Taking a cue from D-One who pointed to a counter-rant of a moderator against those who hate the Arenas in WoW.
The truth is that anyone saying “arenas suck!” doesn’t actually think they suck, they’re either just trolling, or they have a specific and related issue/problem. I think we’re able to break those reasons out though, filter everything down and get to what the issues actually are, see what may need to change or be fixed, and get down to it. If they’re not the right kind of PvP for you, fine, hopefully we can address that by giving you more PvP in other places, if you don’t like PvP at all and are afraid they’re taking time away from the content you do enjoy – don’t worry, they aren’t, if you want to like the arenas but feel there are inherent issues with them, we hope to address those as well.
Well, the truth is in that my own case I DO think Arenas suck and SHOULD be entirely removed from the game.
Not because every aspect of the game I don’t like shouldn’t be liked by anyone else, but because the gameplay concept behind the Arenas is inappropriate for WoW. A mmorpg based on some degree of persistence and, in particular, on character progression, doesn’t fit with a *good* arena game that is more aimed at competitive, and balanced gameplay and no real “RPG”.
My suggestion:
– Strip the Arenas part from WoW. Make it an entirely different game. Make it accessible through the same client, Make it even playable as standalone paying a 1-2 dollars subscription for those who just want these arenas. Then add a tiered system where each tier gives you the choice between same-value armor sets, so that you can combine the pieces freely while also keeping the players in the same tier balanced. And then keep a sense of progression by putting better equipment in higher tiers, but without letting players in different tier compete between each other. Make it that you can even export your WoW-normal character, getting evaluated by a system and then put in the proper tier to compete fairly.
That would please everyone. Those who don’t like the arenas, and those who like them and would like a more fair environment in which to compete.
It wouldn’t work, though. Because what I think is when the players bought the game, they wanted to play a MMORPG. Not eSport.