Earlier this week, Blizzard announced that the 2012 World of Warcraft Arena Pass will be open for registration soon. For the uninitiated, this is a dedicated Arena sandbox where players can battle each other using level 85 character "templates" and epic battle gear yanked from the Cataclysm expansion. Signups for this virtual battle arena will begin April 10.
"As an added bonus, we have included an exclusive reward that players can earn by purchasing their Arena Pass and participating in the competition -- an Armored Murloc in-game pet," Blizzard said in a blog. "Top players will also contend for a chance to achieve the 'Vanquisher' title for their live characters."
Those who take part in the 2012 Arena Pass will also receive access to a special level 90 realm with upgraded epic gear after they’ve upgraded their accounts with the upcoming Mists of Pandaria expansion, the company said.
Last year's event was broken down into four phases: registration, practice, ranked ladder phase 1, and ranked ladder phase 2. Obviously the actual battle doesn't begin until ranked ladder phase 1 which consist of ranked 3v3 matches that count towards pet and title prizes.
"If a player switches from one Arena Team to another, the Arena Team that the player joins will have their Arena Rating reduced by 150 points," Blizzard explained last year. Ranked ladder phase 2 was roughly the same as the prior phase, only it didn't allow players to switch Arena Teams.
Last year the registration phase was open from May 3 to June 20. Meanwhile, the practice phase was open to players to test their skills from May 10 to June 7. The first ranked ladder phase stretched from June 7 to June 21, and the second ranked ladder phase started June 21 and ended July 4.
Stay tuned in the next few weeks for the official 2012 registration date.
