Wintergrasp Rant

[LavCat]

If I could ask a question:

What is it about World PvP you find satisfying?
Is it something that you would enjoy more on a pvp server? I have only played on one pvp server, but from the time I hit STV until I left, If you were questing, you were going to end up PvPing. Is that the type of experience you are looking for, or are you looking for a more "open" environment than a BG, but not as FFA as a PvP server?

The thing that I have always disliked about World PvP / BG's is that it invariably has always come down to numbers. The more you players you have at a given portion of the field / Zone, the more likely you are to win.

Arena is the only place that I have ever felt like PvP removed the numbers game. Although, sadly, arena introduced class balance as the variable.

Maybe my PvP experience is skewed because I have never done it as more than a distraction in a long time. (Since S3 of Arena).

A lovely question, and thank you for asking. I don't dislike battlegrounds. I have done a few. The arms of Baguette, my priest, proudly bear a gardant owl argent, on pale purpure.

In the olden days battlegrounds were better. My most memorable battleground was an AV about five and three quarter hours. I am told many battlegrounds went on much longer. It's like the parties my old German teacher told me about when she was growing up in Germany. They lasted about two weeks: get drunk, fall asleep for a while, get up and keep on drinking.

Nowadays battlegrounds are different. As far as I can tell they are for equipment farming. Not that that is an entirely bad thing, I have been guilty of it myself. The routine now is wait forty minutes in queue for a twenty minute AV. That is if you are fortunate someone has not just left and you get in three minutes till the end.

Arena is a different animal. Most matches in my experience are short and brutal. I have not done arena in WotLK, as all my partners have moved or quit playing. I did find it fun, but in a very different way. However if it wasn't for the arena gear I probably would not have done it.

World PvP though is its own reward. In the beginning (e.g. retail) I rolled characters on Stormrage (PvE) and Tichondrius (PvP). My vote was for a RP PvP server as I recall, but we decided to go to the same servers that the Basin chose. Some people went to Terenas, but I don't remember why that was.

I like the Alliance characters better, so I spent more of my time on Stormrage than Tichondrious.

Unfortunately for those of us on Tichondrius, interest soon waned, and I was left with no one to play with. Questing alone on a PvP server is lonely indeed, but to borrow Bolty's words it could be challenging, interesting, enjoyable, and fun.

On Stormrage I have ganked a couple people over the years (I don't really enjoy doing it) but on Tichondrius I believe it's true that I have never fired first. Once in Ashenvale an Alliance six levels higher attacked my hunter. I won by kiting to the guards followed by concussive shot. I did not stick around for that Alliance to get their body back.

Another time a ?? Alliance hunter chased my hunter from Talon Deep almost to the Crossroads. My pet fell to multishot and took the hit for me. It was a mini-game to see how many levels I could stay alive.

My hunter was 27 when, sadly, she flew into Tarren Mill when it was being held by Alliance. Not much to do about it really. At least it was a quick death.

The experience that soured me on Tichondrius took place on the salt flats. My hunter showed up to quest. She noticed an Alliance hunter there and was on her guard, but otherwise she minded her own business. As she was chatting with a questgiver, she got an arrow in the back. The Alliance hunter ate the dirt.

Shortly thereafter a high level dwarf hunter showed up. The dwarf killed my hunter over and over and over again. Nothing really illegal about that, if that is how you get your kicks. I presume the dwarf was a friend of the unfortunate hunter who shot us in the back. I got on the Basin channel and asked for reinforcements. Four valiant souls showed up. The dwarf killed the first three, and the fourth, a rogue, never could manage to find the dwarf.

For reasons of pride, none of my characters have spirit ressed outside of Wintergrasp or battlegrounds. It was a long night. It was then I realized that to play on a PvP server requires a reliable support network, which I didn't have.

I like that on Stormrage I can quest without (much) fear of getting ganked. On the other hand I enjoy the ultimate thrill of cat and mouse that comes from being flagged. And that I miss.

Probably I would be most happy on a RP PvP server as part of a large, like minded guild. But that's not going to happen. Wintergrasp had been a delightful way to get my fix, and I am sad. I did get into two battles last night. The first we lost. I managed not to die, but only two people on our side were calling out. The second battle we won, and again I didn't die, so in that sense it was a victory. However it was not terribly exciting or fun. I singlehandedly took a couple workshops but the Horde took them back. I returned to the keep and sat on a cannon almost the whole time. The Horde attack was like Arthur's siege from the Holy Grail, and about as effective.