Blizzard previews new rated battlegrounds PVP mounts

The really interesting and cool part about these mounts are that they are awarded for 75, 150, and 300 rated battleground wins. That's right -- each time you reach one of those milestones, you are given another account-bound mount for use on one of your alts, with three mounts available total. That is an awesome change that potentially signals the beginning of more account-bound achievement items being earned and shared across players' accounts, as opposed to having to complete each achievement on each character. This is the first step in something bigger, I'm sure of it.
Rated battlegrounds have been a touchy subject with Blizzard, since depending on who you ask they are either wildly successful or not being used enough. Gathering 10 people for coordinated PVP is sometimes just as much of a pain as doing it for raiding, and the time commitment can be just as large. With these new mounts, Blizzard hopes to get more people into the rated battleground system and start fighting it out for some cool new mounts.
In order to best accommodate players under the unique play style of Rated Battlegrounds, we'll be offering all-new PvP ground mounts -- the Vicious War Wolf (Horde) or Vicious War Steed (Alliance) -- in a unique way. If you want to sit your knickers on these sweet new rides come patch 4.2, Rage of the Firelands, you must earn achievements for winning either 75, 150, or 300 Rated Battlegrounds. One account-bound mount will be awarded for each of these achievements earned, so if you win 300 Rated Battlegrounds with a character, you'll be afforded the opportunity to give that character and two of your alts each a wolf or steed. Since these mounts are tied to each achievement and not to your placement on the competitive ladder, they will be awarded instantly rather than at the end of each season as with Arena mounts. Your Rated Battleground wins tracked for these achievements are cumulative and are not reset with each season, so you can work toward the reward at your own pace.
For those of you storming the front lines, protecting vital tactical positions, and keeping your teammates alive in Rated Battlegrounds, we wish you the best of luck in obtaining awards that befit your show of valor!
For those of you storming the front lines, protecting vital tactical positions, and keeping your teammates alive in Rated Battlegrounds, we wish you the best of luck in obtaining awards that befit your show of valor!
The news is already rolling out for the upcoming WoW Patch 4.2! Preview the new Firelands raid, marvel at the new legendary staff, and get the inside scoop on new quest hubs -- plus new Tier 12 armor!Filed under: PvP, Cataclysm, The Art of War(craft) (PvP)






Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
Luci Jun 20th 2011 3:04PM
Wolf > Horse
MightyMuffin Jun 20th 2011 3:14PM
Horse>Wolf
See? I can do that too. Both models look AMAZING, and I am glad to see Blizzard implement these. Plus, the BoA portion just makes me wish I could get my guild to do rated battlegrounds. I applaud the Blizz art/design team for this one - you guys rock!
Halvan Jun 20th 2011 3:15PM
Your wolf may be a little angry, but my horse has the severed heads of some of your people on its butt.
Majestic vehicle of death > pissed off puppy.
Luci Jun 20th 2011 3:22PM
I'm alliance :P
Didn't say horse looked bad. Wolf is new and AMAZING tho. Horse is just another rearmored horse. Looks good, but not AMAZING imo.
(cutaia) Jun 20th 2011 3:30PM
"Horse is just another rearmored horse. Looks good, but not AMAZING imo."
The part I love about the horse is that is has like 3 or 4 heads from various Horde races just hanging off the back. That makes it pretty awesome in my book.
sporkwind Jun 20th 2011 3:41PM
Gotta say I'm with Luci on this one. Previous wolf mount models have looked really stiff. This one is in a different realm of awesome.
Also, Troll head right on the butt...gonna be creepy running around with a decapitated head looking right at me.
RuzGofDI Jun 20th 2011 4:21PM
@Halvan
At least the Horde had the decency to clean the meat off the bones before attaching their war trophies to the back end of their mount.
And people call us savages.
Ilmyrn Jun 20th 2011 4:33PM
I'm Alliance through and through, but as cool as the new horse looks, the Horde wins this round of the mount arms race. That wolf is FAR too cool for words.
I am curious, however, if the achievement will award the mount, or a generic mount item so that they can be sent cross-faction. That is, if I earn the mount on my Human Paladin (My main), can I send the item to my Blood Elf so he can have a wolf? Or do I need to grind out the achievement Horde-side too?
(cutaia) Jun 20th 2011 5:16PM
"the mount, or a generic mount item"
If you send the mount to your hordie, it'll just likely just change to the other faction's version, similar to when you do a faction transfer.
Skarn Jun 20th 2011 5:25PM
The horse looks awesome, but I just don't like the horse mounts in WoW. A sabercat with that look would be spectacular though!
loop_not_defined Jun 20th 2011 6:58PM
Luci: "I'm alliance :P"
This wasn't at all surprising.
jordan Jun 20th 2011 9:50PM
You know what bothers me about the Horde mount is that the model of worg looks too cartoony for a high res mount.
Goodk4t Jun 20th 2011 10:19PM
I gotta admit the Wolf looks a lot better than the Horse. I guess it's okay, it makes up for our guild lion, which looks a lot better than the Horde's scorpion.
lethian Jun 21st 2011 9:38AM
@ Halvan >implying it didn't just eat the skulls.
Caliea Jun 20th 2011 3:05PM
I'm loving this! Especially the part where the count doesn't reset at each season. So for those of us who are 'slow and steady', we have an opportunity to get these mounts (evenutally)!
Henrah Jun 20th 2011 3:07PM
Finding and coordinating 10 people to do a rated battleground is far harder than finding 10 people for raiding.
Mainly the finding rather than the coordinating, as nobody seems to want to play Rated Battlegrounds (on my server, at least).
Here's hoping this account-bound achievement thing is indeed a step towards bigger things.
I am really hoping for BoA items for Feats of Strengths like the 2007 Clockwork Rocket Bot... my new main would love to have that little guy.
The mounts do look very cool though, except my Draenei will look ridiculous riding one, as he does on all horses!
Sterb Jun 20th 2011 3:50PM
Eh, I've felt the same way about team based PvP since BC. I actually enjoyed arena during the BC days. Win some, lose some (ok, lose a lot), but you'd have fun with a friend for an hour or so a week.
It felt ok to run in there with PvE gear, maybe get your ass handed to you, maybe play against another scrub team and get a win. Everyone was doing it and it created the possibility for matches with equally unskilled/undergeared players.
Starting with Wrath, arena was ruled by people that did nothing but PvP. You'd get into a match and end up playing against a team running the currently unstoppable FotM combo, or that had just reformed just to screw with people.
I get the feeling Rated Battlegrounds are the same way. You get in there as a starting team only to get steamrolled by a team much better skilled and geared.
On the other hand, 75 wins to get a really nice mount might be worth slogging through a few hundred losses (but getting 9 others to endure is going to be nigh impossible).
coville Jun 20th 2011 3:09PM
Horse stomps on the horde dog.
Long live STORMWIND!!!
dengarsw Jun 20th 2011 3:11PM
I'm still not sure how to feel about this. If you have to offer a reward for something that people don't want to do, is it really a fix? Bottom line for most people is that the mechanics aren't fun. While adding a horsey for people to play with will work for some, it'll probably just be good for bringing in baddies to get stomped.
Bobbo Jun 20th 2011 3:21PM
Any reasonable discussion points in your comment are immediately rendered null and void due to the invocation of "baddies."