PvP "Game-Mode" Restrictions Need to Go (Prestige + Rated)

#1 - April 12, 2016, 12:06 a.m.
Blizzard Post
I am honestly so disappointed in the PvP dev team right now it's impossible to properly convey it into words.

As somebody who has been doing PvP almost exclusively (I pug PvE) for close to 2 years now - I feel that the direction you guys are going with in regards to prestige and rated are going to further damage the game's ingenuity, competitiveness and overall fun.

Not too long ago it was stated that it is intended that you pick between having to grind and reset Prestige and do Rated.
This has been on my mind for weeks and I've almost entirely stopped playing live and stopped testing Alpha before properly starting because being told exactly how I should be able to play is ridiculous - especially as somebody who once enjoyed doing 3s and RBGs who swapped over to playing casually. I am punished for wanting to do every aspect of PvP? For wanting to grind between the occasional queue session?

I want to go into detail before I go as to why this is a huge concern and why I believe this needs to be talked about.
Do note all statistics will be from the US servers for my own sanity.

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The lack of players doing rated right now is alarming.
There are currently 61,043 players at the time of this post viable for Challenger.
872 viable for Gladiator.

This is very concerning as the entire health of a ladder is dictated by how many people are playing.
We've lost a very large chunk of the arena player-base due to several issues which have been covered in other threads. The main concern now is putting more bodies on that ladder for a combination of having a "low end" on the ladder, the reward system being fair and the "other issues" and comp diversity to name a few.

While steps have been made to entice folks who aren't as interested in arenas anymore to queue up - it just simply hasn't been enough to offset.

At this point we do not need restrictions/gates for people to queue on equal footing.
We do not need people to feel - no - actually choose how they PvP, either.

"When players are offered two paths they'll usually always take the one with the least resistance."


Prestige is easy access.
Rated will have a gate that prevents you from working on prestige.

Outside the folks who only enjoy arenas - who is going to actively queue? What about this new system is going to bring us fresh blood or bring back former players? Because as somebody who has been very loyal to this game - it's drove me away.
Do not tell me to do rated on an alt. This is an RPG and needing an alt to do an entire game-play mode is ridiculous.

Higher iLevel gear is now also being given out to folks with higher rated and I am now needing to either do Mythic raiding or Rated to get gear to be on an equal footing - even with the WoD scaling system on live right now.

I thought we were doing away with gear for PvP?
So I'm not allowed to Prestige at all until I get to a certain rating and then I have to sit if I want to do a third element of PvP? Yikes.

I am now torn as a player who loves spamming random battlegrounds, doing w-pvp and previously rated about what exactly I can do to the point I simply do not wish to play at all.

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Solution?

Let the two systems work together.

The grind to get to 50 should still exist in my honest opinion, but once you've unlocked all your honor talents once - you have those talents. Even if it's just for rated I'll be happy and I'm sure several other people will be.
I can deal with the resets in more causal play because losing doesn't matter as much when there's nothing on the line but pride. (The "gear is locked to rated" complaint no longer replies because anybody can do rated at this point.)

If you guys seriously have 0 widdle-room in regards to the talent thing - please allow those who do not want to do rated a chance for gear if they're dedicated.
In regards to the "gear attached to rated" - allow people at the highest tiers of prestige a chance to unlock some higher ilevel pvp gear from strongboxes. (Not with the elite set appearance - that should be a rated only thing.)

Heck.
Do both.
Let people play as they wish.
Please do not restrict access to rated and go back on values that have been worked upon for the past 2 expansions.

There are other things that I feel can be done to improve activity on the rated ladder but this is the one thing I feel will actually damage the game's rated and wpvp scene.

I thought I'd be able to go into further detail and stuff but I'm so upset about this (alongside the pruning) I've just simply stopped caring.

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Update:
https://twitter.com/Muffinus/status/720353265141985280

wPvP is confirmed to be an organized thing in Legion.
This brings up my concerns even further about the gear. Nobody should be conflicted as to what they want to do and feel like they have an extreme disadvantage for playing the way they want.
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Game Designer
#31 - April 18, 2016, 9:58 p.m.
Blizzard Post
We aren't planning any changes to how Honor Talents and Prestige work in Ranked Play. The cost and conflict is intentional. It's important that in order for Prestige levels to feel prestigious, there is a high cost to doing it. You do not have to Prestige. There is no competitive advantage to doing it. There are rewards but they are entirely cosmetic. If you see someone with a high Prestige level, we want you to know they went through a lot to get it.