The Art of War(craft): PvP in BlizzCon 2008
by Zach Yonzon 
Oct 12th 2008 at 5:00PM
I'll concur that the new dynamic elements add a bit of fun and another layer of strategy to Arena matches. That said, it also brings in an unnecessary factor of RNG. If Arenas are to be truly a barometer of professional and competitive play, it should have as little gimmick elements as possible. In Arena terms, it should be something uncomplicated like a boxing ring or martial arts mat. The new maps are more like American Gladiators or Takeshi's Castle. On the other hand, that kind of format has higher entertainment value.
The good news is that the best players will know the timing of the moving pillars, flames, and water spouts and use it to their advantage. The bad news is that those elements will save a lot of lesser skilled players' lives and sometimes break heals or worse, land accidental killing blows. Being at 1% health and dying to a flame spout while trying to get away from an opponent would suck big time, especially in pro competition.
They talked a little more about Lake Wintergrasp, and I've detailed a few things we know about the zone. This is a huge project for Blizzard. It can't be underestimated just how important the zone is to the game. The place simply needs to be compelling enough for people to go there and duke it out, even in Normal or RP servers, otherwise Blizzard will have a dead zone the size of Westfall smack in the middle of the new continent. That's going to be very, very bad. What does this mean? This means that you can sure as hell bet that Blizzard will be pouring massive effort into getting this thing to work.
There's also the Strand of the Ancients, the new Battleground which is also an attack and defend scenario similar to Lake Wintergrasp. They're increasing the player limit from 10 to 15, which was somewhat expected considering how huge the map feels. In the Beta with only ten players per side, it felt empty and it was possible to mill about a lot without getting into combat. But there's combat, alright. Siege vehicles, stationary cannons, and if you have a penchant for blowing things up, bombs. It's seriously cool. You pick one up, you plop it down. Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock. Boom. Bombs are the reason I pursued Engineering in the first place.
I haven't played the Battleground in a while, but what would be cool is persistent explosions as an ambient sound. Right now, the only explosions are the ones made by players in vehicles or with bombs. Having persistent bombs and mortar sounds will make it feel more like a D-Day scenario. If there's one major gripe I have about Strand of the Ancients, it's that it has even less personality than Eye of the Storm. I already hated the fact that Eye of the Storm is a fight for nothing. Draenei and Blood Elves send you to fight over some floating real estate and for what? Nothing.
Strand of the Ancients is even worse than that. There aren't even any factions associated with the thing. It's just some weird Titans-style buildings in an island in the middle of nowhere (there's no physical location for the Battleground, just like Eye of the Storm) and you start fighting over it. For what, exactly? I don't know. Nothing. It's just blowing things up. Attacking and defending for no rhyme or reason. I know some of you people think we PvP addicts are bloodthirsty barbarians who just like to kill stuff, but that's not true at all. We're bloodthirsty barbarians who like to kill stuff with meaning.
The true gem of the panel, of course, was a peek into the future of World of Warcraft PvP. Blizzard will be revisiting PvP itemization and assess how to properly distribute it. Right now the best PvP gear comes from the Arena format, which -- as Blizzard implicitly admitted -- wasn't popular with everyone. They realize that PvP enthusiasts come in different forms. Some like the Battlegrounds, others love Arenas, while some will gravitate towards Lake Wintergrasp while dislking the other forms of PvP. I actually enjoy all forms of PvP, so that wasn't really a concern for me.
But it is a real concern for many players and Blizzard promised (in a Blizzard sort of way) to find a way to award high end PvP gear through the Battlegrounds and not just through Arenas. This is awesome. The only barrier to this is being able to implement a system that tracks Battleground performance accurately, otherwise those lazy AFKing bums will be sitting their way to epics they don't deserve. A lot of factors come into play here... tracking performance in a pre-made, whether it's a full one or just a couple of players, as well as tracking PUG play. I like to PUG Battlegrounds most of the time, so I am thrilled at the thought of a system that will gauge my performance under those circumstances.
Go for flags? Deal lots of damage? Heal friends? Deal killing blows and rack up Honorable Kills? Check, check, check, and check. I want Blizzard to keep track of all that and credit me accordingly. As you can imagine, such a system would have to be massive and complex. The Arena format's ELO ratings system is retardedly simple by comparison. Tigole has already said that it won't be easy, but I'm thrilled -- ecstatic, actually -- that they're looking into it.
Guild or competitive Battlegrounds are also on the table, which should be awesome. This turns Battlegrounds into a fun activity for guilds almost at par with raiding. I know the slide says TBD (To Be Determined), which in Blizzard's glossary could mean a very, very long time, but the possibility is there and it's the first time they've acknowledged actively exploring it.
They also mentioned gaining experience in the Battlegrounds, which would be mind-blowingly cool. With the promise (there's that word again) of more Battlegrounds in the future, it would be possible to level up almost exclusively through PvP in the future. With Warhammer offering that feature, I'm more than open to the idea. It will probably enrage the twink community, but for someone who intends to spend more than half his time in the new Battleground and Wintergrasp in Wrath of the Lich King, leveling through PvP is an idea that couldn't come sooner.
Another idea that should be implemented as soon as possible is the ability to queue from anywhere in the world, because waiting times between queues are dead time. The only thing that saves PvP players from long queues now is Bejeweled. I mean, I love the Battlemasters and all -- I never could resist chatting up Yula -- but being able to queue for the Battlegrounds while doing dailies or farming is going to be so wicked that I might actually do dailies or farm.
More Battlegrounds. It just needs to be said one more time. Blizzard has largely ignored that aspect of the game because they believed that "players are the content". But as much as I love Warsong Gulch, I can only take so much of the map. I don't mind similar mechanics on a different map, for example. But for the love of the Light, I hope they put some effort into the Battleground's backstory. I'm not a huge lore nerd, but I do love a good story. I know Blizzard's concentrating on making all the cool stuff like buildings that blow up and stuff, but just how hard is it to give the Battleground some associated lore?
Arathi Basin, Alterac Valley, and Warsong Gulch were great Battlegrounds because they made you feel like a part of a story. You were fighting for something. Sure, most of the time when I'm in one, all I really want to do is mash some heads in... but you know what I mean. Bring back Battlegrounds reputation. Seriously. I have these Blood Elves reaping the benefits from my face-bashing in Netherstorm, but they don't ever give me any love (I'm looking at you, Yula)! What gives? Strand of the Ancients is cool and all, but it's an empty mini-game.
That's really part of why Arenas have bored me lately. Sure, I get my gear, I get an adrenaline rush (and some nerd rage), but at the end of the day it's some bloody cockfight for some Goblins' amusement. It's hollow. Alright, so maybe I'm more of a lore nerd that I'd like to admit, but the beautiful thing about World of Warcraft -- more than anything -- is the attention to detail. The little things. I like my PvP just fine, thank you, but I certainly wouldn't mind it fitting into my world a little more.
Zach Yonzon writes the weekly PvP column The Art of War(craft) in between rounds of Philippine poker with his buddies Lieutenant Murp and Yula the Fair. He's excited to log in on Tuesday and bash more heads in with his hammer.
Check out The Art of War(craft) and prep yourself for all the glorious PvP Achievements, since Patch 3.0.2 is right around the corner. You might also want to read all about PvP 3.0 and the long thoughts of Kalgan on the state of the game's PvP.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, PvP, BlizzCon, Wrath of the Lich King, Battlegrounds, Arena
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Scott Oct 12th 2008 6:11PM
The word is "especially", not "specially".
Less arena, more a-reading, that's what our kids need.
Zach Oct 12th 2008 6:12PM
Are you my "especially" fairy? Because I need one.
Erixx Oct 12th 2008 5:20PM
New BG only actually finishes with a winner in 1/20 of the games, and more random elements in arena.
On a roll Blizzard.
On a roll.
unigolyn Oct 14th 2008 9:35AM
The moving elements of the arena are NOT randomly timed.
madhat1 Oct 12th 2008 5:34PM
I agree with everything you've said except for the new 'gimmicky' arenas. I find that the three maps we have currently, Nagrand, BE and Lordaeron are quite obviously distinct and so Blizzard has to push the envelope a bit and produce some truly novel combat environments. If arena maps were just a simple square or boxing ring format I think that would be boring as hell - a lot of the skill in professional arena is being aware of your surroundings and exploiting LoS to your advantage. I also disagree that the new fire, spikes and pillar traps have any degree of RNG because it isn't random at all, these are events that have regular intervals and even have some triggering animations which will alert players that they're about to be fried or impaled or have their heal interrupted by LoS.
That aside, as you've so rightly said Strand of the Ancients is an interesting concept but just doesn't feel right. I personally am a battlegrounds person and I'd love to see some PvP gear awards system (maybe even the reintroduction of the old PvP ranks but with less emphasis on farming honor and more on skill) with thorough stat tracking for BG's.
I noticed you didn't mention the Tenacity buff which'll appear in Wintergrasp and scale appriopriately to the number of players on each team, giving the underdogs more power and incentive to play. I really think this ought to be extended to other BG's; some battlegroups suffer from chronic outnumbering at the beginnings of matches. Anyhow props to Blizz for the idea, lets just hope it's well tuned.
madhat1 Oct 12th 2008 5:46PM
oops you mentioned Tenacity in your other article!
Anyhow to add a little to my point about arenas, Circle of Blood is a really tricky and interesting map because it really streched the concept of line of sight and I think people have a bigger love/hate relationship with it than the other two maps because fights are so dynamic on it. I think Blizz wants to and should continue in the same vein because Arena is about being on the ball and so if you do get owned by one of the traps in Sewers or Orgrimmar then it's really your own fault because they're easy to predict. Something that really didn't work was the tornadoes they used to have - too random and too OP.
madhat1 Oct 12th 2008 5:53PM
after reading some first hand accounts of Orgrimmar arnea, it sounds pretty silly to have the teams starting so near each other, apparently it screws a lot of classes over. and no one seems to like the fire because it's too damaging and there seems to be a concensus that nothing should deal damage to you apart from the opposite team.
Thander Oct 12th 2008 7:09PM
The RNG stuff in Arenas is to make it easier for Blizzard to balance the classes. They were not successful in balancing classes in arena in TBC. Adding some random stuff smooths it over, so some differences between classes will be lessened.
Raaj Oct 12th 2008 8:17PM
I, for one, hope the new "gimmicks" are random. You know why? If they're going to happen at a certain interval every x seconds, some asshole is going to write an addon that "predicts" (read: remove any mystery whatsoever) when the environmental effects are going to happen and allow those with the addon to act accordingly. Not everything should be about (preventative) timing, sometimes you should have to just get caught in a bad situation and have to adapt accordingly.
Olak Oct 12th 2008 6:39PM
Mmmyea...Strand of the Ancients is part of the overworld. It's a Titan island south of Dragonblight's coast with the Tauren and humans each wanting to get their hands on the Titan's secrets. So I guess it does have a story...
Zach Oct 12th 2008 6:40PM
Cool. That's good to know. So how about some Tauren and Human Battlemasters, then? How about Taurens and Humans on the loading screen? Come on, Blizzard!
Rexigar Oct 12th 2008 6:29PM
I hear wintergrsp is like the size of Westfall. Is this true and does WoWInsider have any pics of the zone?
One other thing I haven't hear anyone talk about was marks from the new battleground. Does it award a mark and will it be required for the repeatable quest "For great honor"?
Thanks.
zbegra Oct 12th 2008 6:37PM
The platforms and fire has SET INTERVALS so there will most likely be an addon coming that will tell you when the platforms and fire will be on.
Kaelant Oct 12th 2008 7:03PM
Great new PVP news.
Definetly the biggest new cool stuff.
BGs being cool again,posibly good rewards again.
Theres also the lake for cool super big PVP
Diferent arenas for balance to counter the current unbalanced arenas
A that raid boss in the lake
Dual specs(you can have a PVP spec 24/7)
Yeng Oct 12th 2008 7:43PM
I think you are confused. There is no 'randomly generated' aspects here, they are 'gimmicks' that are on a timer. Thus they are able to be anticipated.
And as for a boxing ring type arena, that would just be plain boring...easy for blizzard though, just have a square arena...only need one, don't need anything else in it, use the same one for all the fights. Though I'm glad you aren't the one in charge of arena design ;)
Originally fighting games started out with plain flat boring arenas as well. But then you had Mortal Kombat come along and you all of a sudden had multiple stories and spikes and lava and it was more fun.
Dah Oct 12th 2008 9:29PM
Agreed 100% with this. More BGs and at least some back story. Doesn't have to be some radically new concept for the BGs, but at least a change of scenery.
Phyvo Oct 12th 2008 9:15PM
Raaj, I've seen your argument for randomness more than a million times in the context of super smash bros. The bottom line is that randomness kills your ability to measure skill. Imagine two arena teams with one player left on each time, absolutely equal skill. Ideally, since we're using arenas to measure skill, we should have things come out to a *draw*, as in our idealized setting we already know that the teams are equally skilled. Then imagine that because a pillar randomly LOSed one of the players, one teams ends up winning instead of drawing. We just killed our ability to measure skill in an otherwise ideal situation because a random element gave an advantage to one team.
Half the purpose of resilience and 20k+ hp, I believe, is to reduce the effect of randomness in WoW's gameplay. To start adding more randomness just because you don't like the possibility of a timing addon is ludicrous.
It may SEEM cheap that people could use an addon to keep track of when things are going to happen, but you already use UI elements like that all the time! People have timers on their buffs and debuffs man. Do you complain about *that*? Do you complain if someone rearranges their UI to be more open so that they can see things better? Do you complain if people use macros to help them with difficult targeting tasks? Do you complain that some people get to use unitframes which highlight the frame with the color of a debuff, making for easier dispelling? Where do you draw the line between a fair and an "unfair" addon?
In the end, even with all this extra crap that we can add onto the game, there's still skill. Why add randomness? It can only make arena ratings more meaningless.
Phyvo Oct 12th 2008 9:17PM
gah. replied in the wrong place. =X
madhat1 Oct 13th 2008 2:42AM
you're right of course, and the removal of mace stun in Wrath shows that RNG in arenas is bad and Blizz is moving away from that to even the playing field.
nachogod Oct 12th 2008 10:05PM
I agree with the "feel" of EotS definitely, and it's disappointing we're getting more of the same.
WoW's PvP has long since abandoned such meaning. We're told what is most important, and that is teleporting to a small box with random players from random servers. There's no faction or story to represent, you're killing players because you want that goblin's epics. That's it. There is zero [i]massively multiplayer[/i], and zero [i]role-playing[/i].
Arena and the whole MMORPG thing are stark opposites, something so many people seem to fail to realize.