Sometimes ya just gotta laugh

[Sunderezz]

In my wonderful queue a player persists in coming up with such "fun" teams.

I just have to share
Fun team 1: Anomalus; Anomalus; Oasis Void-duster
Fun team 2: Broot; Blossoming Ancient; Puddle Terror
Fun team 3: Anomalus; Anomalus; Infernal Pyreclaw

I think this may be the only other player in my queue. Little wonder.
New players may quickly conclude they don't stand a chance.
I don't mind losing to a talented player - it both challenges and inspires.
Such "fun" teams though? About like watching paint dry.
I have taken to plugging in 3 cute Elek Plushies and going about my business.

Just sharing the theater of the ridiculous meta. Meanwhile, I keep on learning.

[Sunderezz]

Thank you for bearing with me, anyone who has read this thread.

"The Queue" becomes quite the force in our best efforts to practice and enjoy this game.
As I watch the many excellent youtube clips of pet battles, as I learn from watching skillful fights,
I also feel a bit wistful seeing queues with diverse opponents.

After months I am now fairly certain there is only one other player in my queue. Once I was equally
certain there were three, with a an occasional new player who did not last (this is a real shame and a
significant issue). Now there seems to be just me and a solitary opponent. This person has three "moods":

1. triples . . . 3 frostfur rats, 2 anomali/1 oasis void duster; etc. (previously with frequent, insulting/abusive
names that magically stopped after I posted and learned from Rosqo how I could report such abusive behavior).
2. doubles . . . 2 anomuli and the anubisath idol; blossoming ancient, broot, puddle terror, ect.
3. increasingly well crafted, elegant teams that kick my butt yet I respect and struggle to learn from.

(Given the pets involved and the fast response times, I believe this to be one person).

Many threads across WOW/battlepet discussion boards note the the challenge of how to make this game "welcoming"
to new players. Honestly, I have been tempted to quit many times, yet am sooooo hooked. I guess what my comment is about
is my appreciation for all of you who work so hard to build and maintain community, reaching out to those
of use who are learning, investing your time and expertise in efforts to enhance and preserve the this game.

Thank you so very much for all you do!

[Gráinne]

I really admire your attitude, and hope you can maintain your sunny outlook!

If it's any consolation, while it is better, it's not really terribly better in a somewhat busier queue. Typically during a meta, 5-10 pets make up 30%-50% of all teams you will meet.

Doubles and triples are inexcusable, though. If they made me Boss of the Pets, I would ban duplicate species instantly, and launch a data trawl and study to check the feasibility of banning duplicate abilities in a team.

The Sandstorm meta seems to have killed interest. None of the PvP YouTubers have cut a vid in the last few months, and I'm guessing queues are pretty dead all over - not that I've ever seen them lively.

Does it get any better during Pet Week? It usually does.

[Rosqo]

The Sandstorm>aoe>darkness meta is the worse state of the game I've ever played. Leaving it in this state is an active attempt to stop participation in my opinion and sadly it's working. There's no fun if having to always queue with a small handful of pets to reliably beat the meta.

Sandstorm weather effect and dot aoe are the biggest problems to diversity but the power level of weather damage/splash aoe also harms the types of teams you could use for consistent success.

Sandstorm shield effect prevents way too many different strategies that would otherwise be used in PVP. Aoe, dots, speed multi attacks and plagued blood type strategies are all not viable vs Sandstorm.

Aoe power level is soo high that other strategies cannot compete with the damage throughput.

Weather's and some splash aoe are too powerful at their existing levels meaning there are one shot possibilities and consistent 2 shot combos that are difficult to play around for how easy they are to do.

With the current Blizzard frat boy culture I doubt they'll make it any better because there's too many egos to admit their mistakes and listen to players feedback on issue.