The problem with 2v2 and 3v3 is this:
Before the nerf, there was an almost linear increase of arena points gained per rating, even in the very high areas (2500+). The arena point income of my 2v2 team would of course only go up by 70% of what a 5v5 team would gain per rating point, but at least there was a steady increase, and I was happy with that.

After the nerf, the AP gain/rating curve starts to flatten at a certain point, creating a softcap for point gain. And that cap is simply 30% lower for my 2v2 team.

This week, my 2v2 was rated 2255 (1054AP prenerf), my 5v5 that just started up 2 weeks ago for fun was at 1903 (898AP prenerf). I got the points from the 5v5. There is no reason to play my 2v2 anymore (except for the drake), the point gain per rating is just so marginal.

2v2 teams should earn less points than a 5v5 at the same rating for several reasons. I also agree that a softcap on AP gain was needed to prevent the top PvPers from getting their gear too fast. I just don't understand why this cap is 30% lower for 2v2 teams.

It is dramatically easier for certain combinations of classes to post 2200+ ratings in 2v2.

It is much, much more difficult to achieve that same rating in 5v5. I've always thought of 2v2s as more of a "fun" gimmick bracket. Nothing that should seriously earn anyone points above and beyond what even an average 5v5 would get you. The level of coordination isn't even in the same galaxy.

My guess is that it's more like "there is already a huge difference between 1800 and 2500r teams in skill, so why would 2500r team need so huge gear-lead on top of that"...

Point gains at high ratings were huge with the previous formula. It's not like you'd get an upgrade every week from raiding, but with 2400rating you used to get one from pvp.

As someone who just plays 10 games as a gimmick 2v2 team, there is not much of a change (~50 points), generally I would play a 3vs3 but the logistics of getting another team member and having them availible at the time is a lot larger than 2vs2.

Generally if people just "play to lose" to get an epic every 3 or 4 weeks they will have a big problem points wise and may have to work a lot more towards the items.

I am okay with the change but I am just on the trailing edge of losing points with my rating.

Regarding 5vs5 and 2vs2 and having to do worse, A 5vs5 team would have to have 1420 rating to have a similar amount of points as a 2vs2 team at 1600 points, with that rating they would probably have to win around 40% of games during the week so it is not that bad comparison wise

I disagree. While the level of coordination might be different, it was still harder to get the 2v2 to 2250 than the 5v5 to 1900. I feel this is mostly because my 5v5 simply beats the average guys, but for 2v2 we have to beat the inevitable tough match ups to maintain a high rating.

Blizzard could have just used slightly different AP/rating curves for 2v2 and 3v3. It should still cap lower than 5v5 of course, but not quite as low as it does now.

It seems very strange for them to implement this two weeks before the new season, since people were obviously making point spending decisions based on expected gains from the old formula and the announced time remaining.

Not entirely true. Rating point for rating point 2x2 is easier than 5x5 for several reason. Gimmick teams and point gaming are more effective in 2x2 but the biggest factor is the size of the pool. My BG has ~1400 5x5 teams and around 8k 2x2 teams. #1 in 2x2 is 2500+ but in 5x5 it's barely over 2300.

I agree that 2250 in 2's is harder than 1900 in 5's, but I think 2100 in 5's is roughly equal and maybe slightly harder to maintain than 2250 in 2's.

I dunno about you, but I was pretty much decked out in epics after a month and a half of raiding karazhan/gruul/mag. That is about the same time it'd take a top team to buy a full set of 1 type and weapon/wand etc. That there is so little incentive to go from say 2k to 2.5k now other than bragging rights is kind of dumb.

People went too 2,500 for the points? Chances are you had most of your gear by the time you reached the 2,250-2,400 range unless you were one of the small percentage of teams who got to 2,300+ in the first couple of weeks.

Will have to see what they do for S2 items, but unless we see something big I doubt it's going to turn into something where you have to have 5 pieces of Gladiator in 3 weeks or you can't compete.

Gotta bank up your 5k for the next season too :p

True, depends on when you reached 2k I haven't needed anything for the past 5 weeks even with getting basically everything including a 2H with only a 2k-2.1k rating.

Also had 3 weeks of warning though too, so you can still get around 3k-3.5k from that.

Errr, how is that different from what they said before? the 60% percentage reduction was specifically for that until everyone complained and they raised it to 70%.

The difference is that with the much flatter curve it becomes outright impossible for a 2v2 to earn more points than a decent 5v5. Before if you had a top ranked 2v2 and a just-for-fun 5v5, you would get points from your 2v2.

Going from 60% to 70% made the point gap smaller. But since at high levels the point gains were pretty much linear, that only affected how many more points you needed in your 2v2 to eclipse your 5v5. That is the gap went from say 400 to 300 (made up numbers) but the gap stayed approximately linear. Now they point gains have an upper bound. That is, no matter how high your 2v2 ranking is, if your 5v5 ranking is above a certain value the 5v5 will win out. Even if you miraculously managed to get to 2800 in 2v2 your 5v5 would still win. Meaning that for pure points acquisition, playing in 2v2 is pointless if you are on a decent 5v5. That is decidedly different from before.

I don't really mind the nerf. I don't like it, but the nerf itself does not bother me. What bothers me is changing the rules mid-game. You should not introduce new rules / policies until the new season starts. It's just not policy to modify things mid-stream.

Just because your good in 2v2 doesnt mean you can find a good 5v5.

I personally just arena with friends, and only a very small few are focused on arena.
I have a 2342 2v2 rating yet have not been able to find a (good) 5v5 team all season. Hence i was relying on my 2v2 team for points every week.

Not complaining about the change (simply means ill have to devote time finding a 5v5 team now for next season) but its people like myself that this change will effect most.

You need a 1900ish rating to get the same points from a 5v5 as you get from your 2v2. Are you telling me that there is no 1900 5v5 team on your server that would want a 2342 rated warlock? Or is it not more likely that you have a very high bar for "good" because you are spoiled by your 2v2 success? My 5v5 team is 1800-1900, and none of us are even remotely close to being 2300 skilled or geared. On top of that most of us are raiders and in different guilds so we have to schedule around that. If we can do it, so can you!

Speaking of 2.1 changes, what happened to the tornadoes in Nagrand, its now a turtle every single game and the first team to get bored loses.

Although through we found out you can climb up the poles in nagrand.

Less arena points per week and items costing more arena points. Just a way to make arena gear harder to obtain, to keep up with the same difficulty of tier 6?

Also, pole climbing, explain
Is it like wall jumping, or the same as jumping on top of the fountain in SW

I'm not sure about the exact spot, but you can jump up on the pillars in Nagrand and get to the small platform thats like 7-8 yards off the ground.

Pole jumping isn't new - Xahlior (?) the warrior did it in his 5v5 video awhile back.