I still believe in Alterac Valley

I don't know why, but Alterac Valley is still my favorite battleground. I primarily play Horde in there, although I'll take my Allies in if I'm bored enough with them. I've bought the items I wanted and now, honestly, I don't even care about the honor, I just enjoy AV. I have never understood the lure of AFK honor farming. You're going to be in there as long whether or not you get out of the cave and play, so why not go smash some faces while you're there? I mean, if you want to read a book, turn off the game, man.

There are of course problems with Alterac. Some folks think the map is imbalanced or that the NPC's don't work out the way they should. There's the AFK issue which can really make the game less fun. But for me, whether I win or I lose (I'd say Horde loses about 60% of the time when I do AV, maybe more) is less important than the simple fact that in AV, I'm free to do whatever I want. If I feel like tanking some of the NPC's I can, or I can just go in with a fury or arms spec and DPS. I often take my resto shaman in just to throw chain heal around, I don't even care who I'm healing. That dude over there is taking damage? Chain Heal to the rescue. But if I don't feel like healing I won't, I'll slap an Earth Shield on myself and just flail around ineffectually with my Crow Wing Reaper like a total dumbass and have fun doing it.

Most people will tell you that they're excellent in all aspects of the game. I'm going to admit now that I am awful at PvP. I have reflexes perfectly tuned to PvE content and reaction time that means I'm rarely surprised by what any group of mobs will do, but I cannot wrap my head around PvP. Arenas? I am the first to die. Warsong Gulch? Well, I can slap on full tank gear and run with the flag, but wouldn't you rather have a druid do it? Eye of the Storm and AB are just variations on these themes. But Alterac Valley can contain mobs of Horde and Alliance trying to slaughter each other, it can have races to the end, it can even allow you the magnificent joy of being a spoiler. I've wiped Alliance groups on Drek who were at 1% by killing their last remaining healer and then using Intimidating Shout and War Stomp to break up their rhythm, and even as I died I laughed. Some of my best times in game are in taking petty revenge on Ally turtles by making them have to take even longer to kill Drek.

I admit it, I'm not a very forgiving person.

I look forward to the changes in AV, because I hope to see it restored to a battleground everyone enjoys instead of one everyone but me endures.