Resto4life is reporting on a fairly significant change to the Arena season 3 gear on the PTR with Patch 2.3. Evidently the previous mana regen stat MP5 is being tossed over for Spirit, and this has some players howling. Now, I know there is some debate as to the utility of Spirit for priests in a PvE setting, but as they mention in the article, there appears to be little use for it at all in Arena PvP, at least where Druids are concerned.

The Restoration druids in particular are unhappy about this change, especially when taken in context with the recent change to the game that will allow everyone to see what magical buffs you have placed upon you. What this means is that just about every time a druid casts Innervate -- the spell that would benefit most from the change to Spirit -- there is a high probability it will be immediate dispelled. Now we have heard tell that Spirit as a stat will be changed somewhere down the line, that it will begin affecting spell damage as well as mana regen, so perhaps this is the first step toward that change. It's tough to know for certain.

What we do know, however, is that the change makes the PvP gear more attractive for use in PvE, where Spirit does help with the longer battles. But I have to wonder, exactly why would the developers, who have professed that they want to create two separate gear sets for PvP and PvE, make the Season 3 Arena sets more PvE viable? It may be that they want more people to participate in Arena battles, or it could be for some unknown reason I'm not seeing. Help me out here. Do you think the change from MP5 to Spirit is a buff or a nerf?

Update: Another patch just pushed through on the PTR, and this change to the Druid healing S3 set has been reverted. The gear will retain its MP5 stat bonus.

Two days ago: Drysc says if anything, prices of PVP items will drop, not go up.

Today, after maintenance: Honor gain has been nerfed by 30% across the board.

It's no secret that players were thrilled with the new PVP system. Honor points were plentiful, and PVP gear seemed right around the corner for many players who'd never had the time to grind the system in the past. But Neth says that the effort currently required is "lower than intended," and that the honor gain was reduced (in essence, honor prices were raised by 30% 42%*-- the exact opposite of what we were told two days ago) to counteract that.

Players are furious. Ceace, who kindly dropped us a note about this (thanks!), asks why other solutions weren't considered-- why didn't they put a curve on the honor gain, or even a limit on how many points could be earned per day? With rested XP, Blizzard has come up with an innovative way to give a bonus to players who don't play the PVE as often. But the devs seem intent on punishing those who don't play PVP as much. This isn't the end of the world for casual PVPers (honor points don't decay, so you'll still get that gear eventually), but it does seem to be a little out of line, considering how much people liked the new system, and what we were told about the honor prices.

At any rate, fallout from this is just beginning. I'm sure you'll find more in the comments below.

*Update: A few commenters say this means prices have actually risen by 42.8%. I'm terrible at math-- anyone want to comment below and walk us through the equation?

It's been four days since the big patch that was supposed to revitalize PVP, and at least on my server, we can safely say that PVP is alive. Aliiiiiive! With up to 240 Arathi Basins and 110 Warsong Gulchs to choose from, it looks like everyone and their mother are shooting for High Warlord/Grand Marshal weapons for leveling. Even the most uber-leet, overpowered warlock I know, who has 30 pieces of the Staff of Atiesh, wants some PVP gloves -- and judging from the kind of groups Alliance has been putting up in AB, quite a few Naxx guilds have been spending more time chilling around the Lumber Mill than facing the buggy boss encounters inside Kel'Thuzad's citadel.

A lot of healers seem to be trying to pick up the PVP armor sets that will help them level, while DPSers -- and newly dual-wield specced shamans -- are aiming for the weapons they've been unable or unwilling to get in raids. Slightly left out (again) are druids, who have somewhat underwhelming PVP armor and no "plus feral attack power" weapon.

Personally, I'm shooting for the High Warlord's Blade and High Warlord's Quickblade, since swords are much easier to level with when you're a lazy rogue who likes to read while grinding. I also might pick up the PVP legs to replace my last remaining blue item after a year of raiding (damn you, Ragnaros!) What are you grinding for, and how long do you think it will take you to get it?