Arena Season 5 start date announced
by Michael Gray 
Nov 7th 2008 at 9:45AM
The big announcement has been made, and it's about what one might have expected. Season 5 for the Arena will begin on December 16th, when level 80 characters will begin rated play to compete for gear and end-of-season rewards.
This announcement came during a reminder that the "Limbo Season" will end this Tuesday. That means you're not going to get Arena points for any rated matches you're playing this week. There will be no rated Arenas again until December 16th, which is kind of a shame when you consider the two new Arenas in place.
A side effect of this announcement, of course, is that we now know for certain when Blizzard expects most of their players to reach level 80. Since you have to be 80 to get into the rated matches, you can guess the developers were waiting for a significant portion of the playerbase to be ready before starting the season. No doubt, high end Arena fighters will already have been storming the battlegrounds and collecting honor before the season starts.
WIth the gear changes and mechanics changes, it's going to be exciting to see the first season of Wrath. I'm definitely excited to see what new dynamic Death Knights bring. It's certainly going to be a different show. Good luck!
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, Expansions, Wrath of the Lich King, Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Ninogan Nov 7th 2008 9:50AM
Meh.
zaslamel Nov 7th 2008 9:53AM
DPS WARROR FOR THE WIN !!!!!
Jamesisgreat Nov 7th 2008 9:58AM
They expect most players to hit 80 in just over a month?
God I hope not.
UBD Nov 7th 2008 10:01AM
I hope i will be.
Dyselon Nov 7th 2008 7:32PM
Well, they expect crazy arena hardcore players to hit 80 within a month. I don't think this timetable indicates what they expect of the average player.
Zakk Nov 7th 2008 2:56PM
I expect to be 80 within two weeks. I don't think a month is anywhere near unreasonable.
Nick S Nov 7th 2008 10:01AM
When Season 1 started, I said "I'll start playing Arena when I have more time."
Won't make that mistake again.
Drow Nov 7th 2008 10:35AM
Same here. You almost HAVE to do Arena's to stay on par with BG's and Wintergrasp. I plan on being 80 by this time quickly, and while the rest of my guild is leveling up, I'll be running a few 10 mans with them and PvPing the rest of the time and reading guides.
BUT...I would be much happier if Arena's were just removed or changed to where you don't have to have S5 gear to survive :)
Smurk Nov 7th 2008 11:09AM
I've played hundreds (thousands?) of BGs and maybe 30 arena matches total. I don't have any arena gear and I do fine in the battlegrounds. In BGs especially, few people have S4 on any (non-premade) team. And you can get 400+ resilience without ever playing arenas.
Kjelin Nov 7th 2008 10:08AM
mmm Hopefully my dk will be ready...
I seriously doubt it.
Shulkman Nov 7th 2008 10:22AM
So much for points resetting at level 71. Thanks blizz for a whole new slew of crap info.
wyrd Nov 7th 2008 3:11PM
what does the new season starting have to do with points resetting? they still are...
Abbadon Nov 7th 2008 10:24AM
Well... That's a bit sooner than I would have expected. And as someone just mentioned, DKs wanting to make that start date are really gonna have to put in some time. And even for the rest of us, it seems we will have to spend all our time after 80 doing BGs and Lake Wintergrasp to prepare for the new arena season leaving little to no time to quest or enjoy Northrend in general...
I wish they had waited a bit longer. This is only going to cause the same gaps we currently have... Those with the determination to do well will get to 80 quickly and start amassing the new PvP gear. Anyone that takes their time getting to 80 or doesn't adamantly pursue the PvP aspect of the game once hitting 80, will be vastly undergeared on Day 1.
Goosecomics Nov 7th 2008 10:29AM
We'll see how well this works out. In the end, I hope they don't make the same mistakes which was Season 4
Mr.J Nov 7th 2008 10:39AM
The only and true comment: Arena sucks! (pretty bad)
LFD Nov 7th 2008 10:42AM
One month to hit 80, huh? It took me two months to hit 70 when BC came out, hmm, looks like I'll be behind the curve again.
Strive for mediocrity!
gavsaint Nov 10th 2008 11:37AM
So i guess the season 3 stuff won't be moved to the BG honor vendor (>.
Trig Nov 7th 2008 10:55AM
So we won't be able to get Arena points again until the week after Dec 16th??
=[ I was 100 points away from a new pair of pants
Frump Nov 10th 2008 11:29AM
You'll still be able to get points, but only if you stay level 70 for the next point distribution and get your 10 games in.
Chop Yuey Nov 7th 2008 10:55AM
I agree. December 16th is too early. As before, the deck will be stacked against those who don't commence their rated matches with the starting bell.
Those who quickly grind to 80 will obtain their BG and Wintergrasp gear while normal mortals are still enjoying the scenery at level 76. By the time normal players reach 80, the powergrinders will have a insurmountable gear and rating advantage that will only grow larger each week.
It could turn into a repeat of Season 4, where average players, knowing that most gear is out of reach, tire of serving as someone else's cannon fodder.
I think the second week of January would be a better start date.