Arena Tiers

[Xeare]

IDK if this has been suggested before, but I don't really want to look through hundreds of pages to figure out whether or not there's something perfectly similar to what I've got here. SO LETS DO THIS.

The arena is currently in a state where only capped players can really participate, and even then only topmost of them are capable of really competing. This makes sense in the whole "Arena is a test of strength, prove your might or go away" kind of mentality, but I feel like we can get a bit more universal participation and still see who's the strongest. However, my idea means we would have a better feel for who's the strongest across all levels, giving us a means of making it so that everyone has a reason to fight in the arena.


Here's the deal: Creating an arena team requires at least two other players within five levels of your own. Once you have created your arena team, your tier is selected based on your level average alongside some general constants on your gear (Epics add to your level average more than rares, and rares more than uncommons, etc) Based on your team's combined rating of gear/levels, you would be placed in one of several tiers (I'd say around 9-10 tiers, one for each 10 levels).

For reference:
0-10 = T1
11-20 = T2
21-30 = T3
etc.

(Also note that the registration fees will be lower based on the tier that you have been calculated to be at. T1 would require 3000 gold to participate, T2 would require 5000, continuing up to T4 for 25k gold and the actual price of registration going /up/ per tier compared to the current price. T10 requires total 250k to enter, counting what you have already paid in fees. These thresholds must be paid upon entering a new tier for the first time, and can be paid on the spot by the team captain, or applied as a permanent 25% tax on all arena team members with each members consent. Until a decision has been made about paying this fee, the team may not queue for the arena again. These fees also reset upon disbanding the team, therefore further discouraging temp arena teams.)

A team fully decked out in epics that's around level 39 would likely be placed in the low - mid) 5th tier (Basically 40, but those epics could place them easily alongside much higher level players), while a team with a bunch of uncommon gear that averages level 20 would probably be placed in the mid - high 2nd tier). Each tier would have increasingly better rewards at the end of season, with the lowest of T1 getting only a couple hundred gold, and the gold rewards multiplying on a curve up to T9 getting around 680k gold for coming out on top, then on to T10 where the highest current winners exist with the same kind of TC rewards.
Also, lower tiers would reward items based on progression. If one team started in low T3, but ended the season low-mid T4 they would be eligible for a random epic item (or multiple if they were progressed to mid-high). Someone who only managed to increase their rating by 10%-45% across the season would get a rare - 2 rare items, and anyone who increased by 10% or lost rating would get 3 uncommon items and decreasing, with -30% resulting in only 1 uncommon. As every 10% can be equated to a level between 1-100, whatever percentage they are at end season will equate to their item levels, with percentages above 5% rounding up and the item level favoring the higher end of the spectrum when rolling.

Tempers would also be changed to match the tier your arena team is in. The bonus would be applied as if the temper was at the level your team was rated as when you tempered your gear. For example, if you were rated mid-high tier 5, then you would get around 45-49 HP per temper level. If you managed to increase your rating to a higher tier throughout the season, you would be able to use that tier of temper.

Matchmaking would be done to try and match those of approx rating, with some lee-way when a perfect match is not possible. This means that if no one queue's for a while within a few minutes that is within your range, it will expand the range of players that you can end up fighting. Winning or losing against teams that are farther apart from you get much more or much less rating change, and after around 20 levels (assuming equal gear), the affect will be zero if you win and are above or lose and are below. HOWEVER, the inverse is also true. If the RNG is a god and you get a ton of parries as a lowbie, or you decide to have mercy on the weaklings before you as a strong player, your bonus/detriment to rating will be massive. I'd say that a single battle as a lowbie winning against someone 20 levels above you would be equated to approx 45% rating increase or something. The ones above would have it worse though, as to discourage lowbie farming. Someone in Tier 8 losing to a Tier 2 player would be dropped down to Tier 5 or so. They would also have their gains halved, requiring twice the amount of wins in order to regain their previous status. The people they would be paired with if this were the case would be at least Tier 6, possibly Tier 7, so it wouldn't be a complete breeze to regain Tier 8 status. This debuff would

The progression between tiers could be split as 0-100%, each win or loss giving a certain amount of 100% based on the rating difference. +5% for a win, -4% for a loss. (equal rating would result in a 5% increase, with different ratings giving an equal ratio in each direction. Team A is at 53% in T3 and Team B is at 65% in the same tier. If team A wins, they would get a win bonus of 6.132% (65/53). If team B -loses-, they would lose 4.9%)

Now, it may seem as though there will be a net increase in over all rating, and by the end of the season it would be terribly inflated...However, due to the ratio system in place, anyone losing a lot near the top of their tier would be unable to progress and would plateau out at whatever their appropriate rating would be, and the top teams would be able to reach and hold higher percentages in T10 properly as well. However, there can only ever be 50 teams in T10, as the current arena rewards only hand out rewards to the top 50 teams. This would work by making the lowest team in T10 at risk of dropping to T9, and the highest in T9 advancing to T10, both upon win/loss streaks. Once there are two teams that fit these requirements that are queued up at once, they will be placed in combat against each other and the winner goes into/stays in T10 while the loser goes down to/stays in T9. Continued wins/losses puts you further into those tiers naturally, and therefore gives you a larger buffer before being at risk. For the first 50 teams to enter, they simply have to get the % to enter T10, but once there are contenders the pressure will be on. Progression through lower tiers would be similar, however it will not be so cut and dry. Any team at 95+% will be eligible for fighting a team that is at 0-20% of the next tier after a win streak of 3. If this fourth battle is won, then that team will advance to the next tier at 5%. To go down a tier, a team has to lose a battle that would lose them rating beyond their current rating, putting them at a flat 0%. If the next battle is lost, then they will go down a tier being placed at 95% of the tier below.

This system would encourage players to fight to their utmost as Glitch intended the arena to be, no matter what their strength, as every bit of rating would increase their end season rewards in gold and items. The arena becomes much more competitive, and a lot more participation is going on. Queue's should be much faster, and the competition should be more heated.

P.S.: I don't know if these numbers are perfectly balanced, but they're there for giving the general idea of what I'm proposing.