Posted by ReDDoT in Blue Milk & Cereal | 18 Comments
Blue Milk & Cereal: Do You Want Arena PvP in TOR?
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Regardless of whether you are a big fan of eSports or not – you have to agree that, ideally, an MMO game should appeal to various play styles and varying needs of those players. It is my own belief that, out of all genres, the MMO genre is the hardest to develop in a fair and balanced way. It is even harder to maintain that balance with constant updates and expansions, which are also a “golden standard” of an MMO game.
When Blizzard added the arena PvP system to World of Warcraft, it gave the game a breath of fresh air and elevated World of Warcraft into the scene of competitive eSports, giving the game a lot of new publicity and attracting more players that were seeking this kind of challenge
There is an ongoing discussion on the official forums about the community opinion on arena PvP in Star Wars: The Old Republic, and many people seem to be against seeing this kind of action in TOR. Primarily, it seems to be the claim that arena gameplay has ruined the PvP/PvE balance of World of Warcraft. However, it is also my personal belief that a failure of one development team should not prevent another development team from implementing a work-around the balancing. Simply put – the more bells and whistles TOR has – the larger the crowd that will be attracted, which spells a successful MMO, from which we will all benefit.
What is your opinion on this matter? Would you like to see an arena-PvP system in TOR? We know arenas already have precedence from KoTOR. Let us know your thoughts!
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I just don’t think you can ever achieve 1 on 1 class balance that doesn’t wreck other parts of the game. So no.
Why not?
Just keep two systems separate. Once you load into arena, you’re balanced one way.
Once you’re out, you’re back to PvE balance.
No that’s exactly the kind of problem that compounds that we should avoid. Why have separate rule sets, gear, and stats for different parts of the game? We may as well be playing different games.
So assuming they can use the same stat pool and sets of abilities, no matter if you’re n an arena or a raid, then fine – but 1v1 balance will never be achievable that way.
why avoid that when it will bring good balance to both aspects of the game?
excluding arena because of the 1v1 balance issue is never the way out, its just the lazy approach.
Arena was never really appealing to me, plus now you would have to choose your spec and ac for pvp and pvp only, or even spec more for survivability, the huge battles is more appealing to me.
Well, SW genre has both duels and huge battles. It even has stuff in between. If BW is taking its cue from the movies (which seems to be a trend) then the idea of duelling is just as valid as huge battles.
Personal taste and genre aside, game balance is key. This is the kind of thing that I believe is appropriate to consider as an expansion. Why? Because there’s value in seeing how what you’ve got works now. Lots of bells and whistles may be good for getting more people on board, but garbage features rushed out the door don’t keep players either. If you’re going to do it, do it right. And doing it right will undoubtedly benefit from having lots of baseline data on the PvP experience following launch.
And at that point, we can all talk about this with a solid understanding of what PvP in SWTOR, how it actually works, and what we would like to see different. I’m not against PvP arenas, just poorly implemented features. And thankfully, BW seem to agree with me.
Although I checked yes I am pretty torn on this. While I love going 2v2 with a good buddy of mine. I don’t think is a good idea to make that style of combat the main way to get the best pvp gear. I certainly would much rather see something like rated BGs instead in ToR, and that be the main way to acquire the best pvp gear.
I think it would be okay if there were arena, but Bioware has to understand that balancing for arenas will hurt the balance of PvE. Everyone wants to feel overpowered, and it’s a lot easier to do that in PvE then PvP.
I think the solution is for Bioware to make arenas, and not balance for them. Or, some form of what ReDDoT said, to have two different balances.
Arena? No. Rated Battlegrounds? Yes, please!
What he said.
Some say it gave WoW a breath of fresh air. Instead it killed off complete piles of content. It made people regard all PvP as a matter of Arena. It became the standard. Everything else was just a tool to do Arenas.
Arena was Blizzard’s solution to having shitty pvp. Good pvp, even Warhammer PvP, doesn’t need arenas.
Arena will be a must have to gain more customers. It works with the IP as well… there are arenas in SW so why not allow players to do it too. 4v4 would be cool. For balance issues they need to balance PvE around PvP and its all good not the other way around. Spec wise they said that there will be no pvp spec and if there were any difference it would be around 2%
“They” are right and arena did ruin WoW’s pvp game. The problem was that not everyone could get into arena’s (friends didn’t play or they weren’t good in that “type” of pvp). Also the gear was way above better that than you could get in the BG’s, making those who could only get gear from BG’s crushed anytime arena geared folks came in. I would NOT want an arena type system as they have it in WoW. If however they had the same gear available for people who do warzones (you may just have to grind longer to get it)I’m fine with doing it that way.
I voted no, but i have thought about it more and have a compromise.
I would happily accept arenas in SWTOR if they offer no tangible rewards. Title? Fine. Mount? Sure. Armor and other gear? NO!
That way the Warzones become the primary form of PvP for reward, based on demonstrating your ability to work well with others to achieve goals and destroy your enemies. For those who enjoy small-scale esports, arenas would still exist. Titles could be implemented to show off how amazing you are in such an environment, but the devs would never have to balance for arenas.
If some classes are unbalanced in those smaller situations, it wouldn’t matter, since no gear or other major rewards would be on the line. Arenas as a concept didn’t destroy PvP in WoW. The use of arenas as the sole method for receiving the best PvP gear in the game did that. Just my two credits.
I agree. As I said before there should be arena type esport and I also agree that warzones should be the primary source for PvP gear. I wont claim to be a top PvPer and I prefer WZs (BGs, WFs) whatever you call them. There are a lot of people out there that like to prove thier edominance thru arenas and they should be able too. Besides the first person that calls SWTOR a PvE game will be fed to a Sarlacc!
I agree as well. PvP to give those interested something to do on a Wednesday night. Maybe even give them a PvP “ranking system” of some sort, but no loot or monetary rewards.
Warzones should be the primary source of PvP? Really?
From what we have heard there are going to be a grand total of 3 Warzones at launch. Now call me crazy, but that doesn’t sound like a lot to me, especially when Warhammer Online had 3 scenarios (their version of Warzones) for just the first 11 levels!
I want more from my PvP than just Warzones. I want much more. The information we have about Warzones so far is very promising and exciting, but for a player like me who is more interested in PvP content than Raiding, 3 Warzones will not be enough.
There is far more to a good PvP experience than just Scenarios and Arenas. When are we going to hear more about these fabled lakes? They sound far more interesting to me than Warzones or Arenas!
To sum up – I don’t really want Arenas and I’m excited about Warzones, but it’s not enough. Let’s hear about PvP Lakes!
Blizzard has come right out and said that arena play was the biggest mistake they made in terms of trying to enhance WoW. No other game since has implemented an arena system since that debacle and Bioware would be wise to avoid even toying with the idea. Rated BG’s as well as Wintergrasp/Tol Barad type combat would enhance the game as well.
Not at launch. I’d rather see a robust, meaningful form of open-world PvP, something to set the game apart from WoW and attract the players who felt let down by WAR and AoC.
Sure it won’t be as large or dedicated as in those games, but by providing it in some form, Bioware would still please players like myself who thrive on organised open world PvP.
Should they implement it later? Maybe, but not as the “dedicated PvP experience”. Bring it in as a flavouring thing and continue to work on Warzones and open-world PvP.