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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsDoes anybody pay attention to World Defense?
by Mike Schramm 
Feb 5th 2008 at 4:01PM
theflamecrow on LJ had an interesting little occurrence: he was in Darkshore when he saw a flash in the World Defense channel that Darkshore was being attacked. The only problem? He's Horde.Now, most people may think that Horde doesn't have a base in Darkshore that can do under attack, but in fact, they do-- it's the Dancing Troll Village. So apparently some enterprising Alliance had found it and started killing. But here's the bigger question I got from crow's story: does anyone really pay attention to World Defense?
I know I don't. But then again, I play on a PvE server, so odds are that anyone attacking a lowbie level like that is just a level 70 on a rampage. But even on PvP servers, do blaring Defense channels really mean that anyone cares? People will protect their guildies, and of course they'll join the fight if they smell blood (or at least someone they can beat in a fight). But do the Local and World Defense channels really point the way to a good PvP clash the way the developers surely intended? Or do they just mean chat spam, and that there'll be trouble if you try to speak to NPCs in that area?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, PvP, NPCs
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Yossarian Feb 5th 2008 5:15PM
That would be great, if you liked being ganked. Can you imagine how much gankage would increase if world pvp kills gave 5 times the amount of honor BGs pvp does?
Deathstalker Feb 5th 2008 5:10PM
I'm on a PvE RP server, and XR gets hit so frequently that I just leave my 70 mage's hearth set to it. I let /WorldDefense run for all my toons, and I'll pop onto my mage and go defend if I see any Horde lowbie areas getting hit. I don't do much BG or arena PvP - not really my thing, but for some reason I love coming to the defense of the Horde towns.
WP Feb 5th 2008 4:51PM
there a WD Channel? ;)
i havent used mine since TBC release.
Nossy Feb 5th 2008 4:59PM
I'm not too worried about World Defense and I turn that channel off, especially when I'm leveling my alt. But Local Defense is useful to know if Xroads or Great Lift is safe or not. The problem is, it's not worth it to drop whatever you are doing to join a silly attack by some bored level 70 guys - just no incentives except a few HKs. Maybe if it's the only way to get HKs, but the HKs you get in BGs is much greater. Which is why PVP servers are just all about ganking and well nothing else really - which is especially true in the level 0-60 bracket.
Fel Feb 5th 2008 5:01PM
Meh. It only lets me know to be careful when entering a certain town/city/camp. And one time I killed a ?? Mage as a 14 Hunter.
Pointless, so far.
TheFlameCrow Feb 5th 2008 5:35PM
I'm a she, actually :D
Also, I keep World Defense on so I can see when people are raiding a main city. Those are always fun to join in on for free HKs and PVP.
When on a lowbie I use it to know where not to go. If Tarren Mill is under attack I stay away as best I can. I have better things to do than be camped by some level 70 with nothing better to do.
Shmur Feb 5th 2008 5:34PM
PvE server here and I always have it up. Usually I only do something about the announcements if someone is in a lowbie zone ganking quest givers and/or generally being a tool.
Westfall/Astranaar are the areas I will usually go to when i see them in world defense.
Bobbo Feb 5th 2008 6:10PM
Always have it on (PVE server). It's just a hoot to toss in some good ol' elective world PVP once in awhile. Will usually only hop over to defend if it's close (e.g., Westfall when I'm in SW), but I always always jump to Auberdine's defense when that gets under attack. Good ol' Teleport: Moonglade, and I can be there in a jiffy.
Quickshiv Feb 5th 2008 6:10PM
@20 They could compensate by making someone 5 lvls lower then you honorless outside of BGs.
The game needs large changes to make world pvp worth playing. In all honesty I would like to see the BGs just turned off again and have them concentrate on world pvp objectives.
They have to re-thing/re-tool everything. Including honor rewards and how pvp functions if they want to make world pvp viable. I just don't see that happening at all.
Soulkill Feb 5th 2008 6:11PM
PVP server, I usually leave my Rogue at Stone Talon Mtns. I love the look on Horde faces when some lvl 25 thinks they are elite attacking there, no one is ever there questing right ?. Wrong, say hello to my blades. lol.
kitterz Feb 6th 2008 2:31AM
I think this concern is the main push of MMORGs such as the upcoming Warhammer game where world PvP influences gameplay for PvE and vice versa. Will it work? Hard to tell as this concept was tried in Dark Age of Camelot (which lost to WoW). But I have to admit that it is appealing to me as a gamer. Halaa and Helfire Pen mean nothing to me as I have nothing (gear/rep wise) to gain...and until it does, I wont be concerned with world PvP at all.
Will Warhammer's world PvP be enough to get me to switch? Doesnt look like it, but if WoW did find a way to make it work then that would only strengthen my dedication to WoW.
OrionPaxt Feb 6th 2008 7:08AM
I have a 70 retro pally I keep at Shat's portals for rapid deployment. If I hear an extended attack is underway (thru local defense or guild chat) and can break away (non-partied) I will send him him. He is retro - it is what he does
Edgeonline Feb 6th 2008 9:23AM
Being on a PvE server tends to minimize the world defense response I believe. I have found a guild however that adds a bit of RP (I call it that) to the situation.
Xroads Protection Agency is the guild, and we do just that. When a cry for help goes out, we respond (if not instanced of course). That's the RP part...the sense of duty. It's a welcome change from grinding your brains out.
Aichon Feb 6th 2008 9:36AM
I turn off LocalDefense so that I don't get duplicate messages, then I just occasionally check WorldDefense. I mostly use it while leveling up. If I'm about to fly to a place that sometimes gets some action (Kargath, Tarren Mill, etc.), I'll check to see if it'll be safe for my lowly alt to fly in and quest. If I see that the place is under attack, I'll find somewhere else to quest, or else I'll be ready to make a break for it when I land.
Dusters Feb 7th 2008 9:42AM
I keep it on at all times. Guild requirement (when your guild is the "World Defense Channel" you pretty much have to keep it on and be ready to respond at any time heh).
Brasson Feb 6th 2008 10:48AM
What twisted individual would attack the dancing trolls?
Zali Feb 6th 2008 11:43AM
I like the idea of different levels of honor points for world PVP, but to avoid harrassment levels of ganking/camping you would have to make the higher HP area specific to towns. Want to farm so HP? Go attack SS/TM. You get no points for people too low, but someone from the other faction will show up to defend the home turf. If you kill outside the town limits, then normal HP rules apply. I'd go with 2x HP for attacking the other factions town, and 3x HP for defending the home turf.
bloodlight Feb 7th 2008 7:43AM
PvE server, and i turn both local and world defense channels off. I do not play this game to take part in some 12 year olds emo rampage because his girlfriend dropped him at lunch that day.
Personally i would like to see city raid made impossible on PvE servers, if you want to play that Game, go play on the servers designed for it, there are plenty of them.
But it quite obvious that evrything in the game is going pvp, pvp, pvp and that the PvE people will be come an ever smaller minority untill they leave the game alltogether.
Cailleach Feb 6th 2008 12:34PM
I pay attention only to Westfall. Why? Because there's a particularly lame lock (whose name I won't mention here because he's an attention whore) who, at least three years after I first levelled through there, still feels the need to go kill all the NPCs just to be a jerk. He's also the guy who thinks that kiting adds onto folks trying Kil'Jaeden is his duty. Since I have lower level guildies trying to do their thing and bother nobody, I pay some attention and go kick his butt when necessary. By the way, we're on a PvE server, so there's no real excuse.
Gimmlette Feb 7th 2008 11:55AM
PvE server for me. When I first started playing, I had all channels on. It was fascinating to read the chat threads across all the channels.
Eventually, it gets tedious and you learn which channels have the information you want and the others get switched off. I did like the cache of being the only person in the guild who seemed to know when world raids were happening. "Hey someone's hitting Astrannar. Let's go...um...where is that?"
Now, I have only LD on. I have made a number of acquaintances who know, if I'm not busy, I will participate in a raid of Silvermoon or to retake Halaa. Guild members keep each other informed of happenings so WD is almost redundant for me. Plus, I've decided, if I'm in Netherstorm with my hearthstone on cool down, I can't get to Westfall in time to make a difference, so I don't need to know it's under attack.
At the beginning of this year, there were a lot of world raids. Horde attempted a raid of Stormwind but never made it beyond the front gates. I think roughly 3 hours later, the call came out to raid Undercity. It was kind of fun; "Chicago Gangster raiding" we called it. They hit us. We hit them. That seems to have tapered off.
Maybe if one received more honor for an objective, say taking and holding the opponent's inn for an hour, there might be more world raiding. The concept doesn't seem to be "broken" so much as not used much any more.
And I agree, bloodlight. There is a lot of emphasis on PvP lately. I have several friends who are not PvP'ers and have pretty much written off the WOTLK expansion as not for them. That's a shame. But, once you have achieved 70, what else is there for them to do other than turn the toon into a farmer?