adding arena cosmetics after arena removal is kinda wild

arena died because of bad data. assumptions that no one was playing because they didnt like the mode

Source came from Rare themselves. So how was it assumed?

Anyways. At this point. Arena items are not even good looking or worth time anymore. Let them sit and sink.

assumptions that no one was playing because they didnt like the mode. instead it was lack of adding new rewards for people to work for.

A lot of us didn't play for the same reason we don't play Hourglass. It was a mode infested with tryhard sweats and TDMers... there's a reason "TDM says aye!" became a meme.

I'm guessing the weapons were designed for some Arena-related update, and then shelved when the mode was canned. Though with this company's track record of poor decision-making, it wouldn't surprise me if they were designed afterward.

I also find it interesting that TDMers both "infested" Arena, and somehow also made up such a small percentage that a TDM mode wouldn't have been justified. Arena cognitive dissonance.

A TDM mode would've kept TDM "infestation" out of the other mode; which btw could've also been split into naval-based and objective based modes.

I honestly think if Rare announced Arena 3.0 (or Hourglass 2.0 with Arena-like structure), it would make this game blow up more than any other 7 year old game could ever hope to lol.

More people would return for a better Arena (with Rare learning from past mistakes) than for smuggling powder kegs or whatever boring nonsense this past season was about.

@theblackbellamy Another issue is that the game was getting more complicated. Sirens, blunderbombs, and grapple guns are 3 things added after arena started. We already saw the issues with sirens invading Arena matches. The game was a different game entirely when arena as a game mode was introduced. Again, there are things we see as basic gameplay features that did not exist when arena was added. Cannons of rage, bone callers, keg rowies, giga kegs, all of this would change how arena is even allowed to be played.

@d3adst1ck said:

I don't know if the game would blow up, but there is definitely something better somewhere in the middle of Arena 1.0 and 2.0 than either version was individually. Point farming was bad in 2.0, having too many chests was bad in 1.0. Both tended to favour avoiding competition either by picking on weak crews or running away with treasure.

TDM mode, Naval FFA (instead of point farming; 3 ship respawns), and a chest-based mode. That's all Arena needed, and that's what I'm hoping any future iterations of the mode would have.

Players could vote which mode/maps they want in the lobby. All maps in their own instance, so they don't have to be updated as the rest of SoT changes.

The biggest killer was the downtime though. Lobby waits were terrible and I'm sure there were bugs that prevented mostly full lobbies from starting matches. If they brought it back I'd suggest merging new crews into active matches even if just in some kind of spectator mode.

I've been playing a lot of Marvel Rivals. In Quick Match, if you join late, the loss doesn't count against your record.

Could have something similar where new crews can join active matches. Losses don't count against them, but if they win then GG they deserved it. Either way, they at least get to work on commendations & get XP by playing.

But yeah, I agree. Anything that reduces downtime will help keep players more engaged.

I'd rather they not bring it back than bring it back half baked and doomed to fail again.

💯

@mopwieldinghedgehog said:

I'm having a hard time wrapping my head around all the twists and turns here. On the one hand. some say they want arena 'back', on the other the same people are saying they stopped playing because they didn't enjoy it

That's okay, we can walk through this together.

I only stopped playing because Rare stopped offering it 🤷‍♂️. I played until they literally shut the servers off & it faded to black screen mid match.

That's not to say the mode didn't have issues.

I don't think it's logically inconsistent to say that I personally had fun... but if it returns, Rare should at least improve it in ways that retains more players.

-motivation being it wasn't maintaned, wasn't updated, didn't offer alternative modes and/or any of the other many many complaints - some seen across this thread. But.. that would suggest these players never really enjoyed arena at any point in time - barring maybe the first few months.

Or... it would suggest that, as much fun as they had, these players felt it could have been improved to retain more players lol.

I mean do I either have to hate or love the mode in entirety? I can't play it after work almost every day, then come in to the forums to offer feedback on how to improve it? Because... I did that.

So why are the same people who clearly didn't actually enjoy it so hellbent on arguing for having it back?

Oh no. To be clear (and I agreed with deadstick), it should not come back, if it was to return in the state it ended in. Would be cool to see a better version of it. But as it was, flaws included? No.

I was saying is that if Rare did learn from the mistakes of 1.0, 2.0 and HG, and if they did announce an Arena 3.0 or HG 2.0, it would probably bring in more attention than whatever it is y'all even do nowadays.

Something about powder kegs and paintings, idk.

It is all very confusing at this point.

Hope that clears everything up!

@mopwieldinghedgehog said:

...In which case my thought would be to stop referencing it as 'arena' (adding 2.0 or not) and simply suggest/reference a new game mode. The continued use of the term 'arena' might hurt more than it helps.

🙄...

We can agree to disagree that it would hurt more than help. As long as the playerbase knows how the mode will be different, I think that would impact their decision-making more.

I can't speak for what others are asking for, but I've said for years that a TDM mode, naval FFA, and chest mode would cover all bases and retain the most players.

Call it whatever you want. For now it might as well be called "pipe dream."

That said, I don't really see anything requiring a different set of servers (like arena did) being introduced in that manner again for the reasons given at arena closure. Doesn't mean people can't suggest it though, of course.

Do the devs have to update that swamp tall tale area every time the game is updated?

If the modes/maps had their own instances, they could run on separate maintenance/update schedules & wouldn't need to be adjusted every time Adventure needs to be.

Unless of course the devs really do have to update the swamp tall tale area every time, in which case I'll stop suggesting it.