With the first bit of
season 4 gear showing up in data mining sessions of the 2.4 patch, there's been some speculation that the season itself might be approaching. However, many people have argued that even if they do implement the gear, season 3 hasn't been around near long enough for it to be time for season 4. Drysc would seem to beg to differ. In a thread on the general forums asking about the start of season 4,
Drysc chimed in to say that seasons will tend to match PvE progression, with upgraded PvP sets to match. He said that with the Sunwell Plateau coming out, more PvP gear and a new season were an inevitability. He also mentioned that there's no set length to arena seasons, and that there's also the possibility of a new season with no new gear.
The idea of new gear for a new tier would make some sense and be in line with previous season debuts. After all, Season 2 coincided very closely with the release of the Black Temple, although there were a few extra weeks between the two, apparently mostly to give people advance warning to finish the race to Gladiator and try to assure the acquisition of a Netherdrake mount.
Of course, he didn't say officially or exactly what was going on, but the implication seems to be that with a new tier of progression in the form of the Sunwell Plateau, we should expect a new PvP season as well. It's not a given, but if you're a gambling type... you might consider saving some of those arena points for the patch.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
2-21-2008 @ 7:23AM
Jordrah said...
quote: After all, Season 3 coincided very closely with the release of the Black Temple
dont you mean season 2? i thought season 3 came out with ZA
Reply
2-21-2008 @ 7:36AM
Daniel Whitcomb said...
Ack, I think you may be right Jordrah. Thanks for catching that!
2-21-2008 @ 7:45AM
Tridus said...
Its true. Season *2* came out shortly after BT did. Originally the arena gear lagged PvE gear by one step because its so much easier to get.
But when no new raids came out after BT for months and months and months, Season 3 came out to equalize things.
Its too soon for Season 4, given that Season 3 isn't that old and we still have who knows how many months until WotLK. If Season 4 starts now, its either going to go all the way until the expansion release (which will be quite a while), or we're going to need a Season 5 wedged in there. That'd push PvP gear ahead of PvE gear in terms of item level.
2-21-2008 @ 7:45AM
ace danger said...
better welfare epics too? didn't I read that s2 would be made available in exchange for honor like s1 was when s3 came out?
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2-21-2008 @ 7:57AM
Daniel Whitcomb said...
You did, Ace!
You can see our report on it here:
http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/01/30/season-2-arena-to-sell-for-honor-in-season-4/
2-21-2008 @ 8:08AM
Aticus said...
I think this is too early. Gear progression is delicate and if you start throwing out better sets of gear too fast then the older ones become obsolete. The more obsolete gear is, the more weaker players feel and that leads to people quitting the game.
I'm not a raider but I understand the tier system. They're making tier 6 items for Sunwell. If they were to make Arena S4 gear available, wouldn't they also be making tier 7 gear for Sunwell? It only makes sense. Increase it on the PVP side then do it the same on the PVE. This is too early. Wait until May or June.
-Aticus, http://www.paladintales.blogspot.com
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2-21-2008 @ 8:53AM
Chais said...
Lol well it says season 2 now
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2-21-2008 @ 9:24AM
BaboonNL said...
S3 has been here for like 3 months now.
Assuming 2.4 will be on the PTR for 2 months, that's 5 months for season 3. Sounds just about right. I wouldn't mind shorter seasons though, or at least something to do with those 5000 left-over arena points. I wonder how Executioner looks on the druid staff...
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2-21-2008 @ 10:16AM
Qanaesin said...
So bascially if your a dps class you can get away with doing arena and get season 3 gear and get gear thats almost equal to BT gear....so whats the point of pouring all that time into BT?
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2-21-2008 @ 10:24AM
infection said...
"He also mentioned that there's no set length to arena seasons, and that there's also the possibility of a new season with no new gear."
So why would s2 be moved to an honor grind set? If we don't have new gear coming out?
How you can "confirm" that happening when he can't even confirm that a new set will come out?
I mean, of course you can do it. In the end they can make every arena piece no matter what season it is, turned into an honor grind. But on the scale of making things balanced from season to season, looks like we would be seeing new gear for sure if they are going to give s2's away for honor.
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2-21-2008 @ 12:19PM
Good_Idea said...
For sure season 4 will be coming out at the same time or shortly after 2.4. I say in 6 weeks season 4 will be here.
Pvp gear always gets buffed with major gear upgrades and Sunwell is exactly that.
It's especially believable since the season 4 items were already added to the PTR item database.
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4-22-2008 @ 5:12PM
chace said...
Remove the rating from S3 when S4 comes out and then add a rating requirement to ALL pieces of S4.
Gloves/Helm/Shoulder 1700 - Chest/Legs 1800 - Weapons 1900 or 2000.
That way those that are just starting out in the arenas or can't pass above a certain point due to whatever reason can still get the lesser tiered season armor.
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