WoW Moviewatch: How to Tell if Your BG Will Fail
by Michael Gray 
Jun 27th 2011 at 12:00PM
Using time-tested scientific method, we experimented with Wowcrendor's theory. Sadly, after a small handfull of Arathi Basin tests, it seems that Wowcrendor is right. I guess I shouldn't really be surprised.
Interested in the wide world of machinima? We have new movies every weekday here on WoW Moviewatch! Have suggestions for machinima we ought to feature? Toss us an email at moviewatch@wowinsider.com.Filed under: WoW Moviewatch
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Udderpowered Jun 27th 2011 12:17PM
It's scarily and depressingly accurate. I just sit in the corner and cry to myself for 2 minutes.
Bynde Jun 27th 2011 12:28PM
Too accurate for too many BGs.
Neodora Jun 27th 2011 12:37PM
To be fair, autorunning into the gate is a viable opening. You will technically he the first person out, theoretically making you the first person to the node/flag/ ect.
etherlithium Jun 27th 2011 1:17PM
...which is an entirely team-oriented exercise and has nothing to do with getting more honor for yourself, right? 99% of the time the guys that are autorunning the gate will form a group of 4-5 to try to cap Farm or ST, forcing the rest of the team to play shorthanded at the start of the game while they play ping-roulette to decide who gets a few more honor points.
roosterfish Jun 27th 2011 1:25PM
Actually, most of the time you aren't even the first one out if you mash-autorun yourself against the gate. You can stand quietly in front of the gate on your mount and still be the first one out, ahead of all the autorunners. I do this all the time, which never fails to amuse the heck out of me...
Zal Jun 27th 2011 1:49PM
@roosterfish & Neodora
Except you are not really the first out of the gate. To your client and you, the appearance is that you are first out of the gate all the time when you may be part of the larger pack that is running out. Your client does not have 100% accurate representation of where the other PCs are at the time so their actual position can be a little further or closer than what they appear. This is what gives the perception of being out of melee range with a rogue or warrior yet they are still hitting you. Your client says they are 10 yards away but the server knows and says they are actually just 3.5 yards away, within melee range.
roosterfish Jun 27th 2011 2:20PM
That's probably true about the client, but then it's even more amusing to think we're all wrong.
okamii Jun 27th 2011 3:04PM
I just autorun into the gate because it's funny. It can mean that people are afk, though.
Ice Jun 27th 2011 4:45PM
Ok ok ok heres how I think it goes. I'm not 100% sure but it fits to many game mechanics that other games have too.
Gate closed: has invisible wall you cant go thro, obviously.
Gate opens: Invisible wall removed instantly. Graphics of gate has nothing to do with this wall.
Now the difference here is that those who run autorun there the game goes "invisible wall, cant go thro" block "script" all the time they touch the "wall" and your game sends query to server "is it still there?". This query is not very often as it would make servers
Now, when gate opens.. these things can slow you down: You get game script that theres wall, server query brings up "yes there is wall" even if there wouldnt be. All this can take whole second but hardly more.
Those that only run past the gate when theres no wall at all never get this query with server lag and game doesnt go "there is wall" to them thus gaining possibly second or more.
Now of course it is possible your game says you are second ahead sometimes like Zal said but I have actually found this pretty legit way on getting the first flag before autorunners.
Murdertime Jun 27th 2011 6:07PM
I run into the gate because I cannot contain my lust for murder.
Astru Jun 27th 2011 7:40PM
^
Glaras Jun 27th 2011 12:36PM
When I ran Alli, it was always depressing to get into a BG, then watch the clearly-better-organized Horde wipe the floor with us, and listen to the "U tardz all SUK" talk from someone who wouldn't be nearly so brave in person.
Some RL friends of mine convinced me to faction-change to raid with their guild (which suffered the Cataclysm-death, like so many guilds have). To pass the time as I level a new healer, I go into BGs.
And it's depressing to watch the clearly-better-organized Alliance wipe the floor with us. *sigh*
bspauldin Jun 27th 2011 1:22PM
So you're saying it's your fault?
KvanCetre Jun 27th 2011 1:54PM
The grass is always greener, my friend.
I thought about transferring my pvp character to alliance for the same reason...
Luckily, we're winning more often now.
GhostWhoWalks Jun 27th 2011 1:56PM
Definitely a "grass is greener" case.
I used to get the same thing too: BGs were merely an exercise in how much Honor you could farm before the Alliance wiped the floor with your team, with absolutely awful teams throughout: endless arguing, half the team Jenkinsing themselves against the better-coordinated opponents, and a few sitting at the spawn point complaining about how Horde sucks at PvP. I made an Alliance alt at some point, and the very first BG he got into, the team was organized, cooperative, stuck together, and completely wiped the floors with the Horde. At the time, it seemed like the stigma was accurate.
But recently I made a PvP healer to pair up with a friend of mine, and while we still get the occasional fail-squad (mostly in AV matches), we've also gotten highly skilled teams that steamrolled completely unorganized Alliance teams. Both side's got its share of issues.
And bspauldin, though your comment was in poor taste, I couldn't help but laugh at how perfect its comedic timing was. Reminded me of this http://www.halolz.com/2009/02/03/inappropriate-humor/
noel mcleod Jun 27th 2011 3:26PM
I used to feel the same way.
Then I rolled a prot pally and ... win rate over 70%. AND ... I would sometimes enter WSG down 2 flags cuz someone deserted, and run two back for the win (or 3 ...). Learning about pots (Rumseys and swiftness FTW) and strats (where you run makes a difference?) really helps. Not sure where you learn that stuff, though. I learned it from trying to figure out why the Belf paladins were always 1) drunk and 2) unkillable (lol). And the right chants help as well. But then PvP becomes expensive.
MichaelBerean Jun 30th 2011 12:20PM
After all these years I have only seen half a dozen organized alliance BG's. We've won some, but not due to organization. Is that true horde-side as well?
Mordok Jun 27th 2011 1:28PM
First of all these are pick up groups designed to give everyone a chance to be in a BG. Second one can't expect a bunch of strangers to work out a plan in the little time given before the BG starts. A sure sign, for me, is when I ask if anyone has a plan and I am told, something like die, who needs a plan...etc.
That said, I play both sides and have found, in general, the Horde seem to know how to stick together much better than the Alliance. When with my Alliance group it is not uncommon to try and defend someplace and all of a sudden find myself alone while the other defenders run off to do who knows what. I don't find this happening as often with my Horde groups.
I love the Alliance but it is really frustrating to loose as often as we do. But again, we are all PUGers and this is to be expected because you just don't get to play with the same people over and over.
For once I will not go into my usual rant about Rogues...ah, well, what the heck .....Kill all Rogues ;-)
Ezek Jun 27th 2011 1:46PM
Yeah....but really, the plan is the same for every BG. It's not like you need a 10 minute lead time to come up with a plan. Some of these BGs have been around for 6 years. If you are in AB the plan is to call out the three nodes and leave defenders there. Easy Peasy. In SOTA you simply call out the gate you are concentrating on. In AV you shouldn't even need a strategy, it's the same everytime.
The main problem with PUG BGs is that people go there to massage their EPeen with PVP. If you want pure pvp, then you really should play arena. BGs are different in that they require planning and strategy and DEFENSE. Running around racking up honor kills is usualy the best way to LOSE a bg. And yet you have that one rogue or hunter that spams "Look at how many I killed! Look at the board! you guys suck! what are you doing?"
It's like the people that go around ganking lowbies and saying how hard and badass they are. "it's pvp, it's pvp!". No it's not. It's being a dumbass.
Cheb Jun 27th 2011 1:52PM
"When with my Alliance group it is not uncommon to try and defend someplace and all of a sudden find myself alone while the other defenders run off to do who knows what."
Oh that's my personal favorite. I managed to get a nice set of pvp healing gear - nothing fancy, I fail at arenas, so it's all honor bought - so I actually manage to live for more than two seconds when attacked. I'll pick a person to follow, we'll stay on defense, then some horde will ride by and the other person takes off like that horde said something about his mother. Ok... I'm sure the horde will be so impressed with my ability to heal that they'll just fall over dead! That's how it works, right?