MLG and ESL have shown interest in WoW.

[Batar]

MLG and ESL have shown interest in WoW.

What could this mean for the future of WoW PvP?

[Deleted]

Haven't they always? If I remember correctly, but nothing ever happens :P I think Blizzard said that wow pvp wouldn't be much more than tournaments on blizzcon, quite early like wotlk or even little earlier than that?

[Feali]

Go4WoW is already part of ESL.

What this means? Only good things. Bigger ESports scene.

[Stormspellz]

it could mean we actually have balanced pvp incoming.

[pinkz]

if they have shown interest....if....it may because of the changes to WOW PVP that are making it like a FPS game like COD, halo, half life, battlefield, unreal, quake, etc etc.

if they make it like the DEV interview says: players go into PVP with fixed stat templates, gear doesn't count, trinkets don't work or count, enchants don't work, and a new talent reward system as you PVP is pretty much like many FPS games out there, easy to balance if PVE changes don't affect PVP.

COD is a huge money (largest) maker for Activision-Blizzard and very successful, with PVP severely declining in WOW, it makes sense they look to or decide to follow what works in their other games

[apoe]

WoW pvp is not spectator friendly at all compared to games like LoL / DotA / CS / SC2 etc.

Doubtful, IMO.

Even during WotLK when competitive WoW pvp had more viewers, Blizzard didn't pay much attention to pvp. But with the overhaul in Legion, maybe they are changing that.

[Toralin]

WoW pvp is not spectator friendly at all compared to games like LoL / DotA / CS / SC2 etc.

Doubtful, IMO.

Even during WotLK when competitive WoW pvp had more viewers, Blizzard didn't pay much attention to pvp. But with the overhaul in Legion, maybe they are changing that.

This. Watching a stream that focuses on all members is really hard to get right. I watched one of the older MLG (I think?) games from WotLK times, and it was just a mess. There's just so much going on it makes it a bad spectator sport.

[PrairieChicken]

Arenas are snoozefest to watch, it's gonna fail

[Deleted]

WoW pvp is not spectator friendly at all compared to games like LoL / DotA / CS / SC2 etc.

Doubtful, IMO.

Even during WotLK when competitive WoW pvp had more viewers, Blizzard didn't pay much attention to pvp. But with the overhaul in Legion, maybe they are changing that.

Well, tbh if I watch a sc2 or dota game I have no clue what is going on.
This goes for all Esports, if you dont know the game, its very hard to appreciate it.

[Deleted]

Isn't WoW pvp pretty unwatchable for non-players though?

[Feali]

Isn't WoW pvp pretty unwatchable for non-players though?

That's how I feel about StarCraft.

[rda]

MLG and ESL have shown interest in WoW.

What could this mean for the future of WoW PvP?

WoW will never become a popular e-sport, unless they rework combat completely (long story).

They might try doing tournaments, but they will be pretty niche, unpopular and uninteresting.

As concerns the game, this might mean several good things - ie, they did spectator stuff, that's good, they might do some UI for tournaments, and that will also be good, but that'd be about it.

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That's how I feel about StarCraft.

SC is infinitely more watchable than WoW. Both for players and for non-players. The commentary helps (SC). WoW's issue is that nothing helps, not commentary, not visuals, nothing, the game is a clusterfuck in terms of esport, it's unsalvageable.

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This. Watching a stream that focuses on all members is really hard to get right. I watched one of the older MLG (I think?) games from WotLK times, and it was just a mess. There's just so much going on it makes it a bad spectator sport.

It's even worse in that even when you actually know what's involved, what to look for, etc (yeah, fat chance, that basically means you yourself have been into WoW PVP for years), it's just uninteresting. Boring. Oh, look, someone holds back on his damage CDs, everyone in the arena understand that, and you on the coach understand it, too. Such suspense...

[Illiterate]

It would make more sense to have RBG tourneys then arena. It's a lot easier to follow and there are clear goals and objectives everyone can understand.

[rda]

It would make more sense to have RBG tourneys then arena. It's a lot easier to follow and there are clear goals and objectives everyone can understand.

That's even more boring to watch. Easy to understand, yes, but boring. RBGs are boring to even play, you do 2-3 rated games on each BG, you've seen 99% of what there is to see, it's just who screwed up worse after that. The vast majority of the time what happens is just a stupid stalemate in a key place on the map.

[Feali]

SC is infinitely more watchable than WoW. Both for players and for non-players. The commentary helps (SC). WoW's issue is that nothing helps, not commentary, not visuals, nothing, the game is a clusterfuck in terms of esport, it's unsalvageable.

I still have no fucking clue what's happening.

[Hamski]

MLG and ESL have shown interest in WoW.

What could this mean for the future of WoW PvP?

I call bullshit. Just more hype for a desperate team of developers.

[sdracklryeg]

Well, tbh if I watch a sc2 or dota game I have no clue what is going on.
This goes for all Esports, if you dont know the game, its very hard to appreciate it.

Even if you don't play Dota or SC It's still way easier to follow what's happening. You can clearly tell what each of the characters are doing, you can tell when someone is in danger because It's extremely obvious when they've gotten themselves in a bad situation, you see them either get out of danger in the nick of time or die but in WoW It's "This guy is fucked, nevermind no he's not because [This thing you have no idea of happened]", and that happens 10 times in a row and then suddenly they actually do die. Same with SC - you can clearly tell what someone is doing with their units when an attack is coming/when someone is in danger. As above what WoW PVP looks like is people chasing after each other with fluctuating healthbars and then suddenly someone will die for what seems like no specific reason, because non-player spectators have no idea of all the classes and the implications of certain cooldowns.

FPS games really are the best for esports because even a 70 year old who's never played a video game would understand what is happening.

[Rudol Von Stroheim]

Honestly, the changes they've been talking about have me very interested in PvP and I haven't been as much since BC's era. I used to love PvP during Vanilla. PvP and dungeons. Now allow me to lay down what has me excited...

They seem to be shifting things towards more sustained damage, less burst. That's a plus.
They're largely getting rid of advantages from gear in PvP. That's a plus.
They're adding in PvP specific abilities and alterations to your character that can be independently tweaked from PvE. That's a huge plus.
They're adding in more interesting progression systems that will keep me hooked. That's a plus.

Now, they'd score a home run if I was to find out they're heavily overhauling class abilities to feel more impacting and powerful. That's something that lacks in WoW right now. Feeling like you're really laying it into someone and finding identity with your class's lore/design. So far, I believe they're going to do as much from what I've seen concerning classes already. They need less abilities but more meaningful, exciting ones with multiple applications.

E-sport or not, I could care less. I just want it to be fun. I didn't play CoD for countless hours because I had dreams of being every 13 year old basement dweller's wet dream (no offense to anyone here). No, I played it because it felt great and was simply enjoyable.

So far this expansion is literally hitting all the right buttons for me which is comical considering how much of a flop WoD was in my eyes. To the point I was ready to swear the franchise off entirely. Can't wait for Blizzcon.

[apoe]

I still have no fucking clue what's happening.

Still way easier to understand than WoW arena. If you see a bigger army with giant lasers melting the other guy's smaller army, you can immediately tell the way the battle is going. Micro is easy to see and understand, just like watching a pro player have godly aim in an FPS game, and if the commentators are good they will call out interesting strategies and explain them.

Reminds me of this video, when SC2 was at its peak (4m30s):

[Deleted]

WolK arena was actually kinda fun to watch, cause it was fast matches, where you could die if you messed up.
WoD is like, yeah ill just say uninteresting dampening games.

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And it isn´t very fun to watch snutz juke a interrupt for the 10 time in a arena match.