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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsGuest Post: Three fresh ideas for world PvP events
by Michael Beck 
Jul 24th 2010 at 4:00PM
Of all the PvP events I've participated in over the years, the battle for Halaa in Nagrand always sticks out in my mind as one of the best-executed examples of world PvP that the World of Warcraft has ever produced. The battle for Halaa brought together several areas of warfare in perfect harmony.
- The element of surprise The battle for Halaa took place at any time. Whenever the opposite faction felt like taking control of the city, they could form a raid and start bombing. It left the controlling faction scrambling to assemble a defense when the words "Halaa is under attack!" popped up on their screens.
- Aerial assault Players had to activate one of four wyvern stations and fly over the city of Halaa to drop bombs, causing massive amounts of damage. Until the defenses were weakened, players could not successfully enter the city.
- Sabotage While enemy players were taking to the skies, one of the keys to success was to destroy the activated wyvern stations to prevent those enemy players from immediately taking off for another bombing run.
- Siege warfare Once the city's defenses were eliminated, the conquering force moved into the city center and held the city captive. Either the defending faction would break the siege and regain control of the city or it would be lost to the conquering heroes.
- Spoils of war Defeating your enemy within the boundaries of Halaa yielded you a Halaa Battle Token. Once you controlled Halaa, those tokens could be spent on various rewards, including the coveted Dark War Talbuk.
With new expansions come new territories to explore and conquer. Sadly, Nagrand and the war-torn city of Halaa fell to the wayside in favor of Wintergrasp once Wrath of the Lich King was released. So what does a player who is hungry for world PvP do now? If you have some friends and are will to do a little organizing and promoting, here are three new ideas to spring on your server.
Sunreavers vs. The Silver CovenantWhen people think of Crystalsong Forest, only two things come to mind: Dalaran and Glassfin Minnows. However, there is an unused PvP gem on the eastern side of the map. In the Unbound Thicket, you'll find the Sunreaver's Command and the Windrunner's Overlook (home to the Silver Covenant) directly across from each other.
The idea here is simple. Capture the enemy camp. Keep the enemy out of your camp. Kill the guards. Destroy their leader. Hold their forces in check and claim victory. Aerial assault would be too easy in this case, so flying mounts are not allowed.
The first faction to successfully capture the other camp and hold it for 10 consecutive minutes is the winner of the battle.
Battle for the Dark Portal
The Dark Portal is of major strategic significance to both the Horde and Alliance. While they have cooperated over its use to this point, the time has come for a group to ultimately hold the Dark Portal for its own uses.
The idea here is to slaughter the opposite faction and hold control over the area surrounding the Dark Portal. Protect your lower-level players who are arriving from the Blasted Lands portal and ensure they make safe passage through the Dark Portal. Slaughter any new recruits appearing from the opposite faction.
A winner will be decided when one faction is able to keep players alive on the steps of the portal for at least 10 consecutive minutes.
The Amphitheater of Anguish offers more than just a chain quest and an achievement. It is a structure that would make a great place for a serious world PvP battle. If you look behind Gurgthock, the fight promoter, you will notice a staircase that leads up to what appears to be a throne room, complete with a throne. It's just begging for someone to sit upon it and hold it as their own!
In this scenario, each faction selects its best fighter to start in the throne room. The remainder of the players line up across from each other on the fighting floor of the Amphitheater of Anguish itself. When the battle is signaled to begin, all hell breaks loose.
In the throne room, the victor in single combat takes his rightful place on the throne. Down below, the factions battle each other on their way up to the throne room. Flying mounts would take the fun out of this battle, so they are forbidden.
The faction that keeps a player alive on the throne for 10 consecutive minutes is crowned the King of the Amphitheater, and the other faction must mount up and leave in shame. Or continue to spill blood in rage. Their choice.
Tips on promoting world PvP events
- If you have enough willing friends on your friends list, start your promoting and player recruitment there. Your friends are more likely to follow the rules than someone on trade who would rather just crash the party.
- Make sure at least one person is recording video of the event. It will make recruiting for the next event easier when you can actually show them what a great time it was.
- Welcome feedback on how the event went. Would it be more fun if some of the rules or objectives were tweaked? Be open to new ideas!
- Keep in touch with the players who participate. After doing this a few times, you'll have enough contacts to organize future events.
Have you ever wanted to write for WoW.com? Your chance may be right around the corner. Watch for our next call for submissions for articles via Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW.com. The next byline you see here may be yours!Filed under: PvP, Guest Posts
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 3)
Bairot Jul 24th 2010 5:30PM
In my humble opinion I think hillsbrad foothills has already seen too much lowbie blood from vanilla days
Eddy Jul 24th 2010 5:31PM
How do you keep players that aren't involved/trolls from killing the lowbie of the other faction that's hanging out just outside of their city?
Nawaf Jul 25th 2010 6:02AM
The need for real ID can be removed by not saying the relic carrier's name. Taking the relic or winning can be announced by a random /yell. All nearby players will see the /yell and know that the relic has been taken. It can use different emotes to announce three different events: taking the relic, capturing the relic, and winning. As for the trolls, the relic keeper doesn't really need to be a lowbie. He'll be in a safe place where NPCs and players won't regularly come around.
Den Jul 25th 2010 11:07AM
It's biggest complication comes from communication. You don't have to do RealID, you can do vent, but it's still going to be messy. These sorts of ideas seem good, but I've never had them work out in WoW, partially b/c gank mode makes people stop reading, and also due to communication. But this is a lot better than the winning post imo.
NecDW4 Jul 24th 2010 5:42PM
Large scale world PvP will remain unfortunately dead until Blizz stops catering solely to arena players for PvP. Offering Arena points for BGs is a nice head start, but it still doesn't give adequate rewards.
Halaa was probably the pinnacle of the world PvP, aside from OOOOLD SS/TM wars. But people stopped doing that when "fun" wasn't enough of a reward anymore. I wouldn't mind seeing WG become permanently contested once Cata hits. Where as soon as a faction takes over the fortress, a 5 minute timer starts, after which the walls rebuild under the winners control. Only now that VoA wont be quite as relevant, the next battle would start immediately, essentially keeping the fight going forever.
Since people wont likely be worried about running VoA for upgrades after the expansion, not being able to hold it long enough for a full clear wont be an issue. Heck, holding it long enough to get a single boss down should be fine.
I really WOULD like to see something along the lines of Halaa in the new expansion though. Something that could be raided and taken at any moment, but still gave out rewards that at least made it worth doing. Heck, you could keep gear out of it entirely, and reward with things like vanity pets, mounts, titles, anything that wouldn't be replaced after a couple days. People would be MUCH more enthusiastic about about doing it if the rewards were more permanent.
Gimmlette Jul 24th 2010 5:45PM
Interesting ideas that just require people to work.
On Llane, we have a regular FtH run Saturdays and Sundays beginning around 2:30 p.m. Horde generally hit the first target (lately IF, but it has been SW) with from 30-40 players. From city #1, they go to Darnassus and Exodar and then to the last target, lately SW. Once Wrynn in dead, they charge into the Trade District and kill all the NPCs.
I'm not a big fan of PvP. I'm not fond of BG's with their self-anointed "know-it-alls" who scream that Alliance sucks. Wintergrasp used to be fun but now, it's a zergfest with Alliance complaining left and right about who is or isn't doing something. But, attack my king and I'm there.
I've tried spamming in trade and general and local for defenders. I've posted to the forum. I've studied the afternoon runs to the point that I know their route by heart. They face so little opposition that it's essentially the same route every run. I've even discussed battle tactics with the leader of the runs. He'd love some opposition, too. There are many, many places Alliance could shut down this raid. But, whether it's summer, it's a PvE server or people just don't care, I'm often the lone defender, getting shouted down when I announce to come and defend and then excoriated when horde is running rampant through the Trade District.
X-roads, SS/TM are the usual places for PvP on our server although Alliance don't hit back as they used to. I have always been lousy at PvP but I do it because it's fun and it's a great test of my abilities. If you run a boss enough times, you get to know what he will do. You can't ever fight someone enough to know what they will do. I know people who hate that unpredictability, but I like it. I just wish more people on my server did.
DarkSpade Jul 24th 2010 5:48PM
For world PVP, I always thought it would be cool to put prices on player's heads.
Spend enough time killing people outside of BGs, and a price would appear over your head, literally. The number over your head could represent bonus honor for killing you or even cash. More people you kill, the higher your number gets and the lower their level below yours, the faster it goes up. Someone getting a kill on you would lower the number.
Of course, this would only work in world pvp and shouldn't have any affect in BGs.
Serthida Jul 24th 2010 5:52PM
A lot of servers have "Most Wanted" lists where people will pay out for screenshots of that character, dead, out in the world.
vinniedcleaner Jul 24th 2010 6:07PM
I've suggested this many times (always falling on deaf ganking ears).
My idea was for Blizzard to implement a bounty system that would put a price on the head of gankers and griefers along with anyone who associated with them.
dyloniusfunk Jul 24th 2010 11:41PM
@vinniedcleaner
If you don't like gankers don't play on a PVP server. blizzard is not going to put bounties on people who have done nothing wrong. PVP happened on a PVP server. If you get ganked ona PVE server than you voluntarily flagged yourself and have no one else to blame.
DarkSpade Jul 25th 2010 12:24AM
dyloniusfunk, that's the beauty of this. It actually encourages PVP. Spend enough time griefing lowbies and you'll get all the pvp you want and then some.
North Jul 24th 2010 5:49PM
Here is a fun bit of World PvP that you should do while waiting for your ICC raid to fill up:
Take the other faction's airship in Icecrown. There is something very satisfying about taking a screenshot of yourself on the enemy airship, filled with dead crew members.
The added bonus is that people of the other faction waiting for their ICC raid to fill up will come to defend their airship. Before you know it you'll have a massive battle on your hands, with boarding parties and ranged taking down people on flying mounts before they land.
It's a fun alternative to traditional ground based PvP and the fact that the airships constantly move adds another layer of strategy.
NecDW4 Jul 24th 2010 5:57PM
OH GOD YES! Back and forth airship capping is still one of my favorite past times in Wrath.
Trying to maintain ownership of the alliance Airship while protecting ours is a TON of fun when enough people get involved. Also F*** Druids being able to intercept people while in air. Stupid flight form. XD
Hiwa Jul 24th 2010 11:15PM
That actually sounds like a whole lot of fun.
vinniedcleaner Jul 24th 2010 6:01PM
World PvP is just Death Match filled with gankers and griefers. There is no honor in World PvP combat (hmmm, sounds like a good topic for an article... oh yea, I submitted one and got kicked to the curb) and there is no reward for coming to the aid of someone being ganked and/or griefed. Until Blizzard get this under control, no idea will work.
THORNEUS Jul 25th 2010 10:40AM
i think dal should become a pvp zone in cat...
Avan Jul 24th 2010 6:30PM
Capturing locations (and other objectives) in world PvP is so boring. It can also be done without any confrontation from other players, which kind of defeats the purpose of PvP.
Here are better ideas:
Every Wednesday, a random location in the world is designated as being a battle zone for an period of time (30-60 minutes). Battle zones would be located in contested areas, and they would include the local Horde and Alliance towns, as well as the ground between them. While in a battle zone, players gain 2x honor for every honor kill they make. An example of a battle zone would be Hillsbrad Foothills, with a battle going on between Tarren Mill and Southshore.
While the event is active, there are more guards spawned at the towns, and there will also be groups of NPCs doing battle with each other out in the field. These NPCs would count for a very small amount of honor when killed, no more than 10 points, as to entice players to attack them; The killing of the NPCs would trigger a "... is under attack!" message, while attacking them would get players flagged on a PvE server. In addition, the battle zones would become No Fly Zones for the duration of the event, just like Wintergrasp.
The event would take place at pre-designated times throughout the day, and up to 30 minutes before the event starts, battlemasters (or perhaps faction leaders) will inform players where the next battle is going to take place. Each time the event starts up, it will take place in a different location, so the first battle might take place in Western Plaguelands, while the second might take place in Hillsbrad or Ashenvale.
For EU players, the event would take place on Thursdays.
For the second type of event, it would utilize the same battle zone mechanic as about. However, these events would take place through on the 1st and 15th of each month (except on Tuesdays (EU: Wednesdays) to avoid server maintenance). This event would take place at one random capital city, and the battle zone would encompass the entirety of that city and the surrounding area.
For this event, there would be siege vehicles available to both factions, similar to Wintergrasp. The goal here would be for the attacking party to break into the capital city and slay the faction leader, while the defending party has to hold them off. Unlike Wintergrasp, the siege vehicles would be primarily for anti-infantry and anti-vehicle roles instead of breaking down walls or gates (which wouldn't exist), and would do damage appropriately.
While this event is in progress, special graveyards would be available so defenders respawn inside the city, while attackers respawn outside the city but within the battle zone (ie, Horde would spawn about 100 yards away from Stormwind's gates, instead of all the way out at Eastvale Logging Camp). Players would also be rewarded a decent amount of honor for killing the faction leader, instead of having the battle zone 2x honor bonus; This would exist so that attackers are motivated to kill the faction leader instead of simply farming kills. Successfully defending/defeating a faction leader would also award a small amount of Arena Points, for the purchasing of better PvP gear.
The first phase of the event would end after 30 minutes elapses, or until the faction leader is slain. The second phase would begin shortly after, as the roles are reversed and a capital city of the other faction is chosen. The faction that defends first would be randomly selected, as would the capital city to be besieged. The city that is besieged second would be based off of which city was chosen first.
For the duration of this event, the battle zone would become a No Fly Zone. In addition, the attacking faction will not be allowed to mount up at all, and be forced to fight their way through the city to kill the faction leader. Faction leaders will inform players of the event for up to 30 minutes before it begins. This event would only occur once a day, to compound capital city lag into a single event instead of multiple times throughout the day.
For the last type of event, players simply kill other players. After a certain number of players have been killed within a certain distance of each other, that area becomes flagged as a battle zone. These battle zones would only award 50% extra honor. The more players that are killed within the battle zone, the larger it would become; Likewise, as PvP activity decreases, the zone would reduce in size. These impromptu battle zones would not be able to form or exist within or near a battle zone created by one of the previous events, if those events are in progress.
Nawaf Jul 25th 2010 8:17AM
Great idea. Here's my suggestions on your second idea:
-The battles will be every two weeks, with the order alliance city-horde city. It's better than both battles to be in one day.
-Each city will require different siege weapons. For example, you can't enter Undercity with a tank.
-Each battle has a different offensive army. One battle might have a night elf NPC army lead by Shandris Feathermoon, and the next alliance offensive battle will have a different NPC army of humans lead by General Marcus Jonathan. Each race has different tactics and siege weaponry. Maybe non-playable faction races can be added too, such as high elves.
-Maybe on we could have a bigger event that happens at the begging or end of each patch. This event will consist of two battles, one on each day. It has to be at least one hour long. All the faction leaders and all of the faction's army gathers to create a massive battle. The honor gained is very high to encourage more players to join.
JoeRandom Jul 25th 2010 10:10AM
That truly is a fantastic idea to revitalize world PvP.. making the contested areas of now into warzones for designated periods of time. On a pve server, you still could go about your business when not attacking the (non-hostile) NPCs. This would immensely push world pvp.
Blizzard, are you reading?
Avan Jul 25th 2010 6:12PM
@Nawaf:
Different siege weapons for different cities was in my original draft, but I couldn't think of anything as an example. The best I could have come up with was some sort of flying vehicle for the attack on Darnassus, but that would have to utilize a flight path (boring, take far too long, and horribly inefficient paths) otherwise all the Horde would just take the flyers and dive bomb into Tyrande's house.
Anyways, yes. Different siege weapons would be great to have for different cities. Having faction-specific NPCs for each city would be a great touch, too.