Breakfast Topic: To gank or not to gank?
by Jennie Lees 
Feb 16th 2006 at 9:00AM
Call me a carebear if you like, but I've long since tired of being ganked, and as a result I've spent most of my
levelling time on a PvE server. I've recently gone back to my PvP server characters, and I've suddenly found a complete
lack of ganking going on.The change that prompted me to abandon the characters in the first place was the introduction of the honor system, which seemed to worsen the experiences. Whether due to the Battlegrounds or the lack of bloodlust on this old server, however, it all seems much nicer now--or perhaps I'm just more clued up as to where to go and how to avoid the Alliance.
As players level on PvP servers, I've often heard that they'll gank lower levels in "revenge" for their own experiences, continuing the vicious cycle. Sometimes ganking goes above and beyond reason, though. What's your opinion on ganking? Is it still as much a problem as it ever was?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, WoW Social Conventions, PvP, Breakfast Topics
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tom Feb 16th 2006 9:41AM
I generally /wave all opposing players. I've ganked twice in 41 levels, mostly just because I was having a bad day at the time.
I've noticed, however, that as a Horde, I can pretty much count on being attacked by any Night Elf who crosses my path. This is inclining me more and more to fry any of the little blue bastards I run across.
Mig! Feb 16th 2006 9:58AM
I dont know. If you ask me, it has always been for me the other way around. I mainly play Alliance, and have continuously seen groups of Horde camp out outside areas of lower level Alliance zones for fun. I mean, what purpose does killing a lvl 22 when you are a 60?
I have NEVER seen this Alliance side, at ALL. I have never even HEARD of instances of this happpening. Does it?
jennie Feb 16th 2006 10:12AM
Mig!, I think it depends on your server. I found that I couldn't move a foot inside Stonetalon or Hillsbrad without hearing that bone-chilling "there's a NE rogue stealthing just behind me RIGHT NOW" noise.
I've never played Alliance on a PvP server, so I don't know whether it translates. However, I've seen groups of level 60 Alliance regularly assault the Crossroads, killing any flagged lowbies in their path..
stannum Feb 16th 2006 10:16AM
I am anything but a carebear and CRAVE world PVP with every fiber of my being. That being said, I will generally not gank grays unless they are griefing lowbies of my own faction.
As far as being ganked. I don't mind it so much. After all, this is war, and war isnt all /hugs and /kisses. It's dirty dirty business.
Corpse camping, on the other hand, is something that forces me to break my rule on respectable pvp. When some jackass decides to corpse camp on of my alt lowbies, I will drag out my main and thrash them repeatedly, ruthlessly. I will waste hours of my life tracking them down in order to kill them over and over and over again.
GlennZilla Feb 16th 2006 10:32AM
I play on Twisting Nether and have heard many people extolling the "If it's RED, it's Dead." epithet.
I don't subscribe to this however I see it often both in my fellow Alliance players and in the behaviour of a few Horde Guilds, NME and DoomLords specficly. I know that NME has been upfront about thier characters being evil and attacking everything they can.
So my rule is "Stay out of the obvious spots and join a big guild." Helps a bunch when you can summon in a herd of help to get a little payback on the guys who just jumped you while you were fighting mobs.
Mig! Feb 16th 2006 10:34AM
That is crazy, and funny. I didn't think it happened to the Horde, but I guess it does depend on the server.
I don't mind it either. I dont see the point in lowbie killing, but I certainly dont mind it. Stannum makes a great point that war is a dirty, dirty business. If you are in PvP, it is expected. Don't like it? Go PvE. I don't like corpse camping either. Kill me, and move on. There is no need to beat a guy who is already down:)
What I absolutely hate, and I hope no one sees this as off topic, but I really hate certain alliance people who play on my server. In Arathi Basin, lowbies are getting killed left and right. Horde groups are coming up and killing guards nearby. Where are the higher level alliance? Right by the AB instance entrance DUELING. GO FIGHT HORDE, morons! You are waiting in line to fight Horde and get HK, so why are you not out fighting them RIGHT NOW!!!
That burns my britches.
boneyard Feb 16th 2006 10:39AM
i believe battlegrounds have helped a lot with making this happen way less. in the past the higher levels had little to do, now they can just do battle grounds instead of being annoying.
and indeed the people who get angry about being ganked and then say wait till i level up, im gonna gank everyone i can i never understood. but with it happening less i assume also less people get infected with the "gank bug".
Mike Feb 16th 2006 10:43AM
As a horde PC on Gul'Dan, I regularly get ganked on the roads in Ashenvale, Hillsbrad, Thousand Needles. You HAVE to travel in pairs on the roads or go offroading if solo. As a lvl 25 Orc, I would frequently have MOUNTED allies dismount just to thrash me and move on. But alas, it is wartime. It's not all nicey-nice between the factions. I'll attack allies about 5 levels below me. If lower than that, I'll probably just leave them be. If higher than that, I'll have to attack them, because they will sure as hell attack me first if I don't. That's just how it is on my server.
Last weekend, there were two ally 60s launching an assault on XR. I respawned about 5 times fighting them. It's fun when your near a friendly graveyard. It's not fun getting ganked near Blackfathom and having to do that long corpse run through alliance territory.
Benny Feb 16th 2006 11:19AM
I'm on Twisting Neather and the Hoard just plain suck.
I just got out of the Sunken Temple and had to rez at the healer because our group lost a member and we couldn't go on. So here I am with REZ sickness talking to the Hoard Exile near Neathergard Keep to complete a mission and a Hoard my level comes up on me. I wave to him to show I'm not going to act hostile but he still comes after me. He wanted me so bad that he followed me all the way into Neathergard Keep to the bird, dragging the guards with him. I managed to get on the bird and get out, but what an a-hole! I'd NEVER go after someone who had rez sickness! None of my Alliance buddies would as well, but the damn Hoard sure will! This kind of behavior makes me want to storm Thunder Bluff and kill anything that moves. Hey Hoard! How about a little common courtesy, for crying out loud or is EVERY Hoard 14 years old??!
Carcass Feb 16th 2006 11:50AM
The problem with ganking is big for me. I don't have time to play endlessly, and as such I don't have any strong guild affiliations (I'll never be a raider). Playing on a PVP server (Hakkar, which is almost inaccessable these days due to incredibly long queue times) was fun until I hit Hillsbrad, and now it's just gankorama. I have to solo, because I don't have a crew to back me up, but I just can't get anything done without getting ganked. So, I flipped back to a carebear server. I can see how PVP would be awesome if you have a regular group of folks to quest with.
I've decided to try a PVP rogue, which should at least limit my gankability when I am questing in contested zones.
Pickypants Feb 16th 2006 11:52AM
Benny. You do realize how hypocritical you sound right?
Read this to yourself,
"I'd NEVER go after someone who had rez sickness! This kind of behavior makes me want to storm Thunder Bluff and kill anything that moves."
Just sayin'
I have been ganked by literally hundreds of allies for doing nothing but minding my business and questing. What I do not do, however, is gank greys. No matter how many times I was ganked, "revenging" just leads to more frustration. Don't succumb.
Helping the opposite faction can actually help you. Last night before a BFD run a dwarf priest was AFK and I ordered the party to leave her alone. When she came to, she mind controlled each of us and gave us a stam buff. We didn't have a priest at the time, so the extra 54 stamina was really helpful.
Mike Feb 16th 2006 11:56AM
Yo! Benny! Chill! I play an Orc and I'm 23!
Everybody who spends most of their time playing Horde think Allies are jerks, and everybody who spends most of their time playing Alliance think Horde are jerks. Why is this? Because there are a number of players on every server on either side that ganks indiscriminately. Level, status, doesn't matter. There are Alliance and Horde players on every server that will gank you no matter what. It's just that if you don't play both sides you'll never know that, dig? You will continue to live in blissful ignorance of the fact that some of your less savory comrades-in-arms will attack anyone they see up so long as their name is in red.
Mig! Feb 16th 2006 12:47PM
Truer words have never been spoken, Mike. I love fighting on a PvP server. I would not think of playing on any other type. I do sometimes get upset getting ganked. It is annoying at times, and it frustrates me to no end. Usually that is the time I log off and do something else for a bit. This is a fun game, and should not frustrate me. I know that one of these days I will get to 60 (or higher when the expansion comes out), and I will be less likely to be ganked:)
mat Feb 16th 2006 12:51PM
1. Benny. Learn to spell. h-o-R-D-E. Horde. Not "Hoard", It's Horde. Are you one of these people that doesn't spell Rogue right? (Rouge harr harr)
2. As far as I can tell, ganking has dipped a lot on PVP serves ever since BG. Ug, I remember levleing my poor dwarf hunter around Ulda... That was when honor first went live and it was rougggggh.
3. I miss the huge battles that used to occur outside Southshore and Tauren Mill. Regardless of the faction I was playing at the time, those were always so much fun. Am I alone on this one?
Vontrapp Feb 16th 2006 1:26PM
I am new to WoW, so I am still learning everything. My character is only lvl 22, and so far I've been ganken by the Horde over a dozen times. I only started on a PvP server because I have friends who were already there. There seems to be a few serial gankers from the Horde who spend all their time lurking in contested areas. Why are they allowed to do that?
Dick Feb 16th 2006 1:32PM
If you don't like getting attacked when you are minding your own business play PVE. I read something recently which makes good sense. If a high level character keeps the lowbies from reaching their level the high level has less well geared people to worry about in BGs. If you're waiting to enter a BG and are ganking people, you are really helping 60s out later down the road.
akattae Feb 16th 2006 1:40PM
I spent a good fifteen minutes following a lvl 40+ pally round Ratchet earlier with my lvl 15, unflagged Orc hunter. That was fun. Lots of /tickles. From me. He wasn't impressed. Which made it more fun. Yeaaaah.
Mig! Feb 16th 2006 1:43PM
Mat, on my server they still sometimes try and fight around South Shore, even with the BG. It is really fun, but very scary when I first entered South Shore. I was like "Did I just step in Horde Territory and not know it?" :)
Adam Feb 16th 2006 2:22PM
I kill on sight if they net honor points. If they don't, it depends how I feel. Sometimes with lowbies I will just send my pet after them and hide behind a tree and see what they do. Or sometimes I'll be nice and even help others.
It's PvP for a reason.
marsh Feb 16th 2006 3:03PM
I have to admit, I have been occasionally prone to the vengeance gankfest. I used to just /wave off alliance when I started out, but after being killed something like 30+ times in Ashenvale by %$! NE Rogues 10+ levels above me, I'm not quite so tolerant of it.
So these days, it usually works like this:
1) I will adventure and do quests, and /wave off allis that I see. This will continue until I get ganked.
2) I'll then hunt down allis until I'm tired of it. I don't really care what level they are. I won't camp them, but if I see them twice by coincedence, I don't hesitate to kill them again.
Fair? No. Mature? Probably not. But it works for me.
Also, as far as not killing lowbies goes, just remember that the lowbie you /wave off could call in some of his lvl 60 guildmates to come gank you. Thats happened to me a few times, enough that I usually will kill lowbie alli in an area I'm planning to grind in for a while, just so it's a little harder for them to act as a forward observer.