The reward system - WoW PvP
The next step to improve current and new player’s pvp experience is to give them something to play for, a proper and sophisticated reward system. In my opinion the current reward system in WoW PvP is severely lacking and outdated in both structure and rewards. I think a good reward system works as a visual indicator for the player to keep track of their improvement and have a carrot to chase which is a huge part of why players keep playing. Because rewards works as a sort of confirmation and visual proof that you’ve both improved and reached a goal. For this to happen the rewards needs to be a certain range between eachother, but also not too far away so it feels within reach of each goalpost to the player.
Diversity and creativity between the rewards is also important, if the reward at the next goalpost is just a recolor of the same transmog you just obtained it might not feel as a real milestone to reach. Right now the reward system in retail WoW is cathering to casuals in something that feels like a desperate attempt from blizzard to bribe players to play PvP. Most of the rewards worth getting are available between 1000k - 2350 and players know if they just wait until blizzard does an artificial MMR injection between mid-end season to inflate the ladder those rewards will be easily obtainable with minimum effort. Because of this a lot of players who blizzard is cathering to that only wants the rewards actually doesnt play before the season reach this point, then they grab their transmog, mounts and Gladiator title and stop playing PvP afterwards. Part of the reason players stop after this is because there are no decent, creative rewards between Gladiator and the seasonal rank 1 title and this is creating a massive gap in the reward system which discourages players to keep playing after they achieved Gladiator. Blizzard made Gladiator easily achieveable to attract new players to PvP, but ended up giving it away basicly for free through inflation and thus removed the new player’s motive to keep playing and get better for a prestigous challenging reward. Now you might ask yourself “but why doesnt the players keep playing pvp after they achieved Gladiator just for the fun of it”. The answer is quite simple, its because these players are still not remotely good at the game even after getting Gladiator. Blizzard removed the grinding and selfimprovement factor which is what makes any game fun and worth playing. This is why getting these rewards through inflation late season only feels like a chore to players that they will do once and be done with it, instead of playing pvp for the love of the game and getting the rewards as a bonus for being good at the game.
Conclusion: Easily gained rewards are actually not fun obtaining. Being good at the game and getting rewarded = Fun. Being Bad a the game and getting rewarded = Way less fun.
Let me know what you think about this in the comments below!