Season-15
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PvP Season 15 to end "in a couple of weeks"
For those of us waiting with bated breath (look it up, that's how it's spelled) for any idea of when Patch 6.0 will be dropping, the answer is soon. Blizzard has done a warning post for the end of the season, and in their own words, it's not far off. After many grueling bouts in the Arenas and Battlegrounds, the time has nearly come to see who will reign supreme in this action-packed PvP season. Prepare to fight your last battles, and remember-to the victors go the spoils! Arena and Rated Battleground Season 15 will be coming to an end in a couple of weeks. Once the season wraps, we'll begin an approximately two week process to determine end-of-season reward eligibility. So, since today was a rolling restart maintenance day, it's fair to speculate that it'll be two weeks into October, most likely October 14th, when Patch 6.0 drops. That falls into line with the usual month between the pre-expansion patch and the actual expansion that we saw in Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria. Please remember, if you're an Arena/Rated BG player waiting for your end of the season rewards, to not transfer your character to another realm until after the PvP season has ended if you want to remain eligible.
Patch 6.0.2: PvP season 15 ends
In the spirit of get it done soon that we see getting more and more prevalent as patch 6.0.2 gets closer, here's some news about PvP Season 15. Namely, it's ending as soon as the patch drops. This means several things - there will be no Arenas or Rated BG's after the patch, all Conquest Points will be converted to Honor, with excess Honor above 4000 points being converted to gold. Blizzard - Patch 6.0.2 PTR Patch Notes PvP Season 15 comes to an end with the launch of Patch 6.0.2. (Date has not been determined yet.) Conquest Points will be converted into Honor Points, and any Honor above the cap of 4,000 will be converted into in-game currency at a rate of 35 silver per point. Season 15 items will have Conquest costs converted into Honor Points equivalent to their previous Conquest Point cost, with the exception of any items that have a rating requirement. Season 15 items with rating requirements will no longer be available for purchase. Note that Arena and Rated Battleground matches will not be available until PvP Season 16 begins. source So there you have it - the upcoming end for Season 15 is as soon as the patch itself (which we still have no date for) and when it comes, the usual conversions will commence. If you're trying to hit a certain rating, you have been warned.
PvP Season 15 begins today
Blizzard has announced that PvP season 15 starts, as scheduled, on February 25. The ladders are already open, queues are already available for arenas and rated battlegrounds, and what's more, titles and rewards are already going out. Blizzard With weapons at the ready and armor secured, it's time to kick off PvP Season 15! The playing field is even once more, and this is your chance to prove that true grit and steely determination are what it takes to become a champion. So grab your most trusted companions and teach your enemies the true definition of fear! Before you set foot in an Arena or on a Battleground, keep in mind we've made a few changes this season: Conquest gear is now Item Level 550 The Dampening debuff will be applied 5 minutes after the start of an Arena match, and games will reach a draw at 20 minutes. Dampening decreases the effectiveness of healing spells by 1% every 10 seconds. Base Resilience is now 77% (up from 72%). Battle Fatigue is now 65% (up from 55%). Good luck, champions-may the most bloodthirsty warriors win! source If you want to dive in with both feet, step one will be to farm out honor points for 522 gear. You can check out our past posts on this to discover the most efficient ways!
Patch 5.4.7 arrival imminent as season 14 end is announced
We discussed in the past that a new PvP season was announced before the arrival of Warlords of Draenor, and at the time waxed lyrical on the historic durations of PvP seasons, and the impact that a new season might have on the release of the expansion. And now the season is here, and with it, patch 5.4.7, which has been tested on the PTR, including character upgrades and more. And now the two-week warning is here. This says the usual stuff, season 14 conquest items will be converted to honor cost, with the exception of those with rating requirements, which will not be available for purchase. They aim to hand out the awards, mounts and the like, within one week, but it could well take two. There is now a minimum rating of 1,000 for players to count in the title calculation. Personal rating will be reset with the season end, but as we've become accustomed to, there is no talk of an MMR reset. What does this mean for patch 5.4.7? Well, in recent history, the end of the season has coincided with the launch of the patch. While the blog is clearly saying "as early as two weeks from now", they generally stick to the two week period advertised. What will 5.4.7 bring, and how long will season 15 last? Both of these questions could be key for determining a realistic release date for Warlords. And what's more, could pre-orders begin around 5.4.7? There has not been direct confirmation, but the presence of the upgrades on the PTR suggests they are not far out.
Patch 5.4.7: PvP gear will be ilevel 550
Senior PvP Designer Brian Holinka has confirmed via Twitter that PvP gear in season 15 will be ilvl 550. .@Chrinkus @Plazzed 550, happy friday! - Holinka (@holinka) January 24, 2014 And just in case, like me, you weren't 100% convinced he was serious, Community Representative Lore also tweeted confirming the item level was correct. Does this mean that the season is imminent? Is this good or bad news? Depends what you play the most. If you're a PvE-er this is not such great news. Double-upgraded Flex gear is now 2 item levels behind Conquest gear. But more relevant is honor gear. What this means is that, if you're starting from scratch, the best way to hit a higher item level is no longer to farm Timeless Isle. It's to kill rares in Krasarang, do dungeons to get JP to convert and buy honor gear, which will likely be 522 or 524 ilvl, or to do PvP. No player with a preference for PvP or PvE likes to feel they have to do the other to gear up. While this PvP gear won't have the PvE set bonuses or similar, and may not be superior to Flex gear as a result, it could still be perceived as such by someone focused on ilvl alone.
New PvP season planned before Warlords of Draenor
Senior PvP Designer Brian Holinka has confirmed that the developers are planning an additional PvP season before the end of Mists of Pandaria, and therefore, before the launch of Warlords of Draenor. .@Shaee33 @Matteygf We're planning an additional PvP season for mists. Details on end of season rewards, timeline, & new gear to come soon. - Holinka (@holinka) January 7, 2014 Of course, this has implications for PvP, but a lot of players will look at this news and immediately start wondering what it means for the Warlords of Draenor release date. Let's look back at previous PvP season lengths. We're currently 16 weeks into season 14, season 13 was 26 weeks, season 12 was 22 weeks. The last season of Cataclysm, season 11, which ran alongside Dragon Soul, was a fairly epic 38 weeks. Its two predecessors, seasons 9 and 10, were 28 and 21 weeks respectively. Can we therefore predict the length of season 15? Not really, but we can confidently say it's likely to be over 20 weeks. Bearing in mind that we're 16 weeks into season 14, we may well have another 4+ weeks to go, meaning that season 14 will end at best February 4, so a 20-week duration would put season 15's end on July 1. This would be highly optimistic. (Edit: And as commenters add, the season end has previously marked the pre-patch, not the expansion itself.) But apart from the expansion, what does it mean for PvP?
Top Gear Season 14 & 15 coming to Blu-ray January 15th
Top Gear UK fans in the US can mark their calendars, the last two seasons of the show were filmed in HD and will make their debut on Blu-ray next year. Season 14 is on three discs and includes the South America Special for its $29.99 MSRP while season 15 is on two discs and promises plenty of outtakes and special features with a $24.99 MSRP. They're scheduled for release on January 15, 2011, until then we'll have to get by with the US version on History Channel and whatever episodes we can wrangle out of the PlayStation Network.
