Mid-Season Arenas Feedback

Having spent the season grinding Arenas, some feedback:

Critiques: 

1. Winning 50 Arenas games for the badge was a brutal grind. There's not enough variety in matchmaking. It feels like I'm/we're usually matched against better teams.
   
   
2. The "babysitting" problem is real. If I queue solo, I'm usually stuck with two [very] low-level players, or against mis-ranked smurf teams. It's no fun being forced to carry a team, and I doubt my teammates like getting splatted.
   
   
3. Skull Town has been, by far, the most fun Arena to play in. Comparatively, the other maps have gotten boring and predictable.
   
   
4. Server and connection stability is terrible. I'd say that >60% of rando games I've played see at least one drop (even with the penalty). Effective squad-level MMR means nearly all 2v3 or 1v3 situations "royally suck", so most Arenas games are currently trash for one of the teams playing.
   
   
5. I'm a self-professed badge-wh*re, and the Arenas badges are ugly, boring, and pointless (much like the club badges).

Suggestions:

1. Rando teams should never be matched against three-stacks, especially on console. There's too much advantage to having good communication, and most console players don't (even casual three-stack vs club is usually OP).
   
   
2. Enforce relative player parity, not just team point totals. At higher levels, Arena games are too precise and fast-paced to serve as learning grounds. If all three players can't move at similar speeds, the game is over before it begins.
   
   
3. Evolve the dedicated Arenas maps. Add more high ground, obstacles to break sight-lines, and additional spawn locations. There should be real need to assess both the terrain and the opponent's location. Currently, strategies on each map are rote and predictable.
   
   
4. Dynamically handicap games based on player count and relative skill. If a team loses a player (or has weaker players), compensate with more materials per round, and match the total shield points each team carries onto the field. Similarly, when players drop, intelligently "bench" player(s) on the team that has more (let them spectate).
   
   
5. In an MMR system with players of established rank, the consecutive-win badge is relatively meaningless (and it's the coolest badge). It'd be nice to see skill-related badges dealing with kills (9+) and damage (3k+).

At its best, the Arenas experience is really fun and challenging. Unfortunately, that's not often enough the case.

- Neb