When ladder season is up...

[SaintAugustine]

What happens? I figure characters are no longer able to join in/creat ladder games. Do they? And if they do, what happens to all the "ladder only" items they may have acquired?

[adeyke]

We can't know for certain until it happens. However, it's generally believe that the characters will become non-ladder but will retain all the ladder-only items.

[Loki]

From Arreat Summit

What happens when the ladder season is over?
All ladder characters become either Normal Core or Normal Hardcore Characters depending on what type of Ladder Characters they are. If you want to be a Ladder Character for the next Ladder season you must create a new character and flag it as a Ladder Character.

Do I get to keep my Ladder Only Items when the season is over?
A: Yes. Any Ladder Only Items will be converted over when your character is converted to a Core character. These items can now be traded with other Core characters. That is the only way for Core characters to get ladder only items, as leftovers after a season is over.

[Brista]

Personally when this Ladder season is up I'm gonna start over in the new Ladder again

[Baajikiil]

Personally when this Ladder season is up I'm gonna start over in the new Ladder again

Seconded. Hopefully this ladder won't go on for more than 3-4 months or so. When it restarts, I'll just restart as well.

If it goes on too long, it will return to the way the realms were before 1.10-- everyone has almost every item, and party play is nearly nonexistant(at least in pubbie games). As it is, most people I have seen in pubbie game are *forced* into partying.

From what I've heard online, it's at least 50-50; many players like the increased difficulty and teamwork, but also many people dislike the loss of their items.

[ShadowHM]

Personally when this Ladder season is up I'm gonna start over in the new Ladder again

Any new characters I start at that time will be new ladder characters. But should (as is rather likely) any of my previous ladder characters have not completed the game to Patriarch/Matriarch status, I will continue playing them. I have no urge to get to a certain level, but I do like progressing right through the game (i.e. through every area) with each character.