Jan 26, 2012

Posted by in Blue Milk & Cereal | 14 Comments

Blue Milk & Cereal: Should There Be PvP Arenas In TOR?

No day would be complete without the breakfast of Jedi: Blue Milk & Cereal.  Every morning, the team at Ask A Jedi will get Force-induced thoughts coursing through your head with delicious issues from around the galaxy! Join in the discussion below to make your voice heard!

Editor’s Note: Today’s topic is pulled from the Blue Milk & Cereal historical archives. Certain things we asked “back then” have different context now, so it’s fun to see if responses have changed! You can find the original poll here.

PvP: some people love it. Some people hate it.  Pitting a small number of combatants head-to-head gives the developers an easier time of balancing player-versus-player combat by minimizing variables.  This small-scale combat can be intense and visceral. However, in a class-based game like an MMO, it can often be frustrating.

For me, arena PvP always turned into a flavor of the month-based game of rock-paper-scissors. Some months, your class will be the best in the game, but after they nerf it, you might as well reroll instead of PvP.  While these are exaggerative statements, when your class is out of favor with developers, it can be extremely difficult to do well in arena-based PvP. One overpowered class doesn’t pull nearly as much weight in large-scale battles like TOR’s Warzones.

Despite all these gameplay complaints based on my own opinion, arena-style PvP does have basis in Star Wars lore.  From the gladiatorial arenas on Geonosis to the one-versus-one battles on Taris in Knights of The Old Republic, small-scale battles have always had their place in Star Wars.

Do you think there should be arena-style PvP in TOR? Or do you think the large-scale battles of TOR’s Warzones capture the heroic battles of Star Wars well enough?

Should there be arena-style PvP in TOR?

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Taris Arena in KoTOR



  1. “Ladies and Gentlemen, draw your eyes to the center ring! We have a very special presentation in store for you…”

    ……..

    “And, to nobody’s great surprise, Deadeye is down again. Don’t worry, folks, he’s just unconscious. As usual. Our medics will have him up and about in a bit.”

    ……..

    Okay, maybe I played KOTOR a few too many times? (Is that even possible?)

  2. I know we shouldnt keep comparing this to WoW, but here I am, doing it again…Blizz developers have frequently stating the one regret they have about that game is introducing arena. The ballancing needed to keep that part of the game going is brutal and no doubt a massive headache for the team responsable.

    Personally, I’d rather have those developers not sidelined streamlining a minor part of this game for such a potentially small playerbase. If people want to 1vs1, they can go for it for all I care, but leave pvp as a team sport for now.

    • I really don’t care what Blizz says they regret. Ever expansion they put out the make claims of regret and turn their game systems upside down. One thing is for sure with Blizz, every expansion brings HUGE game system changes….they never get it right.

      However, I think that if SWTOR is going to have arenas, they need to have a dev blog that goes into detail about what their expectations and philosophy is towards SWTOR arenas. They need to spell out their philosphy towards balancing towards arenas. Will some AC’s be of more benefit..etc. Will the arenas only be 4v4, 3v3, 8v8..etc.

      • They need to add a special tree that anyone can have just for pvp- This way they can adjust/ balance those trees without effecting other player pve etc. Just my two cents :D

    • Mighty Age says:

      The problem with Arenas is that it will always unbalance PVE raids. If this is to be a PVP game then yes, Arenas need to be put in. If it is a PVE game with pvp options, then NO Arena.

      • Only if they balance the game around arenas. Again, dev philosphy in detail, in a dev post. They need to take a stance, explain it, and stand by it. Players don’t like that arenas favor certain classes…too bad…etc.

      • This. It already feels like they’re going to be balancing classes around PvP without any mind for the effect it will have PvE, as can be seen with the upcoming Scoundrel/Operative changes, and I can only see that worsening with the introduction of arenas. I don’t mind me some PvP, but imho, arenas were one of the worst things to happen to WoW.

  3. I gotta agree with the sentiment that balancing Arena against PVE Raids is tough and would probably take to much time from the developers. I’d rather see a more in depth warzone system. There is still balancing to be done but no where near as much as with 2v2 or 3v3 arena. Dual specs would be needed to make it work correctly and to get maximum participation.

  4. Alexander says:

    easy !!! make a only arena talent tree problem solved !!

    (sorry my bad gramma and stuf)

  5. I’d much rather that they focus on the development and perfection of rated warzones. Arenas have such a tight focus on small, broken team compositions that emphasis on arena play can have undesirable effects on the rest of the pvp game. I like the idea in the long run, but only after Bioware is more experienced with pvp balancing and rated warzones are well established.

  6. Nothing against areana as long as it isnt the top teir of pvp content

  7. If Empire wants, Empire gets, so it will be in the game.

  8. NO arena or it will really be wow with lightsabers

  9. I would rather see them fix the existing broken systems in the game, and roll out things like Dual Speccing first.

    1v1 Arena’s would indeed be a nightmare to Balance. With systems like the Legacy System which *supposedly* will allow you to have certain special skills, it could help with balancing. With the Legacy system still IMO in the dev stages, it could also be made to greatly enhance certain skills or traits to your character from your other alts. Obviously we’ll have to wait and see what BW has in store for us regarding the legacy system.

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