Reading about the Burning Crusade got my interest up for new WoW content. Clearly, the test realms were the solution to my problem. After a few nights of running around on the PTR and concurrently typing, I've produced this review of the new PvP features. Nitpickers who pick nits can nitpick this nitpicker (ahem) where necessary. Picknitting, however, is not allowed. Here's the executive summary:
PreMade Characters Rock.
EPL: STABBY STAB STAB!!1
Silithus: I thought this was a PvP event?
BGs: Solid improvement.
I'm quite glad Blizzard continues to offer pre-made characters on the PTR. This round of testing, pre-made characters start with hotkeys and talents by Blizzard (my shaman was 41 res., my hunter was 39 marks., etc.), 100G, a variety of consumables (no potions), and an array of phat items from BWL or AQ40. What's missing is the PvP insignia and a hearthstone (earn it/grab one).
So what about the PvP?
EPL:
The EPL event is centered on capturing and holding four towers: Plaguewood, Eastwall, Northpass, and Crown Guard. Each tower captured by a faction increases that faction's (spell and melee) damage by 1%. Having all four towers earns an additional 1%, for a total of 5%. The current faction holding the tower is shown on the main map as well as the pvp mini-map. Zone-wide announcements are broadcast when a tower changes hands. It's possible for a coordinated group with sufficient firepower to turn over the zone in 10-15 minutes (I saw the Horde lose to alliance in that time)
One captures a tower by standing pvp-flagged and unstealthed inside it. A small meter pops up on your screen and moves between blue and red. The more people from your faction inside, the faster it goes. Eventually a "Captured by..." message is broadcast to the zone and NPC defenders of the opposing faction ride out to reclaim the tower. Alone, these defenders aren't a serious threat, but they could be useful in overcoming a superior force if you timed an assault with their arrival.
I didn't have a chance to test what happens when equal numbers of both factions are inside because everyone kept stabbing everyone else. I would guess the meter just freezes, though. The Plaguewood tower also has a "Spectral Gryphon Master" who offers to put whoever controls the tower on a free flight to the other towers. It's actually fairly exciting to 'air drop' into combat at other towers. I hope the intention is to add these guys to every tower.
The event produces some quality PvP with inter-zone communication, stalking your foes, capturing objectives, trying to hold the line, etc. A bonus I anticipate is a pvp-localizing effect. If you're looking for a fight, the zone-wide announcements tell you where to look. If you want to quest, stay away from the towers. That's a win-win for the outdoor PvP camp and the people just trying to level. Sure, there will still be some ganking, but that's why you signed up for a PvP server, isn't it?
Screenshots:
Capturing the Eastwall Tower
Gryphon Master
In the Pipe, 5x5
Silithus:
The Silithus event is centered on returning 'Silithyst' (sometimes referred to as 'magic sand') to the appropriate Horde or Alliance field duty camp. The dust comes from Sand Worms which erupt periodically or from random-spawn geysers near the worms. The eruptions prompt zone-wide announcements and are marked on the main map and pvp mini-map. The sand worms themselves seem to be heavy 10-person raid mobs. My very uncoordinated 5-man team spent 10 minutes doing corpse runs to DPS one down. If you succeed in killing one, everyone in your group (Raids are eligible) can loot a charge of sand. Successfully returning the sand nets you 10 CC rep and 199 honor.
The dust is a buff, not an inventory item. While Dust-enabled, my rogue's speed was capped at normal run speed--Sprint didn't work. Mounting dropped the dust and stealthing (or vanishing) dropped the dust. The only option, it turns out, was to run across the zone to camp and slog through anything aggro'd on the way. If you're thinking, "But Monkey, isn't southern Silithus full of rooting, charging, stunning or just plain elite mobs waiting to aggro?"
Why yes, fair reader, yes it is.
Which brings me to the big puzzle of the event: it's at least half PvE. Sure, you can take the dust from people in combat, but someone still has to kill sandworms with a hard 5-10 man group or tag a resource node in the first place. And a key component of returning the dust is running across the zone while avoiding or killing any mobs along the way. I've puzzled over the Silithus event for a week, and delayed posting this review to try and understand. Initially, I wondered if the PvE component was intentional, but what I think really matters is: Do you enjoy your PvP with PvE? Then the Silithus event is for you.
Screenshots:
The Mighty Sandworm!
A Magic Sand Geyser
Heading Home
Back at Camp
Battlegrounds:
The Battlegrounds improvements are an excellent step forward.
Multi-server queues are showing good results: there are always multiple instances for every battleground. Example numbers from Monday Night this week: 33 WSG, 8 AB, 7 AV. My queue times (solo, with both alliance and horde) have been quite decent, with a maximum of roughly 5 minutes for WSG and 10 minutes for AV.
Inside the Battleground, Auto-group eliminates the funny pause at the beginning of every match. To speak in the auto-group type /battleground, not /raid. And player names are appended with (N), where 'N' is a symbol like * or ^. Each symbol corresponds to a server name, so all the Magtheridons might be (*) and all the Mannoroths might be (^). If a player is from your server, they have nothing appended.
Unexpectedly, the battlegrounds on the test realm feel a lot like one expects they will once Blizzard adds gear and skill matching. Most groups are PUGs and premade characters put everyone on equal gear footing. Put another way: BGs are very fun matches of skill and blind luck instead of overwhelming firepower. These accidental plusses will go away on the live realms...but c'est la WoW, oui?
PreMade Characters Rock.
EPL: STABBY STAB STAB!!1
Silithus: I thought this was a PvP event?
BGs: Solid improvement.
I'm quite glad Blizzard continues to offer pre-made characters on the PTR. This round of testing, pre-made characters start with hotkeys and talents by Blizzard (my shaman was 41 res., my hunter was 39 marks., etc.), 100G, a variety of consumables (no potions), and an array of phat items from BWL or AQ40. What's missing is the PvP insignia and a hearthstone (earn it/grab one).
So what about the PvP?
EPL:
The EPL event is centered on capturing and holding four towers: Plaguewood, Eastwall, Northpass, and Crown Guard. Each tower captured by a faction increases that faction's (spell and melee) damage by 1%. Having all four towers earns an additional 1%, for a total of 5%. The current faction holding the tower is shown on the main map as well as the pvp mini-map. Zone-wide announcements are broadcast when a tower changes hands. It's possible for a coordinated group with sufficient firepower to turn over the zone in 10-15 minutes (I saw the Horde lose to alliance in that time)
One captures a tower by standing pvp-flagged and unstealthed inside it. A small meter pops up on your screen and moves between blue and red. The more people from your faction inside, the faster it goes. Eventually a "Captured by..." message is broadcast to the zone and NPC defenders of the opposing faction ride out to reclaim the tower. Alone, these defenders aren't a serious threat, but they could be useful in overcoming a superior force if you timed an assault with their arrival.
I didn't have a chance to test what happens when equal numbers of both factions are inside because everyone kept stabbing everyone else. I would guess the meter just freezes, though. The Plaguewood tower also has a "Spectral Gryphon Master" who offers to put whoever controls the tower on a free flight to the other towers. It's actually fairly exciting to 'air drop' into combat at other towers. I hope the intention is to add these guys to every tower.
The event produces some quality PvP with inter-zone communication, stalking your foes, capturing objectives, trying to hold the line, etc. A bonus I anticipate is a pvp-localizing effect. If you're looking for a fight, the zone-wide announcements tell you where to look. If you want to quest, stay away from the towers. That's a win-win for the outdoor PvP camp and the people just trying to level. Sure, there will still be some ganking, but that's why you signed up for a PvP server, isn't it?
Screenshots:
Capturing the Eastwall Tower
Gryphon Master
In the Pipe, 5x5
Silithus:
The Silithus event is centered on returning 'Silithyst' (sometimes referred to as 'magic sand') to the appropriate Horde or Alliance field duty camp. The dust comes from Sand Worms which erupt periodically or from random-spawn geysers near the worms. The eruptions prompt zone-wide announcements and are marked on the main map and pvp mini-map. The sand worms themselves seem to be heavy 10-person raid mobs. My very uncoordinated 5-man team spent 10 minutes doing corpse runs to DPS one down. If you succeed in killing one, everyone in your group (Raids are eligible) can loot a charge of sand. Successfully returning the sand nets you 10 CC rep and 199 honor.
The dust is a buff, not an inventory item. While Dust-enabled, my rogue's speed was capped at normal run speed--Sprint didn't work. Mounting dropped the dust and stealthing (or vanishing) dropped the dust. The only option, it turns out, was to run across the zone to camp and slog through anything aggro'd on the way. If you're thinking, "But Monkey, isn't southern Silithus full of rooting, charging, stunning or just plain elite mobs waiting to aggro?"
Why yes, fair reader, yes it is.
Which brings me to the big puzzle of the event: it's at least half PvE. Sure, you can take the dust from people in combat, but someone still has to kill sandworms with a hard 5-10 man group or tag a resource node in the first place. And a key component of returning the dust is running across the zone while avoiding or killing any mobs along the way. I've puzzled over the Silithus event for a week, and delayed posting this review to try and understand. Initially, I wondered if the PvE component was intentional, but what I think really matters is: Do you enjoy your PvP with PvE? Then the Silithus event is for you.
Screenshots:
The Mighty Sandworm!
A Magic Sand Geyser
Heading Home
Back at Camp
Battlegrounds:
The Battlegrounds improvements are an excellent step forward.
Multi-server queues are showing good results: there are always multiple instances for every battleground. Example numbers from Monday Night this week: 33 WSG, 8 AB, 7 AV. My queue times (solo, with both alliance and horde) have been quite decent, with a maximum of roughly 5 minutes for WSG and 10 minutes for AV.
Inside the Battleground, Auto-group eliminates the funny pause at the beginning of every match. To speak in the auto-group type /battleground, not /raid. And player names are appended with (N), where 'N' is a symbol like * or ^. Each symbol corresponds to a server name, so all the Magtheridons might be (*) and all the Mannoroths might be (^). If a player is from your server, they have nothing appended.
Unexpectedly, the battlegrounds on the test realm feel a lot like one expects they will once Blizzard adds gear and skill matching. Most groups are PUGs and premade characters put everyone on equal gear footing. Put another way: BGs are very fun matches of skill and blind luck instead of overwhelming firepower. These accidental plusses will go away on the live realms...but c'est la WoW, oui?