Season 9 Begins December 14th

This doesn't seem like a piece of news that has been a big deal throughout the blog-o-sphere, and the WoW community in general, but today while I was staring longingly at those blank Conquest tabs on my PvP screen, I saw that a little message had been added to the foot of them.

Season 9 will begin December 14th 2010.  This means, for those of you not near a calendar, or not being particularly endowed mathematically, it goes live exactly one day after Cataclysm goes live.  Also, by no coincidence, I'm sure, both these events take place on a Tuesday, just in time for maintenance.

What does this mean?

Besides the obvious, it means Blizzard is intending to make competitive arenas and Battlegrounds available almost immediately after Cataclysm goes live.  If leveling in Wrath was any example (which despite the increase in level being cut in half, I think is a fairly good estimate), then we can expect very few people to be 85 in less than a week.  Sure, some people will have played the beta and already figured leveling out 100%, and then take time off work and ding in a few very short days.  But I'm assuming most of you don't fall into that category.

Personally, I'm estimating at least two weeks (probably more) to get from 80-85.  This means That by the time the average player hits max level again, they'll be able to delve right into serious PvP.

But this also means, that if you haven't started thinking about putting a PvP team together already, you should be.  We now know the next PvP Season is going to be live in less than three weeks.  If you want to catch the first wave of PvPers, you want to be ready with some kind of a team by the time you're at 85.  In terms of arenas, this may mean simply grabbing a few friends who are already max level too.  But rated BGs may require you to wait for slower levelers, like yours truly, due to the larger size.

Get Ready to Rumble

Sounds cheesy, right?  I agree, it is.  But the fact of the matter is that if you're a PvPers, there is no reason for you to stay out of the ring longer than you have to.  Season 8 has been over for almost a month now, and I don't know about you guys, but beyond the amazing new questing content, I'm pretty excited about getting a chance to sink my teeth into some major PvP again.

So, gear up, get those leveling boots ready, and don't hang up your sword just yet.  Things are about to get really interesting all over again.

Until then, practice safe Death!

~Onike