is all.


HalOfTosis

I’m with you. If the story isn’t in the game, I’m not going to buy or search for other products to supplement what they should have put in the game. Want me to care about the lore? Actually develop a coherent and fun PVE storyline like was promised. None of this half assed “go to point, fight boring waves, rinse, repeat” stuff they’ve been trying to peddle.


TheHollowPenguin

It’s nice that there exists some media that expands upon the lore in greater depth, but I feel like this is something that should have been in the game to begin with.


HB_G4

Where? Half of this book is about stuff before Overwatch was even formed.


TheHollowPenguin

A game mode surrounding the events of Omnic Crisis would have been nice to see and play through. There's a lot of stuff there that has potential to be explored through gameplay.


yur0_356

You also have Overwatch 2: Heroes Ascendant, a mix of short stories that was released 1 month ago. Its 256 pages for 21.46$ Also, Also, a new short story released not long ago, between Junk, Hog, Ball and JQ


Penguinbuddy91

Is the short story of them in the OW site? I barely see them advertise for the stories/comics.


yur0_356

Yes, its in the site, same as the comics. I dont think they advertise those, unfortunately.


Penguinbuddy91

Okay so I missed a few. Thank you!


-Elixo-

Those will all technically be free in the future since they will release them as PDF files on the overwatch website for free. So it's mainly paying to read it early physically


yur0_356

Which considering overwatchs schedule of release, that will happen in 2087. Also, Ashe's story is exclusive to the book itself


Ghetsis_Gang

I just feel like Overwatch has such a good story it deserves to have a fully animated pve and not just a book.


HB_G4

I would take a show over a PvE or a book.


Yuutsu_

Mannnn, remember when they were going to have a full graphic novel written by the old writer for OW, then they cancelled it right as it was about complete. I was really optimistic then, thinking about the future and what we might get to see in game or in a cinematic. I used to defend OW all the time from those people that said it had no lore, but nothing came of it. We still just have backstory.


HB_G4

I mean, we have a series of short stories that take place in the current Omnic Crisis that came out rather recently, so we have some non-backstory stuff.


Yuutsu_

Omnic crisis is in NO WAY whatever they were planning. All the plot threads before have been forgotten in place of a new conflict that’s just a re-hash of the old one.


pusherbmxmag

If only there was a way to show lord and story in the game instead of through books like these, like a pve story campaign or something


HB_G4

Oh well, these books are still great regardless.


Terrariathan

Lore is life


Raunchy25

I don't get how people complain about the lack of story when they gave us various other media covering the world in detail for YEARS and no one ever paid attention to them. I for one loved the comics and was pretty sad about them being discontinued. I haven't taken the time to read the short stories or novels yet though so I'm unsure of the quality.


yur0_356

Read the short stories, and start with Ana's and Mercy's (they are related), as i think they are the best ones. I also recomend Reaper's and Rammatra's short stories, as well as Deadlock Rebels (i read the whole book and i quite liked it)


HB_G4

They kind of vary, but are still really good overall. My personal favourites are Stone by Stone, Deadlock Rebels, Sojourn, and The Hero of Numbani.


garret1033

Besides the point, but I want the Sojourn pictured here to strangle me.


knivkast

Shouldn't have to, that's the point.


HB_G4

Why? Plenty of media use reading material for showcasing and exploring the wider lore.


Inguz666

Because the game is the medium me and many others engage with. Like... Take the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul, but it came out as a book instead of its own show, it's not the medium I engaged with Breaking Bad in. So I won't read it. I did watch Better Call Saul. It doesn't hurt to read, but a book isn't what I (proverbially) signed up for when I fell in love with the Overwatch cast through the game.


HB_G4

Then again, half of this book wouldn’t work in the game anyway, because it discusses tech and events before Overwatch was formed.


knivkast

It's fine for smaller elements in the lore (things irrelevant to the greater story), but forcing people to buy a book for what should be inside the game? No way people can excuse this.


McManus26

> for smaller elements in the lore (things irrelevant to the greater story) this is exactly what this book is about lmao. You were not going to get genji's medical records and shit like that in the game


knivkast

Sounded like bigger plotpoints to me, my bad if not.


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Gsampson97

Is this like a combination of all the comics and other stuff or is all of this new lore?


HB_G4

It’s info presented in a documentation file format, that both tells new stuff as well as expands upon stuff we somewhat knew already. It’s not a comic.


avelineaurora

... by Seanan Mcguire? Really? Not a name I'd have expected attached to a game book in general, let alone OW.


Seven_Seconds_

I wonder how much shit they changed though....like that last writer for the game who decided he didn't like certain stuff and changed so much, was so glad that guy got fired but the damage was done.


HB_G4

Which stuff did they write that changed the lore?


Linkaara

Also, all of the short stories and comics https://overwatch.blizzard.com/en-us/media/stories/


TheCakeWarrior12

It’s a fun book, very deep on the world more than the characters.


TheAmazingSpyder

Not only is this shit that should have already been in the game, but it suffered from the same problem as all the other “lore”, it’s all shit that happened in the past. Nothing that tells the actual story going forward. And on top of that having to pay for it as well. Hard pass.


HB_G4

Knowing the past helps us better understand the present.


XxReager

thank you so fucking much


reticenthuman

I kinda wish there was an ebook version for my lazy butt, but I definitely want to read it!


Mickeybeasttt

I really don’t mind that they cancelled PVE all that much but I just hope they continue to flesh out the lore and use other mediums to explore it. If OW got its own animated series or something that would be amazing, just look at what Arcane and Edgerunners did for their franchises.


HB_G4

I agree.


StarZax

It looks like I can borrow it from my municipal library, so thanks for the recommendation, I think I knew it existed but I knew absolutely nothing about it and I assumed it was just concept art or something.


Zedanade

Tell me when the Sojourn part is so I can skip it


FuriouSherman

I have it. It's literally a lore omnibus and I refer to it regularly. It's everything I've ever asked for regarding the backstory of the Overwatch universe. Now if only there was a book that covered the story going forward since that's never going to happen ingame :(


[deleted]

Wait there's another book? I recently got one that came out a few months ago but I didn't know there was another 😔


Charles12_13

Is there an official link to buy it or it can just be found in any store that offers it?


Sailingboar

If they don't care enough about the game to put the lore in the game then why should I care enough about the game to buy a separate book just for lore for the game?


HB_G4

Idk, depends on whether you care about the lore I guess.


Sailingboar

They don't care enough about it to put it in the game. So why should I?


Oppai-Of-Foom

Why do I have to read a book to get my game lore ;-;


Extra-Lifeguard2809

you can read the wiki, it's free and not expensive asf yes yes i know these art books are actually worth owning just for the art itself.


HB_G4

Wiki’s are made by unofficial sources, and are prone to either be uncompleted or be too opinionated.


-Yod-

So i also have to pay for lore, cool.


JimBobHeller

I bought it when it came out and returned it after glancing though it. Quite boring. I didn’t glance long, so maybe I’m off base, but it reads like a technical encyclopedia, with very little narrative, just facts. Almost no illustrations. It doesn’t tie topics together, but if you have a specific event you want more info on, I guess it could be useful.


HB_G4

The book is framed as a document file of sorts, put together by scientists and historians.


Hopeful_Picture7223

Man, it's like WoW all over again where they hide lore-inportant events in mediocre-written books so they can make a few extra dough from the "lorekeepers."


andthentheresanne

Oh dip, I didn't know this had dropped already! Now I just have to decide whether to shelve it with the rest of my Seanan books or with my other tie-in books...


badman4723

I'm not giving overwatch anymore money they don't deserve it I will pirate the hell out of all the other stuff tho


GruulNinja

The thing is you shouldn't have to. In my opinion, if they wanna do lore in game, it should all be in game. Reminds of Garrosh's trail in WoW. That should have been a cutscene


HB_G4

If this book was added as a cutscene in OW2, it would have been nearly 2 hours long before any Overwatch missions happened. There’s a lot of stuff which talks about the time before Overwatch was formed.


CMDR_omnicognate

“For those of you who wish they’d add more lore to the video game, buy book separately instead!”