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World of Warcraft: A Look at Low Level Battlegrounds
Stradden
Managing EditorMember CommonPosts: 6,696
MMORPG.com contributor John Haren writes this look at low level PvP battlegrounds in Blizzard's World of Warcraft.
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I started playing World of War craft about six months ago. My wife started about eight months ago so I gave it a try. I must admit I was skeptical at first and had never played an MMORPG. Why would I want to leave my platform games? I play those games on my big screen T.V., with a wireless remote, lounging on the sofa. Why on earth would I want to leave all that to sit in front of my computer and use a mouse and key board? (I am not great at typing either) The answer is simple, once I hit level ten I was able to enter the Warsong Gulch battlefield, I was hooked.
While there is a pretty steep learning curve, PvP is still fun at low levels. There are a lot of things that make it fun. A huge plus is the camaraderie. It is really fun to work with a team of other players. You will get to learn tactics and strategy in a real-time environment. Since these scenarios are broken up by level blocks of ten you will go in at level ten as the lowest, but will eventually work your way up to level 19 at the top of the tier. These scenarios will also give you honor points that will let you get really good gear later.
Cheers,
Jon Wood
Managing Editor
MMORPG.com
Comments
Battlegrounds are just another way Blizzard creates a carrot on a stick.These are nothing more than loot chasing with zero challenge,there is no challenge because you do not really die,there is no penalty for dying,you just respawn in a different spot then run back ,rinse and repeat,grab your rewards,rinse and repeat,very shallow design.
Blizzard has an extremely hard time creating challenging content,EVERYTHING they design is just easy mode to have players coming back for rewards/loot,EVERY single aspect of Blizzard's design always points to this.This might be working well for them,but it does nothing to make players think or create some new ideas or content to the genre,it is just the same old same old every time,MORE instances chasing loot rewards.
This might be all the MAJORITY of WOW players understand and know,after all WOW was their first game,but Blizzard is NOT helping this genre move forward,they are just reliving what makes them money,nothing more.This is called MONEY development NOT game development.
The problem for Blizzard is that their game engine is so weak,there is nothing more they can do but continue to create instances with carrots on a stick,keep those subscriptions coming back to chase rewards.Instead put some MEANING into the content,even a weak game engine allows for meaning,but Blizzard just does not have the ability it seems in their management,they are one dimensional designers.
Example of MEANING.I will let Blizzard slide and continue their cheap Instances design,but how about have players die and they are booted out?You die you get no reward?How about have reasons inside the instance that relay into the real game world?perhaps have bosses that drop rare recipes or rare crafting items?how about players that get the most kills inside the battle get a certain reward and those that heal the most get a certain reward?How about the player that defends the structure the longest gets bonus rewards?
How about you fight to gain control of a certain structure,then once you win you have a certain amount of time to unlock secrets that take team work,that offer rewards or perhaps you can unlock the ability to set traps,why does it have to be so simplistic as to just PVP each other and win that structure,grab your reward and thanks for coming out?How about a ranking system for successive wins?or just successive survival in each Battleground?The rank can continue into the real world giving players bonuses to speed or bonuses to battle,after all it is called Battlegrounds make some bonuses to battle,makes sense.
Never forget 3 mile Island and never trust a government official or company spokesman.
Before they introduced PvP experience and the Dungeon Finder, I used to play WG all day when nearing the end of each bracket, at least until I could purchase that bracket's bow.
WOW!
Maybe folks like the iwin apsects of WoW. I for one like the game the way it is. It is a casual game that was meant to be just that. If you want challenge, there are other MMO's for you to play. I have a full time job and WoW is great for my work schedule. I used to play MMO's that were hard mode and time consuming and it was a hardship to keep up with the demands of the game with crafting, vendor management, etc...
WoW is working as intended as far as I am concerned.
The article is very blank and doesnt cover the most important thing about BGs - twinks. Casual player who joined BGs even at 19 or 29, has no chance against top geared and enchanted PvPers. You cant even scratch one of those, while they kill you in few hits.
If you're casual player, ignore BGs in WoW till lvl 80
WoW maybe working as you say, " AS INTENDED" but I doubt it was ever intended to lapse into nothing more than imbicile low intelleignece mode.
Blizzard mat as well make this game free to play and let everone just buy the stuff they need and do away with any effort whatsoever.
It's a shame 'cos a once great game is now just a bag o' shite (TM) that's little fun to play. Blizzrard should give us real gamers a server to ourselves so we can earn our gear instead of being given it.
You and the author of the topic are wrong.
First off hes playing as it is now, where twinks cannot exist because of BGs giving XP and such. And you are wrong because you played before that and know nothing of the game in its current incarnation.
BGs at a low level even without twinks is still retardedly lame. While not as bad as they once were, and can be enjoyed at times, the rewards in them are pretty dismal.
While I admit the game has gotten a bit too easy, thus why I play on a PvP server so I can actually die instead of on Normal one where I never even come close unless I do something like pull 10 things for a challenge.
If you find the game way too easy then work on some raids, you won't find them too easy.
Owner/Admin of GodlessGamer.com - Gaming news and reviews for the godless.
I thought this problem was rectified with the twink only brackets? I had several friends who bitched and moaned a month after the change because they were no longer able to pwn every match.
WoW, they rly got rid of twinks with gaining XP bullshit? Thats a shame, I loved the community and twink battles.
My 29 hunter died maybe 1 time in 50 games
Well there are separate BGs for them, you can turn off XP gain and when doing so you will only get into BGs with other twinks.
Owner/Admin of GodlessGamer.com - Gaming news and reviews for the godless.
I just love the completly random screenshots. Well, at least they are from game mentioned in the article.
Okay so you're probably wondering how you get to the PvP battlefield. To get to the battle field you have to visit the battle masters.
...or you just hit "h" while running arround anywhere you like.
The biggest problem with bgs:
>>>WoW Bg's below lvl 80 are death!<<<<
At least on EU i don't see any in the range of 61-79
Pi*1337/100 = 42
Lol, so true.
I wonder how many hours that "writer" played BGs. Like 2?
I haven't been in BG's in a while other than WG once in a while. BG's I didn't mind as much as Arena's which is a different thing altogether.
Gikku
I actually quit wow because i consider it completly inflexible, HOWEVER most of your post is contradictory, just doesnt make sense, or rehashes old problems.. first you said: "These are nothing more than loot chasing with zero challenge" BUT almost every suggesting you made to improve the game was about ways to get loot..:
"perhaps have bosses that drop rare recipes or rare crafting items?how about players that get the most kills inside the battle get a certain reward and those that heal the most get a certain reward?How about the player that defends the structure the longest gets bonus rewards?"
then you said "there is no penalty for dying" EXCEPT that if you've PLAYED bg's then you know that dying is bad as you die, you respawn and you have to run back... during that time perhaps the tower you were attempting to hold caps to the other team and you lose it! HENCE you have a penalty for dying in the loss of the tower which potentially leads you to the loss of the match which leads you to less honor for the match which makes it TOUGHER to get the aforementioned "LOOT"
you also said "Instead put some MEANING into the content" but some of that is lost to POPULAR DEMAND.if you ever played "pre-battlegroups" you might remember the 4hour que times to get into ONE AV match. You might remember actually spending the time to collect scraps for rewards/upgrades, you might remember escorting the NPC'S back to your base to make sure they got there. this is a problem with gaming public, NOT bliz as people complained about it. Now people dont care about getting every bit of honor/rep out of an AV cause you could just que again. The CONTENT of AV was lost to popular request. (side note, some of the best times ive had in WoW has been 3hours into your match when your last hope is keeping Lok alive, etc. so i'd scrap battlegroup for av or something)
And really in the end, name me games that DONT have loot chasing being a part of the game?? Unless your talking Halo then im pretty sure "upgrades" are all we really do in games..oh wait..i think people choose weapons they find in Halo over the rifle you start with sometimes too..i guess all we do is try and upgrade.
I still hate blizz for how they run the game, the manipulation of classes to generate interest, the complete inflexiblity in talent trees/glyphs, and whatnot but your post just doesnt make sense.
Nice article. It would have been nice with some WG (Warsong Gulch) pics to go along with it.
As for the twinking, it's long gone as the twink community is still alive and no longer have to bitch at the scrubs/noobs/etc. The highest geared players now in every bracket are the die hard PvPers that are leveling and generally in good BoA (Bind on Account) gear. The BoA gear (shoulders/chest) give extra XP too, so those players tend to level fast thru BGs or questing.
Warsong Gulch is actually fun again (played two twink - lots of fun too), as you now have more variety of people queueing, less bitching and the team makeup changes game to game. Only at 80 when you hit WG with premades can it be a rugged battle. Also the level 80s that are in BGs are often really well geared.
All the BG's have their good/bad. Personally I'd love changes to AV as the zergfest is boring and repetitive, although this is generally only in the level 80 group. AV shouldn't be consistently 5-6 minutes long!
Having a 'daily quest' for the BG offers gold, more xp, honor, etc. and the 'honor' gear is necessary to compete in PvP at the higher levels.
Overall the latest changes to WoW have made it more fun as there are more variety of BGs (Warsong Gulch, Arathi, AV, Eye of the Storm, Strand of the Ancients, Isle of Conquest and Wintersgrasp) Although I wish they'd fix Wintersgrasp make it Battlegroup wide and get rid of the damn tenacity. It doesn't work.
Someone had mentioned that WoW should have rare recipe drops - they do. There have always been rare recipe drops in the instances and rare world drops. The new LFG tool, you get a loot bag at the end, always something pertaining to you class. So LFG is no longer an issue, queues are short 15 at the outside usually 1-3 minutes for a tank, 5 maybe for a healer.
It's a fun game and there are endless things to do, I know guildmates that only arena/BG, those that only raid, those that do world events/chase achievements and the blend that is the majority of WoW players that enjoy the variety.
I've played a number of MMO's over the years and other than EQ, EQII, I've not enjoyed any other MMO for any length of time as much as I do WoW.
So, if you don't like WoW don't play it! Pretty simple.
Proud member of Hammerfist Clan Gaming Community.
Currently playing: RIFT, EQ2, WoW, LoTRO
Retired: Warhammer, AoC, EQ
Waiting: SWToR & GW2
what i dont get is if they want to be eilte at lvl 19 ,29,39,49,59,69,79 bracket ,why they dont ALL lock lovel and leave the regular bg to the regular people?
what i dont get is if they want to be eilte at lvl 19 ,29,39,49,59,69,79 bracket ,why they dont ALL lock lovel and leave the regular bg to the regular people?
The twinks do level lock and are only in BG's against others that have locked XP. The only time you'll encounter a true twink in the 'regular' BG's is if they're leveling out. I did that on my two as I'm heading them towards 80. For those that hate twinks you should really study up on what is involved to craft a well made twink. It is alot of work and dedication - and fun!
Well geared players still put effort into getting good gear, so if I run dungeons, pvp for rewards, craft and enchant my gear - I'm likely well geared even at the lower end of the bracket, that and knowing how to play (both the specific battleground and my character) I'm going to have high survivability even against max bracketed toons. If your toon is properly specced, wearing appropriate gear (ie strength on tanks, not on the clothies), enchanted, have useful crafting skills you will have that much of an edge. Knowing how to play as a team, knowing the map, checking the makeup of the other team - all go to making it a better experience.
Having a level 80 to get the BOA's is useful, although most of us have those for leveling purposes not to be OP in a BG. It's equivalent to having good 'blue gear' with the added bonus of 10% xp gain on your chest/shoulder pieces.
If on the other hand you're in grey or white gear low level gear (had this recently in the 20's bracket), don't understand the difference between ranged and melee fighting. Do not understand the simple mechanics of the game and your class you'll spend alot of time in the GY.
The other day in WG with a guy, level 24, carrying a level 12 grey weapon! It's a WTF moment? He's hurting himself by not having at least something close to his level and greens drop everywhere! Enchants at the low level are free in any city. I'm not a BG snob at all as I do see the truly talented players in PvP, but I enjoy them and want everyone to enjoy the match. Being dead for fixable reasons isn't fun.
Proud member of Hammerfist Clan Gaming Community.
Currently playing: RIFT, EQ2, WoW, LoTRO
Retired: Warhammer, AoC, EQ
Waiting: SWToR & GW2
"what i dont get is if they want to be eilte at lvl 19 ,29,39,49,59,69,79 bracket ,why they dont ALL lock lovel and leave the regular bg to the regular people?"
Oh...but you miss the point of being a twink: they don't want to fight other twinks...they want to pwn noobs....plain and simple. The same mentality exists in other games also - it gives the twink a feeling of power in their otherwise powerless world.
Also - I played Wow for 2 years and eventually got tired of the game because it stopped being challenging. I moved onto Darkfall now and love it. There are so many people playing Wow and not as many players wants to play an MMO 'round the clock - as hardcore players do...they're casual and Wow fits their play style just fine.
To the Wow bashers: In other words....you're not going to convince Wow players that it sucks just because you think it does
Currently playing SWTOR and it's MUCH better than it was at launch.
Read A Look at Low Level Battlegrounds.
Teamwork and camaraderie in BG? Please tell me what realm you are playing on I would like to play there to.
My wife and I played BGs quite heavily with twinks for our two-year WoW stint. Playing BGs as a pair of twinks was one of the best parts of our WoW experience, and some of our fondest memories of WoW come from BGs.
The toons we liked to play most were a pair of 69 twinks. We had been collecting Marks of Honor to purchase our Season 2 Arena gear, when Blizzard decided to remove the Lvl 70 PvP gear from the vendors. Apparently Blizzard was more interested in "encouraging" its players to buy WotLK than it was with allowing them to enjoy the pre-existing game.
I can't believe nobody has mentioned this. You only get XP from battlegrounds if you COMPLETE the objectives!!!!
Like in warsong gulch you will ONLY get xp if you cap the flag. But most twinks dont like to cap the flags, they prefer just to sit in the middle of the field 2-3 shotting people.
The twink community as far as ive seen is very much alive in NON XP LOCKED battlegrounds. On my low level chars the BGs are still completely unplayable.
What a bunch of nonsense. Adding more penalties for dying does not make a game more challenging. After all the combat and enemies you fight will remain exactly the same, regardless death penalty.
Adding a death penalty only increases the timesink of having to regain lost experience or items or haviing to play through the same content again they already beat. Thats not challenging, thats just increasing the timesink.
Also, your description of WoW is very inaccurate. There are instances but WoW has much more to offer than just instances.
As this is my first post, although I have been lurking for quite some time, thanks all for the great input that has educated and encouraged me on my search for the perfect game.
As for the op, right on! I am currently waiting for cataclysm, but one of my favorite activities was battlegrounds. Not just for the marks and the gear, but because it is heart pounding fast paced fun. Sometimes people like to play because they just want to have fun, some of us have family , jobs or school so we don't have the time or interest to invest in raid progression. (although I am not downing those of you who to like to raid
) For a casual player like myself, battlegrounds fit the bill.
And op, if you love warsong wait til Arathi and AV
and Wintergrasp is pretty cool too.
I like the PvP in WoW too, it's fun and endlessly entertaining. I once won Wintergrasp as part of a team of two, when I had absolutely no idea what WG was about - it turned out the ten allys facing us (early morning European server time) were bigger noobs than me I guess.
Warsong is my least favourite BG mainly because it is endlessly camped by snobby know it alls at higher levels, who don't seem to understand that people want to have fun with their tactics (winning Warsong is pretty easy) protect your flag carrier, hide them near your base but not in it and then kill their flag carrier in their base, giving them no chance to retrieve it before your flag carrier strikes home.
But... it's not much fun that way, and lots of people just want to farm the middle (they want the honour not the BG marks) and it#s ugly watching them get berated by those who believe in order to have fun, you have to win.
As for the article here, it was OK, too much focus on the mechanics of button clicking for me (left click here, there and everywhere - really as much as some people need a few pointers I felt you were leading the horse and then trying to breathe water up its nose).
But yeah, PvP in WoW is fun, not serious business - they left that kind of stuff to the specialist market where it belongs, my only real complaint about the PvP is the need to be a level ending in 8 or 9 to make much of an impact, I thought the balancing system in WAR was better designed for people to have continuous fun in the BG's (though WAR had it's faults too).
Looking forward to a write up of the finer points of Alterac Valley and the endless "come on, let's rush and lose" arguments it brings...
A quick overview for some old WOW players: (as some made comments about feauteres long gone ...)
1. Since BG's now give experience, twinks - who stay at level x9 - no longer exist in their old forms. They have their own BG's (players with experience gains turned off are put into seperate BG's).
2. Since BG's experience gains, a lot more people level sometimes through playing a BG. This was streamlined by the fact you can now join a BG from anywhere and there's a daily BG quest - giving gold and honor - adapted to your level (motivation).
3. The experience gained is by taking objectives, not by kills. It reduces the mindless farming of honor and gives a motivation to the group.
4. 6 BG's total now (with 2 x 40vs40), and Wintergrasp is NOT a BG. It is a seperate open world PvP zone - even on PVE servers - . Owning the Lake Wintergrasp zone gives awards in all end game dungeons and gives you access to special vendors for gear and a seperate VOA Raid which drops mostly PvP gear. The ownning can change every 2.5 hours. LW - although open and single server based - is limited to 240 players or 3 Raids each on each side.
5. Starting with Cata there is a complete new BG competition with a return of "the old titles" and based on rankings. Both individual as GUILD (!) PvP ranking. There will also be 2 more Bg's and a new open RvR zone on server.
6. Started in patch 3.3 you can now also gain Arena points by winning the daily BG: 25 arena points. The first arena gear through Bg's can be had at 440 arena points etc ...
7. The cross server BG's mechanism (clustered servers in numbers (from 7 to 17) ensures all Bg's open in all levels on a decent basis (approx 1 to 10 minutes). It was introduced in August 2006.
Be sure to play on a Realm with a high clustered BGroup and dungeon system (as the new cross server dungeon system uses the same system).
I hope it gives some info for the old players who left. (skipped the arena info here).
Want a real mmorpg? Play WOW with experience turned off mode and be Pve_Pvp King at any level without a rat race.