To Turtle or Not to Turtle...?
by Elizabeth Harper 
Aug 9th 2006 at 4:30PM
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?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Ranking, PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Dahlaine Aug 9th 2006 4:53PM
I have played in a 6 and a half hour AV game twice with my undead rogue. In both cases, the only thing that broke the deadlock was another rogue, a priest and I ninjaing the North Bunker using the mounted mountain jump strategy and the alliance not having enough time to run people back to retake it (we sapped/mind controlled the few people who trinketed back to base). I can say it was the most incredible and fulfilling experience that I NEVER want to do again.
stew Aug 9th 2006 6:00PM
I have to say since they got rid of most of the mobs in AV, I haven't experienced too much turtling. Before it was not uncommon for me to join a group only to leave 2 hours later in frustration, and neither group close to winning. Now its just a race, but I think I like it a little better that way. I just wish more people would turn in stuff for rep, I want exalted. :P
Finnicks Daerkhiv Aug 10th 2006 4:20AM
My worse turtling experiences happen in WSG. On Cenarion Circle from level 20 all the way up through 59 (I don't know about 60s WSG) it's an almost universal constant that the Alliance will suck into the shell and turtle it up once the Horde have 2 caps, regardless of how many caps they have. They will turtle and turtle and turtle literally for hours. I've had games stuck at 4 hours long before we Hordies finally got tired and dropped their flag and let it return just to end the stupid game. And that particular game was on a WSG weekend, so the Alliance wouldn't gotten bonus honor for the loss anyway!
Boils my blood. Not to sound biased, but on Cenarion Circle I've NEVER been in a single Horde PUG that turtled. We're always very very offensive, and usually only the flag carrier is waiting in our base, perhaps w/ one or two defenders, while the brunt of our forces try to break the Alliance turtle. Meanwhile the Alliance sends rogues into our base to get their flag back.
Hours and hours and hours and hours... it's really a terribly cheap tactic.
Duwanis Aug 10th 2006 8:36AM
Wasn't it Sun Tzu who said "When you surround an army, leave an outlet free, to make him believe that there is a road to safety, and thus prevent his fighting with the courage of despair."
Too bad there are too few WoW players familiar with military theory ;)
Finnicks Daerkhiv Aug 10th 2006 2:44PM
Only thing about that is... Sun Tzu wasn't dealing with soldiers who would ressurrect at the nearest graveyard 20 seconds or less after dying. Kinda changes the soldier's perspective when death isn't absolute.
Duwanis Aug 10th 2006 6:33PM
Principle still applies - if you let them grab a flag or two - i.e. 'leave an outlet free' - they're much less inclined to turtle, so that you can win the game more easily. Resurrecting at a graveyard doesn't really change that ;)
Khoa Oct 16th 2006 8:59PM
I was, on anumber of times, stuck in a turtle of a different kind. Tha alliance in my battle group are lacking (severely lacking) in wsg/ab wins.
Anyway, in one of these games, a pre-form horde group turtle OUR base. Yes, they camped our flag room and slaughtered the alliance joining the game and ressing at the graveyard. There was no attempt to take our flag - low.
Another time, the horde grabed our flag and their whole team camped our gy, even the flag carrier. Hordies with AQ40/T3 versus alliance with pre-mc blues...
Donner Oct 31st 2006 12:15PM
Horde? Turtling? wow I dont see that much its usually the other way around, we might have a few defending but the alliance always does that on my server Ive been in AV matches that have lasted 3 hours and I gotta tell you its a pain to sit there three hours having almost the entire other force defending one gy.