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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsAdvancing the battlegrounds
by Mike Schramm 
Nov 17th 2009 at 3:00PM
An interesting thought, for sure, and probably true -- while there are situations where I aim to be by myself in the battlegrounds (if I'm on my rogue and just want to hunt down some clothies), things almost always go better in there when you work as a team. So here's an idea: why not take the rewards implemented in the LFG system and apply them to better behavior in the battlegrounds?
Certainly, cross-server battlegrounds was an inspiration for the cross-server LFG system -- you can jump in any battleground now almost any time you want. But it'd be good to bring some of the theory back across the aisle, so to speak. Maybe you could choose a role when entering a battleground, and label yourself as offense or defense, so the team could know where to go and when. Maybe veteran battleground players could get the ability to set waypoints or otherwise direct the team. And it would be nice to see Blizzard give rewards for doing it right -- maybe tokens for topping the points meters, or an extra buff when you're working with a team rather than off dying on your own.
These are all ideas for after 3.3, of course -- we're getting tons of nice new upgrades to the LFG system already, and Blizzard will probably have their hands full working out the bugs on those. But let's not forget the other big group activity in the game -- while guild leveling will likely bring at least a few improvements, it will be nice to see even simple upgrades like vote kicking added to the BGs as well.
Filed under: Patches, Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Quests, Making money, Battlegrounds
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
tatsumasa Nov 17th 2009 3:25PM
/agree
bgs would be more fun if not for the ass holes there who think they know everything and are better than everyone AND want to yell about it. the only people you can talk to in bgs are your team mates - the people on YOUR side. calling them names, mocking them, blaming them, and ridiculing them will not make the team function better.
Amaxe Nov 17th 2009 3:24PM
I know I shouldn't but I do enjoy baiting those kind of people.
Like while waiting to be rezzed, I have time to be pointing out that if he has time to type, he sure as hell isn't spending his time fighting.
Drives them nuts
Jackholla Nov 17th 2009 3:29PM
^^ This! Seriously, I'll run BG's because they're fun and great for off raid nights and to escape the Anal Chuck Norris hell that is known as "Trade". Working as a team is great, but when you get the elitist PvP god knower of everything and stating everyone else is a noob sucks the life out of the BG...go back to your 2v2's or whatever plz and thank you!
Ringo Flinthammer Nov 17th 2009 3:33PM
Check out the people yelling on the Armory after the match. I've never come across a single one who had any sort of successful PvP record. (And usually they're doing something useless like hiding atop the stable at the time that they're yelling.)
When they start yelling, just right-click their name and report them as spammers and they'll be on ignore for a day.
Dave Nov 17th 2009 3:37PM
I noticed the other day in WG. A player was yelling that he was doing all the work and no one was listening to his advice. At the end of the fight, I noticed that he was bottom of the dps charts and also bottom of the total damage done list. He had spent the entire fight yelling how bad the other players were, but had done nothing himself. I do feel that on my server, players have trouble playing as a team, they all go off and fight alone and of course spend most of their time running back from the gy. I was in a group, (hah, had) the other day and being a clothie, I was the target. The other in the group stood and watching me die and then moved on, without helping. This is teamwork? Get a grip people you get more honor by wining than losing and having the most kills.
Amaxe Nov 17th 2009 3:41PM
They have bad ideas for tactics too. There was a group of us holding a tower in AV, and this idiot organizes a /report afk against us, thinking we were slacking because we were holding the tower until it burned but no Horde were attacking us.
So we all leave the tower, and of course the Horde takes it two minutes later.
Then the idiot starts screaming at us for losing the tower.
We all reported him as AFK
Ranguskhan Nov 17th 2009 3:55PM
Amen brother. I don't mind nubs. We've all been one.
What I absolutely loathe is the one guy who comes in and says "no other 5k dps with 1k resilience? You guys suck!" I joing BGs to escape the elitist doucheyisms of PvE progression epeen fighting. But there is really no escape. Here's a couple PRO TIPS for you OG LEET BGers who grace us peons with their godly presence:
1. LEARN TO LOSE WITH DIGNITY. Nubs do it better. We're losing. QQ less. No amount of blaming everyone for not grinding hours and hours of honor and arenas is going to win the game for you.
2. LEARN TO BE BETTER THAN EVERYONE ELSE WITH A SHRED OF HUMILITY. In BC a friend and I would frequently duo up for BG marathons well after we had every honor purchase and capped honor. It was for funzies. We regularly topped the charts and did better, but there was no need to point it out to everyone like a braggart. Those same people have the same access to the charts (which can mean nothing for certain games winning/losing). The people that mind don't matter, and the people that matter don't mind. Try and be a little more stand up about it.
3. WHEN THERE IS A DUDE IN A PUG BG WITH A NICE GLAD WEAPON, that toolbag is usually afk at the entrance. True story. 100% of the time I have bg'd since Wrath and seen gladiator weapons, it was on a dude who wasn't helping in the least, which blows your theory out of the water.
4. NO AMOUNT OF GEAR IS GOING TO MAKE ME GOOD. I suck. Seriously. Be okay with it. Full ilvl 245 pvp gear with a million resilience and i'd still get my ass handed to me. Try not to rub it in my face because I'm sensative and my parents didn't hug me enough.
/carry on
Goren Nov 17th 2009 8:01PM
I agree completely people who enter bgs and want to tell everyone else how much they fail at pvp or how much better they are really shouldn't do bgs. Seriously if your that good and everyone else is that bad go get in a premade and stop complaining.
Whats even worse though is people who enter a bg and say things like "this team sucks were gonna lose, might as well just let them win" before it even begins.
jurandr Nov 17th 2009 9:48PM
The vote-replace leader system being introduced to PuGs should also remove people in BG's.
Aaron Nov 18th 2009 2:15PM
I reply to those screamers with a simple "welcome to my ignore list". That REALLY gets them fired up. LOL
Andrew R. Nov 17th 2009 3:16PM
A gear check will make people want to work together more?
Markainion Nov 17th 2009 3:18PM
Battleground have long been the convent form of fun on WOW, meaning a great viable option to just get on WOW and join a BG, if you got nothing better to do or if your waiting for a group to form, there always BG. Not having to know if friends and guild mates are on at the same time to do them gives people more reason to get on themselves, which keeps the servers busy. Dailies have help reduce the need for BG, but I hope WOW never forgets the need for something easy to do for the WOW player base, its crucial for its success. Will I would love BG to lose most of its flaws, if it becomes more difficult and loses its simplicity to achieve it I think it will be a failure overall.
Karilyn Nov 17th 2009 3:19PM
"She notes that some people dive off on their own, like Lone Rangers. And she hints that maybe, if these people were so persuaded, things would go better if they fought together, rather than on their own."
I really disagree with that. By fighting together, I'm sure you mean sitting in the middle of WSG, or fighting in the roads in AB, or whatever have you.
I end up acting as a lone ranger in at least half of the BGs I go into, because I'm one of the only people actually GOING AFTER THE OBJECTIVES!
I'd vastly prefer that there would be more Lone Rangers in BGs, as opposed to all those clusterfucks that have absolutely no productivity.
Bronwyn Nov 17th 2009 3:30PM
The idea is to get people to do those things together, not to be lone rangers about it.
Karilyn Nov 17th 2009 3:43PM
All I'm saying is, if I waited to try and find someone else to assist in escorting me while I carry the flag in WSG, more often than not, it'd never even get picked up.
About 80% of the flags in WSG I've capped, were pure solo runs, simply because no one is interested in actually leaving the center of the field.
Lone Rangers tend to be the ones who win matches, regardless of what BG it is, because typically only around 1 in 10 players in a BG are actually attempting to perform the objectives.
Neirin Nov 17th 2009 3:45PM
I think the fundamental problem for these sort of situations is that farming hks in a pointless fight on the road is still better honor than defending a base or capping a flag - especially if someone else on your team does that for you. Maybe there should be a honor reducing debuff when you aren't within a certain radius of an objective in addition to buffs like Loyal Defender.
Karilyn Nov 17th 2009 3:45PM
All I'm saying is, if I waited to try and find someone else to assist in escorting me while I carry the flag in WSG, more often than not, it'd never even get picked up.
About 80% of the flags in WSG I've capped, were pure solo runs, simply because no one is interested in actually leaving the center of the field.
Lone Rangers tend to be the ones who win matches, regardless of what BG it is, because typically only around 1 in 10 players in a BG are actually attempting to perform the objectives.
Edge Nov 17th 2009 5:22PM
You are not really disagreeing with the sentiment of the original comment. In fact you are enforcing his point. People HAVE to do lone ranger stuff because everyone else sucks. But if you COULD do stuff that you would normally do lone ranger style, in a group of people supporting you, then most likely you would probably not go it alone. You would most likely choose the group thatis going to support you rather than try it on your own. If you did try it on your own even when the group is there to support you, then you become the douchebag, rather than the guy who is trying to get things done.
The point is trying to change the mentality of BGs so that lone rangers aren't needed anymore because you are in decent groups that do what they are supposed to do.
Wither Nov 18th 2009 7:26AM
I agree with Karilyn.
Clearly teamwork can give a significant advantage, we've all played in or fought against a premade that seems unstoppable. However, trying to describe the opposite of teamwork as "lone rangers" is plainly WRONG.
Lone rangers are often fundamental to teamwork and in the absence of any teamwork, lone rangers are often the players who know what they are doing and cause the win.
In AV, it only takes one or two players to run ahead of the pack and steal mines and bunkers behind enemy lines. In AB, a lone ranger stealther can ninja poorly guarded flags. In EoTS, players need to spread out and avoid the trap of zerging a single tower while the others are lost.
So teamwork is not the same as "zerging" and lack of teamwork is not the same as "lone rangers".
Give the lone rangers a break, they are often the ones who know what they are doing.
Shrike Nov 17th 2009 3:24PM
The biggest problem with BGs is the "only queue for two at a time" feature. At least on my Battlegroup, this means if a BG isn't AV (or WSG or AB at lower levels) or the weekly BG, it's deserted, with Strand and IoC taking the biggest hits because you have to scroll down in the BG list to see them at all.
An improved version of the feature would be: queue for all, when one pops, can enter it or leave queue for that one; if entered, must choose one out of all other BGs queued for, and leave queue for all BGs not chosen. So, for example, I queue for all battlegrounds. WSG pops, and I discover I've changed my mind and don't want to do WSG, so I leave queue for WSG. Then AB pops. I'm willing to run AB, but I had really wanted IoC or Strand, so I select Strand to stay in-queue for, and enter AB. I am then immediately removed from the queues for AV, Eye, and IoC.