Wednesday, September 25, 2013

What will Arenas mean for Warzones?

Coming soon to SWTOR (October 1st!) are Arenas.  These are 4 vs 4 matches which feature a 'smart queuing' feature.  They are different than warzones, which are 8 vs 8 and often feature objectives instead of the Arena style deathmatch.

So what will happen to the warzone queue once arenas are live?  I think it will mean bad news for warzones.  If I learned one thing from Warhammer Online, players would rather fight than wait around.  The arenas will pop faster because they only require 4 vs 4.  The smart queue mechanism will also make the matches more 'fair' by trying to ensure even roles.

There is some hope warzones though, mainly in the form of Huttball. With a new version on the way (datamined) they provide a unique experience.  I do enjoy Huttball more so than the other warzones, but sadly there is no way to queue just for certain matches.

Me, I'll probably end up queuing just for Ranked Warzones.  They should be quick to pop, and quick to finish.  That's just what I am looking for from instanced PvP these days.  We'll see if that lasts though.  When you add a ranked component to the matches players tend to take things much more seriously.  And by seriously, I mean they can become unbearable trolls.  That was never really a problem in regular warzones, so they have that going for them.