Cross-Realm Battlegrounds confirmed.

[Sinthe]

In this (http://www.gamespot.com/news/6153087.html?part=rss&tag=gs_news&subj=6153087) interview, lead producer Shane Dabiri confirms Cross-Realm battlegrounds.


GS: Okay, onto other subjects. At Blizzcon last year, Blizzard brought up the potential of doing cross-server battlegrounds, that is, letting characters on different realms battle one another. Any update on how this is coming along? And how do you balance this since there tend to be far more Alliance players than Horde players, which means that there might be waiting queues while alliance players wait for an opponent?

SD: We're very excited about this feature! It's in development now, and internal testing is underway. Currently, the faction-balance issues play a bigger role in whether you'll get into a game or not. With cross-realm battlegrounds, we can match players up across many realms, which means games will be starting and ending all the time. As a result, the wait to get into a battleground should be considerably less. We will, of course, test cross-realm battlegrounds on our public test realms for everyone to try out.

[Pythre-Co]

Am I the only one who's not liking this idea? =x

[Emmons]

I have mixed feelings on the subject. On one hand, I'm not going to have to wait for alliance to queue AV. On the other, in order to maintain rank, I'm going to have to do the BGs a lot more.

[Vilmah]

in order to maintain rank, I'm going to have to do the BGs a lot more.

...dammit, you're RIGHT! :cry:

[Grisch]

Remember they are re-adressing the honor system and how it will work, with a focus of taking away the grind.

[Teelia]

Well, it will probably cut down on post-game trash talking a bit....How will you trash talk the winners if you have to search for them? Most of us will be too lazy to look.

[Demortius]

I don't care so much for the BG's. All I want are the World PvP landmarks. I love world pvp, and the defending and taking over of towers, castles, or whatnot around the map will be lots of fun.

[Karkarov]

I like the bg's as long as they are competitive and balanced. When I go in knowing I cant win or the fight will be sleep walk easy I lose interest fast. The thing that really kills them for me over time is the inability to choose who I am fighting with. Something about a bunch of guys who wont form raids, wont discuss tactics, dont RP, or just act like emo losers makes it less fun to be in a BG. Go figure.

In World PVP at least I can choose who I am fighting with.

[Grisch]

Yep, this this change doesn't mean much to me one way or another because I pretty much dislike battlegrounds.

The upside I see is like Lovely says, less smacktalk after game on the forums. I wonder how much characters from the same realms will actually see each other in battles?

[EnheilRas]

Depends on the "server cluster" size

[Gavril]

I'm wondering if they're taking server-type into account? That's the main thing that really kills me; cross-server battlegrounds ACROSS THE BOARD will mean ZERO roleplay. Not to mention, a bunch of asshats from the normal PVP servers with HORRIBLE names, such as priests named "Ihealu," and all sorts of ridiculous guilds.

This also means that the Horde might be actually losing AV. =P

[Sinthe]

I'm wondering if they're taking server-type into account? That's the main thing that really kills me; cross-server battlegrounds ACROSS THE BOARD will mean ZERO roleplay. Not to mention, a bunch of asshats from the normal PVP servers with HORRIBLE names, such as priests named "Ihealu," and all sorts of ridiculous guilds.

This also means that the Horde might be actually losing AV. =P

When was the last time you saw RP inside of a battleground? =P

[EnheilRas]

I'm wondering if they're taking server-type into account? That's the main thing that really kills me; cross-server battlegrounds ACROSS THE BOARD will mean ZERO roleplay. Not to mention, a bunch of asshats from the normal PVP servers with HORRIBLE names, such as priests named "Ihealu," and all sorts of ridiculous guilds.

This also means that the Horde might be actually losing AV. =P

When was the last time you saw RP inside of a battleground? =P

Depends on when the last ime you saw ME in one was

[Xeran]

As long as they fix the honor-grind thing, cross-server bgs would be ok with me. The only downside I see is that I'll lose my usual "star struck" moments when I see someone I know in there. "Holy crap, there's Clys!" Or "Wow, that's Celethorn!" will pretty much become a thing of the past.

I do hope that the servers will be broken down by type. PVE / RP / PVP / RP-PVP.

And bringing back the "Join As Group" for AV would be cool.

[EnheilRas]

Join as Group AV will NEVER Be back!

I fucking HATED that option..

[Gavril]

I'm wondering if they're taking server-type into account? That's the main thing that really kills me; cross-server battlegrounds ACROSS THE BOARD will mean ZERO roleplay. Not to mention, a bunch of asshats from the normal PVP servers with HORRIBLE names, such as priests named "Ihealu," and all sorts of ridiculous guilds.

This also means that the Horde might be actually losing AV. =P

When was the last time you saw RP inside of a battleground? =P

When was the last time you JOINED a battleground?

That's right. Shut up. Bitch. XP

[Sinthe]

I'm wondering if they're taking server-type into account? That's the main thing that really kills me; cross-server battlegrounds ACROSS THE BOARD will mean ZERO roleplay. Not to mention, a bunch of asshats from the normal PVP servers with HORRIBLE names, such as priests named "Ihealu," and all sorts of ridiculous guilds.

This also means that the Horde might be actually losing AV. =P

When was the last time you saw RP inside of a battleground? =P

When was the last time you JOINED a battleground?

That's right. Shut up. Bitch. XP

I've done maybe...5 in the last two months.

[Mel]

Has anyone heard how they are fixing the honor grind? I was hoping to reach Exalted with the Defilers sometime before I am 60...

But World PVP sounds like a solid plan...getting a group of awesome RPers/Players and assaulting a target was what PVP should have been from day one!

[Dhurandal]

I'm hoping that world PvP doesn't backfire a bit. As it is, imagine if they put PvP goals in contested territories where lowbies congregate (Hillsbrad, Duskwood, Ashenvale.). That would encourage more PvP players to frequent those zones with their higher levels. As we all know, more high levels in a lowbie zone = higher incidence of ganking. This could make questing more difficult for lowbies and especially those that like to solo.

As it is, there's only a few reasons why a high level would be in those areas.

1. In transit to some other area.
2. Ganking.
3. Ganking a ganker.
4. Helping a lowbie quest.
5. Roleplay.
6. Farming/Resource gathering.

And the most appropriate reason for lucky number seven:

7. Finding an isolated spot where they won't aggro the monsters so they can cyber with their toons.

[Tarlithion]

Hey, number seven is the only reason I leave Stormwind anymore >_>

[ChronalisMage]

Of course you realize this will probably knock the servers offline for about a week :P I'm just remmebering how it used to be when they'd try some innovative big change and we'd have the privilege of rolling restarts, lost items, lost exp and fullout crashes for about a month. I'm the first to admit I'm not current on the tech side of things but wouldn't implementing this be a massive task? Lower queue times are all well and good but rolling restarts blow.

[Ylisaxa]

I am looking forward to it personally. The reason I left my original server was because there were 2 hours waits for WSG... on the weekend too. And I was in the average level range for the server. While it is not needed on all servers (especially the large PVP servers), I do think it will even things out for smaller servers and keep those communities there, allowing smaller communities to grow. That being said, I do hope that I don't end up in groups that consist of large PVP server folk, and that the system will determine that they "stsick together" if their numbers support the BG. For example, if 20 people are queuing for WSG on Altar of Stroms, they all end up together, rather than say, 5 will end up in one BG, 5 in another simulateneously if you get my drift.

[Mel]

I am looking forward to it personally. The reason I left my original server was because there were 2 hours waits for WSG... on the weekend too.

I'm with you. I hate having to wait for even an hour to get into a BG. Most times I have about 30 min to play...which isn't enough time to get into hard quests or instances. I would just like to jump in and play a BG or two. No wait would really rock!!

Of course that would suck if we had to go thru the rolling restart era again, but I suppose with anything there is a period of transition...