PvP is not a minigame.
- Arena participation peaked - Even tho the population is probably lower than 2020 classic, arena participation was the highest ever (most r1 spots on 2v2 compared to s1/s5 on original classic)
- There are actual arena improvmements from blizzard:
- arena teams were removed so now you have only your own rating like in retail
- honor rates were buffed so its very easy casual now
- arena points were buffed (you can easily flush above 1600 pts in any bracket, which random number would be around 450 pts before)
- honor gear cost incl. marks and arena gear cost were reduced on top of the points above
LFG has more players to play arena with compared to retail even if the overall population of both servers is not even comparable.
2v2 and 5v5 are actual brackets with high participation and optimal rewards, the same as 3v3.
PvP content creator streams are peaking rn, compared to retial where pvp creators stream m+ or gamble
Old season gear (s1 just ended so it means s1 gear) has no rating requirements and a very huge discount on price so you can catch up easily
TBC Epic pack is discounted by 50% which includes 58 lvl char boost, 1 month gametime and many mounts
I know its a retail sub, I know there are pro's on retail after 20 years of development, I know that Soloshuffle is insane idea that you'd all miss but just so you know - if you are not enjoying retail rn (I have a few ideas why you wouldn't and why I don't) theres a place that you might like.
If you decide to roll to PvP on tbc for the first time, make sure you prepare which classes/ combos work as there is no class balance and not every spec is viable (funny enough it happens on retail quite often nowadays as well)