Paid tournys are dead outside prime time american times, what do all us asian/oceanic players do? This game is dieing so its hard to find 4 other players dedicated to play as much as you that play in the same timezone who are also online whenever you want to play.
I realize how this game wants to be ‘different’ so has gone away from what has worked in other pvp mmo’s (bad idea but won’t go into to that) but using wow as an example (most played mmo so biggest sample size) 5vs5 arenas failed, 3vs3 and 2vs2 were the most popular/fun and also 3vs3 became the eventual e-sport platform. You could log on at any time and find 2 people of any skill level and get nearly instant ques no matter what rating you were.
And if that failed you could always go outside either major city and find an abundance of people of every skill level to duel and learn your class/test new specs etc.
Also paid tournys are a monopoly with only a handfull of teams winning every tournament(qp ladder proves this), I have no doubt if it was 3vs3 arena deathmatch this would not be the case as there are many skillfull players who cannot find 4 other players equally as skilled in the same timezone with the same dedication/availability etc.
+1 for dueling in the mists.
+1 for 3v3 or 2v2 deathmatch