Board Game Arena

I see a big banner ad on the home page proclaiming the beginning of Arena Season 1, but absolutely no explanation of what Arena mode is or how it works, or how you start games in the Arena, etc. Can someone point me to where this information resides?

When you go to "Play Now" and click on the left button on top where it says "Simple Game" you can then select "Arena" and real-time or turn based.

You need to have reached at least 100 ELO (once, since you can't fall below that once you've reached it) for a game to be available for you in the Arena.

And then you gain some "arena icon thingies" (edit: apparently they are called "Arena points") for winning and lose some for losing... and reach different levels... that's as far as I have figured it out today
I'm also curious though how it works with the different tiers and numbers...

I think it's a bit far fetched. Why not make regular "simple" games a seasonal tournament? Just reset the ELO to 100 (for those who reached it) at the beginning of the season. I only knew about the arena by looking here, so I tried it... and sat there for 15 minutes waiting for an opponent that never came. Nobody knows about this. It just doesn't make sense making this a separate thing because the regular ELO system is just as competitive, with that exception that people on top just stop playing because they don't want to lose that position. For example: since I've been playing here, the same guy has been on top of "Can't Stop" without winning or losing points - he just stopped playing (maybe he's not even active anymore). Very frustrating knowing that top position will probably never change.


Addition...

So, I finally got to play a game and lost. Now I don't mind losing, but it also affected my ELO in simple game mode. So why would I bother playing Arena?

Here is a FAQ on this subject:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15059

enigmisto wrote: ↑16 April 2020, 22:43 I see a big banner ad on the home page proclaiming the beginning of Arena Season 1, but absolutely no explanation of what Arena mode is or how it works, or how you start games in the Arena, etc. Can someone point me to where this information resides?

Thank you for asking. I had the exact same question. The FAQ link from sourisdudesert cleared it up for me.