Thesis
Make learning how to PvP a rewarding, fun, accessible and tangible process by implementing PvP Foundations Quests/Questlines & Achievements, Practice Scenarios, PvP “Enclave” Area, Mentors, PvP Talent Builds, PvP Feedback System, and Class Compendiums/Challenges.
Among the many barriers for players getting into and progressing towards mastery in PvP are several central issues that I believe are solvable with some features already implemented in the game. I am proposing ideas the community has echoed throughout the forums and General chat. Many of these ideas have homes in other successful games and could be implemented to make PvP great! Here is an outline/topic list:
- PvP/Arena Foundations Quests & Achievements
- PvP Enclave (Reminiscent of places like The Underbelly in Wrath of the Lich King)
- Mentor/Mentee system (Similar to Crafting Quality/Work Orders)
- Making PvP accessible to all players via UI/Talents
- PvP Feedback System (Flavor similar to Overwatch)
- Class PvP Compendiums i.e. “Dungeon Guides” for PvP & Challenges (Like WoD Challenges)
PvP/Arena Foundations Quests & Achievements
Foundations of PvP Quests are designed to encourage players to learn how to compete in arena by introducing fundamental pvp concepts in a simple way, and then give them the ability to practice those skills with focus, and be rewarded while they learn and master simple pvp skills. Examples Include:
- “Kick em’ outta here!” Interrupt 3 Spells with your [Class Interrupt Ability] while sparring with your Mentor or PvP dummy.
- This would be a questline that has players Interrupt spells with repetition eventually in ranked play.
- “Press Something!” Complete the ‘Personal Defensives’ PvP Scenario.
- The PvP Scenario (See PvP Enclave Section) would be an instanced event in an arena where a player has a healer NPC that gets CC’d, the scenario walks the player through using defensive abilities at key moments.
- “Can’t Touch This” Prevent 50 Million damage using your [Class Defensive Abilities], damage prevented from enemy player cooldowns counts as triple damage.
Quests and Scenarios would become available as players progress through questlines, and obtain titles i.e. Challenger, Rival, Duelist, & Elite Quests & Mastery Achievements. Quests would become increasingly more focused on mastery and repetition. Topics could include:
- Keybinding
- Dmg/Healing CDs
- Positioning/Kiting
- Cooldowns
- Fake Casting/Interrupting
- CC, Rooting etc.
Reward players with currency for transmogs, titles, toys, tabards for achieving mastery over the components necessary for success with their class! Learning PvP should be rewarding, accessible, tangible, purposeful and fun.
PvP Enclave (Reminiscent of places like The Underbelly in Wrath of the Lich King)
How many of you are standing in the gates of Dornogal right now reading this post in a Solo Shuffle queue, smashing a target dummy? Give players an area to gather together and work on skills, meet with mentors, gathering pvp gear/recipes, smash target dummies, spar with one another, and queue for instanced practice PvP scenarios. There could be class “trainers” (Class Halls 2.0??) who offer insight into the player’s own class as well as insight into other classes and their abilities (See Class Compendiums). There could be an area with Arena 1/2/3 dummies to practice macros, CC chains, etc with your teammates or by yourself. A community driven area where players can ask questions
Mentor/Mentee system (Similar to Crafting Quality/Work Orders)
New players can sign up/learn (Like a profession) to be a Mentee placing requests (Work orders) for players who are more skilled than them to help them with gameplay. Mentors could have slots for players who are in rating brackets lower than them, they can Spar with their mentees and be rewarded for doing so. They could queue PvP Scenarios together and offer feedback. Mentees can offer questions to mentors, and if they find the answer helpful, they could reward the mentor somehow.
Prestige rewards for Mentors who continue to be helpful resources for players, they increase in ‘Quality’ as they practice being a resource to their Mentees. Mentoring could have bot work orders too so they they can learn how to assign pvp challenges to players.
Whether its a system like this or something different, this would be a pillar to a community driven PvP inclusion (See PvP Feedback System). Reward players for helping one another, make it fun, tangible, and accessible. Given experienced players incentive to help others via currency, titles, mounts, etc. We all love and miss Reckful, and see him as an NPC in the game, a legendary player who remains, why not create more legends in the game who help create a pvp community people are excited to hop into!
Making PvP accessible to all players via UI/Talents
A common barrier to entry for players is their UI/Talents. I propose we make aspects of PvP ‘plug and play’. Offer simple PvP Talent profiles for players who don’t know where to start, give them explanations of the talents via UI tab (See Class Compendium). Players could utilize Class Challenges to practice and master important PvP abilities.
99.9% of players use at least some very basic PvP addons to play the game, and at a certain rating these become necessary (for 99.9% of players) in order to achieve rating gains. Add a “kick tracking” bar where players can add abilities to track… (Omnibar) and this could be introduced via a questline.
Make a UI Profile Loadout titled “PvP” that gives a similar feel to having sarena/gladius installed, makes it easier to see your teammates/enemies etc.
PvP Feedback System/Endorsements (Flavor similar to Overwatch)
Currently, the only “Feedback” system in place is the ability to report other players for cheating/throwing the game…… Why not have a positive feedback system that encourages players to improve? In games like overwatch, after a match you have the ability to give positive feedback to players after a match, and you gain a rating as you offer these positive feedbacks to players. I propose that players can opt in to a “Mentee/Student” role that allows players to give them scripted feedback responses. Mentors/Teachers could opt in to being able to offering feedback to players. Reward players for opting into either roles, and give them currency, rep, prestige for offering feedback that people find helpful. Examples include:
- You can utilize your defensive cooldowns better to prevent damage.
- I was in crowd control when you died, and you had [Class Ability] available
- Interrupting [Ability] allows me to heal you more effectively, try tracking that on your ‘spell tracking bar’ and practice interrupting it.
Incentivize positive feedback, Mentors giving helpful feedback are rewarded, and mentees gain a reputation for being engaged with feedback.
Class Compendiums i.e. “Dungeon Guides” & Challenges (Like WoD Challenges)
Mythic + players have Dungeon Guides/Raid Guides that explain in great detail the challenges a dungeon has to offer, and they tell players based on their role what they need to do in order to beat a boss… Why not have a ‘PvP’ guide that helps to explain even just the basics of other classes. Explain the wide world of wow pvp to new players.
Offer challenges that allow players to master their interactions with other classes. Wanna fight a DK and learning how to kite him? Want to Juke a warrior? Gain mastery over other class abilities via WoD like challenges, what about endless waves of players you need to kick, kite, cc etc. sky is the limit… But teach fundamentals, and challenge more experienced players to use their more niche abilities.
These are starting points, but I would love to hear your thoughts and further this discussion. Thanks for reading!