Posts with tag TolBarad

Welcome back to The Queue, the daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Mat McCurley will be your host today.

Hey, it's Mat here, filling in for Mike Sacco. I love filling in for Mike Sacco! He's so dreamy...

Also, that's a moose. Quit bugging me.

Sky asked:

Question for the Queue:

If the 140 VP reward for 'tier 2' heroics went live, players would be able to reach the weekly valor point cap without having to raid. Do you think this is good or bad for the game?

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Welcome back to the fourth installment of this comprehensive guide to Cataclysm daily quests! In the first article, we discussed the basics of dailies and the profession dailies in capital cities. In part 2, we covered the Therazane dailies in Deepholm. Then in part 3, we went over the permanently available dailies in Tol Barad Peninsula. Today, we'll pick up where we left off and talk about the dailies obtained when your faction is victorious in the battle for Tol Barad, as well as the rewards available.

This article has been brought to you by Seed, the Aol guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages.

Welcome back to the Cataclysm daily quests series! Previously, we looked at daily quest basics and profession dailies and the daily quests in Deepholm. Today, we'll examine the world PvP hub of Cataclysm, Tol Barad, and the first half of its wealth of daily quests.

Blizzard's Cory Stockton recently posted an intriguing post on the WoW community site called Tol Barad Balance, highlighting the problems that currently exist with Tol Barad, Blizzard's design intentions and philosophy for the island PvP encounter, and some potential fixes that may be in store for Tol Barad in the near future. Tol Barad should be fun, fair, and meaningful.

In an informative tell-all, Cory Stockton, WoW's lead content designer, has posted a blog entry discussing the past, present, and future of Tol Barad, its cousin Wintergrasp, and his hopes for the balance changes that will soon be coming to Tol Barad. One particular issue mentioned is that the attacking side in Tol Barad is less favored as part of the design, but taking Tol Barad is too hard, as opposed to being just challenging. Check out the post on the WoW community site here, and check back later here on WoW Insider for my writeup and reactions to the changes.

For the most part, I think Stockton's aims, goals, and intentions are good for Tol Barad, and people need to remember that the changes listed are not the end all, be all for the zone. We've got a lot of balancing coming, so hang tight.

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World of Warcraft: Cataclysm has destroyed Azeroth as we know it; nothing is the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from leveling up a new goblin or worgen to breaking news and strategies on endgame play.

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After the hotfix last week (rewarding 1,800 honor to the offensive team) aimed to increase Tol Barad changing hands from faction to faction, Blizzard has recanted and lowered the amount of honor gained when the attacking side wins the PvP objective. There was much confusion over why Blizzard would introduce such a huge honor gain for the attackers, as it clearly encouraged players to win-trade Tol Barad back and forth, negating the whole reason for a PvP objective.

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 Change

As 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.

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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.

Quote:

Whats the word on the bridge exploit?

We're working on a fix for this right now.

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Pop law abounds in The Lawbringer, your weekly dose of WoW, the law, video games and the MMO genre. Running parallel to the games we love and enjoy is a world full of rules, regulations, pitfalls and traps. How about you hang out with us as we discuss some of the more esoteric aspects of the games we love to play?

Part B, section viii of the World of Warcraft Terms of Use state that players are not allowed to communicate directly with players who are playing characters aligned with the opposite faction. This makes sense for a game that has a heavy faction-based player versus player system, as well as a comprehensive achievement system with numerous milestones based on interaction with the opposing faction. However, over time, Blizzard's own actions and the ever-evolving customs of the community have made B(viii) something of a mystery. We communicate with the opposing faction moreso than ever today, in game and out. And while the Terms of Use makes the point that this communication is in-game only, one has to wonder where the forums and the player collusion that goes on there fits into Blizzard's understanding of cross-faction communication.

This week, The Lawbringer is all about player communication and, in light of B(viii), some issues regarding how such communications between the Horde and Alliance have either gone completely unnoticed, not cared for, or are even necessary and tolerated by Blizzard. At the end of the day, I'd like to find out for myself what B(viii) really means, and what something like Tol Barad win-trading does in the face of such a provision in the Terms of Use.

Each week, WoW Insider brings you a fresh look at reader-submitted UIs as well as Addon Spotlight, which focuses on the backbone of the WoW gameplay experience: the user interface. Everything from bags to bars, buttons to DPS meters and beyond -- your addons folder will never be the same. This week, I spotlight your suggestions for Community Choice 3!

It has come to my attention that there are worgen in Cataclysm. Like... wolf people. Real-life wolf people. I see them scampering about the fields of battle and inside the keeps of Tol Barad, sniffing the ground, frolicking in the grass, and chasing abandoned siege vehicles. Bark all you want, worgen -- you aren't taking The Slagworks.

As a Horde player, seeing worgen is a novelty for me. And, for the most part, I see worgen in their combat wolf-state -- a growling, menacing wolf man who will occasionally act like a worgen mage and make funny arm motions at me. Is he trying to tell me something? What is is, boy? What is it? The Alliance are losing Warden's Vigil?! Come quick?!

Tol Barad, the newest contestable PvP experience in Cataclysm, is great fun and provides the winning side with an awesome daily quest hub and a Vault of Archavon-style encounter, Argaloth, that drops the new tier legs and gloves. Using the same style of play as in Wintergrasp, the previous winners defend the island prison of Tol Barad against the invading faction. Tol Barad would be fun if it weren't so horribly broken in its goal and mechanics. The battleground of Tol Barad has only been active for about a week and a half, with most people only having experienced it for the first time within a few days.

There are six distinct problems with Tol Barad at the moment:

1. Defending Tol Barad is too easy.
2. The cap mechanics to secure capture points make it too easy to switch.
3. The towers in Tol Barad that grant extra time to the attackers have no reason to be defended by the defending faction.
4. Tol Barad's victory condition for the attacking faction has created a frustrating environment in light of the mechanics at play in the battleground.
5. The graveyards are skewed in favor of the defenders.
6. The losing side in Tol Barad receives no Tol Barad commendation for participating in the battle, while the winning team receives three.