I would argue that not everyone is having a punishing experience and that any competitive play is going to be uneven sometimes. Even the best players have "off" days or "off" matches and with a 6 on 6 format in a game played for fun (we do remember that it is supposed to be for fun, right? Because reading this thread sometimes I am not so sure) you are going to have some absolutely highlight reel worthy games and then some games where you just shake your head and accept the loss.
Despite what the internet might try and tell you, Overwatch is really not serious business. (Unless you are an e-sports person and money is at stake, then, by all means, take it seriously) It's a video game and most folks are playing to have fun and enjoy the experience. For me personally, competitive is a chance to play the game with slightly higher stakes (a ranking and the chance to buy the golden guns someday) and even though I am ALWAYS trying to win and play the objective I am not about to let the game become a dominating force in my life to the point where it's making me angry, hateful, resentful or just plain mean. If it gets to that point, then it might be time to step back and think about what's really important.
Even in competitive, even bouncing around the mid 40's in rank for the past week, even solo que'ing most of the time, I am still enjoying myself. Even when a player last night suggested I "find a noose and just drop" because our team lost and evidently my Mercy play wasn't up to his standards I just shrugged it off and went on to the next game where I was on the cards with Mercy in a tight victory, I still had fun.
I hope all of this doesn't come off as too preachy. That's not my intention. But I've seen this OW community thread get progressively more negative and that makes it less fun and less useful as a community space than it could and should be. That being said, we're all here because OW has a ton of potential and is an amazing experience out of the box and we care about where it is going.
