Do We Need New Battlegrounds?
by Mike D'Anna 
Feb 23rd 2006 at 12:16AM
A
guildmate came to me today, and told me how, after spending countless hours upon hours, fighting in Warsong Gulch, he
finally reached level 30, and can't wait to hit the next Battleground; Arathi Basin. He knew Warsong by heart, and
since we were on a non-PvP server, he was itching for some more BG action. So, you can imagine his dismay when I had to
tell him that nobody plays Arathi Basin until at least level 40...the map is simply too large to navigate
without a mount. So, it's back to Warsong for another 10 levels...I haven't played in the Battlegrounds in a while, as I have characters on PvP servers for when I want some PvP action, but this got me to thinking: isn't this a basic flaw in the game? We only have 3 different Battlegrounds to begin with; shouldn't players be able to enjoy them as soon as possible? Yes, Arathi Basin is a lot of fun, if you own a mount, but shouldn't there be another option for players in that long stretch between 30-40?
So, my question is: do we need another Battleground? I can certainly sympathize with someone who's sick of playing capture the flag for 40 levels...how about you?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
zaen Feb 23rd 2006 12:38AM
Battleground are a failure. They were a great attempt and I applaud Blizzard for trying something new in the MMORPG world. They had some good ideas but unfortunately they just didn't work. In my humble opinion they should give up the ghost and try something else, or add a new kind of PVP to the world.
The concept of "the world" is really they key ingredient here. It is the persisted concept of "world" that is what makes something like pvp interesting in the first place, and it has been entirely removed with battle grounds.
You don't fight over actual territory. You can't hold a real position in "the world". Instead you hold a position that is of no concequence to anyone that is not in your "arena" as it were. There is no point to winning in the grand scheme of things.
Even if we were to fight over neutral towns or cities that gave out special quests or sold special items to those that occupy it in the "real world" there might be something worth fighting for. Blizzard needs to stop and think about why people fight wars in the real world. What drives us to battle? Resources, comfort, greed, desire, and power. None of these things are won in battlegrounds. There are no spoils for the greater good of your faction. There is no actual accomplishment aside from perhaps a new silly looking hat to wear.
Bottom line. No, the last thing we need is another queue *cough* i mean, battleground.
Fabian Feb 23rd 2006 2:14AM
I don't know. I've been in Arathi Basin since I dinged 30. It has been great fun. Sure you don't always find opponents or a group as fast as for Warsong, but they're out there, at least on my server (Zuluhed, EU). Sure you have to walk a lot but it's pretty interesting to see the tactics with classes like hunters at 130% speed, shamans and druids at 140% speed. With these classes you can have quick(er) response teams to threats farther away - or interesting targets there. It sure was fun to play (most of the time) besides the large map-scale...
lucasbfr Feb 23rd 2006 3:56AM
if I remember well, there is a 4th battleground map in the game. It's called Azshara Crater. As it's internal number is called PvPZone2 (1 being AV, 3 being WG and 4 being AB) I don't know if they still have plans of integrating it yet, but the entrances to it are ingame (only missing the NPCs and the red portal).
The map seems huge and I really don't know what the gameplay could be...
boneyard Feb 23rd 2006 5:04AM
why would you level in battle grounds? just spend some time outside them and you be lvl 40 fast enough prolly.
i don't think it would be wise to spread people even more out over battle grounds then is currently possible. blizzard should first do something about the long waits sometimes to get into one and the making up of teams.
Pinix Feb 23rd 2006 9:09AM
I agree with the first poster. My favorite PvP has been when I was defending a town from the Horde, not some planned instance. Guild Wars has something like this where whomever controls a special "Hall of Hero's" from fighting controls access to a zone that has really good loot/upgrades. They could easily do something like that.
Or better yet, start making the attacks on the opposing side worth something. If you are Alliance and you kill any horde, you get faction to the "executive Alliance" or maybe it's faction in that location. Kill a horde trying to poach a Stormwind Gaurd and you get Stormwind faction. Or if you go to a horde town or encampment you get "General Alliance" faction hits that moves all of your Alliance factions (IF, Stormwind, etc.)
You want resources? Create a Thoruim mine that you actually take an elevator down into. In order to run the elevator your side must control the Mining Town.
Basically, stop putting PvP in planned environments... put them in the real world and let nature take it's place.
zarmy Feb 23rd 2006 11:20AM
You better believe we need new BG's. I've been doing WSG since my 20's, Arathi since 30, and Alterac since 50 and on my server (Suramar PvE) its a god send. Now when I rolled on suramar, I did so because it was pve and had no prior experiance with pvp servers, so I didnt know what to expect. Once I got into BG's and saw how much better pvp is, it made me want to roll on a pvp server (I have on Burning Blade). Now, I dont want to lose my characters on my PvE servers, but since cross realm type transfer still are not possible, I still play on the pve server and constantly do BG with friends to fullfill the blood lust I so desperatly crave. On a pve server I think its more important than on a pvp server, but thats just one guys opinion.
Mat Feb 23rd 2006 11:51AM
I think before they add more BG maps they need to improve the setup they have.
Player numbers for example is a big problem on both servers I play on, it's often unbalanced and whether I'm on the winning side OR the losing side 7 v 3 just isn't entertaining.
That being said when I get in a good Arathi game with my high level, I quite enjoy watching and being a part of all of the mayhem. :)