Blizzard Announces Season 4 Rating Requirement On All Gear
Ever since the arena system was first implemented, players have complained about the ease in which the gear was obtained. Any player, theoretically speaking, could lose 10 matches a week and still end up with a full set of epic gear that they didn’t “earn” (the merits of “earning” in this case are a bit fuzzy). To combat this, Blizzard first introduced a rating requirement on the top season weapons and shoulder pieces as well. This meant that only teams of a certain caliber had access to that firepower. As the season’s have progressed, however, Blizzard has looked to tighten the reins on the ease in which players can get current season gear. In it’s latest change, Blizzard announced that all pieces of the Season 4 Arena Set will require a substantial team rating or you won’t be able to use it at all. As per Drysc, a Blizzard CM:
” Yes, the Season 3 honor items will still be available for purchase without a rating requirement after Season 4 starts.
There will be two sets of “non-set” items once Season 4 begins. The Season 4 honor items (boot/belt/bracer/etc) some of which will require a rating, and the Season 3 items (boot/belt/bracer/etc) which still won’t require any rating.
Just to sum up, when Season 4 begins:
Season 1 honor set: Removed
Season 2 arena set: Moved to honor, no rating requirement
Season 3 non-set honor items: Staying
Season 3 arena set: Arena rating and cost requirements lowered
Season 4 non-set honor items: Added with rating requirement
Season 4 arena set: Added to Arena with increased rating requirement”
Whether this puts Warcraft on a slippery slope in terms of locking out a large portion of the playerbase to upgraded pvp gear I don’t know, it’s much too early to tell. On one hand the best of the best should have access to the best pvp gear, but on the other it purposely creates a system of haves and have nots. No matter how you slice it, getting totally destroyed in pvp with no chance of beating your opponent because he has gear you simply can’t get access to if you tried may revert the game to the way it was pre-expansion. Many were on the verge of quitting at that point, but the previous season gear will still be available, so we’ll have to see how it all plays out.
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