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by Zach Yonzon 
Apr 25th 2008 at 9:00AM
The writing is on the wall. Welfare epics are on the way out. With the new changes to the personal rating requirements -- which now includes gear purchasable by Honor -- it will no longer be possible to completely gear up through PvP without stepping into Arenas. The moment the announcement was made, everything changed for PvP and gear distribution to the player base. With the introduction of the new requirements, Arena and Honor-bought gear has become more restrictive than ever.
How does this change the playing field? In two words? A lot. The good will get better, the bad will get worse, and the mediocre won't be getting anywhere. It is no longer possible to participate in Arenas casually. In fact, World of Warcraft PvP as we know it has changed completely. Clearly meant to address point selling teams, the personal rating requirement affects legitimate contenders -- or at least challengers (no pun intended) -- who play Arenas.
There is no question that gear is a differentiator in Warcraft PvP. Certainly it's not the only differentiator, but the impact of gear disparity in Arenas is such that it creates an artificial barrier of entry for players who are only beginning to play it. Players who have been playing since Season 1 or 2 will have garnered enough Arena points for at least 4/5 Season 3 gear. Players who have just hit Level 70 or decided to do Arenas late are at a disadvantage. With the changes to the PvP gear system, the gear gap will grow even wider.
No more gear parity
Previously, the penalty for not doing very well in the Arena system was merely a slow acquisition of Arena points. This meant that players who didn't perform too well would get gear at an extremely slow pace, and teams averaging 1500-1600 only get current season upgrades from Arenas every 5 to 6 weeks -- 9 to 11 weeks for the weapons -- which isn't an easy grind by any means. In practical terms, the delay in acquisition should be enough of a penalty for low ranking teams. With a long enough season and with prudent points banking, eventually most players will be identically geared. In theory, this should be a good thing. This is what the Tournament Realm attempts to achieve -- gear parity. With the introduction of the new PvP gear system, gear parity will be impossible to achieve, no matter how long the Arena season runs.
In many ways, this caters to the philosophy that PvP gear is peacock gear. Blizzard made clear that the introduction of the 2000 personal ratings requirement for the shoulder was because they were, "in (Blizzard's) opinion, the most visually impacting item and we wanted something visual that can distinguish those who are performing well in the arenas." Salthem continues in the same thread that the shoulders are "not substantial stat-wise, and for those without the shoulders the set bonuses can still be achieved." It's no longer as easy to achieve with Season 4 gear, however. But because Gladiator armor pieces from all seasons are considered to be part of the same set, it's possible to get the set bonuses using pieces from past seasons.
The good will only get better
What Blizzard isn't saying out loud, however, is that Season 4 items are significant upgrades from all other Arena seasons. If the leaked items make it to live, these will be Sunwell Plataeu-class Level 159 gear, with massive statistical improvements over their predecessors. In particular, if one of the leaked items -- the Brutal Gladiator's Greatsword -- makes it to live in its current iteration, we'll see a 10.4 DPS increase over the Vengeful Gladiator's Greatsword. A top end damage of 624 is also an incredible upgrade over the previous season's 580. Under Season 4's new rating scheme, only players -- and teams -- with a rating of 2050 will be eligible to purchase the weapon. Although only one example, it stands to reason that this will apply to other Season 4 Arena (Brutal Gladiator) and Honor (Guardian) items.
What does this mean? Because weapons are integral to many classes as part of their damage-dealing ability, it means that players who achieve a high enough rating to purchase Season 4 weapons will see a significant upgrade to their DPS that even players decked in Season 3 items simply won't be able to match. Players who are unable to advance through the Arena system will not only gear up slower, they will possibly not even be able to gear up at all.
With the advent of Season 4 and the new ratings requirements, Blizzard is creating a true barrier of entry for all players whereby obtaining the new items are extremely prohibitive. Average players will be able to obtain 3-4 pieces of Season 4 items at best throughout the season, with most players never reaching past 1700 personal and team ratings.
The new rules were intended to curb arena point selling as players who have ratings 150 points below the team's ratings will earn Arena points based on their personal ratings. This prevents high rated teams from opening up spots on their roster for point buyers who will enter the team with a 1500 rating. This slows legitimate roster replacements, but those players who stay with one team will eventually close the ratings gap with enough games.
Settling for less
With the new system, Blizzard is essentially forcing a majority of players to purchase last season's gear. Although with some focus, it is relatively easy to obtain a 1700 personal and team rating, most players will be completely shut out from obtaining the best gear possible. The logical reasoning for this is because Season 4 is an on-level equivalent for Sunwell Plateau or the unofficial Tier 7 gear. As far as gear progression is concerned, most players in the world will never get to see Sunwell Plateau content, and consequently never obtain Level 159 gear.
Placing ratings requirements for Season 4 items will severely limit gear distribution among players, elevating the difficulty of obtaining (a full set of) Season 4 gear to be on par with progressing in PvE. This is a good thing. This rewards efforts for hardcore PvP and PvE players. The continued availability of last season's gear will enable a majority of players to stay competitive even if not completely bleeding edge. PvP is still a completely viable means of obtaining excellent gear, but Blizzard has imposed a clear delineation for gear progression based on performance.
As Season 2 Merciless Gladiator gear becomes available for Honor and Season 1 phased out forever, players will still have the option and opportunity to upgrade their existing gear. Despite the stringent new rules, the only gear that will be truly out of reach for a majority of players are the "visually impacting" shoulders and to a lesser degree the weapons. It seems to be a step backwards from Blizzard's recent trend of catering to the casual game. More than anything, the change is intended for the hardcore.
Forced to Arena
The one unsettling bit of information with Drysc's announcement is the addition of personal and team ratings requirements for Honor-purchasable gear. This means that the lines between Battlegrounds and Arenas have begun to blur. It will no longer be possible for players to grind through the Battlegrounds without stepping into Arenas in order to get the best non-set pieces of PvP gear. This has caused a stir among the player community for a number of reasons.
First of all, not everyone is interested in Arenas. Some players feel that they don't enjoy the competitive environment of Arenas but thrive on the more casual environment of the Battlegrounds and are rewarded with decent gear. With the introduction of ratings requirements, players have no choice but to participate -- and succeed -- in Arenas, in order to avail of the equipment.
The real problem is that not all classes are viable for Arenas while all classes can perform in Battlegrounds, even in varying degrees, where performance isn't as measured or important. This devalues Honor points and forces players to compete in a group environment whereas Battlegrounds can be queued into solo. Arenas are an organized game, requiring scheduled play time, coordination, and -- often -- voice communication, in addition the the requisite skill and gear.
Battlegrounds and Honor are now a mere accessory to the completion of Arena-viable gear. With the latest change, Blizzard is sending a message about their new infatuation. Ironically, by making the best Arena gear restrictive, they run the risk of alienating a larger, casual audience that has been, by their own admission, participating in Arenas (with little to moderate success) in order to get gear. Ratings requirements for most gear can prove to be a disincentive for many players from even participating in Arenas.
Will Arena Season 4 prove to be as successful as the past seasons? Despite true competitive Arena play formally available through the Tournament Realm, Blizzard seems intent on making the Arena scene on the live realms as formal and hardcore. If this proposed change makes it live, it remains to be seen whether it will create more demand for Arenas or if it will drive people away.
Want to learn more about Arena play? Read former columnist Vims' analysis on when Season 4 will arrive, or on new columnist Amanda's coverage of the Arena Tournament. There's more to learn about Arenas, particularly analysis about the most powerful class comps and top performers. Start on your Blood Sport fix today!Filed under: Items, Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Blood Sport (Arena PvP), Arena
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 7)
Badger Apr 25th 2008 9:26AM
I hardly ever competed in PvP combat before, and that probably won't change much when I return to the game in a few weeks. If even half of this article is accurate, however, this strikes me as a *huge* step in the right direction for rewarding those who are the most dedicated to their chosen style of play (PvP or PvE - let's all group hug to celebrate).
One thing got me, though, and this is probably a "Scrub"-ish question:
"[T]he personal rating requirement affects legitimate contenders -- or at least challengers (no pun intended) -- who play Arenas."
I don't get the joke (the alleged "pun") in this passage. Can someone clarify?
Charlie Apr 25th 2008 9:36AM
If you got a high enough rating, you would get the title of "challenger" after the end of the season.
Thats the pun.
Badger Apr 25th 2008 10:20AM
... and just like that, it makes perfect sense.
Thanks Charlie! :-D
Worcester Apr 25th 2008 12:51PM
It's my understanding that I won't be of any use in an Arena until I have some PvP gear, but now I can't even get the starter PvP gear until I go into the Arena?
If that's the case, it seems this not a move in the right direction. As I approach 70, my plan has always been to grind the Battlegrounds (which I love) to get a starter set of PvP gear.
If you're at the top of your game in the Arena, you should be able to get the best gear the Arena has to offer. If you're the best of the best in the Battleground, shouldn't you be able to get the best gear available in the Battleground?
AlmtyBob Apr 25th 2008 3:32PM
Worcester: You'll still have plenty of opportunities for a starter set. In fact you can have a better starter set than what's currently available. You can start your BG career with the Rep Vendor blues. Grind out some BGs and get enough for the Season 2 gear, which requires no arena play whatsoever. When you enter the Arenas you should be matched against similarly geared opponents for the most part as you earn enough Arena points for the S3 gear. Only the weapon and shoulders in S3 require a rating.
Badger Apr 26th 2008 8:02AM
All hail AlmtyBob, the Entry-Level Arena Strategist!
/salute
Dacool561 Apr 25th 2008 9:28AM
EVERYONE PLEASE READ:
Quoted from someone on wow forums, i couldn't have put it better myself.
lets be honest here - the arena system is supposed to offer 'end-game content' to this game's hardcore pvpers, who are intended to be duking it out hardcore up in the 2200-2300 bracket. the arena is not supposed to be a system where people can go from greens to black-temple level epics, and then tool around in karazhan.
if you have been doing that, i cannot blame you for acquiring the best gear possible for you, because that would be out of line for me to do so. however, please understand that the arenas are not intended to feed you epics - you are intended to earn them, just as you would by raiding. requiring that pvpers fight others and win the right to wear the best pvp gear is a great way to make sure that those who are truly skilled in pvp combat are rewarded for their efforts.
there is no reason that 'casual' play must also mean 'unskilled' play. if this happens to be the case, i should think that there is now a true incentive to gain facility and skill while playing if you truly want the gear offered in season 4. i will certainly be doing everything i can to improve myself so that i can compete on ever-higher levels of arena play, and i will be working with my arena team to do so as well.
the only thing that would prevent you from getting these items is your own skill level, frankly. if you are skilled enough, you will reap the rewards that your skills deserve.
robotrock Apr 25th 2008 9:59AM
So the arenas should be like the Tournament realm....you step in with the high level gear of your choosing...no gear disparities.
You walk out with your points and the gear you purchase with these points can be used in BGs.
RG-Rhodin Apr 25th 2008 10:28AM
PARITY IS *THE* ISSUE
The post is ok, but does not bring up an important point -
I look at PvP and PvE structures as comparable.
Casual playing/low level instances => High level raiding
Battlegrounds => Arena
So, people can choose. They won't get the best gear from casual PvE or Battlegrounds, but they will get good gear. The more dedicated players will get the best gear. Fine, I understand that.
However, the real issue is parity. here's the crux of the problem : you can wear arena gear and high end instance gear outside of arena and instances. So, as you lessen parity, you will see much more domination by those who have better gear in PvE and in Battleground and world PvP. The arena and raider players spill over into PvE, but there is no way for casuals to ever catch up.
So, you want to reward high end play Blizzard? Cool. Make it so the gear doesn't spill over into PvE, and you'll have my support. But when I see a team of Season3+raiding epics folks storm into Halaa or Warsong Gulch or AV or just for fun shut down an opposing settlement like GromGol or Darkshire, then I can only think you are getting the balance way off.
D Apr 25th 2008 12:53PM
Huge holes in this post. Here's the biggest one and really all I need to quote to tear it apart.
"the only thing that would prevent you from getting these items is your own skill level, frankly."
Lemme start by saying hahahahahahahahahaha. Yearight.
The ONLY thing stopping a lot of VERY skilled players from getting those items is team composition. If you do not play on a cookie cutter team that has the best mix of survivability, longevity and scads of spammable CC YOU WILL NOT WIN. Period.
This skill argument is a load of garbage. My friends and I do skirmishes from time to time. Every now and then I get into one with a player who's decked out in their S3 shoulders and weapons, with a Gladiator title, and *gasp* sometimes they SUCK. Yes. It's true. You can get to 2200 sucking if you have the right team comp. True. Effing. Story.
-D
WHITEHOUSE Apr 25th 2008 1:29PM
That's all fine and good. But, as everyone knows its also about classes and specs. As frustrating as it is currently being feral these new changes are going to lock out a lot of specs that Blizz does not want in the arenas.
That's sad. They've created classes that are tons of fun but essentially useless for the best parts of the game.
Charlie Apr 25th 2008 9:35AM
I really don't see the problem! You can get 3 peices of S4 with only a 1600 rating. That is not hard to do, in fact, its a joke.
There is more gear parity but you are making it seem likes its the Pre-BC days parity between PvPers and PvErs, where there wasn't even a comparison.
Also, on the honor gear requiring personal ratings, i don't necessarily agree with it. If you can get Arena gear through Honor points, why not make you do some Arena to get some Honor gear?
Finally, have we all forgotten about the fact that there is still an entire set of S3 around for the newbies to get?
You really are blowing this entirely out of proportion.
Oh, and "Players who are unable to advance through the Arena system will not only gear up slower, they will possibly not even be able to gear up at all." Is absolutley rediculous. It is an entirely level playing field at the begging. Those who are going to be in the 2000+ ratings are going to be those with full s3 already (or close to it). People in full s3 will be fighting against others in full s3 to get those new ratings. Its not like you're going to have to go up against someone in full s4 to get them. And by that time you will might have a few peices of s4 to go along with your s3.
This post, and the overall negative reaction really is quite rediculous.
Oh, finally, lets not forget the fact that PvP is purchasable with tokens and badges as well. Run 2 karas and bam you got 2-4 pieces of s1 gear. PvP in those two weeks and bam you got 2 peices of s2. The barrier to entry has never been lower. You people are just crazy.
FireStar Apr 25th 2008 9:37AM
I don't understand. First you send a post by drysc that said honor gear has no change, but in that post that Daniel quoted him on it says "even to honor-purchased gear". And the same thing in this post. So what is it? Is honor gear now going to have a rating requirement or not? This is what drysc wrote - "The Season 2 items, which will move to the honor system when Season 4 begins, will continue to have no rating requirement.". So where am I missing the connection here? What honor purchased gear has a rating requirement on it now?
T Apr 25th 2008 11:04AM
Season 2 (Merciless Gladiator) will replace Season 1 (Gladiator). Merciless Gladiator will require honor only to purchase.
The non-set items, ie, Vindicator, will continue to be available and can be purchased solely with honor. The new non-set items are going to require arena points to purchase, except for the belt and necklace.
So in other words, the successor to Vindicator is where a major change is occurring. Vindicator always required honor for purchase. The next version will have some pieces that will require arena points. BG PvP'ers have been used to buying the non-set pvp gear with honor only since both the Veteran's gear and Vindicator's gear had the same requirements: play enough BG's, and you can purchase this gear. Now though, to get the next version, you'll have to go to the Arenas.
SaintStryfe Apr 25th 2008 12:48PM
Basically when S4 drops:
Gladiator (season 1): Will no longer be purchasable with honor. I assume T4 Tokens will still be trade-able for equal gear if you wish.
Merciless Gladiator (Season 2): Will now be purchasable with honor. T5 Tokens will be trade-able for equal gear if you wish.
Vengeful Gladiator (Season 3): Will have arena point prices reduced. Pieces with an individual ranking requirement will continue to require it. T6 Tokens will be trade-able for equal gear if you wish.
Brutal Gladiator (Season 4): Will have varying arena personal ranking requirements depending on the piece of gear.
gogogadgetto Apr 25th 2008 9:38AM
"How does this change the playing field? In two words? A lot. The good will get better, the bad will get worse, and the mediocre won't be getting anywhere. It is no longer possible to participate in Arenas casually."
If you call Arena Point Leeching playing "casually" then YES, you are right. 5-10% gear difference is NOTHING compared to the 2vs2 imbalance. I do not whine that it could/should be changed, but gear is the secondary factor right now.
Casually means you work between 1500-1750. I had some teams like that. That will be possible just like it is now.
Concerning casuals in BGs: If they are casual, they won't be full vindicator right now. I bet the Vindicator items will be available for those slots where you have a rating req in S4. So they can just continue to grind their S3/S4 honor gear PLUS their nice S2 Arena slot upgrades. They will be busy indeed.
If your setup is so bad that you cannot reach 50-55% win, you should really change that setup. But I've seen Doubleheal at 1560. Triple single class DPS at about 1600. It's not hard to trick some people...
Many classes do not only focus on Arena/Honor gear for Arena for a while now (see, you can get T5 at TTR - guess why). Healers use one or two slots with the highest +heal difference. Many damage dealers prefer Damage Trinkets over Battlmasters. Weapons in general are usually preferred if they have at least a little atamina on them.
Resilience was not increased from S2->S3, still we are heading to cap for everyone with the new 45 res trinket. Full S1 + Vindicator can be upgraded to Full S2 + some Vindicator + some Guardian and some Brutal pieces. After these quick upgrades the difference to full S4(Brutal/Guardian) will be within that 5-10% range. But until you MEET those people with full S4 you have to work yourself to 2000 rating. And guess what... On that way you get both, the points and the required rating.
Right now the difference between full Vengeful/Vindicator and Vengeful/Vindicator with Merciless Shoulders and S1 weapon are fairly trivial for many, many classes (melee will disagree).
I would support ranking gear after a season (probably just S4++ weapon, 5% better stats, unique look, special, slightly better enchants/gems...) and similar ideas to give people a motivation to continue to play. They will not own you because of 5-10% better stats. They will own you because they know how to play.
This change is good. I hope for rating reqs on all items. They can still remove/lower for prior seasons to give people a quickstart.
Nati Apr 25th 2008 9:39AM
The "problem" is that for every player at 1600 rating, there's a player at 1400 rating. Those players can't get anything but the gloves. When they quit because they can't get anything but the gloves, the entire ladder shifts down. Suddenly someone else is at 1400 rating. When they have their gloves, they quit. The ladder shifts down. And so on. And so on. In the end, it'll become more and more difficult to attain the higher ratings, and more and more people will quit playing arenas. It is not difficult to understand.
Anteia Apr 25th 2008 6:17PM
Definitely a good point that I hadn't considered. My team has decided to start buying s3 now, which we were waiting on so we could get pieces of s4 when it came out. Now, realizing we can't, we're getting s3 as we can afford it, and once we get the gloves in s4, we'll probably stop. So that'll be one less team for people to climb up on. We're not a horrible team, but we're not cookie cutter and refuse to make Arena PVP the end all. So, maybe we're not devoted enough. That's fine, but if all the people who arent 'devoted enough' drop out of Arena, I'd like to see how all these people who are saying 1600-1800 is easy fare against teams actually their own difficulty. Not to mention the wait times.
Khass Jun 3rd 2008 9:14AM
People would quit arenas just because they can't get the absolute best gear? The vast majority of 1200-1500 are only doing it for some random BG fun and upgrades to PvE gear. Vengeful is effin awesome, most classes could very well use it upto and including T5, and since the BGs will always be populated with 'ding 70's and undergeared players, you and your S2/S3/S4 set will still be rocking out.
I very much doubt the ladder will collapse.
Zeplar Apr 25th 2008 9:44AM
I think it's a terrible precedent, but I do agree that 1600/1700 rating is nothing. Maybe a casual can't get the weapon/shoulders. You don't have to be 30/30 slots PVP gear to PVP though.
The question is, will this progress until only the top 2000+ teams can get any gear? And does Blizzard have any plans on helping the players who have the skill, but started too late, gain a chance at PVPing?
I would say this is an okay decision, IF season 1 became the new season .5 (buyable w/ gold), but they don't plan on that. Otherwise we could always have: Current season (hard to get, requires rating). Previous season (Less rating). Previous-previous season (Honor). And Previous^3 season (Gold).