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WoW Archivist: One night of payback in 2006
WoW Archivist explores the secrets of World of Warcraft's past. What did the game look like years ago? Who is etched into WoW's history? What secrets does the game still hold? An interesting aspect of the ongoing Ashran faction hub debate is the fear people express that their hubs will be raided by enemy players, since the new hubs are adjacent to a PvP zone. Blizzard pointed out that the hubs will be better defended by NPCs than the Shrines are now -- and the Shrines currently see few serious attacks on live realms, despite their close proximity. On most realms today, little large-scale world PvP occurs, and even fewer faction raids. Faction raids were once a huge part of the game, even on PvE realms. You couldn't kill opposing players on PvE realms if they didn't want to be killed, but you could deny them their questgivers, flightmasters, and other crucial NPCs. And we did that, on both sides, throughout classic WoW. Easy targets like the Crossroads, Astranaar, Grom'gol, and Refuge Pointe were raided almost daily. If your faction was heavily outnumbered, like mine was on Khadgar-US back then, it could be infuriating. We had our small victories at times, as I covered in my first Archivist column. But many days, all we could do was stand by and watch as the Alliance occupied our towns for hours at a time and took away our ability to level effectively. On our first anniversary in 2006, my guild set out for some payback. Today I'd like to share that tale of classic world PvP, from the era when faction raids were serious business.
Chinese government says no to Wrath of the Lich King
Seriously, who doesn't like skeletons? Well, the Chinese government, as it's citing "skeleton characters" and a "city raid" as two primary reasons for the million World of Warcraft players in China still not receiving Blizzard's latest expansion. JLM Pacific Epoch reports the Chinese government "has rejected two applications by the second expansion for World of Warcraft Wrath of the Lich King since China's Spring Festival (January 25 - February 1)." Considering Blizzard has removed "skeleton characters" from WoW in the past and the supposedly gold farmer-free million plus player count for WoW in China, we're willing to bet Blizzard (and its licensing partner in China, The9) will find a way to release Wrath of the Lich King yet.But seriously China, what's your deal with skeletons?[Via Massively]
The Art of War(craft): World PvP Achievements
Ah, world PvP. In many ways, world PvP can be considered the purest form of PvP because when it happens -- if it's not done in association with a quest or other form of reward -- it is PvP for the sake of PvP. Some of the best times I've ever had doing PvP was in Hillsbrad Foothills, defending Tarren Mill and attacking Southshore. I miss the times when the World Defense channel would be flooded by calls to defend the Crossroads. There's also something very pure about coming to the aid of a faction leader under assault. And when Wrath of the Lich King finally arrives, I have a good feeling it's going to happen a lot more often.I wrote about the many Achievements related to PvP, such as the retroactive Achievements that you can work on before Patch 3.0 hits, as well as the numerous Battlegrounds Achievements. Although PvP for the sake of PvP is extremely fun, Achievements will actually reward something that previously never got anything more than bragging rights and a silly grin. Today we'll look at the numerous Achievements that work to encourage world PvP.
Midsummer fire festival sparks world PvP
When I read through the forums, I see numerous threads lamenting over the lack of world PvP. The Burning Crusade added a handful of PvP objectives that often go unnoticed and the towers in the Eastern Plaguelands seem pretty lonely since everyone moved on to Outland. Since the beginning of the Midsummer Fire Festival I've seen at least a temporary resurgence in actual PvP. Of course the ganking is still going on, but I've seen many more fair fights.The way it works is you try to keep your own fires burning while putting the flames of your opponents out. I've seen numerous mini raids on major cities and massive skirmishes near the small-town fires. Like many players, I've got to give props to Blizzard for adding this mechanic to the festival. The buffs are pretty awesome too. I've enjoyed this celebration more than any WoW holiday in the past. Have you been joining in the desecrating fun? Remember to check out the "It Came From the Blog" event this Sunday, June 29 at 7Pm Eastern.
Officers' Quarters: Unleashing your guild's bloodlust
Every Monday Scott Andrews contributes Officers' Quarters, a column about the ins and outs of guild leadership.The large majority of my columns since Officers' Quarters began three months ago have been PVE-focused. And even though Warcraft itself is certainly more PVE-focused -- by which I mean, you can't level up from PVP alone -- PVP is a large part of the game for many players. So I was glad to see the following question in my Inbox this week.I am currently the PVP officer of a mid-level raiding guild, our Kara-1 team has been successful and Kara-2 is coming together nicely, but that's not the point. As we are on a PVP server, what should I do to encourage my guildmates to hit the BGs on the holiday weekends as a group, rather than farm elementals for 3 days straight? Also as a Raiding guild - do you believe that World PVP (read: Opposing Faction City Raiding) is a viable alternative to add more class-driven PVP to the game, and give our Raid healers a spot in a fun PVP tradition?
