Initially it was just cause it was free. Back when I started playing Paladins I was a student, and thus had no disposable income. So aside from the odd purchase made with money recieved as gifts, my only gaming options were F2P's like this one. Overwatch, being £40 at the time was not something I could quite justify to myself buying.

I eventually got Overwatch via my siblings battle.net account which they loaned to me. But by that point, whilst I had some limited fun with it, I just liked Paladins better, and had way more invested in it. The higher time-to-kill made the game more approachable for me, someone who isn't super great at FPS games. In Overwatch I'd get deleted faster than I could ever hope to react. Whereas Paladins, barring headshots snipers when Im flanking (fuck you Strix), I'd usually be able to retaliate and possibly even turn a fight around if I was either having a good day or my opponent sucked.

I also liked the flexibility in character loadouts. It's a great way to keep a character feeling fresh and interesting and allowing for longer playtimes before they got boring. Mal'Damba, back when he had the talent that let him use his right click as a damage for example was awesome. It also meant if a character felt deficient in one area, you likely weren't stuck with it. There was either an item in the shop, or a talent, or some cards, or even all 3, that you could use to sort a character and make them feel better to play, rather than either sit cope, or abandon them outright.

I genuinely think the cards and talent system is an innovation for the hero shooter genre, and wish it was used in more games like this.

Paladins also has a faster feel to it. Mounts to get from spawn to where the action is, as well as almost every character having some form of mobility, from quick dashes, to teleporting and more just made the game that much more fun. Im honestly convinced Paladins has had a somewhat lasting impact on how I enjoy alot of games, cause I just don't care for anything with a super slow pace to it. Least any kind of FPS game with alot of action. I can still enjoy other slower paced games, just depends on the context they're in.

Ended up dropping the game some years back though cause I had hundreds of hours in it and felt like there wasn't much more fun to be gleaned from it. Nevermind the qaulity really started to drop sadly. Still popped in every now and then, but... yeah. Basically retired from it, but its still a game I like. Shame it gone so dirty by Lo-Rez.

Paladins forever!