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Arenas exist solely for PvP play, generally in 2v2 or 3v3 teams. They are not part of the normal PvM game and there are no monsters or items to find in the Arenas. (Though these are possible additions for future Arena game modes.)
The developers have repeatedly stressed that the PvP and PvM games are entirely separate in Diablo III, and that if any skills need to be tweaked to make Arena more competitive, this will not affect the same skill in the PvM game. (This was a major complaint about World of Warcraft's PvP, that skills had to be nerfed in PvM when they were tweaked in PvP.)
Battle Arena is match based play, based on a 3 vs 3 format. Blizzard chose 3 vs. 3 as a way to help eliminate some of the balance issues from a particular build / class combination. However, they have also stated that they would like to support 1v1 and other duels of a custom size, and perhaps even some other game types, so expect to see more than just the 3 vs. 3 format with the shipped game.
Early testing of the matches at Blizzcon 2010 showed that most of them were very quick and brutal, typically lasting less than a minute per round. It's expected that matches will become longer and more strategic as players gain skill and use their own characters, but the basic game design is for a "best of" series of matches, with the pace numerous deaths in a short time. It's not meant to be a long, drawn out, one-fall type of gameplay fast and funbattle. (Though it might become that way for [[Hardcore]] dueling, depending on how that feature is implemented. )
[[File:Health-orb-arena1.jpg|frame|Arena health orb.]]
The only battle arena we have seen so far is a small area with several obstacles laid out symmetrically across the map, and four health globe spawn points centered in the middle. Its design was fairly similar to the interior of [[Bastion's Keep]], perhaps coincidentally.
Diii.net posted a lengthy Arena hands-on report from Blizzcon 2010 play experience. Reading it is highly-recommended for anyone who wishes additional information on the playing the the Arena. The introduction describes the basic playing conditions of the Arena demo at Blizzcon2010. <ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/hands-on-from-blizzcon-mega-pvp-arena-report/ Diii.net Battle Arena Report @ Blizzcon 2010] - IncGamers. November 6, 2010</ref>
[[File:Death-barb-arena1.jpg|frame|Dead Barbarian.]]
Dying in the Arena is very common, and encouraged. Matches go quickly and without any pause between the rounds. A Each arena match last until all the players on one team or the other are dead, and this doesn't often take very long in the cramped confines of the arena. In early testing ran for 15 minutes at Blizzcon 2010, most 3v3 games had a round more than every minute, with numerous rounds per match. A typical score for the full 15 minute battles winding up with scores in the vicinity of minutes was something like 10-7, with most rounds lasting less than one minute.
Dead players can no longer interact with the living. Upon death you become a ghost, able to move around and watch the action, but invisible to the others. In theory a dead player could scout enemy locations for his friends, if he had voice chat or they were playing in the same room, but this would be of very minor assistance, given the small size of the Arena and the fast pace of the action.
It's been promised that hardcore characters will die permanently in the arena, which means the image below might be the last sight a player ever sees of their beloved character. Many Hardcore players have pushed for some sort of non-lethal practice mode, to allow HC players to play as much arena as they want, rather than only doing it on very rare special occasions, since so few players would be willing to risk their characters in duels. Blizzard has not commented on that concept.
[[File:Death-arena3.jpg|center|frame|Dead, but only until the next round begins.]]
==Arena Evolution==
::'''''VG24/7: '''Has Arena PVP always been a priority for you? When did you decide to implement it?
::'''JB:''' I can say that we tried a few different things. The sky’s the limit when you first start out. And we zeroed in on [arenas} iteratively. You know, of all the things we tried, it just tends to come back to that being the most solid, the most fun, and the easiest to jump into. Having tried a whole bunch of different stuff, that's the one that just popped up as being the best on its own. That's what the feedback was. That's not to say we didn't learn a lot about other possibilities. That's the one that just really nailed it.
===World of Warcraft PvP Influences===
While none of the Diablo III developers ever mentioned WoW's PvP system during their many comments on the Arena from Blizzcon 2010, one of the WoW developers did.<ref>[http://diablo.incgamers.com/blog/comments/wow-s-pvp-influence-on-diablo-iiis-arenas/ John Legrave @ Blizzcon 2010] - GamePlanet NZ, November 10, 2010</ref>
<blue>John Legrave: You know, one of the great core values of our company is “every voice matters” and they certainly consulted us. It’s their own, and they have great designers doing their work there, but we’ve certainly done strike team work with them and talked about what they’re doing. So yeah, absolutely, but the majority of that work is their own baby.</blue>
This news item kicked off a huge debate about the shortcomings of WoW's PvP system, with most WoW veterans sure that Diablo III's system would be far more enjoyable.
