World of Warcraft

If you’ve been around long enough, you probably know that before the last expansion, Burning Crusade, was released, Blizzard put the new talents into the game for players to toy around with and test. My guess is they were doing some final testing and tweaking to see how these talents fared on a large scale basis and in raid situations. Many players have wondered (and weighed in on both sides) if we’ll be seeing the new talents again in the expansion. Blizzard did come out with somewhat of an answer..if you want to call it that..from a CM post on the forums:

“We haven’t stated this as of yet, so it wasn’t me. I have said that it is a possibility much like Burning Crusade, but I can’t confirm this for you at this time. When the time comes, we’ll be letting everyone know more details about our plans.”

Blech. I don’t know about you, but I want to know for sure! There’s a surprising amount of resistance to Blizzard releasing them early, though. Some players worry that talents designed for level 80 play will seem overpowered at 70 because there hasn’t been an increase in health and other stats. Retribution paladins in particular, an apparently very powerful class in the expansion, worry that their abilities will be needlessly nerfed because they are overpowered at 70 but will balance nicely at 80. Personally I say let us have them! I’d like to take some of my mage’s new arcane talents for a spin (arcane barrage!) and see if they hold up well in comparison.

It’s that time of year again! Season 4 in the arena has officially begun, as well as the midsummer fire festival. There are a lot of new additions to the festival this year, which really blows last summer’s tame by comparison rewards and quests. You’ll find a new summonable boss in the Slave Pens, Frost Lord Ahune. This unique boss is similar to the headless horseman and will only be available for a short time. I’ve heard he’s a bit of a pain to bring down, but he drops a pretty sick scythe as well as a noncombat scorchling pet, which has riled up all the pet collectors out there. You’ll also find some more benign fun quests, such as torch tossing. You can read the whole writeup at Blizzard’s site here.

The addition of Season 4 arena gear also means that season 2 is now available via honor gear. I much prefer the battlegrounds myself over arena, so this is indeed great news! They’ll also be doling out end of season rewards as per the quote below:

“The team and personal rating have simply been reset to the default 1500, allowing all teams to once again compete for top honors with a fresh start. Also, with the end of the third season, players on the top teams from each battlegroup will be receiving their end-of-season rewards approximately one week from today. These include Arena-specific titles that they can display proudly until the end of the new season, and, for the best of the best, an Armored Nether Drake.”

Best get in there and earn some new gear!

I’m sure you’ve been just as frustrated when it happens. There you are, happily waiting for the queue to pop up, and there it is! You quickly enter your Arathi Basin, buff yourself up and…realize you’re one of 3 people there. The clock is ticking, and you watch anxiously as the opposing side fills up to full, while you start the round with 5 people. Desperately trying to cling to your last node hoping for reinforcements in time, you get rolled by 15-5 odds, and the game ends within a minute.

Ugh.

Blizzard isn’t ignoring our plight, per se. From the sound of it, they’re not happy with the way the system currently works, either. Here’s what Zarhym, a Blizzard CM, had to say about it:

” The fact of the matter is that the queue system has been altered over the years since the implementation of Battlegrounds to be the most convenient to the most players with regards to selecting one’s preferred Battleground, as well as the amount of time one must wait before entering a match.

An equal number of players from each faction at the top of the respective queues are selected at the launch of the Battleground. Each player selected is given a grace period to enter the match before they are automatically removed from the queue. The issue you’re describing is a result of players not entering the match when selected, and not leaving the queue before this grace period ends. By the time new players from the top of the queue are offered the chance to join the match, it has already begun. Most of you understand this; I only mention this to acknowledge the primary cause of the situation discussed in this thread.

It can be very demoralizing when one team is forced to begin a battle with less members than the opposing team. I’ve been there and experienced that first-hand many times over.

There are inherent issues with both leaving the queue system as it is, and imposing further requirements before a match begins. For instance, if we keep the match from starting until each side has an equal number of players, everyone is forced to wait beyond the actual queue time to ensure enough players have accepted to enter the match.

The choice may well be between suspending a match indefinitely until both teams have the same number of players; and starting a match lopsided so players can get through the match and carry on with their gaming. I suspect not everyone would have the same preference given this choice, and the difference could greatly impact the style, reason, and enjoyment of the Battlegrounds for many.

That said, we aren’t completely satisfied with the queue system as it stands.”

So what it boils down is that they WANT to fix it, but they don’t want to fix it by breaking something else. Seems fair, eh?

A hotly contested match decided MLG’s PC Circuit Arena competition in San Diego. While a number of players lamented the term “e-sport” and have some choice words for the idea that Warcraft is balanced enough to have a tournament around, it actually had an interesting team setup in the final match.

Frag Dominant rolled in with a Rogue/Warrior/Druid

Nihlium went with a Priest/Druid/Hunter (Hunter? Really?)

After 8 matches, the teams were tied at 4-4 before Frag Dominant pulled out the victory, I’ve never been interested in watching video games, but even I thought it was kinda cool to see what the best arena team brought to bear on its opponents. Here’s a short summary from MLG’s website:

“San Diego’s World of WarCraft competition marked the dawn of a new era in MLG’s ever-expanding world. MLG’s first foray into PC Competition was a fabulous success, with nearly all of the world’s best teams in attendance. Frag Dominant took no prisoners as they ousted higher ranked teams and fan-favorites alike on their way to MLG’s first PC Circuit title. With literally hundreds of thousands of people tuned in to the live broadcast from over 100 different countries, it’s clear that WoW is here to stay and we can only expect it to get more intense as the season progresses.”

Personally I think it’s great that some players are able to be compensated for something they love to do. You won’t see me over at the pro circuit any time soon, but I think the increased competition will encourage balancing pvp combat and give WoW a higher profile.

I guess I shouldn’t be entirely surprised, but a lot of people were expecting season 4 to happen a lot later, maybe right before the expansion hit. Well you’re wrong! Season 4’s start date has been officially announced as June 24. As per above it appears we’ll be seeing a re-coloration as usual of the Sunwell Plateau armor for pvp gear, a practice that I’m really not a fan of. Worse still, classes like paladins and warriors (as per above) pretty much look exactly the same as well. Can’t we see some uniqueness or new armor, guys?

The new set will be aptly named Brutal Gladiator, and with many of the new pieces having raid requirements, expect to see the competition heat up a bit. Thankfully point selling has been cut down quite a bit since 2.4, though there is the occasional mercenary selling himself out to boost teams in need of a well-geared teammate. I’m not entirely sure how I feel about that either, though I always liked the idea of mercenaries… I’d imagine Blizzard will get around to address this phenomenon as well, though for every fix they introduce, it seems like there’s always another exploit in the system around the corner. For now we’ll have to be patient, and if nothing else stopping the rampant point selling was a step in the right direction.

Also as expected, season 2 will be available for purchase via honor. Season one will be going the way of the dodo, thought you can still purchase it with t4 tokens. This is always good news for you denizens out there that prefer to slug it out in the battlegrounds over the arena fish bowl. I like variety myself, so I’ll see you in both!

Well the first qualifying round is officially finished! Needless to say I didn’t finish in the top 5, but I had a great time! Who came away with victory? What classes do they play? What gear do they use? Let’s find out!

Dude I got it on FRAPS: The number one team consisted of 2 warlocks, 1 priest, 1 druid, 1 hunter, 1 shaman.

duelists going for glad: Number 2 clocked in with (I find this interesting) a mage, 2 rogues, a druid, a shaman, and a priest

Frag Dominant: Finally the 3rd team broke down to 2 rogues, a druid, and a warlock.

This lends credit to some arguments about class balance in pvp while dispelling others. Shamans for example, are often thought as an underpowered shadow of their former selves, and visiting the forums you’d think they were entirely useless. However both of the top 2 teams of the tournament contain a shaman. I also found it interesting that the number one team had a hunter, though I wonder how many matches he/she really played overall.

Regardless it lends some food for thought when constructing an arena team of your own. While personally I like to play with friends, and so we sort of posh together whatever class combinations we have at a given time. There’s no doubt that class combinations pay a vital role in your success in the arenas, but given the comparisons above, it looks like you have a good bit of flexibility in choosing your classes. I don’t see all rogues or all druids (though most teams seem to have one!), though I’m sure many teams use them. Even hunters have a top spot! We’ll see if things change as the rounds go on.

I read an interesting thread today on the forums suggesting that the current battlegrounds were in need of some improvement, both to the reward system and to the battlegrounds themselves. So I gave it some thought came came up with some improvements I think would be helpful. Feel free to agree or disagree, just an idea.

General Improvements

It irks me a little when I see people complain that the PvP system “rewards for losing.” I think that the current system in concept is fine. Players do and should receive a consolation prize for actively participating in a battleground or arena, because if you’ve ever tried to bring an alt through the first few weeks of arenas (without buying it) or played Alliance on most battlegroups…sometimes you’re just destined to lose. If there was no reward at all for losing, players would simply stop queuing, and no one who likes to PvP wants that.

Instead I think there should be incentives in place to encourage players to try and achieve victory. If a close-fought battleground match ends in a loss, reward the players who fought to the end with extra honor or 2 marks instead of 1. This would encourage (but not require) players to fight harder for a greater reward, even if it’s still not as good as winning.

More active enforcement of the AFK policy would also be helpful, I think. It’s downright frustrating when you’re duking it out for every node in Arathi Basin only to get pushed back because 2 of your players are still back at the starting graveyard staring at the wall. Take away the incentive to do this or punish players who violate participation rules.

Specifics

Arathi Basin- I think AB could do with some improvements to the length of a game. Sometimes it seems like they drag on for longer than they should. Also I think the reward should be greater for close matches. If I lose 1980-2000, I should be rewarded more highly then if I rolled over and died. I think 2 marks here instead of 1 would be in order.

Warsong Gulch- I’ll be honest, I hate WSG. I never liked capture the flag in shooters, and I still don’t. But if you’re gonna make me do it for the daily or marks for gear, just let us capture the enemies flag even if they have ours. It would make the game faster paced, cut out dead locks, and encourage diversionary tactics.

Alterac Valley No particular suggestions here. I really like the changes they made to the map and NPCs. I actually get to fight the horde instead of a race to the general. The only real problem here is people who AFK. Enforce the rules!

Eye of the Storm Again I think the way this BG currently operates is fine. It’s fairly quick, with different ways to achieve victory. Once more I think closer matches point wise should be more highly rewarded then getting smoked.

So there you have it. Nothing too substantial or revolutionary, but I think it would go a long way in improving the overall gameplay.

While I never got the gumption to go ahead and create a team of my own (holding off until the 2nd tournament to see how this plays out), I follow the arena tournament pretty closely. If you visit the forums, you’ll probably notice at least 10 posts saying “OMG I HATE ARENA REMOVE DEM NOW!” Please, do yourself a favor, and ignore all of them. Whether you like arena or not, half of them are trolls, and really it’s not worth getting into an argument over anyway. Personally I think the arena system has been a fascinating addition, and competing for money ups the ante quite a bit.

As you can see, the competition is starting to widdle out the lesser teams, leaving the top contenders to duke it out for the number one spot. I’d liken it to watching people play poker. While I can’t do it for more than 10 minutes at a time, all the while I’m curious as to what drives a player to pick a particular strategy. Int eh case of arenas, what is it about a rogue/priest/mage that makes it a viable combination, especially given that mages are typically written off as arena fodder? I don’t know, but it sure is fun trying to find out!

In related news, Bornakk recently made a statement answering a question lingering on many a player’s mind. If a new patch goes through..does that affect the arena realm as well? It appears that it does, though I wonder what ramifications that could potentially have on the competition. If a class gets nerfed too far in the midst of the tournament, and suddenly becomes less effective…what does that mean for players who are competing and picked that class? I’d wager that Blizzard will be taking any balance changes very seriously for this very reason. Here’s the exact quote:

” While we have no public release date for patch 2.4.2, on a day that a new patch goes live, it will affect all realms including the Tournament Realms.”

We’ll see how it all turns out, eh?

Ever since the arena system was first implemented, players have complained about the ease in which the gear was obtained. Any player, theoretically speaking, could lose 10 matches a week and still end up with a full set of epic gear that they didn’t “earn” (the merits of “earning” in this case are a bit fuzzy). To combat this, Blizzard first introduced a rating requirement on the top season weapons and shoulder pieces as well. This meant that only teams of a certain caliber had access to that firepower. As the season’s have progressed, however, Blizzard has looked to tighten the reins on the ease in which players can get current season gear. In it’s latest change, Blizzard announced that all pieces of the Season 4 Arena Set will require a substantial team rating or you won’t be able to use it at all. As per Drysc, a Blizzard CM:

” Yes, the Season 3 honor items will still be available for purchase without a rating requirement after Season 4 starts.

There will be two sets of “non-set” items once Season 4 begins. The Season 4 honor items (boot/belt/bracer/etc) some of which will require a rating, and the Season 3 items (boot/belt/bracer/etc) which still won’t require any rating.

Just to sum up, when Season 4 begins:

Season 1 honor set: Removed

Season 2 arena set: Moved to honor, no rating requirement

Season 3 non-set honor items: Staying
Season 3 arena set: Arena rating and cost requirements lowered

Season 4 non-set honor items: Added with rating requirement
Season 4 arena set: Added to Arena with increased rating requirement”

Whether this puts Warcraft on a slippery slope in terms of locking out a large portion of the playerbase to upgraded pvp gear I don’t know, it’s much too early to tell. On one hand the best of the best should have access to the best pvp gear, but on the other it purposely creates a system of haves and have nots. No matter how you slice it, getting totally destroyed in pvp with no chance of beating your opponent because he has gear you simply can’t get access to if you tried may revert the game to the way it was pre-expansion. Many were on the verge of quitting at that point, but the previous season gear will still be available, so we’ll have to see how it all plays out.

Personally I’ve never been a fan of the 2-man arena teams. My own reasoning is surprisingly simple: I hate queues. I don’t like waiting in line, I don’t want to sit and stare at my queue timer as I wait to get into a match, it’s a waste of my life (ok, that’s an exaggeration, warcraft could be called a waste of life, but I digress). I even rolled to horde so I could avoid the (at the time) 10-15 minute queues just to get into a Battleground.

But my oldest brother needed to gnab some arena points, and so to make things tolerable I just had us queue up in Nagrand and flew around looking for gas clouds (or herbs, or mines..whatever’s available!) and thought I would reflect on my own experience at the 2v2 levels.

Things I learned:

1. 2v2 Arenas are for fun, not powergamers I’m not one of those min-max everything must be done precisely as I say this is the absolute best piece of gear for raw dps etc. etc. etc. kind of person. If you are that kind of gamer, 2v2 arenas are not for you. Why not? See the queue time listed above. Also, as this image illustrates, 2v2 teams earn less arena points than their larger counterparts. From what I understand this means that 2v2s earn 76% less than a 5v5 team equivalent.

2. 2v2 is not meant to be balanced. I see a lot of people complaining about X class in arenas against Y. Stop it. 2v2 arenas are not and never will be truly balanced, and Blizzard has stated that they’re ok with this. There are certain class combinations that simply will not hold up to their counterparts in a 2v2 match unless of course the opposing team is just that bad or you get lucky and blow someone up before the healer has a chance to react. Accept the fact that sometimes you’re going to lose and it won’t always be your fault. Once you get past that, you’ll actually have a lot of fun. I know I had a blast!

More to come as I gather my arena points from week to week, any suggestions on first pieces of arena gear?

I know you’ve been there; you pick up the battlegrounds daily quest, hop in to the queue and upon arrival, realize you have neither food nor water in your bags. From a priest’s perspective, I can tell you just how irritating it is not having food/water to drink in a battleground after a fight ends…it is maddening.

No problem though right? All you have to do is demand water from the local mage and out pops a billion stacks of conjured mana biscuits! Not so fast, chum, you’re going to have to do a bit better than that. Here are some tips to increase your chances of receiving delicious (and free!) summoned water:

1. Be Polite Be sure to articulate your message properly when communicating with the local mage. You don’t have to say something silly like “Doth thou have water?” But you can at the very least make a complete sentence like “Hey, I don’t suppose you have some water to spare?” Most people do appreciate the politeness, and you’re bound to be more successful than “Make watr plz.”

2. Apply Buffs Before Asking This has proven to be particularly useful in my neverending quest for thirst-quenching. Always apply any buffs you can right before you ask them for water. They’ll see you cast the buffs, and will be much more receptive to your request. Often, you’ll receive their buffs in addition to some water/food as well!

3. Bring Your Own Don’t ever assume there will be a mage waiting for you in the battleground ready to dole out a refreshing table of biscuits. Sometimes there won’t be a mage at all, and sometimes, for whatever reason, the mage won’t feel like making you anything. So, rather than blow a gasket because you don’t have anyway to replenish mana/health during downtime, bring your own emergency vendor stash. Berating the person will not help, if anything they’ll get a kick out of watching you complain, so just forget them and do what you’re there to do: Destroy all who stand in your way!

While hardly fool-proof, these simple steps will help ensure a more positive and appealing experience for PvP.

Good luck!

Some of the blizzard developers have given some insight as to what's in store for us after the upcoming patch. While this is just one tidbit of things to come, you can read the post here.

Great news for all you mages out there! Ice Block will now be a trainable skill.

I’ll keep you updated as we go along. I haven’t gotten to the PTR yet (I’m not so sure I should bother, considering 2.3 is around the corner!). Either way I’ll gather some more details and try and make a post with more beef later on.

In the mean time, enjoy!

Let’s face it, no 2 factions are created equal when it comes to PvP. For many Battlegroups, there’s an obvious imbalance both in population and in player skill. The low-queue times for a particular faction often attracts those that like to pvp the most, with the result in the other faction having more people with longer wait times but losing most of the games they play. If you’re on the unfortunate side of this phenomenon, be it horde or alliance, you have a few options. Here are some strategies I employ while fighting for the losing side.

1. Fight hard, but don’t try to recruit everyone to your cause: Try to get those who seem to be trying together, or at the very least follow them. You have strength in numbers, and even a group of bad players have a better chance as long as they stick together. If you try to be Rambo, you’re only going to get killed faster. By the same token, don’t bother yelling in BG chat about how terrible everyone is but you. It doesn’t help anyone and it won’t change the outcome of the battle.

2. Go with Friends Even having 1 or 2 guildmates makes you a force to be reckoned with, especially in node-oriented games like Eye of the Storm and Arathi Basin. Having a well-knit group of friends makes the fight more intense and enjoyable, even if you lose.

3. Bring everything you can to the table Are you an Engineer? Load up on bombs. Alchemists? Bring those potions and flasks. Use whatever professions you have to gain the upper hand on your opponents. I can’t tell you how many times my poultryizer has saved me from a 2v1 death. Face the fact that you are often going to be outnumbered, so bring everything you have to bear on the enemy.

I can’t promise that these ideas will win you games. Battlegrounds are a team-oriented environment and no matter how good you think you are, you aren’t going to win it all by yourself. Do your best, have fun, and kill all that stand in your way. Win or lose, keep a smile on your face.

Good luck!