I think that sums it up right there. PvP is a distraction for me, nothing more.

I disagree; for many of us, PvP is the primary motivation, not a distraction.

That said, if their intent is to make WoW a viable eSport, they're not even pointed in the right direction when it comes to arenas and BGs.

For once, Biscuit, you say something that I can 100% wholeheartedly agree with.

Even setting the Tournament/Arena detailings aside, PVP has caused more entirely unneccesary nerfs to the PVE game than vice-versa - after all, how much has PVE nerfing caused problems with PVP? ...None, I believe.

Personally, I say that arenas be mercilessly excised from the normal realms and leave PVP on the non-Tournament realms to BGs and the occasional random world encounter and/or lowbie-ganking. But that's just me.

Good to see one of the bigger names in the WoW media circus agrees with me about the pointlessness of specialized PVP in a PVE-centralized game.

Agreed. Without the PvE game, PvP cannot happen. The reverse cannot be said. PvP should not drive PvE nerfs. I can (and do) play the game without ever setting foot in an Arena or a Battleground. Largely thanks to level 19 rogues with 2000+ HP any PvP before 70 for a character you plan to level is pointless anyway.

Its my main game, but PvP and PvE should be, in no way, interacting with each other on a gear or skills based level.

Whenever you've said this i can't help but agree.
I like the idea of giving decent items to the casuals (arguable) however when they are on-par and in alot of cases of S3 items better then their PvE "Counterparts" is when Blizzard is going wrong. when you can use PvP weapons in a PvE environment and hold your own against PvE-geared classes, thats where the line needs (should of) been drawn

Also i'm pretty much against any change made to change the PvP side of the game and majorly nerfs the PvE side. Any changes to a class in an originally PvE orientated game need to be made with PvE in mind FIRST.

If you want an mmo with pure PvP go pick up an Age of conan or warhammer CD when they get released. We won't miss you.

To summarize "People who enjoy all aspect of this game are hurting the enjoyment of people who only enjoy grinding/raiding"

Care to elaborate? How is it against lore? and how is it detrimental?

@Matt:

The threat of the Burning Legion is greater than ever; the very fabric of time itself is under attack; Illidan schemes within his black temple, and we go and play a game of gladiators under the watchful gaze of a goblin in a tuxedo for the benefit of the empty stadium. At least with battlegrounds they made a half-hearted attempt to patch up Unreal Tournament with some lore. Arenas are a joke. Having said that, I hear that the new comic book with the King of Stormwind in it involves arena tournaments, so maybe Blizzard is belatedly attempting to make it fit.

Either way, it's still detrimental to the game. When classes and abilities are balanced around very specific 5v5 combos then the whole game suffers, because what balances a lock in a team of pally warrior mage and shaman against an identical team is not necessarily balanced for anything else in the game. We've seen this time and time again, and I really hope that the expansion is going to wipe the slate clean and return PvE to its rightful place at the heart of game design once more. By all means have arenas and tournaments, but don't make the game revolve around them. They are, after all, an addition to the game, not the game itself.

I like how every comment on this blog that even has a hint of PvP support gets modded down. Even a legitimate question 2 comments up lol.

The arenas DO have a small place in the lore, more of a little side story than anything. If you don't believe me, just go talk to the old arenamaster in nagrand.

Here is basically in a nutshell, the lore that gave birth to the arenas as is known at this point:

According to the old arena master in Nagrand, when the Dark Portal was reopened and the people of azeroth rediscovered Outland, the goblins stumbled upon the brown orcs participating in a time-honored ritual of hand-to-hand combat in an arena setting. The matches were conducted with honor, reverence and in a small not-so-public arena.

When the goblins saw this they saw instead a gold mine. They then did what goblins do best: "Moichendizing! Moichendizing! Moichendizing!" They took the tradition and ritual, greatly twisted and distorted it, and turned it into a gaudy, massive commercial affair that makes lots of gold. it proved to be so popular that they then brought it back to Azeroth with them where it exploded.

That's basically where the comic can fit in. Remember, that the story of the kidnapped King of Stormwind is not an old story, it's supposedly happening right now as the current in-game story ends in Dustwallow Marsh with hints that the Defias were transporting the king to some undisclosed location but escaped. That he became an arena fighter is basically possible because of the rapid growth of the arenas the goblins brought back through the Dark Portal.

Due to how recent this has happened, it's understandable that there isn't a lot of lore to support it and Blizz can easily build on it from here.

That being said however, I agree that the current implementation of Arenas needs to have it's own set of rules apart from the PvE game. I don't think Blizz needs to excise them from the whole game though, variety is a good thing. Blizzard has shown that they are able and willing to learn from experience and this is no different. No one knows what Wrath will bring.

Which means you're only making use of a very limited subset of the game. Further, it's one that didn't exist in its current form until the expansion came out.

While WoW has pvp, WoW isn't pvp. It's a sideshow to pve's main show. Fortunately, there are games out and games coming out which seem to have a heavier focus on pvp than WoW does.

Which kind of suggests that the two should be separated doesn't it? Make arena (not BGs) a separate game entirely, so if you want to do arena with a certain class, you don't have to spend weeks and weeks getting a toon leveled up to be able to use it. Also, people that prefer PvE wouldn't be subjected to the continual buffs/nerfs by Blizzard in their vain attempt to balance arena out.

"Which kind of suggests that the two should be separated doesn't it? Make arena (not BGs) a separate game entirely, so if you want to do arena with a certain class, you don't have to spend weeks and weeks getting a toon leveled up to be able to use it. Also, people that prefer PvE wouldn't be subjected to the continual buffs/nerfs by Blizzard in their vain attempt to balance arena out."

Actually Dan, no it doesn't. While in this game PvE is needed to get to the levels where you would like to PvP, they do not need to be mutually exclusive. Each on their own can be frightfully dull. To get a better picture of the whole, look at it this way:

Tired of PvE? go PvP some. Tired of PvP? go PvE questing/instance/raid some. Gear doesn't have to be and shouldn't be mutually exclusive either. Cool items and gadgets from both play types should be able to be used everywhere you go, they add flavor and make the game more enjoyable. To remove one or the other entirely from the game shortchanges what otherwise would be a complete game experience, whether you *choose* to participate in it or not. (the choice is always there at least if you ever decide to try it out)