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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsSame-faction battlegrounds to be available for testing on the PTR
by Fox Van Allen 
Mar 31st 2011 at 11:00PM
Well, it's time to box up that purely hypothetical feud and take it to the PTR -- Blizzard is going to be testing same-faction rated battlegrounds.
From Community Manager Nethaera today:
As a part of our ongoing development and testing for World of Warcraft, we are introducing same faction Rated Battlegrounds on the PTR. Teams will be able to queue up and face opponents of either faction in head-to-head competition to truly gauge who deserves to be top of the heap.
This new functionality of the Rated Battleground matchmaking system is still a work in progress, so we'll need your help. If you're interested in helping test same faction Rated Battleground queuing and play with (or go head-to-head with) Blizzard employees, just keep an eye on the PTR forum for times and details:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/1181024/
This new functionality of the Rated Battleground matchmaking system is still a work in progress, so we'll need your help. If you're interested in helping test same faction Rated Battleground queuing and play with (or go head-to-head with) Blizzard employees, just keep an eye on the PTR forum for times and details:
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/1181024/
There are a lot of questions about the new feature, of course: How will it work? Will this dilute the meaning behind the game's Horde vs. Alliance plot? And how badly can I graveyard camp Dawn before she just gives up and quits out of frustration? All eyes are on the PTR for answers.
Want to ascend the arena ladders faster than a fireman playing Donkey Kong? We'll steer you to victory with the best arena addons and let you in on some rank 1 gladiator PvP secrets. If you're looking for the inside line on battlegrounds and world PvP, read The Art of War(craft).
Filed under: News items, PvP, Cataclysm
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 4)
pancakes Apr 1st 2011 12:20AM
It's not particularly funny. I'm quite confused.
ataintedoceansoul Apr 1st 2011 12:50AM
hate to tell you guys.
It's absolutely 100% REAL. Neth posted it here earlier yesterday.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/2325614097?page=1#1
Over 6 hours ago.
Plus, as someone said...this was mentioned a while back to be a feature of rated battlegrounds.
False Alarm....No April Fools.
(Well...okay....maybe the April Fools is that you guys thought it was fake. lol)
Snuzzle Apr 1st 2011 8:13AM
Their April first Announcement is Crabby.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/game/dungeon-helper/
Same faction rated BGs are real, y'all.
Lucidique Apr 1st 2011 1:13AM
I effing hope this isn't an April 1st joke. Gimme some proper same-faction BGs.
ataintedoceansoul Apr 1st 2011 1:19AM
Unless Bliz now posts their APRIL 1st jokes on March 31st, in some quiet battleground forum on their message board, based on something they promised a while back AND on something thats not even remotely funny...I think its safe to say it's real. *rolls eyes*
Honestly...why do people think this is fake?
I cannot for the life of me.....*sigh*...oh nevermind. >_
Shane Apr 1st 2011 2:14AM
@ataintedoceansoul, We've just learned to be extremely wary of anything posted on the Internet on or around April 1st, particularly if part of the country is now currently living in April Fool's day.
Cranderson Apr 1st 2011 1:28AM
Blizz talked about ways to reduce rated BG queues. Right now queues are very long and something needed to be done since the numbers of those participating were far lower than they had expected. This is a possible fix to lower queue waits when there a one faction with far more people in the queue, without having to resort to the last hope of a 'LF Rated BG' type of feature.
WARFACE Apr 1st 2011 1:30AM
It would be pretty funny if Blizzard decided to just announce regular news items for April 1st and just let the player base second guess themselves into a frenzy all day.
jordan Apr 1st 2011 1:49AM
Factions are limiting factors for who can que and recieve a match right now for rated BGs. This limitation is one that arena participators don't face so this makes sense from a perspective of game mechanics. Faster que or preserving lore...
jordan Apr 1st 2011 1:58AM
Also if you think about it... what are rated bgs except bigger arena matches with objectives. This also prevents one side from gaining rating and conquest points because they picked the stronger pvp faction.
eMaRDi Apr 1st 2011 2:11AM
I would see a big issue here: What about the same guildmates splitting up in two teams and battling against each other. This would mean a improve in BG rating equal who wins. As there are quite a few archivements tied to rated BGs this would shift the whole experience.
So: if rated BGs of the same faction then without option of the same guild members battling against each others. However I would assume that even with different guilds battling against each other this would mean they can talk to each other who should win the next battle (as rated BG rating is never lost, it can just increase).
Muskie Apr 1st 2011 2:20AM
Yeeeah, this sounds a bit outlandish to be True, I'll say April Fool till I hear confirmation after April 2nd US time.
Khirsah Apr 1st 2011 3:23AM
I heard that blizzard was going to implement same faction TB.
Ian Apr 1st 2011 3:24AM
Stop calling it an April Fool's joke. It was posted in March FFS. To be an AF joke it must be posted between 00:00 and 12:00 on April 1 in that respective timezone (remember that after midday you are the fool if you continue to prank).
As this was posted yesterday, and on a feature that had previously been discussed as forthcoming this is not a joke. Remember Blizzard are more stylish at jokes than that. Remember the bard class or 8-bit MC?
Unfortunately a combination of piss-poor attempts at hoaxes on the Internet combined with people neglecting the strict time period of validity probably doesn't help...
Baba Apr 1st 2011 3:41AM
One word.
Date.
Thank you :>
Tim Apr 1st 2011 4:00AM
As in March 30th on the Battleground Forums
zweitblom Apr 1st 2011 4:07AM
Three words - posted in March. Thank you.
Baba Apr 1st 2011 4:31AM
ah crap D:
Well at least this won't be affecting my normal Alliance BG queues.
Baba Apr 1st 2011 4:32AM
Another edit:
Three words, Dud forum link.
has to be wow insider's april fool? Arhghghg the confusion..
Drakkenfyre Apr 1st 2011 5:48AM
Five words.
Announced feature two months ago.