Junkenstein’s Revenge is pretty strict about inactivity

The Halloween event in Overwatch, Junkenstein’s Revenge, has been false flagging some players as being inactive. Overwatch has had issues in the past with players using seasonal events in order to slack off and get free experience or rewards. Lúcioball in particular had complaints about players going afk or not helping teammates in the event. Blizzard decided to be proactive about inactivity with this event, but it’s also flagging players who aren’t actually inactive.

Ana players in particular are being hit pretty hard by this. Healing other players already at full health doesn’t actually progress the match, so the game interprets it as no activity being done. This may seem a little strict, but Principal Designer Mike Heiberg suggested that Ana players do damage to enemy players instead if their teammates are already topped off.

Unfortunately the stricter measures also have the added effect of targeting lower skilled Ana players who have trouble aiming. Enemy hitboxes are smaller than allies by default and it’s just easier to target the friendly hotboxes to heal. Enemies are also harder to hit if your teammates are killing them too fast. Basically, if your group is really good and you aren’t, there just may not be much you can do. And if you’re lagging, your hits may not even register in the game.

Players in the thread are also reporting false flags when they are actively moving and using abilities as other heroes. It could be a bug, or just extra strict inactivity parameters that could be toned down. The event just started this week, so maybe more data from matches will help add clarity to the issue.