Right now in the Overwatch community, there’s a growing feud. No, it’s not about Hero 28 being a hamster (how could anyone be upset about that??) Instead, its about Hero 28’s name in-game. Even before his debut, we had learned that the spunky little ham-ham’s name was Hammond. However as part of his lore, he is the champion fighter in the Junkertown Scrapyard, all thanks to his AI enhanced mech, known as “Wrecking Ball”. You may be wondering what the heck this debacle is all about? Well right now, in-game Hammond is referred to as “Wrecking Ball”, which to some makes no sense, and here’s why:
Team “Hammond”: It’s His Name!
The team Hammond side argues that because wrecking ball is not his name, but the name of his mech, we have no reason to call him that. Similar to the case with D.Va. “D.Va” is not her mech’s name, but rather he pen name. She’s a Korean gaming celebrity with a huge following, so it only makes sense that she would go by her gamertag on not the name her mech. Point being that the mech and the person are two separate entities. Therefore it makes no sense to call Hammond “Wrecking Ball” in Game
Team “Wrecking Ball”: All Heroes have a Codename!
To Team Wrecking Ball, identifying Hammond and his mech separately isn’t a concern. Instead, they argue that “Wrecking Ball” is Hammond’s codename, a feature that practically every Overwatch Hero has. Of the 27 other characters, 12 go by a codename unrelated to their actual name, 5 have codenames related to their last names, and 10 just use their first names. Therefore it’s perfectly acceptable for “Wrecking Ball” to be Hammond’s codename in-game.
Will Jeff Change it?
At the moment its unlikely. However, the development team has been swayed by fans before. And if it sparks enough protest, then there’s a good chance will see a renaming in the near future. Some press the argument, that if they to retitle Hammond in-game, then that will just lead to a wave of more nitpicking from fans. However if we think about, we face an exceptional situation with Hammond. Which is that we keep referring to him as Hammond. It’s not a situation like with Widowmaker, where despite her codename being longer than her actual name, we still call her by her “Widowmaker”. This is because we have come to know her as Widowmaker, just as we have come to know Hammond as “Hammond”. Whether the momentum behind this feud will fade, only time will tell. But for now the discourse rages on.
Are you team Hammond or team Wrecking Ball? Do you think the name should be changed in-game, or is the whole thing just ridiculous to you? Share with us your thoughts in the comments below, and subscribe on Patreon to keep up to date on all things Overwatch. In the meantime, find out what other new additions have dropped on the PTR this week.
