Season 4

Aside from what I’ve read here and some dramaz here, I’ve not heard too much uproar about the incoming season 4 changes.

For those who haven’t heard, many of the items (not just the shoulders and weapons) will have rating requirements. I believe that the only excempt items were the gloves and off-hand items, and probably the relics. In addition, I think the belts and boots will have arena rating requirements. Still obtainable through honor, just not without some play in the arena. (I hope they leave the season 3 stuff as available for those players who are unable to get to those ratings.)

Blizzard is for the first time putting a significant barrier on the Arena items. And really, skill is now the biggest barrier in the game preventing players from obtaining the best gear, in my opinion.

However, like many nerfs in the game, any uproar over them is almost always a series of overreactions. I think that this one will be no exception.

Compare the differences between seasons for gear. Upgrading incrementally from one season to another in your arena gear will net you some very minor increases in stats in most cases. The one problem I forsee is that since most people are unable to get Season 3 shoulders or weapons (even after lowering the rating requirements on each), there will be a larger gap between the current average 1500s players and the 1850+ players which will be more difficult to surmount.

However, gear is not the major impediment blocking success in the arena. It is skill; knowing your opponents’ classes, knowing what you need to do, having enough situational awareness to do it…in the end, these things will get you much farther than gear ever will. This has probably been mentioned elsewhere, but if you pit a 1350 team in all Season 4 against a 2100 team in all season 1 (or even the blue sets from the rep vendors), the 2000 team will still win through better tactics, teamwork, etc. That is where the game is.

Largely, the PvE game is the same way. The attunements were not blocking progress so much as the skill level of the players.

Neither system (PvP vs. PvE) should reward failure. Things should not work that way. Gear is an issue, but many items in the game still require no success to obtain, only time, so gearing up to the point that you can compete and get better is do-able.

One thing I have a problem with is correlating a lower arena rating as failure, however. Once the pvp gear became so widely attainable (through honor, then rep vendors, and even badge reward vendors, and now tier tokens can be handed in for them) it stopped being an issue with gear (ie, resilience levels), obviously. But there is no guaranteed formula for success in the arena, and there is a learning curve. (A learning wall, some might say…pretty steep slope on that thing, just like going from the solo leveling game to the endgame groups and raiding from 69-70.) Provided that teams do not enter the arena just to lose on purpose (which happens? I guess? with team buying?) and actually try, the arena reward system is adequate, in my opinion.

To those of us unable to get all of the Season 4 items, just get Season 3 and settle for what Season 4 items you can attain. The difference will not be that great.