News - It's Finally About Skill (1 Viewer)

[RedBema]

http://worldofwarcraft.com/pvp/tournament/index.xml

The 2008 WoW Arena Tournament is looming and I thought that it would be interesting to see NA's thoughts about how they handle this.

I will be honest, when I first read the article I thought to myself, "That isn't fair, what about all of those guys that work so hard to get the good gear...it's just given to noobs without them even having to try!"

However, after some consideration my mind changed on the matter. It's finally about skill! Instead of getting owned by a Season 4 decked out character simply because of their gear, you actually get to put your skills to the test.

I, for one, think that this is a great idea from Blizzard. I would love to join, except I have rarely done arena and am very competitive. I would want to get a group that knows what they are doing, other than PuG'ing it they way that some will have to.

What do you guys think about this? Do you think it is a good idea or bad idea to be able to choose any hunter pet you want, or to get 5k gold just by asking?

 

[grim4o4]

I do agree that it's finally about skill, but I also see it as kind of a waste of time honestly, the only people this actually helps are the people who are going to be in the top 3, everyone else just spent, 20 bucks was it, just to run around in epic gear a little while until blizzard decides to wipe the server. It's basically a glorified PTR you have to pay to have access to. I think it also promotes cookie cutter builds and everyone wearing the same gear. I'm kind of on the fence though, I know I'd never spend the extra money, but I can see how some people might want to play on the server. Anyway, that's just one mans opinion.

 

[RedBema]

That is exactly what I wanted in this thread grim, people's opinions about it.

I think that their are two distinct ways to feel about this,

1. It is about pure skill
2. Blizzard is giving away everything that most players work for.

Personally, I had a problem when I saw that even a noob could go on and be at the same level as the next guy, to me part of the game is working hard to earn the gold, armor, and fame.

However, I think that since their are guys who happen to bot, or take advantage in some other way it is hard to determine who is legit and who is earning it without the true blood, sweat, and tears.

For me, I like the idea that it is about pure skill for this particular arena tournament. Whoever wins cannot be told that it was because they had better gear or whatever, it was because they had the better strategy or the smarter players. That is what I like.

 

[Khatib]

It's not about Blizzard giving anything away, since it's just going to get wiped.

It's like bragging about how good your gear is on a private server. Or on PTR. Big deal. It's not a live server, and it's not persistent.

I agree with grim though, it's basically just a glorified PTR. How much you wanna bet they use the results of this thing to tweak class balance? And they're making people pay for it. With all the money they pull in every month, why couldn't this just be a free fun event? I guess too many people would maybe want to do it then... but still. Charging 20 bucks for it seems pretty ... I dunno... low blow to me.

The other thing I don't like, is now they are REALLY trying to turn an RPG into an FPS, and they've done enough damage to the MMO world already by bringing that mentality to a huge chunk of new playerbase. RPGs aren't supposed to be about zerging and quick painless death. They're supposed to be about caring about your character, cultivating it. Unfair fights. Bad deaths. Great survivals. "Blood, sweat, and tears" as you put it Bema. If I want a game where I hop in for 30 minutes, frag 10 people and die 15 times myself, I'll play an FPS. An RPG is not about not caring when you die and especially not about gaining things while losing. I don't know how to articulate my thoughts any better than that. And WoW has 8 million new MMO players thinking that this is the perfect format for an MMO. It's sad.

And 20 bucks is half the price of COD4. I'd much rather just get CoD4 for my FPS "quick combat on a completely even playing field" fix.

 

[RedBema]

Well said Khatib.

 

[grim4o4]

I completely agree Khatib.

I'd like to add to my last post that it's still partially about luck and knowing how to gear over being skilled. If I remember correctly on the tournament realm the player doesn't have access to everything, only pvp items. I know there are a few mutilate rogues out there who still use the trinket from zg, they aren't being represented. There are also people who use tier 6 pieces and warglaives to give them the edge, they aren't be represented either.

It's still all about the RNG as well, you could be the best warrior ever, if you miss a few key imp hamstring procs or mace stuns, you'll probably lose.

Overall I think it's a good opportunity for those that want to test their skill, but it's still a little biased contest wise.

 

[Zavien]

It sucks ass. Hmmm, $20 for a souped-up PvP PTR without real duration, I'd rather spend the money on a couple sixers of Guinness.

Really, WoW PvP sucks ass anymore. Imo, resilience ruined PvP, along with their shitty Arena point rewards system. Every other 5s seems to be 4 S3 geared pricks dinging up some asshole who just dropped 5k gold for points, and their Arena matching method means our team of half-S1/half-PVe geared-bastards is generally raped by guys way above our calibre.

What really irritates me is that the T6-T6.5 gear doesn't have the same allure as it did, really needs resilience if they're going to keep that stat. It used to be, some prick in full T3 was the cat's ass, due to the fact that a) He really had to earn that set, and b) Nothing else fully matched it. The argument that to get S3 requires skill is pretty much moot, what with point-selling, etc. Don't see many raiding guilds selling spots in Sunwell Plateau....

/endrant....if I don't make much sense I'm sorry, been up at work for 32 hours, and this Tournament Realm irritates me...need more RockStar

P.S. Amen on turning an MMORPG into an FPS; if I wanted that I'd log and play UT3

 

[grim4o4]

I think the change to pvp was necessary, poorly executed, but necessary. Just because someone can raid, it doesn't take that much skill honestly, if you have a 70 and play decent amount you can be geared for raids, but I digress. Just because someone can raid doesn't mean they have a right to everything else the game offers.

Raiders used to be amazing in pve, farming, soloing quests, and any pvp. It was biased, people that raided didn't have to worry about taking the time to get pvp, because anything they got wasn't going to be nearly as good as what they had.

So like I said, it was a necessary change to keep the game balanced, I think they could have done it in a different way(I'm not being paid enough to think of any) but I do think it helped pvp. Hopefully Blizzard will get rid of the win trading teams that are ruining arena, they seem to be working on it.