New York Excelsior, a popular team that will be competing in the Overwatch 2 League in 2023, is allegedly looking to include individuals of marginalized genders into their primary roster. The reports emerged online on November 28 and sparked immediate backlash from the community. Aramori@Aramori_OWNYXL is trying to build a marginalized gender roster for the Overwatch League.Here is why that is a terrible idea 🧵:4389481NYXL is trying to build a marginalized gender roster for the Overwatch League.Here is why that is a terrible idea 🧵:While some acknowledged that the move may be well-intentioned, many professional players and fans took to social media to discuss the problematic consequences of such an initiative. Chassidy "Aramori", an Overwatch professional-turned-coach, referred to this potential roster formation as a "terrible idea." Overwatch 2 community expresses their doubts about alleged marginalized gender OWL rosterAramori@Aramori_OW1.) There are few, if any, OWL-level players who are also a marginalized gender.This means that in terms of actual competition, the roster will struggle, and struggle DEARLY- think season 1 Shanghai Dragons.This does a multitude of things, including confirming biases that-1174141.) There are few, if any, OWL-level players who are also a marginalized gender.This means that in terms of actual competition, the roster will struggle, and struggle DEARLY- think season 1 Shanghai Dragons.This does a multitude of things, including confirming biases that-Although there hasn't been any official announcement from New York Excelsior yet, the Overwatch community expressed their views about the team possibly including marginalized genders in their roster based on the online reports. Chassidy "Aramori" listed out her concerns about the initiative on Twitter, speaking up on behalf of players who contacted her about the same.Aramori@Aramori_OW3.) It is CLEARLY a PR stunt.If an OWL team truly wanted to support marginalized genders within the Overwatch scene, they would put their resources into a system that is ALREADY in place by Radiant and Blizzard; Calling All Heroes. CAH is meant to help BUILD and showcase-1005203.) It is CLEARLY a PR stunt.If an OWL team truly wanted to support marginalized genders within the Overwatch scene, they would put their resources into a system that is ALREADY in place by Radiant and Blizzard; Calling All Heroes. CAH is meant to help BUILD and showcase-Overwatch pro Becca "Aspen" stated that she would like to join the professional OWL roster based on her skill and not because of her gender. She encouraged NYXL to focus on Calling All Heroes (CAH), an inclusivity program organized by the Overwatch League that caters to underrepresented genders. GUARD Aspen@Aspen_OWI want to join an OWL team based on skill and not because of my gender, the fact that NYXL is wanting to make an all marginalized gender team that they know will struggle is frustrating. Put resources into Calling all Heroes or OD/Contenders if you truly want to help8930648I want to join an OWL team based on skill and not because of my gender, the fact that NYXL is wanting to make an all marginalized gender team that they know will struggle is frustrating. Put resources into Calling all Heroes or OD/Contenders if you truly want to helpReporter Arran Spake brought up the point that individuals belonging to marginalized genders do not want handouts.Arran Spake@haloofthoughtsFemale and marginalised players I’ve spoken to don’t want hand outs, especially ones which will hurt the grand scheme of things. If organisations want to help, then follow VALORANT’s lead and invest properly into CAH. Once that has been done, a crossover will be natural.58524Female and marginalised players I’ve spoken to don’t want hand outs, especially ones which will hurt the grand scheme of things. If organisations want to help, then follow VALORANT’s lead and invest properly into CAH. Once that has been done, a crossover will be natural.C9 Izzy on Twitter, the General Manager for Spitfire, agreed that the idea is "really bad."C9 Izzy@NoukkyTalked about this privately a lot with people after hearing about it and this thread sums up most of my thoughts on it. Its a REALLY bad idea. There is simply not enough talent yet to be a serious competitor or development team. Better invest in a CAH team instead. twitter.com/Aramori_OW/sta…Aramori@Aramori_OWNYXL is trying to build a marginalized gender roster for the Overwatch League.Here is why that is a terrible idea 🧵:52514NYXL is trying to build a marginalized gender roster for the Overwatch League.Here is why that is a terrible idea 🧵:Talked about this privately a lot with people after hearing about it and this thread sums up most of my thoughts on it. Its a REALLY bad idea. There is simply not enough talent yet to be a serious competitor or development team. Better invest in a CAH team instead. twitter.com/Aramori_OW/sta…Fans of the game have voiced similar concerns. From calling it a PR stunt to discussing how it could be potentially harmful for individuals of marginalized genders, they are not happy with the initiative.BU7TER@ButterBoy_BS@Karol_A_T @mizliz_ There's a difference between"Congratulations, you made the team because you're a very skilled player (who is a woman)" and "Congratulations, you made the team because you're a woman"19@Karol_A_T @mizliz_ There's a difference between"Congratulations, you made the team because you're a very skilled player (who is a woman)" and "Congratulations, you made the team because you're a woman"Many of the individuals who stand to be included in such a team will not have performed extensively on a competitive level, especially in comparison to the other teams. The corporate "diversity win" will come at the cost of the tournament itself, which may lead to further backlash.Dick Brazzers@BRAZZERSBOT@Karol_A_T @mizliz_ If you just hurl them together for a diversity win - and i mean corporate sense - then it's asking them to lose because it's not an attemtp to make a great team featuring these underrepresented people, it's just brownie point snatching@Karol_A_T @mizliz_ If you just hurl them together for a diversity win - and i mean corporate sense - then it's asking them to lose because it's not an attemtp to make a great team featuring these underrepresented people, it's just brownie point snatchingA few members of the community defended the decision. Karol A. opined that since individuals of marginalized genders are good enough to participate in the Calling All Heroes Challengers Cup tournament, they should be allowed to participate in the Overwatch 2 League as well.Karol A.@Karol_A_T@mizliz_ Wow, you guys really are struggling to come up with a concise narrative. First I've heard that CaH is necessary because "marginalised genders" players are good but just scared to play in OWC. Now they actually aren't good enough to go OWL. Why the gatekeept tournament then?@mizliz_ Wow, you guys really are struggling to come up with a concise narrative. First I've heard that CaH is necessary because "marginalised genders" players are good but just scared to play in OWC. Now they actually aren't good enough to go OWL. Why the gatekeept tournament then?One user said that they would like to see this initiative take place because there are many female and LGBTQ players who do not get recognition.NorCal 4G@NorcalOw@mizliz_ To be honest, I’d say why not. The league is a bell curve- by design the top 20% are destined for the playoffs/ grand finals and the bottom 20% never have a shot. Id rather give an opportunity to underrepresented players who want to play than watch teams sandbag & reap a contract2@mizliz_ To be honest, I’d say why not. The league is a bell curve- by design the top 20% are destined for the playoffs/ grand finals and the bottom 20% never have a shot. Id rather give an opportunity to underrepresented players who want to play than watch teams sandbag & reap a contractHowever, @JonaSavage17 said that teams need to stop creating all-female rosters forcefully as It does more harm than good and referenced a League of Legends all-female team to illustrate his point.jon stickle@JonaSavage17@mizliz_ If this goes through, NYXL will be on par, if not worse, than season 1 Dragons. Nikolai YT had a video about how disasterous an all-female team in LOL was youtu.be/HbH8BhgKXbM. Forcing this will not be good for the scene.1@mizliz_ If this goes through, NYXL will be on par, if not worse, than season 1 Dragons. Nikolai YT had a video about how disasterous an all-female team in LOL was youtu.be/HbH8BhgKXbM. Forcing this will not be good for the scene.While the initiative was good, the team performed disastrously and dropped out quite early on in the tournament. Some pointed out how forced moves that backfire can later be the reason behind women and individuals of other marginalized genders not finding a spot in esports tournaments.rem🔆n@remen_the@Seur101 @mizliz_ like seriously moves like this only contribute to the exclusion of women in esports, if you want to help non-men get into esports just sign one or two while keeping the rest of the roster the same, like with Geguri.13@Seur101 @mizliz_ like seriously moves like this only contribute to the exclusion of women in esports, if you want to help non-men get into esports just sign one or two while keeping the rest of the roster the same, like with Geguri.There is another major concern - payments. Given that this potential Overwatch 2 roster will include individuals of marginalized genders, many have asked if they would receive remuneration similar to that of their male counterparts.Jacob Wolf@JacobWolf@mizliz_ I really hope they’re paid similarly to their male counterparts and not just minimum — granted I think some teams will be men paid the minimum too. If not, that’s double whammy bad. Seems like someone thought good PR + cost-saving and decided to act on it.461@mizliz_ I really hope they’re paid similarly to their male counterparts and not just minimum — granted I think some teams will be men paid the minimum too. If not, that’s double whammy bad. Seems like someone thought good PR + cost-saving and decided to act on it.While it does look like they'll be getting the minimum league pay to be a part of the roster, there is no denying that all players participating in the upcoming Overwatch 2 tournament season should receive equal pay, irrespective of their gender.Many in the community agree that NYXL would benefit from creating a separate team dedicated to the Contenders circuit or the Calling All Heroes tournaments instead. A lot of professional teams have a similar setup in the Valorant Game Changers circuit, so there's no reason why something similar cannot be done for Overwatch 2.