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World of Warcraft Arena PvP Season 4 Announced

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the finish-up-that-grind dept.

WoW Insider is reporting that Blizzard has announced the next season of Arena PvP combat, set to launch on June 24th. "As usual, teams will be allowed to keep any accumulated points, but all team and personal ratings will reset to 1500, and all titles from Season 2 will be removed. Also, the top rated teams from Season 3 will receive their titles, and for the very top, Armored Netherdrakes. It is also worth noting that this season will herald new Arena ratings requirements on most Season 4 gear, including many of the new honor rewards. In addition, Season 3's shoulder and weapon Arena rating requirements will drop slightly, all season 3 gear will cost fewer arena points, and the Season 2 gear will be purchasable for Honor."

55 comments

  1. In other words... by Frac+O+Mac · · Score: 5, Funny

    more of the same?

    1. Re:In other words... by NewbieProgrammerMan · · Score: 1

      I think it's pretty safe to tag every MMO article as "moreofthesame" by default.

      --
      [b.belong('us') for b in bases if b.owner() == 'you']
    2. Re:In other words... by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 4, Informative

      Oh man. I don't know about you, but I can't stand the PVP in World of Warcraft. They have to do something to make it more interesting. I had to play 20 games of Eye of the Storm just to get a stupid sword. I got the sword but was so disgusted with the ordeal I had to go through to get it I stopped playing the game all together. Once you hit 70 the game basically boils down to getting new gear. Which is mind numbingly boring if you're only interested in having fun.

      --
      I have nothing compelling to say
    3. Re:In other words... by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Blizzard alternates between pleasing casual players, then making things hard on casual players. It's so weird.

      They introduce the Battlegrounds system, which is great for casual players who can now get nice equipment without having to spend half their waking time raiding. Then they patch the original system so that it 'grades on a curve', making it impossible to get the really good equipment unless you now spend half your waking time playing Battlegrounds. Now they've patched it to be back the way it was originally!

      Same applied to Arena; when they introduced it, it was a great way to earn EQ with a relatively minimal time investment, and you were guaranteed a certain amount of points no matter how much your team sucked. Now they've patched it so that half the rewards can only be purchased by people with super-high team ratings, making them inaccessible to casual players.

      I wish they'd make up their mind already. More specifically, I wish they'd just make the entire game accessible to casual players who don't want to raid, and leave it that way.

      --
      Comment of the year
    4. Re:In other words... by illeism · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Once you hit 70 the game basically boils down to getting new gear. Which is mind numbingly boring if you're only interested in having fun. I don't think it boils down that neatly, if you are interested in pushing end game content then there is plenty to do. I do agree with you about PVP though, it seems like no one knows how to work together so its usually a shouting contest as everyone is telling everyone else what to do.

      However, when you get bored with that level 70 char you made you can always start a new character and start the fun all over again.

      --
      Help test the /. effect at my min
    5. Re:In other words... by Bieeanda · · Score: 2, Insightful
      What do you mean, 'once you hit 70'? The game is about getting new gear from the moment the little post-chargen cutscene ends. The only difference is, you run out of new backgrounds to hunt gear against when you hit 70. Doing twenty runs in the battlegrounds is little different from chewing through Gnomeregan a dozen times before the Electrocutioner drops a piece of gear you're desperate for (and make the need roll on), or running the same raids over and over again.

      Okay, so there's two differences: At level 70, you're not going to outlevel the DPS or protection of whatever gear you eke out of faction rewards or instance runs. That is, until Wrath of the Lich King hits. Have fun disenchanting your high-tier sets and BG loot by the time you hit 72, and doing it all over again after you reach 80.

    6. Re:In other words... by Cathoderoytube · · Score: 2, Insightful

      "Have fun disenchanting your high-tier sets and BG loot by the time you hit 72, and doing it all over again after you reach 80."

      The joke's on you my friend. My account has long been canceled, and I have no intention of getting Wrath of the Lich King. I'd rather play Rock Band on Xbox live than spend 10 hours doing dungeon runs in the hopes I may get a new belt.

      --
      I have nothing compelling to say
    7. Re:In other words... by menace3society · · Score: 4, Funny

      But it's an awesome belt!

    8. Re:In other words... by Dutch+Gun · · Score: 1

      I'd say it's probably because there are conflicting overarching goals in any monthly-fee-based MMO. Of course the developers wants to make a game that's fun for players, but in order to make money, they have to keep them as monthly subscribers. It's far too difficult (well, basically impossible) to make new content at the rate a typical player can consume it. Thus, the developer must slow down the player's consumption of content in some way in order to keep players subscribed on a limited budget of content as long as possible, without making it so tedious that players simply get discouraged and give up.

      Trying to satisfy both goals is a pretty fine balancing act that's obviously not easy to accomplish, and I'd guess it also accounts for the sometimes schizoid gameplay-design decisions.

      --
      Irony: Agile development has too much intertia to be abandoned now.
    9. Re:In other words... by Arkham · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      I leveled my warrior to 70, only to realize that at 70 warriors only have one PvE role, and it's a terribly boring one.

      I leveled my hunter to 70, only to realize what I expected, that hunters have only one role at 70, and it's a boring one.

      I leveled my shaman to 70, realized that shaman have three viable PvE roles, and all of them are inherently unsatisfying, so I cancelled my account.

      Anyone want to buy it from me? Three level 70s, two level 60s, 10k gold, all epic flyers, and a tank, DPS, and healer class (T4 and T5 geared).

      Honestly, I ought to eBay it. It's not doing me any good as is, and I never intend to play again.

      --
      - Vincit qui patitur.
    10. Re:In other words... by SupremoMan · · Score: 1

      Parent should not be mod-ed Funny. It should be mod-ed Sad!

    11. Re:In other words... by Calledor · · Score: 1

      The game is just now getting achievements, a lot of which sound interesting and some that sound a little more than acknowledgement of grinding prowess The PvP BGs are a bit of a joke, given how long the game has been out. I also think it's an abject failure on Blizzards part to create new content in the old world for people purchasing the game for the first time (or just leveling a new toon). They really need to open up more battlegrounds, give world PvP faction leaders drops or an achievement status, etc.

    12. Re:In other words... by snuf23 · · Score: 1

      So you stuck around long enough to get epic flyers and raid for tier 4-5 gear with three level 70s????
      Did you consider that maybe, just maybe you got bored of the game after playing it for a considerable amount of time?

      --
      Sometimes my arms bend back.
    13. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Eh, I like raids. They're significantly different from the fairly dull leveling and most of the lowlevel instances. I suspect it's because they are the only place blizzard can go nuts with effects and tactics and not have most people skip it for something easier.

    14. Re:In other words... by Idiomatick · · Score: 1

      The game is ONLY fun in pvp. Leveling sucks. Questing sucks. Instances suck. Why do you think its called a grindfest?

      PvP is the only place you get to pit yourself against actual other people. You are guaranteed a challenge and there are nearly endless little bits of strategy to work out. Of course the bigger ones arent great since theres usually no coordination. But if you get coordinated with 5+ people which shouldn't be too hard... WSG AB and every size arena. AV and EOTS can be fun with some luck and a decent matchup. In a good matchup with a good team a 5v5 arena match can take more skill and coordination to pull off than a game of CS. Certainly more strategy.

    15. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      jesus, no wonder you were bored. i played the free trial with the game every day till i hit 30 and then cancelled.

      I know exactly how the rest of the game plays.

    16. Re:In other words... by RogueyWon · · Score: 1

      Heh, I kind of understand where you're coming from there. As a fairly hardcore PvE raider (Mount Hyjal and Black Temple on Farm, starting on Sunwell), I've long since graduated past the point where I need to do PvP (for me, it was used to get some of my early epics while I was still in Karazhan and Gruul's, but not for much else).

      Battlegrounds are indeed incredibly boring after a while. They also expose, in some fairly shocking ways, just how stupid some of the players are. After doing a shockingly large number of games, I noticed a few simple rules for determining who would win most games:

      In Eye of the Storm, whichever team has more people going after the flag inevitably loses. I have never known a flag-running team win against one that makes a serious play for 3 of the towers. The flag exists only as a magnet for stupid people who want to lose. Therefore it's not uncommon to see up to half of each team (occasionally more) squabbling over it.

      In Arathi Basin, if Horde push on for the stables early, they will lose. If Alliance push for the farm early, they will lose. Whichever team can most effectively organise its players into aiming for and holding the three most defensible points (mines, mill and the closest out of either stables or farm) will win 90% of the time. Therefore, almost every game, you see a big chain of people zerging off towards the point closest to the enemy spawn.

      Back before 2.3, 95% of the games in Alterac Valley would go to whichever side had the fewest people trying to defend. Since 2.3 hit, this has, I admit, become a little more interesting. A few small but effective teams of guerrilla defenders can really turn a game around now.

      Warsong Gulch is harder to predict and has somewhat more scope for individual skill. Unfortunately, it's boring and yields much less honor than the other battlegrounds.

      Arena, to my mind, is even worse. The balancing decisions that Blizzard have made mean that it has become almost entirely about crowd control and interrupts. I forced myself to play up to a 1900 rating back in season 2, but just haven't been able to work up the enthusiasm to do any since then. I'm really hoping that Blizzard use the next expansion to tweak the balance so that all classes can actually make effective use of a wider range of spells and abilities in arena.

      I just find PvE play fundamentally more fun and rewarding. With a decent guild, you can make reasonably rapid progression through the raid instances, especially now that all of the attunement quests have been removed. As you go, you get to see new zones and actually feel like you're interacting with the Warcraft lore. The feeling I got after my first Illidan kill was just something that no PvP experience could replicate.

    17. Re:In other words... by Kanwi · · Score: 1

      I pretty much agree. My girlfriend of all people was the one to get me into playing this bloody game. And I think its fun as far as going questing and lvling in areas you've not been to before but, once you do hit 70 there is nothing to do other than getting better gear. Ok so I got some epic gear from BG but, now there is some even better gear to get from that stupid new place whatever it is. For the people that actually have next to no life and have the 100 heroic badges for 1 item of gear. It took me forever just to get 20. I dont have the time to do that. I actually have a life. Bring on the new expansion and stop giving us new PvP shit. Maybe then I'll play properly again. And not just helping people who are lower lvls in my guild have fun from boosts.

    18. Re:In other words... by Mortimer82 · · Score: 1

      Let me correct that for you:

      "The game is only fun, FOR ME, in pvp."

      How can you be so naive to think that everyone thinks and behaves in the same way. While I can fully appreciate you get no enjoyment out of PvE content, many other people get no enjoyment out of PvP content.

      This is why Blizzard has made both options available. PvE appeals to different people to what PvP does. Blizzard tries to accommodate both kinds of players and it's not because one option is "better" than the other, it's just that different people want to do different things.

    19. Re:In other words... by Flamora · · Score: 1

      Blizzard tries to accommodate both kinds of players I really wish that were the case. However, having played from Closed Beta to about 1.12, quitting due to college, and coming back in 2.3, PVE is nowhere near the same level of focus and consideration that it used to be pre-TBC and pre-Arena. Abilities are frequently hammered due to being conceived as "overpowered", and classes that once had two or three ways to talent themselves out to perform their role (i.e. Hunters being able to go deep MM or 0/21/30 SV) are being shoehorned into one very specific and very boring talent lineup to be remotely competitive (i.e. Hunters being forced to go 41/20/0 and spam a very boring macro to be competitive DPSers) in a raiding environment.

      Plus, the whole "arena tournament" nonsense is laughable at best, given the horrific balance in Arena.
    20. Re:In other words... by Idiomatick · · Score: 1

      arena was well balanced last i played... If you check out the charts you will see the top teams all have different members with different builds. Priests can easily go any of the main 4~5 builds and do really well in arena. Hunters as well, i've seen each of the trees do well. I mean, tank warriors wont do well but aside from that you get alot of selection. THOUGH there isn't alot of gear selection.... wear the pvp gear mebbe some marks gear .... maybe tier gear and you are done...

    21. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The most fun PVP in WoW is not in the battlegrounds or arena, but world PVP. Even on normal servers (non-PVP) there are a lot of raids on towns. Many times you'll fight the same people, and you can build up some long-running grudge matches.

      True, you don't get as many honor points doing this, but it's a lot more fun then grinding honor in bg. Plus you don't get as much whining!

    22. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0


      Arthi basin like you said can be won using team co ordination and yes kerging thier spawn can win a game hands down... just finished a game were they were kergeing our base that by the time we had fought thru we were kerging thiers with 4/4 places under our control. basically if they zerge us we ignor it and if we zerg them they fight back , easy win 10 mins done

    23. Re:In other words... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, i agree with you about PVP..., there is no way to get nice items without pvp. Maybe a pve single reawards like arena, long questing but purples reawards as good as arena items.

  2. Coming on the heels of WoWoW by John3 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Interesting that Blizzard would announce this so close to the release of World of World of Warcraft.

    --
    "We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
  3. I'd just like to say that, as an AC,... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Funny
    this article would be too easy to troll and make general statements about /.'ers, living in your parents basement, F/OSS, no social skills, being overweight, eating junk food, sexless, and WOW.

    We, the ACs, will spare you.

    You're welcome.

    1. Re:I'd just like to say that, as an AC,... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      C'mon Dad!! I need to get on bebo to see if my date is going to happen ... stop posting lame shit on this oldies site!1!

  4. Pointless posting? by bornyesterday · · Score: 4, Insightful

    If you play WoW, you probably already knew this. If you regularly PvP in WoW, you definitely already knew this. If you don't play WoW, you probably don't care about this.

    Go ahead and mod me troll, but seriously...this is news?

    1. Re:Pointless posting? by Microlith · · Score: 2, Informative

      I do believe that's why it's a collapsed article.

      It's potentially relevant enough to warrant front-page exposure, but not enough to get a full summary display.

      Flexibility, I hear it's useful.

    2. Re:Pointless posting? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Actually, unless you lived, breathed, and otherwise camped out on the WoW forums, yes, this woul dbe news.
      Blizz seemed to hold their cards close to their chest on when season 4 would begin, so up til now everything was just wishfull speculation.

    3. Re:Pointless posting? by Evro · · Score: 1

      Agreed, this info is almost 2 months old anyway. The official post by Drysc from April 22, 2008 is here. I tried pasting it below but I kept getting a retarded error: Filter error: Please use fewer 'junk' characters.

      --
      rooooar
    4. Re:Pointless posting? by Yoweigh116 · · Score: 1

      If you don't play WoW, you won't understand WTF they're saying.

    5. Re:Pointless posting? by joelwyland · · Score: 1

      I play WoW every day (pretty much) and I'm an avid PvPer and I didn't hear about this. I read Google News and Slashdot more than I read wowinsider or WoW forums. It's good to know, I'm glad I saw it because I know not to spend my arena points this week.

    6. Re:Pointless posting? by Cookie3 · · Score: 2, Informative

      The rating mechanic changes were known prior to today, but S4 arena's start date hadn't been announced (other than the notion that the ubiquitous "We'll give you a 2 week warning"). While it's hardly gaming "news", it is "new" and WoW players have been expecting this announcement for some time.

      --
      present day... present time... hahahaha...
    7. Re:Pointless posting? by YukonTech · · Score: 1

      So where exactly in that post do thwey announce the start date to S4? Oh yea they don't. Now read the first line of the submission. "Blizzard has announced the next season of Arena PvP combat, set to launch on June 24th." So today (or yesterday) they finally announced the start date for S4 to people who play wow but dont spend time on wow websites this is news.

    8. Re:Pointless posting? by Synonymous+Bosch · · Score: 1

      The front page has a non-collapsed article on the phoenix lander getting dirt into its oven.

      If you give a shit about yet-another-mars-lander, you probably already knew this. If you work for NASA, you definitely already knew this. If you don't follow Mars exploration, you probably don't care about this.

      Go ahead and mod me troll, but seriously... this is news?

      Oh wait - it IS news, because some people DO give a shit about it. Just because Slashdot doesn't run every story by YOU for editorial approval doesn't mean NO ONE cares.

      I must be new here, because the conceit in this place continues to baffle me.

    9. Re:Pointless posting? by dontPanik · · Score: 1

      It's news for me. I'm a WOW player but my account has been frozen because I'm too busy to play. I like to keep up with the in-game happenings even though I don't play.

      --
      "Computers are useless. They can only give you answers." - Pablo Picasso
  5. What's with the WoW news? by Manip · · Score: 0, Troll

    I am a WoW player but I'm also a /. user. I don't come here for WoW information, there are more than enough news sites specifically for that already.

    The editors need to stop posting this stuff here. Or at least if they do then they need to include all gaming news (most of which is far more interesting than the release date of the forth season of PvP).

    1. Re:What's with the WoW news? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      This is an opportunity for them to call their wow addiction "work"

  6. I LIKE the WoW news by defyg3 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I am a casual WoW player as well and a /. user. However, I don't endlessly troll WoW websites for this type of information.

    So mods, I like this type of news. If you dont like the posts, dont read them. Thanks!

    1. Re:I LIKE the WoW news by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I think I speak for all of us that DON'T read the post:

      WHOOPTY FUCKIN' DOO.

      News for nerds: yes.
      Stuff that matters: not at all.

  7. "Lead Wow Developer scratched his butt" by unity100 · · Score: 1

    details at 11.

    In other news, 2000 new 12 year olds purchased wow subscriptions today. Minister of Fookey Businesses was not available for comment.

    --
    Read radical news here
  8. What's the point? by kwabbles · · Score: 1

    I don't see why anyone would want to invest the time into decking out their toon with s4 gear when WotLK is coming out soon, and it'll all be obsolete anyway. The race to 80 isn't going to be noticeably easier at all starting with a 70 that's got s3 vs s4 gear. Unless there's gonna be some sort of special "70's-only pvp bracket" for twinks.

    --
    Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
    1. Re:What's the point? by JorDan+Clock · · Score: 1

      Well, PvP gear has ALWAYS been most useful in PvP. In fact, it's generally not the best to use in PvE, and to level to 80, you'll need to PvE.
      But I do agree to a degree; This is awfully close to WotLK and will result in a lot of wasted time when you find better gear after just a few levels into WotLK.

    2. Re:What's the point? by shermo · · Score: 1

      So true! And once you get to 80, there's no point in getting gear then either. After all, it'll be obsoleted by the next expansion and the level to 90.

      --
      Insanity: voting in the same two parties over and over again and expecting different results
    3. Re:What's the point? by butterflysrage · · Score: 1

      depends greatly on the spec, class and dedication of the player. Season 2 enhancement shaman gear is actually quite a bit better then several of the raid gear sets for PvE... while some pieces of raid gear are superior to S2, many players do not have the time or inclination to get it.

      S2 makes a great upgrade between lvl 69 gear, and badge gear for some classes/specs.

      --
      the preceding post was not spell checked... suck it.
    4. Re:What's the point? by DerWulf · · Score: 1

      invest the time

      See, if it feels like an investment you are doing it wrong. I wish all you guys that think playing the game is "working for items" would just quit. Would cut down on the whiners, BG 'underperformers' and the raid slackers massively.
      --

      ___
      No power in the 'verse can stop me
    5. Re:What's the point? by kwabbles · · Score: 1

      "See, if it feels like an investment you are doing it wrong. I wish all you guys that think playing the game is "working for items" would just quit. Would cut down on the whiners, BG 'underperformers' and the raid slackers massively."

      So would you fall under the whiner category?

      --
      Just disrupt the deflector shield with a tachyon burst.
  9. Re:World of Warcraft serves its purpose... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Problem: Ninja looting? Answer: Master Looter

    Problem: Griefing? Answer: PvE servers.

    Problem: Anti-social and/or incompetent raider. Answer: Don't PuG Kara or beyond. Only run it with people you know well.

  10. Re:World of Warcraft serves its purpose... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I tried WoW. 1-70 is doable even for casuals. However, past that, there isn't much to do unless you go into a WoW realm with a group of real life friends. Without that, instancing is impossible. For example, finding a warrior who actually can pop def stance (as opposed to "tanking" with two daggers and "trying to hold agro with DPS"), or a priest that isn't shadow is a quest in itself. Once you get a group together, because most people are used to PvP, and pumping out burst damage rather than waiting for a tank to get agro, most will overagro and die usually on the first 2-3 pulls. In all the instancing I did to get a guy 1-70, I have yet to see a warlock use the single spell that completely stops runners (curse of recklessness), or a hunter put their pet on passive -- usually most hunters just let their pet run in at random. When a hunter actually is able to control their pet, the pet usually has agro (and shortly dies) because said hunter is too inept turn off growl, hump, vomit, and whatever else a pet uses for keeping a mob's attention solo.

    I'll take a smaller MMO, and quality over quantity of playerbase. Even in games like CoH/CoV which are intended for casual play and tons of alts, people are at least courteous to each other. I'd rather play on a smaller population server with people who can play their characters well, and if they goof, its an honest mistake, rather than just not caring, and being jerks 24/7.

  11. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    PvP arena is definitely horrible in WOW, talk about class imbalances. I moved to AoC hoping for a better pVp experience.

  12. Green is the new Purple by Thedeviluno · · Score: 1

    New expansion pack will render all gear obsolete. WoW astonishes the gaming world with its cutting edge gameplay mechanics.