With the Imperial City being just around the corner I decided to present an idea that could be implemented further down the road. Right now we know almost nothing for sure, which is why I still allow myself quite a bit of freedom.

Concept:
The Entrance to the Arena is located somewhere in the Arena district of the Imperial City, the exact location doesn't really matter, since it is more about access conditions and the Arena itself.

Access:

• Enabling:
  • Each IC district has a flag guarded by a Honor Guard and a Mender that takes 10s to capture (regardless of the number of players) and 7 min to upgrade
  • 4 districts have to be captured, upgraded and kept at the same point in time in order to be able to access the Arena lobby
• Maintaining:
  • A minimum of 3 districts is required to maintain access
  • Districts do not have to be upgraded to count towards maintaining access
• Disabling:
  • Once a faction looses one of the three owned districs, their access to the Arena Lobby gets revoked

The Arena Itself:

• Since only one faction has access to the Arena at a time, all matches are between members of the same faction
• The type of combat doesn't really matter, as long as each fight doesn't last longer than the 7min upgrade time. This is why I'd suggest a 5min 3v3v3 match as it was showcased on a couple of trade-fairs.

The Thoughts Behind:

The fact that it takes at least 2mins longer to gain acces to the Arena than a match takes, ensures that no hostile players can play in the arena at the same time. While the exlusion as such, is not the important part, it also ensures that there is a strong contest within the Imperial City.

With only 2 NPC's protecting a district, it is very easy to take a single area. Gaining access to the Arena is however very difficult, since it requires to split forces into guardians and attackers. Which makes denying access very easy and gaining access very hard. Thanks to this, disabling access to the Imperial City is a key part to entering the Arena, which again puts much more importance on mainland combat.

Thoughts? Concerns? Corrections? Optinions?