Blizzard previews new rated battlegrounds PVP mounts
by Mathew McCurley 
Jun 20th 2011 at 3:00PM
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.
Patch 4.2: New PvP Mounts for Rated Battlegrounds
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 4 of 4)
dkhar Jun 20th 2011 7:12PM
Same, I used to be a hardcore raider, but I got major burnout on that. Going into BG's was fun because could do it on my own time, whenever I wanted, how I wanted. I like the variety, the constant changing of things, the ever changing playstyle's. Raiding isn't the same for me, it's a certain strategy that you repeat over and over for gear.
DonNochay Jun 20th 2011 7:20PM
@Irish
And? What's your point? You had one when you started rambling, I'm going to assume, unless this was just a way for you to informally tell us you have a wife, kids, dogs and are apparently some sort of battleground loving hipster.....or something.
Matthew Jun 20th 2011 5:58PM
I think there should be a mount for participating in X number of Rated BG's.
A 'less cool' mount, less uber-colored or something.
This way
1) You increase the denominator of people interested in doing them
2) There is a consolation for doing rateds and losing. Currently, its 2 hours of disappointment + piddly honor
3) Being there already, you're more motivated to go for the reallllllllly cool looking mount.
I speak as someone who has tried to lead Rateds, finding that our competition is immensely superior.
DonNochay Jun 20th 2011 7:27PM
In this game, when it comes to PVP specifically, I believe "immensely superior" typically goes hand in hand with "has an immense amount of time to waste playing a video game."
WoW pvp is a complete mess, and it has been for a long time.
Abbadon Jun 20th 2011 6:15PM
On the one hand, the BoA reward is awesome! But on the other, you still have to do this on a single toon...
I have two toons with which I pvp. So if I win 50 rated BGs with each (100 total wins), I will have nothing to show for my efforts...
IMO, if the achievement is going to have an account bound reward, it out to take into consideration ALL the wins on that account!
Bart Jun 20th 2011 7:08PM
I wish Blizzard would make it easier for the casual player to get PVP weapons. I hate Arenas with a passion and have trouble finding a guild that actually runs rated battlegrounds. The issue here is guilds that are running rated bg's are usually decent progression guilds as well and therefore they have their established teams and are reluctant to bring on a casual player who only plays maybe 4 hours a week. I usually spend that time leveling in battlegrounds. but by the time I hit 85, I am now at a severe disadvantage as I do not have the ability to easily access conquest points for weapons. I feel that there should be access to weapons that are at most 1 ilvl below the conquest weapons.
I would call this post a QQ if I were simply a reader; however, I firmly believe that there are several players who feel the same way I do about access to conquest points.
A possible solution could be a rated BG finder tool like the random dungeon finder.
Matthew Jun 20th 2011 9:07PM
Not a bad idea!
milindpania Jun 21st 2011 12:30AM
I am sorry but I have to disagree. In the current Season, 3 Weeks of farming low level Arena wins is all that is needed to get the Vicious Weapons. Even for a casual player, that is ridiculously easy. In fact, I welcome the changes to how weapons are acquired next season.
As for the Rated BG tool like Dungeon finder, it will be associated with the same problems as normal BGs. People will sign up in PvE gear, there will be a VERY high chance of slacking / AFKing players hoping to get carried and there is also the difficulty of getting any sort of communication going. How often in a BG does someone make a strategy and how often is it followed? Also, even if the tool requires, let's assume 3 healers 3 ranged, 3 melee and 1 tank/melee hybrid, what's the guarantee that you will get a balanced setup? Imagine ending up with something ridiculous like 10 druids. Or people with unviable speccs such as SV hunter, Destro locks and Combat rogues.
The whole idea behind RBGs is organised PvP, with proper communication, a balanced setup and well planned strategies.
Personally, I feel that if a player is casual and is neither aiming for any kind of Arena Rating nor RBG title, then they don't need the PvP weapons. It's just the same as non-raiding PvE players needing the raiding stuff to do their Heroic Dungeons. The appropriate level of gear for Heroics is the 346 Blue stuff, so they could make a weaker set of weapons that are not viable for Rated BGs and Arena but for the randomb BGs. Or people just do the few Arena wins per week and earn the the Conquest weapons after getting the 11k points.
freebeatfly Jun 20th 2011 7:23PM
*drool*
ISA Jun 20th 2011 11:42PM
Finally, a seriously vicious, SCARY mount Alliance get to have all their own to taunt their foes with. I LOVE the Orc's "why me?" face. I think the only thing that would make it better would having a severed blood elf head where the troll's is, braiding their fabulous hair into my horse's tail.
Draven Jun 21st 2011 5:02AM
Damm..looks like I'm gonna have to level my Warrior - Gear him up and get into some PUG Rated BG teams and hope for the best....this Mount Carrot will ensure that a lot of PvP baddies like me will be PUgging BG's and hoping to win a few here and there and eventually getting to 75....I want a mount that has the heads of my enemies dangling from the Side...I'll even pretend that one of Head's is that of Thrall - the ultimate Mary Sue in most imaginary worlds - I loathe him.
lethian Jun 21st 2011 9:39AM
Its funny because hes tried to make good with alliance many times and they ahem, cage him in the goblin starter zone oh and they shoot the goblins not yet horde at that point
>implying a basically "superhero" who does not usually look at race is a bad thing lol.
lethian Jun 21st 2011 9:38AM
That Wolf just made me put a dent in the underside of my computer desk.
Khijin Jun 21st 2011 7:19PM
I hate rated bgs.
they need to change rated AB to 15 people, Give us Rated AV's and Isle.
Remove 10/15 weeks and just do it on group size.
do that, and I'll happily rated bg.
Bart Jun 21st 2011 11:56PM
Again, I hate arena with a passion cause I cant find any one who wants to team up to just get our asses handed to us a hundred times to get a weapon.