So what did you think of the Arena test?

[PugilistPete]

I liked it.

Finally, a stand-out competition mode.

They definitely need to remove the mobs, and chests, no looting at all.

The reward for Arena should be ranking, and ranking should include teams that can be created and joined akin to a 'Religion' or 'Clan'. Maybe they can add additional motivators like end-of-month team\ranking rewards or something.

There should be no kit loss, but I think we could live with the "only loot found by you" requirement as it drives us into the dungeon and works quite well with kit-building.

Arena should be about build + skill keeping the dungeon elements separate.

Potions of Protection need to go on sale via a Merchant to help feed into Arena.

A problem I see is that Arena and Dungeon will occupy the same space for competition play, rankings are for the Dungeon and soon Arena rankings will appear, and it'll bring into question where the PvP should really be focused on, Arena or the Dungeon.

It pretty much looks like Arena will become a permanent feature, and i'm looking forwards to how it develops. It'd be a great way to expand the games feature-set by including things like objective-based Arena maps, rather than just Team Deathmatch round-based which is what we just saw, lots of growth in the feature and knock-on effect back into the core of the game, it could even lead to a rethink on the dungeon's purpose?

[Falagor]

So when there was info about religion and arena comming i was excited and hopefull about religion system and very sceptical about incoming arena.

To my surprise:
- i was let down with religion
- and pleasantly surprised by the arena

Things i like about it;
1) (most important) it is FUN. Adrenaline from fighting others with no risk of loosing equipement is a big plus. Few potions and arrows are worth the rush. First round when you see what segment it is and what composition enemy has - feels like great scouting experience. And following rounds are adjusting tactics:
- should we get high ground fast or take it slow and get rid of close mobs first
- should we rush them because they are mainly range or should we turtle up and protect our mage against rouges and barbs

2) It allows me and my friends to train fighting in formation and in different segments. Sure it is a bit different from fighting in normal maps because there is no element of surprise and there are many escape/flanking routes in normals but still - training pvp is good.

3) the fact you don't loose self found/crafted gear is great. Now when finiding better gear in normal maps gives this feeling of really upgrading something permanently in one part of the game (untill now the rule was "it's not your gear, it's just your turn" and finding something good was much less exciting knowing that you could get similar thing easily from auction). Sure some will not like it because this forces min-maxing to some extent but then it also gives sense of progression.

4) I see people do not like mobs in the arena. Personally i like them and they can be part of the tactic vs enemy team and give small bit of chaos into the fight. But i get that for some it might be against pure pvp.

5) Looting. This is kinda messed up. I heard the loot is improved there but personally i got no luck with anything good. And time after killing enemies allowss opening mayby one box so i skipped this aspect at some point. To me it seems it should be either removed or added few extra seconds after the fight to extend it - in current state it is on the edge and not really my thing (i came here to fight and not get another green lightfoots, right?)

Overall i love it :)

[PugilistPete]

Well said,

1 - It really is fun!
2. Brings a new dynamic to the game, building off of what is already there, clever
3. They just made the gear-system mean something more than just find, use and eventually lose
4. Yeah I don't like them but its not a hill I'd die on if they were kept, maybe the boss-type enemies should be removed
5. Exactly, i'd like the Dungeon to feed Arena and not the other way around, or have it become bi-directional, nothing found or gained in Arena

Give it 2 years and this game is going to shine I'm sure of it. They just need to keep a good firm grip on the games sanity as they load it up with radical features.

[PugilistPete]

Oh and Arena adds or brings e-Sport to the game.

Competitions between teams fully kitted out, when the balancing has settled down, yeah its going to be amazeballs!

[Falagor]

Originally posted by MadMax:

Oh and Arena adds or brings e-Sport to the game.

Competitions between teams fully kitted out, when the balancing has settled down, yeah its going to be amazeballs!

True!

[Major Lee Ree]

It was fun but i still hate that there are mobs the only class benefiting from the mobs is warlock and a good warlock doesn't need to heal from mobs for free

[Falagor]

Originally posted by Red iKnight:

It was fun but i still hate that there are mobs the only class benefiting from the mobs is warlock and a good warlock doesn't need to heal from mobs for free

Try wizard or rogue agroing everything, going near enemy spawn and poping invis and see the panic in enemy eyes - so not only warlocks but yes they benefit the most.

[m]

Looting in arena was unexpected and proved to be an extremely nice reward, though it led to some toxic gameplay (keep one guy alive, kite him around, lock him rooms, etc) to maximize loot.

I think there should just be a big chest (singular) in each module. If you win, give the winners enough time to loot the chest at the end. Keep the looting, its fun and nice to be able to gear up in arena if you win -- but abandon the current toxic loot meta probably. Or not. Or add more mini bosses, more chests, and go wild. Either is fine for me.