Blizzard releases information on new Cataclysm Twin Peaks battleground
by Fox Van Allen 
Jun 4th 2010 at 2:15PM
PvP fans can rejoice -- Blizzard released information today regarding the new Twin Peaks battleground today, located inside the Eastern Kingdoms' new Twilight Highlands zone. Twin Peaks is described as a "10 vs. 10, capture-the-flag style battleground" reminiscent of Warsong Gulch.
Alliance players will be called to the defense of the Wildhammer Dwarves, who are fighting to regain control of their home territory of Grim Batol. The Horde will be forging a new coalition with the Dragonmaw Clan, who seek to take hold on the territory as well.
More details are beyond the break.
Cataclysm: Twin Peaks BattlegroundLocated within the Twilight Highlands, the Twin Peaks remains a crucial point of high ground for staging effective and debilitating attacks against the black dragonflight and the Twilight's Hammer, who dominate this foreboding environment. And now, two previous occupants of the nearby city of Grim Batol vie once again for control of the peaks' defenses. The Wildhammer clan, architects and original owners of the once-great fortress city, maintains some operations in forested outposts of the highlands. The Wildhammers now call upon heroes of the Alliance to help claim the peaks and fend off the Dragonmaw orcs. The Dragonmaw clan, having spent years working to enslave red dragons, once again provides strategic importance to the Horde. As the Dragonmaw and Wildhammers fight for territory they once called home, the Alliance and Horde carry out the struggle to control the Twin Peaks.
Capture the Flag
Twin Peaks is a new 10 vs. 10, capture-the-flag-style battleground. Much like in Warsong Gulch, players must work to dominate variable terrain, infiltrate the enemy base, and steal the enemy flag, returning it to their fortress while remaining in control of their own flag. The first faction to capture three enemy flags before time expires will win the battle.
Dominating the Terrain
Although the Wildhammer and Dragonmaw bases are virtually identical, the terrain surrounding each base is not. Players will need to work to control an asymmetrical field where the mountain peaks are divided by a valley river. A single bridge over the river serves as a choke point in the center of the map; although deep, the river can be crossed. On either side of the river sits an outpost where temporary character enhancements can be claimed. In addition, tree stumps and rocks throughout the valley create strategic points for you to use line of sight to your advantage. To prevent absolute domination by one faction through its control of the enemy graveyard, the Horde and Alliance players resurrected in Twin Peaks will spawn from one of two graveyards per faction.
For the hardcore PvP strategist, even more details can be found on Blizzard's EU website.
It sounds like Twin Peaks is an attempt by the game developers to build on their Warsong Gulch model, correcting some of its flaws (graveyard camping, anyone?) while still keeping the old battleground around for players satisfied with the existing nostalgia-filled killing fields.
I'm quite excited to check this one out. And as an added bonus, if I ever need a break from the cold satisfaction that comes from the slaughter of hundreds of anonymous gamers, I can always spend my few gank-free moments searching the battleground for Laura Palmer.
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it. Nothing will be the same. In WoW.com's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion. From goblins and worgens to mastery and guild changes, it's all there for your cataclysmic enjoyment.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 7)
Hoggersbud Jun 4th 2010 2:17PM
Will it have Sherilyn Fenn tying a knot in a cherry stem with her tongue?
Vogie Jun 4th 2010 2:41PM
I guess this battleground will only be around for 2 arena seasons...
widowmakrtwo Jun 4th 2010 3:09PM
/golfclap
Nice referrence.
Eddy Jun 4th 2010 3:40PM
...I was going to ask if we could have pie and coffee later, but I'd prefer this.
Todd Jun 4th 2010 3:40PM
I'll be pissed if all the NPCs aren't related to the Twin Peaks miniseries in some way, shape, or form.
(cutaia) Jun 4th 2010 3:48PM
And the corpse of an NPC named Laura Palmer just sitting in the middle of the battlefield?
Lugo Jun 4th 2010 4:29PM
The owls are not what they seem.
Fingal Jun 4th 2010 4:39PM
The Alliance fortress will be known as the White Lodge, the Horde's will be the Black Lodge.
The flag carrier will be polyed into "Bob" who's only ability is to /dance
There will be backwards talking dwarfs.. listen to them.
If you see Bobby playing the Guitar.. kill him, for the love of god, kill him.
Soulerous Jun 4th 2010 8:41PM
My cousin can tie a knot in a cherry stem with his tongue... how do people do that?
JBurg Jun 4th 2010 8:57PM
I was hoping that when looting an opponent's corpse we would have a chance to find little pieces of paper with random letters on them... at least they seem random.
That and a vendor that sells "Recipe: Perfect Piece of Cherry Pie".
Collix Jun 4th 2010 2:17PM
People have been asking for "new maps" for the old BGs for awhile now, glad that it finally happened.
And before you complain that Blizzard is "just being lazy" keep in mind that this is being released in addition to the Gilnean battleground at launch, that's the most BGs at launch ever.
Baba Jun 4th 2010 4:18PM
Not to mention the Wintergrasp-Quel-danas brainchild later on :)
PvP'ers getting some lovin'!
Ashstryke Jun 4th 2010 4:56PM
I don't see a problem with having another CTF (Capture the Flag) style BG. In FPS's these types of games are considered to be a staple. Since BG's are supposed to be objective based this is a simple and popular way to allow more people who are new to BG's a chance to easily learn what's going on and what needs to be done.
Since the map is asymmetrical this means the veterans will know know the ins and outs of the maps various advantages.
Now blizzard needs to make a BG that mimics "Crazy King" from Halo ^^
(Crazy king is a style of game that is somewhat like king of the hill, but the "Crazy" part is that the hill randomly ports to a different location throughout the map every few mins)
Felix_NZ Jun 5th 2010 7:02PM
From what I'm reading, it sounds a little 2Fort -ish. which is great, with actual choke points and a non-retarded massing middlefield where chumps honor farm all day long, we might even see some tactics in a CTF BG!
sankto Jun 4th 2010 2:20PM
awesome !
now, will it be available at lvl 10 ? Thats the question.
Kemikalkadet Jun 4th 2010 2:22PM
As long as it isn't as confusing to play as the average David Lynch plot it should be fun :)
loreaddict Jun 4th 2010 4:21PM
Plot? What plot?
noyou Jun 4th 2010 2:24PM
Another WSG? Seriously? I was hoping for something more like AV. The 10 v 10 concept is a cool idea but to me the whole capture-the-flag thing doesn't work. Glad to see they "removed" the camping the GY thing. Someday would love to see a smallish instance where you get to battle it out with a random party from another faction over some epic loot. Probably never happen but that would be interesting...
pinteresque Jun 4th 2010 2:38PM
The biggest problem with 10v10 seems to be that there's more of a chance of ending up without any healers, a flaw compounded by the way each side tends to clump in the middle of the map wailing on each other and not getting anything accomplished. Heals win BGs from my limited experience, and barring a premade, it's very easy to get screwed.
AB's 15v15 and has the healerless problem far less frequently, plus the nature of the map reduces the battle to pockets of smaller fights instead of one central clusterbonk.
tobinu2 Jun 4th 2010 4:53PM
Although the dual GYs will reduce GY camping it was also lessen the effectiveness of the often used strategy of holding the opposite team's flag at one's own GY.