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The Puzzle of Battlegrounds Reputation
Since my current character-of-choice isn't running in a raiding guild, I've recently turned to PvP as a possible alternative way to acquire new and interesting gear for myself. In my travels through Azeroth's battlegrounds, I've noticed something puzzling about reputation gain in each - some are easier to get than others. Specifically Aterac Valley reputation - which has some simply incredible weapon rewards - seems to come a lot easier than Warsong Gulch or Arathi Basin reputation. So I sat down and decided to do the math and see how it really works out - is AV reputation given out like candy, or am I just imagining things? Read on to find out.
To Turtle or Not to Turtle...?
We're 45 minutes into an Alterac Valley run and 30 players are sitting in our base playing defense, fighting a pitched battle that doesn't help us win, but slows down the rate at which we're going to loose. We haven't managed to hold a single graveyard throughout the fight, and the Alliance has a line of defense that quickly picks off most players attempting to move north from the Horde spawn point. I manage to sneak up to the next graveyard with a hunter friend while everyone else is busy fighting back in Frostwolf hold - and we manage to tap the flag there. However, before we manage to make the capture, a group of five Alliance comes down hard, and we're sent back to where we started.My friend whispers to me, "They have no idea what causes people to turtle, do they?" And, while I hadn't thought of it in this way before, I'm forced to agree - this sort of fight is probably no fun for either side. By playing such heavy defense, and not allowing a single capture, they push us back towards Frostwolf hold again and again - and when there's nothing else for players to do, many of them regroup back at one of the worst bottleneck points in the game, and the match ended up lasting an nearly an hour and a half. So what's your experience with turtling? And is there, perhaps, something to be said for letting the opposing side take a little, just to prevent them from fighting with their backs against the wall? Or is there some better strategy to avoid or break the opposing team's turtling efforts?
Breakfast Topic: Favorite Battleground
With all the recent news and speculation about coming PvP changes - both in patch 1.12 and the expansion - it seems only fitting to have a breakfast topic discussing everyone's favorite source of honor - battlegrounds! So which of the available battlegrounds is your favorite place to slaughter the opposing faction? Of late, I rarely venture outside of Alterac Valley - which, with the rate at which AB and WSG groups loose on my realm, seems to be the best source of honor. I remember, vaguely, a time in which I used to enjoy Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin matches, but this must have been long ago - all of my recent experience with them have been nothing but quick and harsh losses - with the players of my own faction spending the entire match yelling back and forth and disagreeing about what best to do. (Trust me, such battleground runs are not entertaining.)
Ramp! Tunnel! The life of a flagrunner
I've recently started spending much of my day in that eternal WoW timesink -- the battleground queue. Fed up of terrible random groups, I've joined a casual PvP team in search of honour, glory and extreme violence towards the Horde. With something of a druid shortage on my server, I'm often the only one in the group, and thus the chief flagrunner.Having partaken of the odd PvP game since I was in my mid-forties (not to mention playing games other than WoW which involve flags, teams and death) I'm no stranger to the concept of flag running, but I've found my ability as a flag carrier has vastly increased since getting into a good group. Not only have I become much faster at shifting between shapeshift forms in PvP, setting up easily-accessible keybinds for the various forms has helped me in PvE as well -- I'm developing a reflex for shifting into bearform when I start taking damage, which is useful in tricky aggro situations.However, there's one common theme to my flag carrying; one thing I spend most of my time doing, and I'm not ashamed of the fact. My chief activity is running away, and staying alive. I make a lot of mistakes -- I run away from healers, I hit Dash and sprint off into the middle of several cows with big pointy swords -- but I'm learning, and enjoying it. The druid class makes a perfect flag runner in my (extremely biased) opinion, and with the right support a match can be over in a few minutes. Here's to more victories, and losses that help me learn.
Gear-brackets in Battlegrounds?
Battlegrounds are already divided up by level - but even with equal levels, gear can dominate, especially at level 60, where you get a mix of players who have just started traversing 5-man dungeons and players in guilds who are farming Naxxramas. This post in the general forums proposes a radical solution to this problem - give everyone a standardized set of gear when they enter a battleground, and leave the rest to player ability. However, far more interesting than the original idea is the fact that it received a CM response, with Drysc chiming in that they wouldn't want to eliminate the hard work players put into acquire the best gear, but were working on a "player matching system" which might help nudge players into appropriate battlegrounds. No further details on how such a system might work, though Drysc does let us know that it won't be coming before the expansion.
EU Cross-Realm Battlegroups Announced
Battlegroups - groups of realms that will share players in the cross-realm battleground system that will be coming in patch 1.12 - have been announced for the EU servers. English language battlegroups are listed here, German here, and French here. Some of the English battlegroups look especially odd, with both very large and very small groupings - battlegroup 1 contains 18 realms and battlegroup 9 contains only 2. However, since these assignments reflect hardware settings (server clusters), there's probably not a lot of room to tweak the individual battlegroup configurations.
When is a premade not a premade? When it's a PuG.
One word, when uttered in the context of battlegrounds, has the ability to send shivers down a team's collective spine -- "premade". Of course, whether they're shivers of fear or joy depends on whether you're part of a premade team or not, and it seems to me that the differences between premade teams and pick-up groups in battlegrounds won't change much come 1.12.But how does one define a premade? In the seemingly interminable wait between battlegrounds, I've discussed this topic and it seems that everyone's got a different idea of quite when to apply the word. Premades are hardcore", "premades play 24/7", "premades have vent", "premades are a group queueing together". Some consider it a dirty word, others revel in the fact that they have a core team together before entering a battleground and have to rely less on random people filling up the side. What do you take the term "premade" to mean?
PvP in the Burning Crusade?
By now, I imagine everyone's aware that the Burning Crusade expansion will allow players (who have purchased the expansion) to level up to 70. However, what this will mean for the game's PvP system remains a bit vague. At present, a level 60 player receives more honor than a lower level player for kills. If the existing system is simply stretched out to level 70, then players at level 60 (who do not own the expansion) will find themselves at a detriment if attempting to compete in the PvP honor rankings. To me, at least, this implies that those players without the expansion won't have hope of keeping up with those who do own it - despite the fact that all will be able to play together on the same servers.
Virtual Snapshots: Home Sweet Azeroth
I admit - when I first installed World of Warcraft I ran around Azeroth like some virtual tourist, marveling at every bit of scenery and taking copious numbers of screenshots. However, the longer I've played, the more I've grown accustomed to the world of Azeroth and its interesting sights. That is, perhaps, why it was so refreshing to me to see this blog post - reminding me of the way I saw the game back when I first bought it (and proving I'm not the only one to, from time to time, be somewhat dazzled by the world around me). Indeed, shots such as this make Alterac Valley appear deceptively peaceful. And now, if you'll excuse me, I feel the need to log on and take some snapshots...
Breakfast Topic: PvP in Patch 1.12
It's no secret that there are PvP changes coming in the next content patch. There are going to be new cross-realm battlegrounds, auto-joining battlegrounds groups, world PvP objectives, and it's been hinted that the honor system in general will be a bit more lenient (though there haven't been any specifics on this). I've never made serious attempts at achieving the game's highest PvP ranks, simply because I know its impossible for someone who can't dedicate more time than I have to the cause. However, this patch may encourage me to head to the battlegrounds - or perhaps Silithus and Eastern Plaguelands - a bit more often for some PvP action. Am I going to hit rank 14 sometime soon? I doubt it - but the changes to the system may make it where I'll enjoy spending more time accumulating honor than I have in the past. However, what about the rest of you - are the changes to the system encouraging you to spend more time in the battlegrounds, or driving you away?
What Do Cross-Realm Battlegrounds Solve?
This question seems to be getting more and more play on the forums recently - and I can certainly see where this poster is coming from. When I played Alliance myself, I rarely participated in PvP battlegrounds for the same reason - queues tended to last about an hour and I always seemed to think up more interesting things to do than wait around. When I started playing Horde, I found myself doing battlegrounds much more frequently - and would consider ten minutes to have been a long battlegrounds queue. However, if most realms have higher numbers of Alliance than Horde, won't the problem be the same, only on a larger scale? CM Nethaera explains that "some people may see their time go up, others may see theirs go down" - as populations and queues are averaged across many realms. However, Nethaera also notes that cross-realm battlegrounds have not yet been tested on the test realms - and, in my mind, any test realm environment still won't give us a good view on how this will impact the live realms.
Patch 1.12: Cross-Realm Battlegrounds System
It's old news that we'll be seeing cross-realm battlegrounds in the next patch, however, Blizzard has recently let us in on additional information regarding how the system works. After 1.12, when you enter a battleground queue, you won't be entering a queue with players from every realm - simply from a select few. Each realm is part of a "battlegroup" consisting of five to twenty realms, and you will only compete with other players within your realm's battlegroup. There's already speculation on which battlegroup will contain the toughest competition, so place your bets now...![Thanks, obo]
Patch 1.12 Preview
After the release of patch 1.11, Blizzard has wasted no time in posting an overview of what to expect in the next content patch. On the agenda are cross-realm battlegrounds, a completely new world PvP system (which suggests to me something along the lines of Arathi Basin, only un-instanced), and (of course!) the rogue talent review. I'm quite interested in seeing how these PvP changes flesh out, but this is all the news we have for now. Stay tuned for more news as it becomes available![Thanks, spencer]
Healing in PvP
The priest I'm currently playing is the first character I've made any serious attempts to PvP with. And, no, I'm not blazing through Alterac Valley in shadowform - I heal, much to the amazement of people I end up grouped with. At first I was surprised by the shock of other players when I healed them, but after spending some time in all of the battlegrounds, I've come to realize that healing in PvP is quite a headache.In PvE groups and instance runs, players are arranged into parties. In a raid group, where there are multiple parties, there's usually a healer in each and we stick to healing our own parties. We move forward as a group by necessity - because a single player would be highly unlikely to stand on their own against the monsters we're fighting. I watch my party's health bars, and I heal them when they get low. Easy enough, right? But in a PvP situation...
Cross-realm battlegrounds on the way
Gaming Steve brings us the long-awaited information that cross-realm battlegrounds, of a form, will be coming to Azeroth. By patch 1.12 or 1.13 "at the latest", battlegrounds will span sixteen realms, allowing for shorter queues and new opponents.There are also some more exciting BG changes planned for the future, turning WoW PvP into a truly competitive sport with tournaments, ladders and worldwide rankings to take part in. It looks like we'll have to wait for the Burning Crusade to see most of the changes, but bringing cross-realm combat in sooner rather than later is something I'm definitely looking forward to.[Via Joystiq]
Blizzard to revamp WoW Battlegrounds
Gaming Steve — "the man with the game information" — has the scoop on Blizzard's plans to dramatically enhance Battlegrounds, World of Warcraft's PvP mode. The first update, expected in patch 1.12 or 1.13, will effectively link 16 realms per Battleground server, in turn speeding up queues and opening up the playing field for inter-realm action.But Steve reports that Battlegrounds will undergo its biggest makeover with the release of The Burning Crusade expansion. Players can look forward to features like worldwide rankings, tournaments, and ladders when the expansion drops later this year.
Warsong Gulch Quickstart Guide
"Look before you leap". Wise advice, but it's easy to fall into a trap of complacency in WoW, believing that you can conquer anything and everything. Throwing other players into the mix as opponents can make the game change drastically, however.With the PvP Honor Contest coming to a close this Tuesday, this weekend is an excellent chance to stock up on honor and try to make it to the top. In fact, thanks to the battleground holidays, there's extra honor available this weekend than throughout the rest of the contest. Having seen several players on the Honor Contest Realm who evidently have no idea what Warsong Gulch is all about, here's a quick guide to what's going on:
More Battlegrounds with Blizzard!
It looks like players will have one more chance to tussle with Blizzard in the battlegrounds before the contest realms close down on Monday. Players on US servers can find Blizzard in Warsong Gulch today, playing Alliance, between 5 and 7 PM PST. So get out there and fight the good fight![Fan art by Guillaume Bonnet]
Poor leadership kills BattleGround teams
Oh, man. So last night, I got a chance to play a few rounds in Warsong Gulch. Usually, I have a good amount of fun doing so, following along with nicely placed orders and helping out while trying not to get slaughtered, lose my tank, or go through all my soul shards. I'm not going to name names here, but last night, I was in a group with a complete and total jerk who continually bossed everyone in the team around because he was a higher level, continually calling us all noobs and flipping out constantly about how we all couldn't do anything right.The thing is, we were winning until he started yelling repeatedly, "EVERYONE IN THE MIDDLE NOW!" And since the team was a little n00b heavy, most people listened to him. This left our flag unguarded by any but my lone self, who ignored him until I just gave up, and we quickly had our flag stolen and planted and he just kept shouting "WHAT? HOW!?"Because your strategy sucked. You need people to charge in the raid, and people to guard the flag. Put all your cards too heavily in one place or the other and you are screwed. Word to the wise: good leaders don't start yelling at you and calling you all noobs. If that happens to you in game, it is time to pick a new leader. What do you think? What's your best BattleGround strategy? Who has been your worst leader?ps—There's an update this morning, and I only need one more signature on the charter for Akama's Horde WoW Insider Guild.
Breakfast Topic: BG Twinks
Battlegrounds are fun, most of the time, but sometimes you run up against a team that seems to have it all. They're at the top end of the level bracket, with the best equipment available, and level 300 enchants on everything -- plus, they have bags full of swiftness and free action potions at the ready, and you don't stand a chance. Yes, BG twinks are not new, but they are causing some fuss on the boards at the moment.What do you think? Should people be allowed to invest their hard-earned gold in lower-level alts and dominate the battlegrounds? The main example of twinking here is the enchants -- should there be a level restriction on high-end enchants?[Thanks, Josh]
