HonorSystem
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PvP rank statistics
PlayOn has been collecting some interesting data on PvP in World of Warcraft. And while I'm not sure any of the information provides grounds for conclusion, it's certainly interesting to peek at. Both of these charts take into account sample data from 128,477 unique characters across 5 realms (one RP, two PvE, and two PvP) during one week in October. Above is their chart of average PvP rank for each class -- as you see, shaman takes the top spot and priest the lowest, but there's relatively little difference in rank between the two. (Perhaps suggesting that any class can be competitive with effort? Or simply that more shamans, warriors, and mages PvP?)Then we have average PvP rank for time played. Unsuprisingly, those attaining rank 13 are nearing 80 hours a week of playtime (for reference, the Daedalus Project suggests the average MMO player spends 20 hours a week in game), while those at rank 14 are dropping closer to 60 hours (possibly a sign of no further play efforts after reaching the maximum rank).
Life without Burning Crusade
Joeh asks an interesting question over on livejournal... What are you going to be able to do if you don't buy the Burning Crusade expansion? There are probably at least a few people out there planning on not buying the expansion-- either for money or time reasons.So, without the expansion, it looks like you're going to get a free respec, and of course all the talent changes on the trees-- but you'll still have only 51 points to spend, even though the trees will now go up to 61 points. And you'll still have access to all the content currently in the game-- you'll be able to play Strat, Scholo, ZG, AQ, and even Naxx until your heart's content. And even though you won't be able to play the new races, you'll still get to goggle at them as they run past you, sometimes on their very sweet epic mounts (although you won't see the flying ones, because those will only be in Outland, somewhere you can't go).What else won't you get? You won't get to learn Jewelcrafting, although you will be able to use Jewelcrafted items and obtain drops. You won't see any of the new dungeons, and you won't be able to level a single XP past level 60.And then there's some things we just don't know about. All players will be affected by the Honor System changes, but will Arena PVP be only for Burning Crusaders or will everyone get to play in them? And Blizzard hasn't said a single word about how the expansion will be implemented in-game-- will there be a World Event like the Scourge Invasion, and if so, will everyone see it, or only those who buy the expansion? Caverns of Time, we know, will be a world event in the "old" content of Tanaris-- can everyone participate in that or only those with BC?And I know it boggles the mind, but what about post-expansion patches? Will Blizzard upgrade the entire game, or just the expansion folks? Lots of questions to be answered as we move closer and closer to BC's release date.
Joystiq Interviews Jeff Kaplan
Joystiq managed to get a interview with World of Warcraft's lead designer, Jeff Kaplan, (you may know him as "Tigole" on the forums) - and there's some interesting stuff here. Of course there's a lot of info here, but some of the most interesting talk revolves around the new PvP system. As was posted earlier, the system will consist of arena matches of 2v2, 3v3, or 5v5 which will can be alliance v. horde, alliance v. alliance, or horde v. horde and cross-server. And the honor system as we know it will be gone entirely - to quote Kaplan: It's a competitive-based ladder that uses a rating system similar to the chess ELO rating. One of the key differences is that we require a minimum number of games that you have to play. Unlike in the chess system where if you're on top, you can just sit there, we wanted to ensure that the No. 1 guy can be knocked off his top spot. But, we don't require too many games. We'll require something around ten games. Further, honor points as we know them will be significantly changed. There will be no more honor decay and instead of determining your PVP rank, the honor points you accumulate can be spent to purchase PVP gear. And other tidbits touched on by the interview include... News that there's been some thought about implementing voice chat in the game, though it won't be coming in the Burning Crusade. Dungeons (though whether all dungeons, or simply expansion dungeons) will have a "normal" and "hard" difficulty setting, and loot will be adjusted accordingly. They're currently anticipating new races with every expansion - though there is a finite limit on the number of races in Azeroth. I can't help but be excited about this news.
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.)
Additional Honor System Modifications Coming
We already know that the honor system's curve is getting adjusted in patch 1.12, but apparently that's not the only change planned. On Friday, CM Nethaera let us know that there will also be some reduction in honor decay. The exact patch note reads: Honorable Kills now diminish at a rate 10% per kill rather than 25% per kill. The phrasing of the post lead to some confusion, so she later clarified - in patch 1.12 you're going to be able to kill the same player more before you stop receiving honor. If it seems like a minor tweak, well, Nethaera admits that it's only a temporary measure, and that there are bigger changes coming.
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.
MMOs and the Secondary Market
The Escapist has a good article discussing the secondary market of various MMOs. It doesn't focus on World of Warcraft, but gives an interesting broader picture on the practice of buying and selling currency in virtual worlds. The question of whether players can remain competitive at this point without the aid of additional financial is a curious one. In Azeroth, additional gold, BOE items, or power-leveling can certainly be of help, but are they necessary to keep up with the rest of the players? For PvP, I'm tempted to answer "yes" - as the bar to reach the upper ranks of the honor system is so high as to make it neigh impossible for many players to reach - unless they do nothing but take short breaks for sleeping and eating between play sessions for weeks on end.
More on PvP in Patch 1.12
We've gone over some of the PvP changes that will show up in patch 1.12 - both cross-realm battlegrounds and the new world PvP objectives. However, this is not the only change coming. When patch 1.12 goes live, the honor curve will be softened, somewhat, allowing a larger number of players into the upper ranks. There are no specific details on the numbers here, of course, and it's unlikely we'll understand the full impact of such a change until after it's been up and running on the live realms for a while. [Fan art by Guillaume Bonnet]
The PvP Grind
I've been playing World of Warcraft for over a year now, and have only recently attempted PvP. I've had a lot of fun with it, but certainly haven't spent enough time grinding for honor to burn out on the experience. This article from Not Addicted looks at what it takes to make rank 14 in the PvP grind and is a clear explanation of why I don't intend to try going that far. Anyone out there with personal different experiences on the grind to rank 14?
