Forum post of the day: Try a twinkie
by Amanda Dean 
Jul 3rd 2008 at 2:52AM
Seska of Ysondre has posed the challenge of twinking to players who hate this style of play. She stated that the joy of playing a twink is in planning how to get gear for the effort. To her twinking proves that gear is more important than skill. To do it right, twinking requires considerable time and effort (not to mention cash from higher level characters), but is a valuable experience. Seska is currently a level 16 Shaman, and plans to keep that character as a twink.
She was met with agreement by some other twinks, but also a lot of resistance and resentment. Some people say that they have tried twinking and gotten bored with it soon afterward, like playing any other video game with cheat codes. This practice can also be frustrating for other players who would like to battleground as they level up but become demoralized by twinks.
I've never considered twinking seriously. I have too much fun leveling and playing in Arenas. The lowered level requirements for mounts may be a bane to some in the 30-39 bracket. My feeling on twinks is about the same as it is on multiboxing. Blizzard says its ok, and if this is how you want to spend your wow time, be my guest.
What's your take on battleground twinking? Would you be willing to give it a shot?
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Alts, Forums, Battlegrounds, Forum Post of the Day
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Nick S Jul 3rd 2008 3:06AM
fun diversion. ruins bg's for everyone else.
Beriana Jul 3rd 2008 3:09AM
I have a level 29 twink rogue, and playing is extremely fun and a great way to blow off steam...but only when there are other twinks around.
Thankfully, my battlegroup is swarming with twinks. So much so, that every WSG or AB has at the -very- minimum 5 on each side.
commodorepants Jul 3rd 2008 3:22AM
"To herm twinking"
I think you mean her.
"have tired twinking"
I think you mean tried.
"on battkeground twinking"
I think you mean battleground.
WTB Spellcheck, PST.
Kaylek Jul 14th 2008 9:02AM
This is a blog, excusing it from spell/fact/grammar/sensical checking.
Stump Jul 3rd 2008 3:38AM
I agree that since it's okay according to Blizzard that the practice is fine but it really sucks the fun out of battlegrounds. I remember when I first started playing and would go to the battlegrounds and was shocked at how much I sucked. Here I thought I was doing pretty good then suddenly found myself instantly dying and having no idea what I was doing wrong.
Eventually I figured out that I was HEAVILY outgeared and had no chance but I was close to quitting the game for a while since it seemed like I was just not getting the hang of it. And even had, what I now know are twinks, making fun of me for what they considered my subpar gear. As a newbie I didn't have 200g to spend on enchants and rare drops.
Wish Blizzard would either minimize the amount of twinking that can happen or put together battlegrounds with at least some thought into balancing armor. Twinks fight twinks, regulars fight regulars.
wrex Jul 3rd 2008 3:36AM
I tried twinking my Paladin and entered WSG at lev. 16... and found that the horde side had at least 4 level 19 twinks with HP up to 2500 and enchants on every gear possible. It was shocking to see my toon get 2-shotted by these twinks, so I looked them up on the armory to see their gear and enchants. I learned a lot and tried to tweak my toon likewise, spending a lot of gold and mats... but I accidently hit lev. 20 trying to squeak by one more gear.... Oh well, I'll try again at level 29. I think it was an interesting learning experience... and maybe twinking is even necessary to compete in lower level battlegrounds.
By the way, I don't want to be a pest, but proofreading is your friend:
1) "To herm twinking proves that" (her)
2) "Some people say that they have tired twinking" (tried)
3) "What's your take on battkeground twinking?" (battleground)
I know to err is human, but it disrupts the reading process as I come across the typos.
Pachaz Jul 3rd 2008 3:52AM
You can look at twinking, as being a player in all s3 gear vs a player just hitting 70 joining a battleground, it is all the same concept, you are not going to have any chance against that person in All S3 gear, just the same with twinking, you will not have a chance if you are not twinked vs a player who is.
Nick S Jul 3rd 2008 4:33AM
i have to disagree. the gap between a good twink and a non-twink is often much larger than that between someone in blues and someone in S3.
the availability of enchants like nethercleft leg armor and soulfrost for twinks can give twinked characters literally multiple times the stats of their untwinked counterparts.
where a well-geared 70 warrior might have 13k HP unbuffed versus other warriors just starting out with 8k, there are rogues who step into twink BGs with 2.5k health, fighting opponents with less than 1k.
Pachaz Jul 3rd 2008 6:07AM
Well right there you are off, because often times your are in probably 3-4 blues at most, the difference, is you getting raped by any class, might be different if you play one of those OP classes, Rogue/Warrior/Druid... where you can still survive but not as good as you would with S3, that gap is still there, even people with some S1 gear and blues get wrecked by anyone that has S3, i don't see how much a difference that is to you. Ya, i have a 49 twink and i can kill a lvl 60. But, its not just because of the gear, its because i have skill and know how to play that class. And people fail to realize, that twinks dont want to play people that are not twinked, because of the reason that we just run them over. On my battlegroup we setup nights where we all get on vent. Ally/Horde queue up at same time, to get those twink vs twink matches. Everyone seems to think people only twink so they can just 2 shot everyone, and that's not the case at all. So before people go and say that, I... dont have any skill for having a twink and cant play a 70, i would suggest you go and look at my 5 70's....
Go to armory, look up
Vianik - 70 Warrior Firetree
Komishkar - 70 Shaman Firetree
Alectraa - 70 Mage Firetree
Pachaz - 70 Hunter - Firetree
Pachaz - 70 Hunter - Arathor
-----
Twinks
Iry- 49 Mage Firetree
Linash - 49 Paladin Firetree
Senorvianik - 49 Warrior Firetree
This is because Twink players dont have any skill @ 70... but i would suggest looking at Vianik and seeing that i am exalted with all BG factions, also look at all the HKS.
zappo Jul 3rd 2008 9:40AM
Personally I don't like twinking, but I have a bank character parked at level 36 who I was thinking of twinking and running BGs for something interesting (probably won't now that mounts will be available at 30).
I'm just wondering why all of your twinks are in the 49 bracket. I sort of need that toon up to 50 for the next enchanting tier and was also thinking 49 wouldn't be such a bad level to park.
Pachaz Jul 3rd 2008 4:02PM
All of mine are parked at 49 because it is the most balanced bracket in the game. And most exciting to me, but i am going to move one the paladin out soon and keep the mage and warrior there
Sirg Jul 3rd 2008 3:56AM
For those who say twinks ruin the bg, it's the same thing happening in level 61-70 Alterac Valley, when you are level 67 and you meet people with S3 Arena gear.
So it's just part of the game. People who complain about twinks never tried to get a certain item, never tried to be better than the average. It isn't cheating, it's just an art of trying to improve your char with the limited resources available to do so. You need alot of creativity, skill, and resources for this.
Oh well, an other twink hate post :-/
wild Jul 3rd 2008 7:51AM
I hate twinking with every fiber of my being simply because when I was new to the game facing twinks was basically my first experience in PVP. It's a world of difference when you hit level cap and actually have learned about your class and the game.
Twinking is bullying plain and simple, at level 70 you know what you are getting yourself into. Someone new to the game barely knowing the basics getting steamrolled by twinks is nowhere near the same as being 61-70.
JaaroZ Jul 3rd 2008 3:59AM
2500 HP is only possible for Druids in bearform or uber stamina twinked warlocks with all buffs. Both can't dish out enough damage to even kill a critter...
Zali Jul 3rd 2008 1:55PM
2500 is possible on others. I've done it with my hunter and several rogues at lvl 19. Thats usually my HP goal with 19 twinks. It might include a Well Fed buff, but it can be done on more than just Druids.
Huntrex Jul 3rd 2008 4:37AM
There are inherent problems with PVP which do not seem to be being adressed.
You can casually raid at a level suited for your gear, its challanging but fun - you do not set foot inside BT with Kara gear - it would be rather pointless - you d just get repeatedly killed and you would nt get geared up.
In BGs as a new lvl 70 you just get 2 shotted by s3/4 players - which unsuprisingly is not fun. To get geared up to an ever climbing level takes a very unenjoyable age and to the casual PVP player is simply not worth it.
I know it must be some kind of fun for those with uber gear killing lots of new lvl 70s but is nt this game supposed to be fun for everyone?
How about a gear score - a BG has a total player gear score based on item level - so lots 2-3 s1 = 1 x s4? More of a challenge all round. An Av may end up 30 v 40 on gear score - getting it exactly right isnt the idea - making it fun is.
Worcester Jul 3rd 2008 10:38AM
I like gear score idea because you could theoretically get a good balance of twinks and non-twinks in each battleground, but the gear score could keep it a relatively fair fight. It would work at all levels too, so long as Blizzard did a good job of assessing the value of all the gear. They might already have such a system working internally.
You could even enhance the idea further. Imagine a WSG of 5 twinks vs. 10 regular players? Now that sounds like fun for both sides! As a twink it would be a challenge to go up against such odds. As a regular player, it would be great to extract a little revenge on the twinks.
Gear Score... FTW!
Tenchan Jul 3rd 2008 4:09AM
I have nothing against twinking, everyone play as they like. It does, however, ruin the BGs for non-twinks. In an ideal world, there would be BGs specifically for twinks, and BGs for non-twinks, and everyone would go into the right one.
A guy can dream.
Adorenko Jul 3rd 2008 4:17AM
I have 2 lvl 19 twinks a druid a hunter (the hunter im still working on). My druid still needs the fishinging hat and couple more enchants but even right now her health is at about 1500 in bear form and 1300 in reg form. My hunter is only at 900 but i have the dmg on him up to about 70 or so per hit.
I didn't like the idea of twinking at first and it pissed me off a little too bc i kept getting my ass rolled by these twinks. I got sick of losing so i learned how to build one from this site and got going with the idea. "If you cant beat em join em." The whole situation is one of a symptom of the game. If there is a way that you make the character(twink) in a controlled online game and you dont get banned then i guess its not cheating.
Babe Jul 3rd 2008 4:43AM
Twinks should have it's own ratting, like endgame arena, and they should be placed in a separate BG, full of twinks, and leave the leveling noobs alone.