Each arena season, it seems that certain player classes and combinations become more successful then others. Right now the Resto Druid/Warrior and/or other damage class seems to be the most popular. How does Blizzard plan to deal with this or do they feel this is just part of the game?

Class compositions will continue to be a part of the strategy and gameplay of a class-based game like World of Warcraft. By having distinctly unique classes with varying play styles, we allow for the variety of game mechanics found in competitive play. Players will continue to adjust to the varying play styles and will come up with new strategies that can counter the old, established ones. Additionally, with the addition of new content (equipment, abilities, and talents) new strategies and play styles will inevitably emerge. Our new tournament format should allow players who are flexible and skilled enough to be able to master many different classes and play styles to compete effectively.

Recently a “Blue” post was made on the forums by Blizzard staff referring to the composition and make up of teams based on classes. How much does Blizzard track the class make up of the top rated teams on their ladders and does this effect future “nerfs”/”buffs” or general changes to classes?

We definitely track trends and class make-ups and will make adjustments if it improves overall gameplay. However, we’re wary of the effect of any changes and how they may affect other aspects of the game and will perform thorough testing prior to implementing any changes.

Battlegrounds have been a hot topic lately, including the recent tweaking of honor rewards and re-introducing turn-ins tokens for honor. Could you elaborate on the reasoning behind this balancing? With the emphasis so strongly on Arena and Battlegrounds play, are there more world PvP initiatives underway?

The recent changes to the Battleground system and rewards were aimed to provide a better overall experience to the players participating in the Battlegrounds. We wanted to ease the transition a bit for players who predominantly play in PvE and wanted to try out PvP, with the inclusion of new superior-quality PvP items obtained through reputation, along with some of the token turn-ins for PvP gear. We have plans in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion for a world PvP zone, Lake Wintergrasp, which will feature world PvP objectives and siege weapons.

The community spends a lot of time in Battlegrounds play as the lead up for Arena play requiring players to attain honor points for gear necessary to play in Arena. It seems like a lot of the community plays battlegrounds for fun with a focus on building large scale teams such as the AV-enabler mods then join large 40 man teams at the same time or WSG/AB/EOS that have actually ability to join as a team. Has Blizzard considered the idea of having Arena-sized Battlegrounds with objective based play instead of more Deathmatch style arenas that exist currently?

We’re looking to add new Arenas for Wrath of the Lich King that may be a bit different from the current Arena environments, but we’re not ready to go into specifics just yet.

Has Blizzard considered adding an HLTV type program to WoW that would allow people to view any person’s point of view and unlimited 3rd person views from around the arena? And what about making this public so people could watch their favorite arena teams play each other, ie making WoW potentially spectator friendly?

We are continuing to explore spectator options for viewing Arena games. Our current focus is increasing the broadcast quality that we use for our tournaments and tournaments that we support. We’ll continue to explore methods to make Arena games more accessible to our players.

Has Blizzard considered the idea of adding Match-making functionality to the current queue system to allow teams to focus practice and play against specific teams? Beyond fixes/bug issues, is there anything new expected before WotLK?

This has been something that’s been brought up and is currently in discussion. As for new content prior to the release of the second expansion, we haven’t made any announcements.

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