tmirai:
From the Ster Twitch stream with devs, including Jeff Kaplan.
Pharah did know that Ana was alive before anyone else. The letter she was writing to Pharah in the video was shortly after she recovered from being shot. The other team members did not know.
Ana spent her time alone soul-searching and reflecting before she returned.
Ana is NOT Sombra. They pointedly avoided Sombra discussions.
Ana will also be featured in the graphic novel soon to come out this year. Devs will be talking about the Overwatch graphic novel at SDCC.
Devs knew they wanted to add a badass, older woman character and were very excited about doing so.
Ana DID know Gerard Lacroix, Widwomaker/Amelie’s husband. There will be lore about Ana and Amelie/Widowmaker coming out very soon, probably in the one-shot comic about her.
Ana was, at one point, supposed to be an alchemist or biologist type character. She would have had a potion that boosted her very powerfully for one second and would allow a mobility feature like a double jump.
Ana also once had a mobility feature, but they decided to remove it, citing they did not want every character to have a mobility feature.
Ana intentionally does not have a headshot to avoid her power being reliant on landing head shots, especially with healing.
Devs will do more round of PTR changes (at least) before releasing Ana. It will be “soon, but not super soon.) Possibly in the next couple of weeks.
Arnold Tsang, head artist, said that it was hard to find inspiration for Ana since the archetype is not frequently seen and it was a challenge to get the right look and make it badass.
Her design is intended to relate to the tech she shares with Mercy and Soldier: 76
Ana never had a robotic leg (as believed by one piece of concept art of her), but she did at one point have a cybernetic eye.
Kaplan said that dual support with Ana is very effective.
Ster tried to ask about Pharah’s father, but accidentally said “Who is Ana’s father?” Neither question was answered.
Other Information
Kaplan has restated that it is likely heroes will be released one at a time, due to the ease of being able to troubleshoot just that one (plus other changes incorporated in PTR and patches.)
There are four new maps currently in development, but it does not mean all of them will be released. One is coming out “Soonish™.”
New game modes are being experimented with, one of which is a very “traditional” game mode.
Hanzo and Pharah BOTH have their legs. Their legs are not cybernetic/prosthetics.
Readability and unique silhouettes are key for design of characters, Tsang and Kaplan said. They also said they avoid using red (the reason why was not stated.)
Despite critiques of Reaper’s Mariachi and McCree’s skin being too similar in silhouette, they do pay attention to these points and keep character silhouettes consistent, but as distinct and different as possible.
THERE ARE NEW SKINS COMING THIS SUMMER.
Tsang’s favorite skin is Okami Hanzo. Kaplan’s is Thunderbird Pharah.
Devs have seen many of the fics and art. One of them specifically mentioned the comic of Junkrat/Roadhog kidnapping and befriending a kid by @pigdemonart