If your experience in the Arena of World of Warcraft has been a little odd in relation to gaining rating, it’s not just in your head. According to a developer post, more players are taking part in the Arena in Shadowlands than ever before, which is causing some unintended effects at the top of the ladder, like players hitting the upper boundaries of rating and not getting any rating increases when they win matches, or players immediately below that tier not getting matches (and thereby not getting rating increases) if top rung players refuse to queue up.
To correct these issues, the devs are offering up a pair of solutions. First, the already present rating inflation system that increases the mean rating of competitors at a rate of 10 points per week should be enough to encourage players to keep playing throughout the season, as they’ll have an advantage compared to those who stop when it comes to end of season rewards. Secondly, there will be weekly restarts that increase the upper bound of WOW’s matchmaking rating system, which should address the problem of players at the top of the ladder experiencing matches that reward no rating change.
