Originally Posted by
Kralljin
I think the big issue is how exploitable the system is.
What exactly stops a mediocre (but not terrible)player from just constantly dumping their MMR, collect wins at a super low rating, dump their MMR again and repeat the whole cycle?
It would make low MMR completely meaningless, because you'd randomnly face opponents that are geared but want to collect easy wins.
Disregarding that this would also affect PvE progression as you could collect solid PvP gear by just grinding out a lot of wins in Arena.
Big issue of TBC (PvP) gearing is absolutely horrendeous for anyone who didn't play PvP early on, as it takes ages until you have the full set of the current Arena season.
Because however the PvP gear is pretty good for PvE as well, you can't just throw it out for players to catchup because it would neuter a lot of PvE progression.
TBC also had Rating requirements on weapons, which can become a massive hurdle to overcome, Wotlk also had rating requirements on weapons and it often became an issue for players to make the actual leap to the weapon rating so they are competitive with anyone who's near the weapon rating but already has them.
I think there is just a fundamental design issue when you want to design an MMORPG that places a heavy value on character progression, but at the same time also wants to entertain a competitive side where the progression (gear) still matters.
The competitive side dictates that people can catchup as fast as they can, so that they are actually competitive and play the game as they see fit.
The progression side dictates that you can't throw out gear super easy, else everyone just "completes" the game and is done.