BlizzCon 2009: Rated battlegrounds and the return of PvP titles
by Allison Robert 
Aug 22nd 2009 at 9:30PM
- Whichever battleground is currently on its holiday weekend will also be a rated battleground for that week.
- Battleground wins will award both rating and arena points. Battleground losses won't punish you with a ratings loss, but also won't award any points. I would assume that you can continue to accrue honor and a single BG token per loss. Points earned will be capped at a certain number (not yet known) per week to keep rated battlegrounds from feeling too "grindy."
- Your battleground ratings will, like the current arena system, encompass two ratings: a personal and a match-making rating.
- Old PvP rankings will make their reappearance as end-of-season titles (e.g., "Scout," "Commander," "Centurion"). No word yet on whether these are permanent or if, like the non-Gladiator arena titles, you have to earn them each season to continue displaying them.
- "Special epic ground mounts" will be made available to people playing the rated battlegrounds.
- Rated battleground wins will also contribute to the new guild talent system.
BlizzCon 2009 is here! WoW.com has continuing coverage, bringing you the latest in Cataclysm news, live blogs, galleries, and reports right from the convention floor. Check out WoW.com's Guide to BlizzCon for the latest! Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Battlegrounds, BlizzCon, Expansions, PvP, News items, Blizzard, WoW Social Conventions, Fan stuff, Events, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Rabidgun Aug 22nd 2009 9:33PM
Im so excited. i just cant hide it.
Really though. Honor titles should have never gone away. They were possibly the best reason to PvP in BGs if you ask me.
Sev Aug 22nd 2009 9:35PM
Im glad Bgs are finally getting some good PvP gear. Been wanting to PvP for a long time, but I just can't see myself doing Arena as I don't like it. Im glad theyre finally bringing the much needed love to BG's.
Hubuly Aug 22nd 2009 9:38PM
sweet now ill be doing alot more pvp i really want those titles
Senjee Aug 22nd 2009 9:39PM
im just giddy with excitement
Otome Aug 22nd 2009 9:39PM
This is something I'm truly excited for. While I'm not a PvP buff, I do enjoy it every now and then, but I hated not being able to get the top gear doing just BG, and I didn't want to bother with Arenas.
Ken Aug 22nd 2009 9:45PM
I was really disappointed to hear in the panel that you would have to get a group together and join as a group in the rated battlegrounds.
Yaimano Aug 23rd 2009 9:34AM
that can't be right, more people would be complaining since that's one of the main reasons people shy away from arena, plus their comment about not losing rating just because you get stuck in a bad pug
Andrew R. Aug 22nd 2009 9:51PM
Nobody ever said you had to join as a group...
I'm with Senjee on this one. I'm giddy for all the new content, revamping of azeroth, how amazing it looks from the trailer/pictures and now we get rated bg's at last. To make it even better we get TITLES back!
Ken Aug 23rd 2009 12:02AM
If you got the Blizzcon Internet Stream, go to the On Demand section, and rewatch the Systems Panel. Its brief, and they just glance over it, but they do mention you have to join as a group.
cjamieson Aug 22nd 2009 9:53PM
Omg sweet. I joined wow right after they took those out and my gf still had hers. I'll finally be able to rub it in that I'll be able to get one too!
Hawk Aug 22nd 2009 9:54PM
Loving this. Big fan of BG's but the lack of reward at max lvl is depressing, can't wait for rated BG's.
Jamin Aug 22nd 2009 9:57PM
"Battleground wins will award both rating and arena points. Battleground losses won't punish you with a ratings loss, but also won't award any points."
I'm not sure I understand this. Does anything cause your rating to drop or can it only go up?
Hawk Aug 22nd 2009 9:59PM
Well if losses don't make the rating go down then I can't see anything else bringing it down.
Markainion Aug 22nd 2009 10:06PM
There making it so you only have to win a certain number of Weekend Holiday BG a week to get good gear, it will also likely take many week to get good gear. While this could be very easy on some server during certain time periods, other might still find this very challenging to achieve. Otherwise there just trying to give all players in BG incentives to try to win the BG verses just blah grinding for marks or honor, in which many BG players have largely just given up or AFK the hole thing. A slight improvement in BG I guess, but for good gear I would be thankful for the change
Keleron Aug 22nd 2009 10:11PM
This will probably change, or the amount of points we do get will be extremely low. I will be fine with this if the relative time frame to getting gear is comparitive to arena players, but if it arena players will be able to get gear twice as fast or something like that it will still be upsetting.
While I am very excited about this, I don't understand why they are complicating things some much. Just award arena players with honor instead of arena points/ratings. Bring back the old system of needing marks and honor to get gear. Do away with the various types of bg marks and make one unified mark that arena and all bgs give.
This is exciting, but still too early to tell how it will be. Hopefully they are realizing most people that like PvP prefer BGs over Arena, and stop favoring Arena.
valyard Aug 22nd 2009 10:07PM
The Grand Marshal title is the only what left of that 3 months non-stop grind in the past. Now every scrub can get an easy title. Thanks. I'll delete my character if they go further and reset my title somehow.
Hawk Aug 22nd 2009 10:14PM
I'm sure Blizz will take that threat into consideration before they go any further.
JamieG Aug 23rd 2009 8:05AM
That'll teach you to grind relentlessly for 3 months! :D
grump-e Aug 22nd 2009 10:22PM
So far this is the feature I am looking forward the most in wow ever.
Nothing else has exited me this much before, about wow.
Ziberious Aug 22nd 2009 10:30PM
I can see it now...
High Warlord Ziberious