I have a bad feeling about this...

Hrm, my female intuition and yours are at opposite ends of the spectrum. I anticipate spending as much time as I can there though that will be limited. ;)

Think of it this way, there really isn't a 'grind' to be attributed to Arenas because you can only do so many matches at a time. Matches can be fairly short or fairly long depending on the skill of the participants.

Either way though, you won't be in the Arenas for hours on end. It's not possible to do in a ladder system. You'll go in, you'll play your match, you'll win or lose and you'll go on to the next match. It's a straight on competition to see who can make it to the top of the ladder so the only 'grind' feeling you could have is if you really don't care about the ladder or making it to the top.

If you play around in the non-ranked Arena, then it's just for fun and there's no 'grind' associated with it unless you are there practicing with your team and your team captain is a slave-driver bent on world domination. :)

*Edit- What typo? ;)

Q u o t e:
maby your just biased neth, it is your job after all, and all it means for you is MONEY.

That's a tad bit narrow of you to think that it's all that it means to me. I might be biased but my bias is more based on my love for PvP and my excitement to take part in ladder competitions than anything else. I of course want others to be interested and excited as well. I do my job because I love it and I'm not the only one here that thinks that way so please don't diminish it by saying it's only about one thing that's unkind.

Q u o t e:
So I have a quick question about the new honor system. Someone (blue that is) mentioned that you loot "honor" now and use that to purchase weapons; instead of money or whatever.

Do you actually have to 'loot' the honor, or will it continue to be shared with your group and just given to you automatically?

No you won't have to actually loot it. You will get it the same as now it will just be on a slightly different scale now that you will be able to 'spend' it on items.

*Edit- There are no 1v1 matches being planned.
Yes, you will need to have preset teams. A team of 2 will need 2 regulars and 2 alternates to create a team. The same will be for 4, 4 regulars and 4 alternates etc. There will be no PUGS in the Arena since there is a ladder system in place.

There are only so many matches that can be played at a time. It's all based on what the ladder can allow for the match-ups. ( I can't recall the exact number right now off the top of my head but I'll try to find that for people later.) No one team should be able to ratchet up the matches they can play vs other teams.

I'll see about the team gathering up some questions and doing what we can to answer them for people since it seems we keep having a lo tof the same ones come up.

Q u o t e:
So what is your gut feeling? If you are reading this thread you should have an idea by now.

Do you think people will be more interested in the Arenas or in playing Battlegrounds (current and future). Personally I prefer large battles to strategic strikes. 25/40 man sounds more interesting than 5 man. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

I think those that want to see their name at the top of the heap (like king/queen of the mountain) will be playing the Arenas pretty fiercely. I don't think activity in one precludes activity in the other however since people won't be able to be competing in the Arena all the time unless they are playing for fun (and no ranking) in the non-rated arena.

I actually think like some others have said that Battleground experience can translate very well into Arena experience but dueling whether it's 1 v 1 or 5 v 5 still takes a slightly different set of skills since everyone knows when the fight is going to start and there are set rules that aren't in place in the Battlegrounds. You also know exactly what classes you are going against and know that there won't be a third or fourth person coming over the rise unexpectedly. If they are there they are expected as a part of that team.

It's going to be very interesting either way though because I think we're going to see some great competition come out of it and some people are going to become 'knowns' across the community depending on what bracket they are in. Keep in mind though that ratings are per bracket and per realm. So the best of the best will be seen in each of those areas. It can be a great way for guilds to show off their talents or for groups of friends to show those 'know-it-all' guilds that they have talent all their own.

There is one new battleground planned. (There may be more added in the future but we shall see.)

Just to clear something up, The Caverns of Time are not Battlegrounds.

When you look at it a certain way ALL PvP is a grind no matter what. But inherently the thing that makes PvP the most fun for many people is the winning (and rare occassion losing and learning.) I would think that during each season players will get to know who are their most challenging opponents and look forward to meeting them in the arena. It will also be interesting to see how people change up their teams for each season IF they do so.

If it doesn't seem fun to you, then don't do it.

I guess we shall see. Remember that you will be matched against people based on Arena points so you may well come across the same people pretty often and develop rivalries. It doesn't preclude you from meeting up against people within your own realm either if the system matches you up.

I prefer the silver lining on the cloud and like rainy days. *shrug* That's just how I am. ;)