#0 - Oct. 11, 2006, 4:10 a.m.
Q: An arena team is like a guild? You have to get a charter and everything and you're not allowed to play with other people?
A:Just like a guild you can leave at any time and join a different one or create your own.
~Drysc (Link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338352&pageNo=1&sid=1#1)
Q: But [if you leave a team] will that reset your ranking?
A: The team is ranked, not the individual. If you leave you are potentially forfeiting your rewards.
Clarified: You would be forfeiting any potential future arena points by leaving. You don't lose access to any rewards, and you don't lose the arena points your character has gained by leaving a team.
~Drysc (Link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338352&sid=1&pageNo=1#12)
Q: So if you join a high ranked team do you immediately get access to the top arena awards?
A: If you contribute to their wins, sure but you won't get something just for joining. What happens is that each week each team member earns arena points based on the team rating and their contribution. If you jump into a team you don't automatically get points as you haven't contributed anything. There is no "this rating has access to these rewards", the rewards are priced and can be purchased using arena points similar to currency.
~Drysc (Link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338352&sid=1&pageNo=2#20)
Q: Does this mean that a rank 1 person, if they join a rank 10 guild, they will gain ranking FASTER than other people? because their guild will have already a higher ranking and this person is just catching up to them? i.e 1 week hes rank 1, the next week hes rank 10 cause he participated in 30% of the guilds games that week and thats the rank his new guild made?
A: I think you're comparing the current honor ranking system with the arena team rating system a bit too much. The team as a whole gains a rating, it isn't dependent upon who is in the team, where they were before or other factors. You gain arena points, and thus rewards, based on your teams rating. If you can get into the top end arena teams, contribute to continued wins, then you will reap the benefits. Keep in mind that you're going to have to be pulling your weight to stay at the top and earn those rewards.
~Drysc (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338352&sid=1&pageNo=2#28)
Q: A better question is who controls the team.
A: There is a team captain, similar to a guild leader who has control over certain aspectes of the team, such as who is in it.
Q: As for the 30% rule: if some in the grp are addicted and play non-stop, even though it doesnt give good points, are the rest at risk of earning 0 points since even 30% is too much?
A: I'm not sure how they would be playing without the rest of the team. The benchwarmers are really going to usually be friends that have no interest in the arena system, but will jump in if you need them to. Any one interested in actually competing in the arena is likely to be on a roster as a main player.
Q: This is going to be a tough change... there are MANY players who dont have a friends list, dont do well in guilds with officers, mandatory raids/specs, etc... many of them have gotten by thru pvping every day, solo queueing for BGs
A: There's still going to be an honor system and new rewards there for anyone that doesn't want to participate in an arena team. I suspect most players interested in PvP at all will participate in both.
~Drysc (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338352&sid=1&pageNo=2#32)
Q: wow, that sucks a LOT for the casual player who only plays 2-3 nights per week.
A: Find other players with your same schedule or agree to only play your arena games those particular nights. I would imagine that three nights a week would be more than enough to get in your required 10 games a week keeping in mind that these are small team games that are generally going to last a few minutes.
~Drysc (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338352&sid=1&pageNo=2#36)
Q: Can you answer why we need X starters and X benches minimum to form an XvX charter? I'd really prefer to just have 5 people on my 5v5 team and only play with them.
A: You don't need any benchwarmers to start a team, but they're there should you feel you need them at any point. The benchwarmer spots are there so you don't have to kick out a team member just to get in your last game for the week, or whatever the need may be.
~Drysc (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338352&sid=1&pageNo=2#37)
Q:How does that work. i have to create a group with 3 other ppl just to queue up for the 2v2.
Thats just messed up. plz tell me i got it wrong.
A: If you don't have a team charter to gain ranking in the Arena, you can still play unrated games.
Joining the Arena solo, without being in an Arena team, will simply queue you into the preferred Arena match. However, these are 'exhibition' matches and do not award Arena points.
~Tseric (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32338163&pageNo=1&sid=1#1)
Q: (this was a long post, Ill sum it up) Is the new Arena System going to be a grind?
A: 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. :)
~Nethaera (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32188164&pageNo=1&sid=1#2)
Q: 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?
A: 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.
~Nethaera (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32188164&sid=1&pageNo=1#14)
(not sure where the question was for this but here it is anyway)
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.
~Nethaera (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32188164&sid=1&pageNo=3#40)
(Comment on PVP rewards)
You're correct except there will be new rewards up to level 70 available from the honor system. The arena will supply only level 70 gear, and be on-par with high end dungeon items but obviously geared towards PvP.
We're definitely continuing to support and develop the battleground system and offering rewards so that players can still strive for rewards through them. Of course the honor system isn't specific to battlegrounds and outdoor PvP will still play a role in gaining honor points.
~Drysc (link: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=32277664&pageNo=1&sid=1#3)
Hopefully this helps anyone with questions. Maybe we can try and keep all our Arena questions here in this thread so as to make it easyer on the blues trying to respond :).