Blood Sport: Arena nostalgia
by V'Ming Chew 
Jan 3rd 2008 at 5:30PM
Keeping in the theme of my Warlock column, let's take a look back at one of the most important additions introduced in 2007 with The Burning Crusade - Arena PvP.
You can say that Arena PvP is a mini-game of sorts, tied to the main game via gear, and vanity tokens (titles, mount). WoW gear is, in itself, a progression system - particularly for endgame players who don't have new levels or abilities to look forward to. Arena gear is desirable, in both performance and appearance, being recolored versions of top tier gear from PvE. So good that even the most dedicated PvE raiders are dipping into Arenas to gain access to "easy" upgrades.
If "welfare epics" is the theme of 2007, then Arena PvP is one of main ways that they are dispensed. Never have there been more toons running around with purples than 2007, and this is a casual-friendly trend that WoW and other MMOs have been moving with.
In the beginning ...
The arenas were made available on Dec 8, 2006 after the stormy "Before the Storm" patch, but the competitive ladder system didn't kick in until Feb 15. This time gave eager gladiators the chance to engage in unrated skirmishes, to gain familiarity with the two maps: Ring of Trials and Circle of Blood. The third map - Ruins of Lordaeron - was added later in May.
Blizzard also announced a global 5v5 Arena tournament on Feb 13, where teams would vie for the title of "bestest 5v5 team in the whole wide world". This truly added more excitement and buzz to Season 1. In March, two teams - ZERG IT DOWN and Power Trip almost simultaneously went professional. The prospect of Arena PvP evolving into an established e-sport became very real.
The tournament saga
The World Series of Video Games (WSVG) included 3v3 Arena PvP in its line of competitive games in April. Team Pandemic, the same people from Power Trip, took home the top prize of $12,000 at WSVG China in early May. The team was playing a Warrior, Mage and Paladin combo then.
The initial tournament buzz gradually became replaced by concerns about Arena PvP's viability as an e-sport. While it could be entertaining to watch matches, the tournaments didn't really make the game accessible to spectators. Most matches were too fast and chaotic to be meaningful to anyone but the most knowledgeable players. This problem was exacerbated by poor commentators who didn't seem to know the game.
The May regionals in San Diego were also marred by a rash of disqualifications by Blizzard when they found that participants weren't playing with their own accounts. Many top teams were crushed or disabled by these disqualifications, and spectator interest waned as they knew that it wasn't truly a contest of the best.
In the meantime, the WSVG 3v3 tournaments were proceeding well, showcasing the best teams in Louisville, Dallas and Toronto. WSVG seemed a paragon of success, with appearances on CBS and its president expressing optimism. Until it decided to shut its doors and cancel all future events on Sep 12, about a month before the Los Angeles event. The shutdown might have been financially driven but WoW's progress into the e-sport arena certainly suffered a setback.
Blizzard's own 5v5 tournament concluded at the Blizzcon in August, and there's been no news of follow-up events since Oct 2007.
While Arena game play is suited for tournament-level competition, Blizzard needs to work on the spectator aspect for it to be more widely accepted as an e-sport. People must be given the opportunity to understand the drama and tension in matches to want to watch them. The action should also be made more available, with perhaps an easily accessible tournament server, and multiple ways to watch the action: first-person, over-shoulder, aerials, replays.
Seasons and shenanigans
The Arena ladder system became the first quantifiable way in WoW to identify the best PvPers. Unfortunately it was also abused with players buying spots on highly ranked teams to gain quick(er) access to Arena gear rewards.
Near the end of Season 1, more abuses surfaced. This included top teams selling spots so that lower ranked players can get the Armored Netherdrake mount and an easy "Gladiator" title. Season 2 kicked off on Jun 19, with a new and better set of rewards.
Season 2 came to a close on Nov 26, and Season 3 kicked in with another set of gear. To prevent players just putting in time (and no skill) to gain rewards, Blizzard put in a rating requirement of 1850 and 2000 for weapons and shoulders respectively. Shenanigans at the end of Season 1 happened again with Season 2, this time with teams manipulating the ladder to secure top spots. Blizzard responded recently by slapping a team rating requirement, in addition to personal rating.
Arena concerns
Concerns were expressed by the community: Arena PvP was "giving away" gear comparable to that from top-end raids. WoW has swung from "raid or die in PvP" pre-BC to PvP gear holding its own in PvE. Players who were not necessarily good at PvP were rewarded by the Arena system simply for participating.
To these concerns, Drysc replied, "You're not actually concerned that someone else is getting something easier than you, because you would go do it and wouldn't look back. You're either unable or unwilling to switch to what you perceive is the easier route, and want what you're invested in or willing to do made easier based on what you perceive matches the effort invested in the other."
The Arena system also revealed class imbalances. Certain classes do extremely well, while others struggle to compete, looking at class representation in the various brackets. Blizzard is widely criticized for not responding to these imbalances quickly enough, although many changes in recent patches - particularly for hunters - are obviously Arena-driven.
2007 is certainly an eventful year for Arena PvP - from the rocky tournament road to the perennial PvE-PvP antagonism. What do you think was the most important development for Arena PvP? What are its chances of truly becoming an e-sport in 2008? Which class needs the most help in Arenas?
These are the latest numbers from games in the last week of 2007:
It's gratifying to see hunters maintaining their greater than 5% representation in 5v5 for the third week. Warlocks are curiously absent from the top 100 teams, both in terms of proportion and absolute numbers relative to previous weeks.
According to this page, these are the most popular team combos for high-ranked teams:
5v5
Warrior-Paladin-Priest-Shaman-Mage 15%
Warrior-Paladin-Priest-Shaman-Warlock 13.9%
Warrior-Paladin-Priest-Hunter-Warlock 7.7%
3v3
Rogue-Priest-Mage 19.4%
Warrior-Druid-Warlock 6.1%
Rogue-Druid-Warlock 5.6%
2v2
Warrior-Druid 25.3%
Rogue-Priest 13.7%
Warlock-Druid 9.1%
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
zygote Jan 3rd 2008 6:51PM
Am I the only one that doesn't like PVP for the sake of PVP?
I used to like the world PVP objectives, Halaa, some of the old world stuff, but since I don't do arenas or battlegrounds I find myself face to face with people decked out in Vengeful Gladiators Dominatrix Slurpee Gear Of Doom.
Even though I'm pretty good in my PVE gear, I don't stand a chance against these monstrosities that have parts of their armor specifically designed to SURVIVE player attacks.
The latest example of that was at Sentinel Hill with a Hordie just slaughtering lowbies and questgivers. I decide to do the "Defender of the Realm" and as I charge across the crest, what to my wandering eye should appear but a Jim Henson PVP Baby.
Already there, I said screw it and got close only because of the element of surprise. After that, it was all waiting for my flag to drop so Mr. Arena couldn't kill me again.
So, that's pretty much it for world PVP for me. The arena's made that difficult for those of us who don't do it.
Sorry lowbies, you're just going to have to get ganked by Vengeful Gladiators Dominatrix Slurpee Gear Of Doom with nothing better to do.
I'll go back to trying to save Azeroth.
Memzer Jan 3rd 2008 7:30PM
It is really not hard for you to get yourself most of the Arena gear. Create a 5v5 team each week [each of the 5 put in 40g - easily obtainable through one days daily quests] do the matches naked if you want and collect a PvP every 4-6 weeks.
As you get more gear through the battlegrounds and collect a few pieces of the current seasons arena gear you may even want to start trying to win a few matches :)
Abliveeus Jan 3rd 2008 7:02PM
@1:
Less qq, more pew pew.
Abliveeus Jan 3rd 2008 7:59PM
Maybe my reply was a little too abrupt.
1. If you don't like PvP, go carebear.
2. If you face someone who's better geared and/or better skiled, you will lose. It doesn't matter if you're in Sentinel Hill or Halaa.
3. If you think #2 is unfair, you probably play a lock.
4. Why would you be any good at PvP if you don't do battlegrounds or arenas?
jay Jan 3rd 2008 7:16PM
@1
Either don't engage the arena specced player or get into a bit of pvp and get some of your own, complaining about it wont solve anything, your raving on about something that can be avoided or better yet evened out a little bit with some pvp gear.
Andy Jan 3rd 2008 7:26PM
@ #2 and #3
Arena PvP or GTFO? (as opposed to the previous Raid or GTFO)
Doesn't seem like a very good business model to me.
Verit Jan 3rd 2008 7:27PM
I wish people would stop calling them wellfare epics. For anyone who has a full set of gladiator gear you know how much hard work and waiting (every week) it takes to get all that nice gear. You can get epic gear from raids quite a bit easier and quicker with a good group. Plus from raids - you get paid - I haven't seen a dime (except for the bg daily) doing pvp. In fact I can lose 25-50% durability doing bg's all day.
For #1 - yeah your going to get your arse handed to you the first time you step into a bg or arena. You're going up against veterans - who would do well with or without purpose built gear because they have a strategy and a style for winning.
kenney Jan 3rd 2008 7:45PM
@1 this is a much much easier barrier to overcome than raiding used to be. Whereas once you had to be raiding far into the endgame to be competitive, now you just have to be dedicated for a consistent amount of time (the better you are, the less time it takes).
While there is a certain sick element to the way arena turns into a game of king on the hill (the top teams get better gear faster, making them harder to beat), a few months of dedication WILL see you in competitive gear, and won't require you to forsake all your friends, your family, and your job to commit to 40 hours of raiding a week with people that have egos the size of tokyo.
Finally- I would probably be one of those "Jim Henson pvp babies", because I have been playing arena all three seasons (often with the objective of getting guildmates gear that they wouldn't get on their own). It's true that because I have been doing 3 hours of arena every saturday and sunday morning for almost a year now, I have better gear for pvping. Does that surprise you, or seem unfair? It's no different than PVE- you work hard, and are rewarded with gear that make you better at what you do. And do you think that you would fare ANY better against me if I wasn't wearing this gear? I don't wear resilience gear to beat people that are looking to get in their first fight- I wear it to deal with people that have been working as long and hard as me at what we do. People who are just starting don't die because of their gear: they die because they are clumsy and don't have any moves.
You can't just walk onto a soccer field and immediately expect to be competitive with people that have been playing for a long time. There are people that will outclass you until you put in the work to become their peers.
theRaptor Jan 3rd 2008 8:05PM
I agree with some of what you say. For example getting S1 now requires a much higher /played time investment then getting S2 or S3 does. If I had raided Kara as much as I spent getting my Gladiator's War Staff I would probably have everything in there.
However I wouldn't say raids are easier then losing ten games a week, or earn you that much money. Sure if you are doing farming runs you will earn money, but if you are doing any kind of progression you are going to be much poorer after every run. Arena doesn't earn money, but you also don't lose it.
Wraeth Jan 4th 2008 6:25AM
@9 Actually if you raided Karazhan the same length of time there is a CHANCE you would have everything. Or, none of it could ever drop and you could not.
Arena gear may be hard to earn but it IS guaranteed. Get the points, get the item. Raid the instance....get a chance. Thats the unbalanced part imo; both require effort and time and skill, but one gives a chance at a reward and one gives the reward for definite.
Until arena rewards are randomised on what you can buy each week, it won't be balanced. But that'd cause QQing I suspect, so it'll never occur.
thunder Jan 4th 2008 9:19AM
Difficulty is the issue... arena PVP 'scales' to player ability using the ladder system. Wait no, ignore that... because of arena laddering... I can generally expect the difficulty of arena to be the same... and the rewards are ALWAYS the same... no wait... the rewards keep getting better?!?!
So yes, i always put in the same amount of effort... and even assuming I learn nothing it doesnt get any easier... but it also doesnt get any harder... Its nothing like trying to progress in gear in PVE.
I enjoy PVP because I get better than I deserve epics simply for waiting in 10 min queues to crack a few skulls a few times a week.
IMO, make PVP weapons in WotLK like fencing foils... Perfect for organized PVP... worthless in real life or death combat.
Or add durability loss to PVP. That'd teach em.
thunder Jan 4th 2008 9:27AM
actually, I've always wondered why I cant buy any weapons of value from the axe merchant in Orgrimar. I mean to QQ for NPC merchants... put out of buisness by dungeon bosses arena vendors and shoot, even world trash...
Blizzard, where does all that NPC money come from when they buy my crap off me? seems to me that repairs used to be the lucrative NPC buisness... but now what?
hristo Jan 4th 2008 9:43AM
I don't really understand the problem anyway, to be honest.
If your focus is on PvE, then you already know that most of the PvP gear lacks VITAL stats like, you know, hit rating. On my warrior, for example, I wouldn't WANT most of the PvP gear for PvEing. Sure, it has a metric crapton of STA and STR, but all the resilience in the world isn't going to overcome my insanely huge chance to miss while dual-wielding.
If your main focus is PvP, the same is true. Granted, Bliz has added some non-PvP drops with resilience on them, but overall you're a gib waiting to happen in PvP if you're using PvE gear. Again using my warrior for an example.. I ran across a rogue ganking my faction members in Un'Goro and I was able to kill him in what seemed like about 3 seconds, despite having a Fury build which is not at all conducive to PvP. A few days later, I ran across a feral druid AFK in AV (unshifted) and literally stood there beating on him for 10-15 seconds, only getting him down to around 25% of his HPs despite spamming Bloodthirst/Whirlwind on every cooldown. Against a raid boss hitting for 10k a pop, all of that resilience probably wouldn't have made a huge difference... but in PvP against another player, it shines.
Sometimes I wonder if people complaining about "welfare epics" have ever actually looked at the stats on PvP gear or if they just see the color and activate QQ mode. Yes, there are some pieces of PvP gear that work really well in PvE and vice-versa... but that is very much limited by slots and, in the case of almost any class that has to hit the mob or have a high defense rating, you already need to be epic'd out from PvE to have the core stats to allow the PvP gear to be feasible.
I really don't see the issue.
Good_Idea Jan 4th 2008 11:09AM
Pvp gear is not that great for raiding imo. Less Int, less MP5 (often none), set bonuses that don't help in pve. Sure, the gear is good if you don't have T4 it is (but who doesn't?). The weapons are great but you now need a 2000 rating to get S3, which isn't easy.
People that complain that "the strong only get stronger, the weak weaker" are full of it. It's true, S3 gear is better than S1 gear (which is available to everyone), but the differences are minor and most fights are decided not by gear, but by strategy. With only 3 pieces of S3 gear unavailable to low ranked teams (shoulders, weapon, shield), people should rise above QQing about gear.
Rudolphe Jan 4th 2008 11:58AM
People are always going to bitch about PVP gear being easy mode or welfare epics... which is utterly ridiculous. I do both, i raid 4 days a week, and on off days do a bit of arena. If you dont have a high raiting it takes a really long time to get gear it's not like honor farming you dont get more points for more time spent or more matches in the arena. I think people who do strictly PVE are just angry because PVPers are getting epics just like they are without doing it the same way they do. If they stfu and stopped QQ'ing for five minutes they might find out that arena's actually kinda fun and the adreniline rush you get fighting other players cant be matched in PVE. Maybe on that first time you down Kael everyones excited but after a few tries it's just the same thing over and over, PVP is always dynamic most pve encounters are static and never change (unless blizzard changes them). So what if this player or that player has epics and didn't have to compete with other players to get them.. big deal.. stop bitching and play the game how YOU want to play it and stop worrying about how others want to do it.