*new low in AAA games.
Have there been AAA games with gameplay-affecting MTAs? Yes. Was it awful? Yes. But it was also the 'easy' choice.
The situation in Overwatch is worse precisely because it expands MTAs to elements of the game that while don't impact the gameplay, do impact humor ,characterization and personality. They are locking away freaking WRITING. I can tell you that i would have enjoyed TF2 less if it had speech lines that i had to arbitrarily unlock. I know of no other game that does that, especially not a $60 AAA video game. Hench, this is a new low.
They already lock and monetize everything else, which is largely fine (not sure about the spray system and if custom user ones are allowed). They will be making money hand over fist. Why the fuck can't they spare speech lines from this? Like, who thought about that? They have it covered with skins. If they didn't do it, no business man or game designer would have thought Blizzard should lock speech lines - no one would even think to go there when there's already established system with skins and hats and visual stuff.
This is why it's a new low. Writing and speech content join the treadmill. Even if the Microtransaction level isn't applicable, you're still left with what i said:
As a player who dislikes these kinds of unlock system, Blizzard have set a new low in what can be locked away.