Planning out Arena Gear Purchases:

Cel · 05/07/07, 12:21 AM

What is the time table for when the Arena Gear 2.0 is supposed to come out? I want to know whether I should save my points or pick up more gear next recalculation.

Can't seem to find any information posted anywhere. :[

Keline · 05/07/07, 5:58 AM

There is no timetable, we currently have to plan our gear with zero information.

Vanadi · 05/07/07, 6:25 AM

I believe a gm somewhere said they would announce 1 month before the season ends, although I dont hold there word on that im pretty sure the season end wont be before patch 2.1. Luckily im making 1.4k points a week so not much planning required for me but I still find it quite annoying they havent announced a date.

Drully · 05/07/07, 6:31 AM

Originally Posted by Vanadi

I believe a gm somewhere said they would announce 1 month before the season ends, although I dont hold there word on that im pretty sure the season end wont be before patch 2.1. Luckily im making 1.4k points a week so not much planning required for me but I still find it quite annoying they havent announced a date.

I heared rumors like that too, but they only concerned the end of the season. But I am not so sure if season 2 will bring arena gear 2.

Kaelissa · 05/07/07, 9:58 AM

I think it would be kind of bogus if they allowed Season 1 points to buy Season 2 gear.

Shade · 05/07/07, 10:02 AM

I think that will almost certainly be allowed. That's why they let you store up to 5k points.

Myonax · 05/07/07, 10:06 AM

There is no reason they wouldn't allow season 1 points to buy season two gear. Arena gear progression follows pve gear progression. The gear and points you already got will help you in season 2 progress to get better gear. The assumption among my friends is that when the T6 equivalent gear comes out, the T5 equivalent gear will still be on the vendor and the T6 gear will be 20-50% more expensive in points. This would make it so 1500 teams would have to save up for 10 weeks to get one piece of T6 and 2200 teams would take 2-3 weeks.

Kaelissa · 05/07/07, 10:23 AM

The reason it seems kind of bad, in my eyes, is that it basically gives a huge advantage to teams that are already doing well, and means that new players/characters joining subsequent Seasons will be squashed almost immediately.

If there's no "stop" point to the seasons there isn't a lot of point to them at all. In sports, a team that won 100% of its games the previous year doesn't automatically make it to the World Series (etc) the next season. Moreover, the WORST performing teams get the top draft picks, not the best teams.

Keline · 05/07/07, 10:33 AM

There is a reason these teams are doing well, and it was not because they had a gear advantage 3 months ago when it started. So I don't really see the problem

Myonax · 05/07/07, 10:42 AM

Originally Posted by Kaelissa

The reason it seems kind of bad, in my eyes, is that it basically gives a huge advantage to teams that are already doing well, and means that new players/characters joining subsequent Seasons will be squashed almost immediately.

If there's no "stop" point to the seasons there isn't a lot of point to them at all. In sports, a team that won 100% of its games the previous year doesn't automatically make it to the World Series (etc) the next season. Moreover, the WORST performing teams get the top draft picks, not the best teams.

And Nihlim and other top raiding guilds will not progress through black temple and Hyjal faster because of their massive gear advantage?

Kaelissa · 05/07/07, 10:56 AM

You are not competing against other players in PvE.

Hey, it's Blizzard's game and I understand the desire for loot, but from my position as a bit of an also-ran in both PvE and PvP, it seems kind of demoralizing to realize that I'm starting off in the back of the pack even at the beginning of a new season.

The "seasons" in other Blizzard games like WC3, Starcraft, and Diablo all don't have carry-overs from previous seasons...

Keline · 05/07/07, 10:58 AM

Of course you're in direct competition with other players in PVE. Do you not think that the #1 position on a server gives you a serious recruiting advantage?

Maligne · 05/07/07, 11:03 AM

Keep in mind that the season two gear will probably only be a few stat points better than season one gear. The days of the monumental gear jumps are over. Like others have said - skill is what gets these teams where they are. Having 10 more budget points at the beginning of season two won't change much.

XI- · 05/07/07, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by Kaelissa

The reason it seems kind of bad, in my eyes, is that it basically gives a huge advantage to teams that are already doing well, and means that new players/characters joining subsequent Seasons will be squashed almost immediately.

If there's no "stop" point to the seasons there isn't a lot of point to them at all. In sports, a team that won 100% of its games the previous year doesn't automatically make it to the World Series (etc) the next season. Moreover, the WORST performing teams get the top draft picks, not the best teams.

The point to season is for people to progress to the regional tournaments, award netherdrakes, etc. The problem with the idea of "resets" is this. Let's say you're a 1700 team. You've been working all season but 1700 is your limit. Let's say 1700 gives 500 arena points a week.

Now we reset everyone back to 1500. Now you have to play 2000+ rating teams, who are clearly out of your league, but you lose points as though they were a true 1500 rating. Now this knocks you down to 1300 rating for the first 2-3 weeks until these teams stratify themselves again, thus for 2-3 weeks you only got 200 arena points instead of 500. And now you have to slowly progress back up to the rating you were at last season. Does it still seem like a good idea to reset the ladder?

Humbaba · 05/07/07, 11:23 AM

You can start season 2 at 1500, drop to 1300 over 2 weeks while the teams stratify and then start a new team and be at 1500 again. It's not great, but there's really no "working your way up" if you're below 1500.