Patch 5.4 patch notes
Virtual Realms feature revealed
The Proving Grounds are coming
The latest patch 5.4 newsTol Barad hotfixed to reward 360 honor on offensive win
by Mathew McCurley 
Jan 3rd 2011 at 5:00PM
However, Blizzard has just changed the amount of honor gained when the attacking side wins Tol Barad to 360 honor, down from 1,800. Let your servers know that the win-trading can stop.
Zarhym -- Tol Barad Honor ChangeAs you're probably aware by now, an update was applied to Tol Barad shortly before the holidays which granted the attacking side 1800 Honor Points for a victory. While the goal with that change was to provide more incentive for the attacking forces to claim victory, it ultimately led to an undermining of the spirit of competition in Tol Barad. We've just applied a hotfix which has lowered the attacking faction's gain to 360 Honor Points for a victory. The defending faction will still earn 180 Honor Points for a victory.
We appreciate all of your feedback regarding this change. We'll continue working to make Tol Barad a fun and engaging PvP environment.
We appreciate all of your feedback regarding this change. We'll continue working to make Tol Barad a fun and engaging PvP environment.
In addition, Blizzard is currently working on a fix for what many termed the "Tol Barad Bridge Marathon," where players would run across the Tol Barad northern bridge to enter the zone as the battle was ending to reap the benefits of the victory, even if they were not called to participate in Tol Barad.
Filed under: PvP
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 6)
Kaz Jan 3rd 2011 5:06PM
Because its not so much OMFGLETTHEMWINBBQ! anymore, and there will be plenty of players that won't be able to resist putting up an actual defense anymore. The fools.
Delerius Jan 3rd 2011 5:08PM
There won't be win trading anymore because now if you defend twice you get the same honor as if you won once and lost once, but the enemy doesn't.
Sarducci Jan 3rd 2011 5:08PM
Because now alternating winning on offense and losing on defense gives 360 honor per two fights, and winning on defense multiple times in a row gives 360 honor per two fights. So...we're going back to one faction having it for a week, I guess.
Firestyle Jan 3rd 2011 5:41PM
@Sarducci
Yea, basically there was a week of free honor, and we're back to where we started - one faction owning it.
Looks like you have to plan a 4 AM coup d' etat to capture it and hold it for a week.
Jay Jan 3rd 2011 6:43PM
I went in with the intention of letting the horde win attack, but I couldn't resist :(
Jeremy Jan 4th 2011 4:28PM
Because 360 honor isn't enough to counter having it for two and a half hours more, letting you do dailies and a raid. Also, you still get more commendations, which for me is worth more than 360 honor.
Draman Jan 3rd 2011 5:07PM
And this has solved what exactly?
Kyle Jan 3rd 2011 5:17PM
It solved the problem of anyone on my server actually going to Tol Barad. It will simply go back to the Horde Daily Hub it used to be.
Blayze Jan 3rd 2011 5:38PM
Glad I managed to get almost to Exalted before the change got... well, changed. Now I can do the normal six dailies, max out my Baradin's Wardens reputation and never have to see Tol Barad again.
Wildstaff Jan 3rd 2011 6:14PM
This doesn't really change anything, you get double the amount of honor for an attacking win 360. but when you defend win you get 180. attacking wins still give more honor so people will still win trade. get the 75 honor for losing, then attack and get 360 honor. they need to stop wasting time with these temporary fixes and get a real fix in there, or Tol Barad will forever be known as the only thing worse than ToC
murmaiderxx Jan 3rd 2011 5:17PM
I agree with Draman, I don't think it's going to affect anything really. People can still trade off, you still get the same honor either way..
JD Jan 3rd 2011 5:19PM
man wintergrasp was so much fun, i still remember some great epic battles where u would win/lose within the last 5 secs and your heart bumping!...NOW ...TB srsly?? you dont even get to know what the f.. is going on there ...fail design is fail
Nitride Jan 3rd 2011 5:34PM
I think the design intent was to do the reverse of WG this time. Start out very simple and small-scale. Let people have at it, see what's wrong and try to "fix" it.
In the original WG you could destroy workshops outside of the keep to stop sieges from being made by the attackers. Now you always have workshops.
The towers to increase attacker's time have cannons so you can effectively defend them. You have to damage the walls to get in, to damage more walls, to get close to damage the door to win.
There was also the hidden mechanic that gave attacking sides a powerful buff if they had not won several rounds in a row ("I have boss HP!"). Also you were flagged PvP 24/7 in the zone, unlike TB, which made it always risky to be in the zone doing dailies or collecting resources.
TB is now so bare and basic it will need to be expanded to "fix" its problems in any meaningful way.
I'd like to see some way to eventually block the entrances to the compounds (collect slowly spawning blocks or those big metal X things on beaches during WWII). Or maybe a way to defend the towers other than running up and kicking the siege engines.
Risible Jan 3rd 2011 5:19PM
Sounds like this bg is going to die out rather quickly, no?
Methuus Jan 3rd 2011 6:46PM
Well, no, because of Baradin's Hold (the Vault of Archavon of this expac).
There's a strong incentive for everyone, including people who don't PvP much, to make sure that your faction gets the place at least a few times a week so you can run the raid instance for PvP and PvE gear.
In the next full patch, we'll most likely see some substantial changes to the mechanics of Tol Barad.
Wildstaff Jan 3rd 2011 7:41PM
@Methuus not even baradin hold is enough to get people to queue for TB. People on my server only started playing when the horde was trading with us because it's practically impossible to take it otherwise. If there was a zero percent possibility you would win, would you go to war? That is the current mentality of tol barad. No one queues because there is no point in playing. the attackers don't even get any benefit for attempting to win. It's an all-ornothing type of game and why bother playing if the outcome is always nothing?
lazymangaka Jan 3rd 2011 5:19PM
There's still no reason to defend, other than to kill members of the opposite faction. It's easier and quicker just to win trade and get the same amount of honor with less effort.
Bandages like this aren't doing anything to fix Tol Barad's genuinely broken mechanics.
azcatryo Jan 3rd 2011 5:22PM
It was nice getting to see the six + dailies that were on that half of the island. Even if they pushed the limits of my abilities with their crazy fast respawn rates. Oh well, here's hoping that they actually fix the real problem instead of fixing problems caused by "temporary solutions" somewhat soon.
iceveiled Jan 3rd 2011 5:22PM
Here's what will encourage players to participate: HAVING BATTLEGROUNDS THAT AREN'T BROKEN.
wutsconflag Jan 3rd 2011 5:36PM
I was just going to say...
"...or they could just, you know, FIX the battleground."