Wintergrasp still aiming to fix World PvP problems
by Mike Schramm 
Jul 23rd 2008 at 1:30PM
Zarhym, provoked by a pretty lame whine about two new Arenas and only one new BG in the next expansion, is expounding a little bit more on what Blizzard wants to do with World PvP and Lake Wintergrasp in Northrend. Ever since the zone was first announced, Blizzard has said they want to have it be the pinnacle of their world PvP experience, fixing all kinds of problems, from getting players involved to level imbalance to actual PvP rewards.And Zarhym says it's still on track to do al that -- he specifically mentions that they've designed the battleground zone to supposedly be impervious to problems with realm imbalance, "trivial at the endgame," or "forgettable because of a lack of incentive." So if you hold a lot of faith in what Blizzard's working on, that would mean Wintergrasp is meant for 70s, has functionality that doesn't necessarily require a lot of players on both sides (siege vehicles come to mind), and will have an extensive rewards system (we've heard before that it may be token-based and equivalent to the level of current Arena gear).
If Blizzard is doing everything they promise to with Wintergrasp, it should be a sight to see for sure. A world PvP event that adds the permanency of the Auchindouin rewards with the mechanics of Halaa and the epic feeling of the old Southshore/Tarren Mill world PvP battles? We can't wait.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard, PvP, Lore
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Danarca Jul 23rd 2008 1:48PM
Don't you mean 80s?
vlad Jul 23rd 2008 1:49PM
so many new people have no clue of the joy of Southshore/Tarren Mill. those were some seriously silly fun times.
Zali Jul 23rd 2008 2:38PM
Unless you happen to be leveling there.
Azzura Jul 23rd 2008 2:41PM
Southshore/Tarren Mill was alot of fun. No matter what level you were - you still charged in and added to the fun and the mass of dead bodies on the ground. Nothing like 20 vs 5 turning into 23 vs 43 - then 60 vs 57, and they tell two friends, and so on...and so on...and so on...
OMG! Get these guards off me!
vlad Jul 23rd 2008 4:02PM
yea totally. i had a great time as a noob lvl 30ish leveling in the area when the sirens go off. getting one attack in on a lvl 60 before he one shot me was always so fun. especially when you get to hide with all the 60's on your side and emote the baddies right before they die lol.
then the other side of it is once you can go back when you hit and clear all the npc's and flight masters. good times.
Nick Jul 23rd 2008 1:51PM
Those nerds are never satisfied.
As my grandfather once said, he said "Boy... You can take the Nerd out of the Whine... but ya can't take the Whine out of the Nerd."
I stand by this saying.
Glen Hays Jul 23rd 2008 1:55PM
Since Blizzard can't even fix a BG as simple as WSG, I have zero faith that they can implement a new complex BG in the expansion.
As far as WSG goes, just have 200 reinforcement cap, like in AV. Then subtract about 40-50 per flag capture. That would eliminate the nightmare stalemates.
Apparently that is too complex for them.
InsaneAssault Jul 23rd 2008 2:25PM
Then it would seem too much like EOTS
Glen Hays Jul 23rd 2008 6:09PM
I don't see the analog to EotS. It has a point accumulation system, as opposed to reinforcements. My whole point is that it can go on an endless unrewarding stalemate. An easy problem to fix. Blizzard will not fix it.
Also, AV used to be an 'epic' experience. No longer. Its just a much quicker honor grind. Arathi and EotS seem to work though.
My guess is the new BG will be 'epic', but Blizz will suck the life out of it to band-aid problems that will need real fixes.
And that is a shame.
Callandra Jul 23rd 2008 2:01PM
PLEASE make it impervious to horde/alliance unbalance. I see this becoming a HUGE issue if not dealt with.
Hopefully indidvidual objectives can be rewarded with tokens...
Ircasha Jul 23rd 2008 3:22PM
Population imbalance is one of my major concerns as well. I like a good fight, I just don't like being outnumbered 10-1.
I've participated in some good PvP in Halaa, but it's short lived. As soon as word spreads that there are flagged Horde in Halaa, it seems like Alliance come out of the woodwork and our fun battles of 8-10 versus 8-10 become our 8-10 versus 50+ alliance. At that point we take our ball and glove and head home for the evening. I'm very interested in seeing how Blizz plans to resolve this issue.
bloodlight Jul 23rd 2008 4:02PM
As long as there are zero PVE quests in the zone and the zone is avoided with ease they will have done a perfect job as far as I am concerned.
Eric Jul 23rd 2008 2:25PM
Or they don't want to have a point system in every single BG, they don't want everything to feel the same. The old honor system was a lot of fun especially before BG's and Arena took all the world PvP and made it worthless. Thats the real problem. PvP servers are designed for ganking not PvP, we don't need no stinking battlegrounds, make the marks for AB drop out of Arathi Highland bodies of the opposite faction, like marks of Honor Hold, that way to get those 30 some odd tokens you need to kill 30(seems to low)-60-120 HONORABLE kills in the correct zone.
DocShadpw Jul 23rd 2008 2:36PM
While I agree with most of what you said please remember this. The old PvP system rewarded honor to those that killed an enemy player, much like your suggestion of making Marks drop from enemy players. The problem here lies with the fact that a healer would never get any honor in the old system, nor would they get any marks in the system you described.
For my Warlock I would love your system, but my Holy Paladin (if I ever play him again) would never see a mark since I would be on the back-lines healing those doing the killing. I like the idea of marks dropping from killed enemy players but they would have to do something to allow healers to gain marks as well.
I used to love World PvP but since TBC is is completely dead. Halaa does not even bring in real PvP anymore. This is the very reason why I transferred my PvP leveled 70 Warlock to a PvE server and have been happy ever since.
Xin Jul 23rd 2008 2:29PM
it's pvp who cares, let them all rot. also i unchecked email me when someone replies so reply all u want haha
my2cents Jul 23rd 2008 5:51PM
OMG you're so clever. You're an EVIL GENIUS!! *cowers in fear*
Zali Jul 23rd 2008 2:39PM
Hmmm... Now I want to go buy some Nerds candy and see what how they taste mixed in a glass of wine.
jay Jul 23rd 2008 7:16PM
Oh noes It's Micheal Jackson with his tasty Jesus juice again
AAAARGGG
Ahoni Jul 23rd 2008 2:42PM
I love all the romantic nostalgia about the old Southshore/Tarren Mill PvP.
Personally, I hated it. What I saw of it encouraged the worst type of PvP ... preying on the weak. I'm sorry they ruined your game so that 10 million other people could enjoy it. So stupid of them ...
Alchemistmerlin Jul 23rd 2008 3:03PM
The worst type? ALL PvP is preying on the weak, there is no other type.