In 4.0 with the cross-server arenas and all of the arena changes, XL Games also added a feature that puts all players into the center of the arena before it begins, everyone being allied at this time. This was done to demonstrate to the players how many people were in the arena at the start, and the arena would actually be cancelled if not enough players joined after a set amount of time- this was described this way in their previews leading up to their 4.0 release.
This feature, however, is causing more harm than good. It was a good intention but it has become something that just doesn't fit in how our arenas and gameplay works.
3v3s
While it is nice to know in a 3v3 how many more people need to join before it begins, being able to see people's classes before it starts allows you to make choices for your build that give significant advantages in combat. Since the combat should be the focus on the arena, this ability to "cheat" and see the other player's damage output is immensely harmful to overall gameplay.
1v1s
This worsens in 1v1s, where knowing what armor type to go based on opponent's damage output is incredibly powerful, especially when the second person to load into the arena is seen by the first, but after they load in the arena immediately starts- making them unable to see their opponent's class at all and giving an obvious advantage to the first player to load in.
Gameplay Meta
As we saw prior to 4.0, players still choose their armor based on who they think they may be fighting. This "Rock-paper-scissors" style gameplay isn't fun either, but at least if no player is able to see each other before the arena begins, it's equal fairness. It's more likely mages will play cloth, and melees will play leather, etc, instead of just playing the armor type based on their opponent's damage type.
Solution: Have players start in locations unseen by other players before 1v1s, 3v3s, etc. This is still the case for 1v1 Gladiator (Non-cross-server) as well, so we know it's possible. Hopefully this is a minimal effort solution to something that can beneficially help overall gameplay in these arenas.
If anyone has additional comments or suggestions, please feel free to contribute to this thread. Even if it's something as simple as "#Agree" or #Disagree" that would be brilliant, though if you disagree I'd encourage you to give us more of your thoughts.
