Why do we gank?
by Amanda Rivera 
May 6th 2007 at 8:36AM
Hot on the heels of that craziness in Now, I play on a PvE server, so my experiences with ganking have been limited, largely because I find no real interest in raiding Crossroads. Recently however I had occasion to live some real life gankage when I went to The Bulwark to finish off Alexi Barov. As our group formed, a similar group of horde also gathered, taunting in their most creative fashion, and salivating for the upcoming fight. By the time we began the quest, there were about four hordies joining in, which made trying to keep our healer alive a bit of a challenge. However, it also made the fight more interesting, and in the end more than a little adrenaline flowed through my veins.
So I sit here thinking on the subject of ganking, and although there are obvious negatives, I think the practice brings a sharpness to our game play we wouldn't have otherwise. For example, one of my few forays into a PvP realm I rolled a little paladin. As my character loaded into Northshire, I noticed an honor guard of level 60 players - this was before the expansion had been released - there to guard me and my fellow newbies as we attempted to level through the content. This isn't something I've ever seen on my original server, and so I was surprised until I realized why they were there. If they were there, so were the Horde rogues, ready to filet my level two pally body and dance upon my corpse.
As much as I would love to hear about the reasons why you as players gank, I am also interested to hear if anyone has any experiences similar to mine. I came away from the encounter with a sense of
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, PvP
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Tumples May 6th 2007 8:56AM
It's a really bad excuse and I can see the circle in it, but I gank because I get ganked.
The rogue who just stealthed on me after I finished a mob doesn't know that I might not gank any Allies, and kills me regardless, so why shouldn't I gank as well then.
I'm not going to not do it if I will get ganked anyway.
I think that makes sense ¬_¬
Lunada May 6th 2007 9:10AM
The way i see it is that if my enemy gives honor they will soon see my wrath (since i rarely do BG anyway, pvp outside it is the only way to get HKs) but if non-honor giving horde attacks a town i usualy let them kill all the gaurds they want and attract those of their lv to fight, but i dont tolerate the killing of lowbies so if they do i gank the crap outta them until they run away with there tails between their legs....Doomchicken rapeness for everybody.
Tool May 6th 2007 9:06AM
You don't know ganking on PVE's until you've gone, as my friends like to call it, Fishing.
Quite a few ways to get people to flag, but it's always the most fun on the booty bay boat.
Shawn May 6th 2007 9:40AM
Not sure why the level 60s would've been in Northshire to guard, since horde couldn't attack the lowbies unless they were stupid enough to flag. And in that case they deserve to die.
I generally don't gank. I give the enemy a wave or help them with a mob to let them know I'm in a good mood. My philosophy is I'd rather quest most of the time and not have them call their buddies for a revenge killing.
Of course if it is an undead rogue or blood elf hunter then they deserve to die no matter what, as do all night elves.
Have you ever noticed that it is almost always male toons that gank? Which tells me that ganking is yet another way for guys who are too insecure to play female toons to prop up their deflated self-esteem.
Braz May 6th 2007 10:04AM
@4 My female Warlock begs to differ. The way I see it, if a male character ganks me, it's probably just to let out frustration at being a hopeless, socially awkward shut-in who couldn't get a date with a non-troll to save his life.
Honestly, how can you watch the opening movie for the game (the original intro,BC less so) and not want to gank someone?
Murdoc May 6th 2007 10:09AM
I gank because its fun, and the more I gank the more higher levels get called in. Which in turn means my friends and I get to have more fun. It's really just a vicious cycle.
robodex May 6th 2007 10:09AM
People who take pleasure ganking lowbies are idiots, hands down... There is absolutely no justification for going out of your way to kill lowbies; they pose absolutely no threat and cannot put up a fight against you. They're the same people who put on god mode in games or pull the wings off of flies because they think it's funny.
xtrovurt May 6th 2007 10:27AM
On a PvE server, running into someone flagged usually suggests they've been up to some mischief of their own, and that they really need to be taught a lesson!
max.korovesis May 6th 2007 10:40AM
That's "heels", not "heals" :)
I think we've all spent too much time speaking wow lingo.
max.korovesis May 6th 2007 10:42AM
In my opinion, ganking makes the game more interesting. Believe it or not, hacking away at computer-controlled enemies for hours on end is NOT my idea of fun. And once you gank, the higher levels get called in, and then it gets even more fun!
RogueJedi86 May 6th 2007 10:44AM
I don't see why you'd need an Honor Guard in Northshire. The newbie and secondary zones(like Elwynn Forest and Westfall, for example, the 1-20 zones) aren't contested, so you don't need protection unless you're already overt, or attack an enemy in those zones.
I'm on a PvP server, and ganking is a way of life. It's the major reason to hate STV, particularly Nesingwary's Camp. But having war makes sense. What's the point of contested zones that aren't actually being contested by opposing forces? I'm very much a PvE questing nut and I know the Lore says currently the Horde and Alliance are at a stalemate, but a little war isn't a bad thing. Just look at Outland, most of the zones are focused around some world pvp objectives.
Aljn May 6th 2007 10:46AM
I am kind of in agreement with Number 4,
I only Gank when I'm attacked first. I don't go out of my way to kill other players, and I refuse to gank lowbies unless they're stupid enough to try me first, and even then, I usually just /laugh and walk away.
For other players my own level (I play PvP) I usually just /wave and go about my business, sometimes I help them, otherwise I leave it up to them as to whether or not we fight.
I play horde, and I must say, I've been ganked and camped more times than I care to remember by ?? alliance characters who really were just being turds, I don't mind "honorable" PvP, where you actually have a fair fight and not just a free kill on a lowbie. That kind of arse-play pisses me off, so I make sure I don't do it to others.
amorphous86 May 6th 2007 10:54AM
GANKING IS FUN!!! That is why I do it. It is not because I am socially unaccepted and it isnt because I have low self asteem. I usually dont go out of my way to gank unless I am bored. If I dont gank a lowbie when we pass by chance I feel as though I have not fullfilled my duties as a member of the Horde. It just happens to be so much fun when you leap into a group of lowbies and watch them scatter then you pick them off one by one. IT IS A SPORT!!!! HAPPY HUNTING ALL!!!
Sylythn May 6th 2007 11:03AM
I started on a PvP server, and I still have the habits...mouselook is constantly panning across my view, every few seconds swings behind me to make sure I'm not being followed...I jump at the sound of stealth...took me a long while before I finally turned /LocalDefense off. I miss it only slightly on the PvE realm now. One thing I'd gotten pretty good at was defensive/reactive fighting - I don't like PvP, but I got ganked enough to learn how to do some massive hurt to the other guy before I died - even took one or two of them out that thought I'd be an easy target.
Chris Anthony May 6th 2007 11:04AM
@4,11: There are, to my knowledge, four ways to flag yourself for PVP: enter a contested or hostile zone on a PVP server, attack an enemy-faction player, manually flag yourself, or buff/heal an already-flagged player.
It's the fourth method that's going to cause problems in the starting areas, especially for players who are new to the game and don't have a firm grasp on what the colors of the character names mean. It's very easy to toss a PW:Fort or AI on someone without realizing that they're flagged - and then all of a sudden, you have seventeen Horde daggers in your back and no idea how you died.
In other words, it's not just being "stupid enough to flag".
Back to the original topic: I don't engage in world PVP when I can help it. I've read ganking described as "taking a massive thermonuclear crap all over someone else's gaming experience", and that just about sums it up for me. Being ganked makes me not feel like playing the game anymore, so why should I make anyone else feel that way?
(Incidentally, I have no such trouble in battlegrounds. The whole point there is PVP, so I'm much more sanguine about it.)
My problem arises in that WoW really is a largely social experience for me, and the vast majority of my friends who play WoW do so on PVP servers. (And I have had no luck getting any of them to switch off; the closest I've been able to come is getting them to roll on a PVE realm so that they have somewhere to go when they've been ganked too many times.) So I'm stuck on the horns of a dilemma: play on a PVP server, or play alone?
Unfortunately, the answer is generally the former.
James May 6th 2007 11:30AM
I started in PvE, rolled a Horde shammy on PvP, and played with some sense of honor--I never attacked people while they were fighting, I didn't gang up on others; basically, I dueled the other player. What really became aggravating was going to Booty Bay only to be ganked by high level alliance who could exploit BB's security system. They would 1 or 2 shot lower levels, then jump in the water before the goblins could get them. That, combined with the sheer number of times I got nailed in Stranglethorn by Alliance, made me leave PvP.
I guess I am getting more cynical, but after several very bad experiences with other same-faction players in Outland on my PvE hunter, I came to the conclusions that many, many more people than I originally realized who play WoW are total jerks, and, they should be ganked.
So, I went back to my PvP server, rolled a rogue, specced him Subtlety, and spend a bit of time a few days a week killing Alliance by any means possible. I don't care if their in the middle of a fight, and I don't care what their health level is or what level they are. Or how many there are. If they're much higher level, I'll watch and wait for them to get in trouble, drop in, and finish them off. If they are in a group, I wait for one to get weak or separated from the group a little, and I attack. I don't live my life around doing this, but boy, is it therapeutic for a few hours here and there. So, I gank to relieve stress, and because it is very much like hunting.
big_a88 May 6th 2007 11:39AM
My experience comes from the Barov quest (PvE server) as well. Pre-BC my fiance and I headed over to the Horde camp, and there happened to be a couple of Horde standing there who figured out what we were up to. We called in reinforcements from the guild, but by the time they arrived, several high-level Horde had gathered there as well. When the carnage ended, we were left victorious, but there was a 30-something rogue who had joined in the fray, just kinda standing there. I knew it was ganking and I had been against it, but I took him out anyway--and I did feel bad about that.
Amanda Rivera May 6th 2007 12:10PM
max.korovesis,
Thanks so much for your sharp eyes. You're right, I spend so much time in game I sometimes have difficulty switching out of the WoW dialect.
Chris Anthony,
Don't give up on the PvE servers entirely. Until our realm was (voluntarily) split Elune had queques like you wouldn't believe. People are playing on these servers, I promise!
Neowar May 6th 2007 12:34PM
wow, not only you are a good writer, but your articles are really fun. Thank you for writing all these interesting stories! I hope you will stick with WoWInsider so that we can all enjoy your wonderful writing!
Thallid May 6th 2007 2:35PM
@15.
There is a way to try to get flagged using the last rule. (The buffing/healing/etc.) However, you need a second account to do this, since you can only roll one faction on a PvP server.
All you do with this method is create a lv. 1 character on the opposite faction, use /pvp to flag yourself, and hope people buff or heal you so they can get flagged themselves.
I've seen someone actually do this. These lv. 1 guys could also be used to taunt the opposite faction as well.