Arenas in MMO's are something I have never really participated in. It is likely due to the fact that I am not much of a social gamer. In most arena implementations, they require a pre-made team to take part in. Whereas warzones (scenarios, warfronts etc) are designed for solo players to take part in. So, what about SWTOR's arenas has me excited.
Smart Queuing. The most interesting feature of arenas is how it does queuing. Instead of just putting random players together based on their rating, it takes a look at how a player is specced. That means it match you up against a group of the same composition. If your a healer, the opposing team will likely have a healer too. This should result in more fair matches.
Solo Queue. Instead of requiring a pre-made group, you can queue solo for arenas. This is a great feature for me, as I was not likely to take the time to find a group. It uses the Smart Queuing to try and make a 'fair' match.
ELO Ranking. Say what you want about MOBA's, their ranking system can be very addicting. Adding this to SWTOR arenas which have a solo queue sounds pretty awesome to me. It'll be interesting to see how well the matchmaking works with the new queuing technique. The more conditions you add,m the slower arenas will pop.
Settings. Baron Deathmark is back with soem great voice overs for the arenas. BioWare will be launching this new feature with three maps: Tatooine, Corellia, and a Space Station. They also mention that another map will launch soon after 2.4
More Players. After 2.4 launches, BioWare will be lifting the warzone restriction from free to play. That means more meat for the grinder! More players also means faster queue time. Seems like a winning situation for everyone involved.
Now that the details about arenas has been revealed, I am much more interested than I was before. I will definitely be participating in solo queue on the PTS and hopefully when the game goes live.
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