Old news if you paid attention to our liveblog of the PvP panel at BlizzCon (or if you read through Zach's great analysis of the news we got there), but Blizzard is adding two new Arena spaces to the game, and they've created an official page to show off the new designs and mechanics in each.

The Ring of Valor is a new space in Orgrimmar -- it features an elevator that rises up to a starting position that leaves players in close proximity, and then there is a set of fire obstacles and two moving pillars that can be used to as many tactical advantages that you can come up with. The other space, the Dalaran Sewers, also mixes in a few line-of-sight tricks, including a periodic waterfall that blocks LoS and a raised platform in the middle that can only be reached via two sets of stairs on diagonal sides.

Personally, I think the new mechanics are exciting, but then again I've played maybe four Arena matches in my life -- word I'm getting from most of the Arena players I know is that these changes add a little too much RNG to the maps (considering the all the obstacles are timed, they're not really random, but that's just what I think). What say you, Arena players?

Any discussion about World of Warcraft PvP nowadays inevitably involves Arenas. With the onset of Season 4 and its new rules and requirements, Arena play is getting more intense than ever. Of course, as the competition heats up, the cries of an imbalanced contest grow louder than ever. Blizzard seems to be aware of the issues and have taken some steps in the development of the Wrath of the Lich King to address class and spec viability.

During the panel on "PvP Game Systems", however, lead designers Tom Chilton and Corey Stockton devoted most of their Arena discussion to the new maps rather than the hairy, and probably inconclusive, issue of class balance and representation. The new Arena maps follow Blizzard's philosophy of keeping things simple yet have room for innovation; having dynamic points of interest; having conceptually different starting areas; and leave allowance to make adjustments during development.

Ask and ye shall receive. Readers have been requesting an action video for quite some time, however not many PVP movies kick buttocks like this one does!

Kung let us know that he's back with the sequel to his popular Ring of Valor series. The previous movie focused on tigers, decaying scourge, and arena matches. This time he mixes it up a bit by showing the health bars, but eliminating the flashy effects. In addition, he included sound. For more information on the event, check out the Warcraftmovies page, and the writeup by Crocolisk.

[Thanks, Kung!]

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Previously on Moviewatch ...

Some days I surprise myself and enjoy a PvP movie. I know. I was totally shocked too! Kung and friends used the empty arena in Orgrimmar to arrange epic showdowns between tigers, decaying scourge, and arena matches.

These clever guys managed to pull this off on an official server, Maelstrom, so they were limited in what they could do. However, Kung is working on more variety for his next film, so keep an eye out. In the meantime, check out the high resolution version.

[Via Warcraftmovies.com]

Previously on Moviewatch ...