My a solution to save Arena

I am no game developer, but for what its worth I have been a loyal World of Warcraft pvper since original Vanilla when there was only Battlegrounds available. Since then I have grown to love World of warcraft with all the good times, friends made along the way and memories from this game. I genuinely want to see the game in its best state possible, especially with its unique pvp. I know Blizzard has a huge focus on earning money (like most companys) but I firmly believe in quality over quantity, and that quality in the long run outperforms quantity economicly when it comes to Wow as a game.

The most important addition to the pvp scene in today’s Wow is definatly a properly working Solo que system, that being said, its NOT this current Alpha version called Solo shuffle. Blizzard has probably at some point tried to address the issues mentioned in the previous post without a sufficient solution, and given up. This is completely understandable because there are probably no easy fix for these issues in its current state. In this case Blizzard has to treat the root of the problems, rather than trying to treat the sympthoms. And in my opinion, the issue that needs fixing is the core of the feature itself, Solo shuffle. As Solo shuffle is today I dont see any great solutions to said issues, sure there might be some band-aid solutions here and there to ease the pain a little bit, but in the end of the day the issues are too severe and wont be fixed. I believe its time for Blizzard to admit that the feature Solo shuffle is flawed in its very core and needs a complete rework OR just remove it entirely.

Here is my suggestion:

Either remove Solo shuffle entirely or just keep it as a “for fun” brawl game mode for honor farming without a competitive ladder and leave it as is. Now instead focus on integrating a functioning Solo AND Duo que system for normal 3vs3 arena. Add a filter option to arena where you can filter out maybe 1 - 3 classes you dont wish to get paired with and create an “Avoidlist” option where you can add players you dont wish to get paired with. I roughly estimate this will improve/fix close to 75% - 80% of the current issues that Solo shuffle has. I will also add here to do the exact same for the 2vs2 format and restructure the reward system for both 2vs2 and 3vs3 bracket with new achievements and rewards.

Here are the issues for solo shuffle mentioned above compared to the 3vs3 bracket:

• General bugs (Environmental bugs, lobbys closing before they are finished, both teams ending up in the same starting room etc)

  The current normal 3vs3 format is already well established and doesnt have any of these issues. Known issues such as disconnecting on mind control or falling through the environment with fear pathing overruling game texture remains, but these issues have been around for decades and doesnt have anything to do with Solo shuffle spesifically.

• Que times up to an hour (Consistently 30 minutes) for DPS cause of lack of healers.

  This issue gets fixed immediately and will also improve que times in general. Today’s 3vs3 queue time is everything between instantly and 2 - 3 minutes depending on what mmr and time of day it is. On the highest Mmr there can be 5 - 10 minutes queue due to lack of natural inflation. However if the pvp playerbase is not split between shuffle and 3vs3 and solvely on 3vs3 as the only competetive bracket with the Solo and Duo que option (Solo shuffle removed, OR is just a for fun gamemode without a competetive ladder) then the playerbase will automaticly be united under the same Pvp umbrella and improve natural inflation and activity.

• Mmr issues (Mmr not moving up, causing no inflation and creates a feeling of making no progress)

  This issue is mostly tied to current day Solo shuffle and is not affecting 3vs3 as severely. Uniting the pvp playerbase will mean more players in normal 3vs3 will cause increased healthy competition and naturally inflate the ladder.

• Mmr distribution

  Mmr distribution in the normal 3vs3 format is completely different from Solo shuffle, and does not have the same issues.

• Rating distribution

  Rating distribution in the normal 3vs3 format is completely different from Solo shuffle, and does not have the same issues.

• Players ending up on Mmr above or below their appropriate skill level due to the nature of the system

  This is not an issue in the normal 3vs3 format. However the Solo shuffle format makes it so there are too many factors outside of your control that can make you win or lose the game.

• An unhealthy way to learn pvp

  This issue will partly be solved. The most obvious reason is that Solo shuffle has a very toxic environment due to the design of the system being flawed itself. Most of the time it brings out more frustration from players than joy, which then gets cycled onto other players and it keeps going. It creates an “every man for themselves” mentality completely devoid of teamplay. Because of this there will be a far bigger risk of developing bad habits, and a lower chance of realising these bad habits. Essentially you as a new player will learn to become “bad” at pvp. But If a new player wants to learn pvp, the normal 3vs3 format with integrated Solo and duo que is more likely to team this player up with other players of equal experience, and surely it will be a better learning experience and a better, healthier way of being introduced to pvp.

• Abusing the Mmr system (Leaving the lobby without finishing and only lose rating but not losing Mmr)

  This is not an issue with the normal 3vs3 format in the same way as shuffle. There is an ongoing problem with high rated players dropping their mmr to sell boosts for the Gladiator title, but this is a separate issue thats been around for years and needs a different solution.

• Intentional griefing

  This will be fixed - its not an issue in today’s normal 3vs3 format, and if by chance it happens you can use the “Avoid” option I mentioned earlier and add that player’s name to avoid getting paired in the future.

• Wintrading

  This is one of the worst issues in today’s pvp environment both in Solo shuffle and in normal 3vs3. The only way to fix this issue is for Blizzard to strictly enforce their rules with a zero tolerance policy and put inn time and effort to restore integrity to wowpvp. There is no quickfix for this, and will be a longterm investment for Blizzard to secure the quality and integrity of the game, which will be worth it in the long run.

• Cheating (bug abusing, Botting, Third party programs)

  This is the second biggest issue of today’s pvp scene. Players are not afraid of getting punished anymore due to Blizzard’s lack of enforcing rules in their TOS, and blatantly uses any cheat. bug or unfair advantage they can find to win. This also needs to have a Zero tolerance policy even if its hard to proove.

  I will also add another point here. I think that if anyone gets caught heavily harassing someone with clear hostile intent they should immediately get IP banned from the game. Its the least Blizzard can do to maintain a healthy environment for their players.

• Abusing the report system to get players banned by Blizzard’s automatic ban system.

  This issue will be partly fixed, and by partly I mean this. The normal 3vs3 format does not have this issue, however if Solo and Duo que options gets integrated for normal 3vs3 then this issue could integrate as well, but I would imagine on a much smaller scale than today’s Solo shuffle.

  I will also add an unrelated issue which I think not only the pvp community, but the entire wow community would appreciate - We need REAL humans on costumer support that we can talk to about tickets and bans etc. It seems to me like this department has become collateral damage in the process of trying to save money by Blizzard, but unfortunately its again damaging the quality of the costumer support to the point of a non functioning system. I understand trying out automated solutions, but if it does not work then try something else - or revert back to whats working.

• Dividing the pvp playerbase between 2 or more gamemodes where 1 gamemode doesnt have an entrance barrier to play.

  This issue will be solved. I believe the only reason players are currently leaning towards Solo shuffle rather than the normal 3vs3 format is due to the easy access and no effort needed to find partners to play, instead of going through the LFG tool to find partners they can que up immediately. However if the 3vs3 format also has this option and the enterance barrier removed with Solo and Duo que options integrated my guess is that people will lean towards the normal 3vs3 format. This will cause the majority of the pvp community to have 3vs3 as their main source of arena rather than spreading us thin among different gamemodes.

Conclusion: The normal 3vs3 format is the optimal choice with much better functioning and established format which should be the main bracket for pvp.