Shared topic => Hizzere <=. Yes, I just said “Hizzere”. Accept it and move on with your life.
Many things have changed and improved within the game between Vanilla, BC & Wrath. Which change that Blizzard released, made a fundamental difference to your gaming experience?
I can answer that question in two words: Battleground Experience. Don’t ask me which patch that was, because I wasn’t paying attention. I was too busy drooling over the fact that my Hunter would actually gain levels again. Around level 29, she became hopelessly lost to the confines of Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch. Try as I might to actually go out and level, doing so was largely a means to pass the time in queue.
Once I hit 30 and went from chart-topper to cannon fodder, I was still enough of an annoyance to wall off a WSG flag from all who thought they could just grab the flag and ignore me. Joke’s on you. Hyper Survival Crowd Control Giga-Cannon X Go! That’ll teach you to not kill me. I wiggle my under-leveled squishy tooshie at you!
*cough*
As I was saying, I was really enjoying Hunter PvP, and spending many many hours accomplishing absolutely nothing. If you’ve read any of my other posts, I’m sure you know that’s something at which I’m very good, so it wasn’t going to stop me. It would’ve been nice to have some forward momentum, though. And then they announced it. BG XP! The BGs were suddenly twice as full, many players of whom had next to zero PvP playtime. It was just people out having fun, gaining XP, and moving on with their day. Many BG regulars and twinks absolutely hated it. Their twink status was no more, and their team was suddenly comprised of n00bs who get on their mounts when they cap a flag (because I’ve never done that… on multiple occasions… <_<;). And they made their frustration known (as they always do).
I, meanwhile, was in heaven. My Hunter started leveling and quickly. I was nearing the 50s before I realized I was still geared from my 30s. I even lead and organized a few wins, which is totally out of character for me (and out of character for most BG players to listen). For a month, my other characters atrophied, and I couldn’t have been happier.
It’s not a perfect system. I still think a 10 level bracket is too big of a gap not to offer some sort of balancing buff. Attempting to contribute from the bottom half of the bracket in any meaningful way is mostly an effort in futility, though I’m finding it slightly easier to hunt and peck for similar-leveled opponents than it used to be. Still, I love the BGs and now my time spent in them on the road to 80 isn’t a complete waste of progress.
And your shared topic fortune cookie:
I’ve thought of a charity event. For every losing AV I am part of in which no one spams /bg with insults, blame or assorted QQ, I will make a charitable donation. I’m calling it STFU4Tots. So far, the donation total is $0, and it’s not looking good for the starving orphens.
Having finally crested the 70 mark a few weeks back, my “on” time has mainly been dedicated to the likes of fishing and cooking dailies. As you can imagine, that leaves a lot of free time, as I don’t think either were invented with any intention other than a mild distraction. “Aww, what the Hellfire,” I thought, trying in futility to say something witty to myself. “Why not hit up the BGs. You used to do it all the time with your hunter. You’re level 70, so you won’t get slapped around in Alterac Valley, and you’ll make a little XP and honor too.”
It has been pointed out that I don't use enough pictures in my posts. Here is an artistic rendition of my heroic WSG flag cap.
Of course, if you’re in the know, I was very wrong on two points. It turned out the AV bracket is 70 to 79, and I did, in fact, get slapped around. I didn’t expect us to win. I can count the number of times the Alliance has won AV in the evenings on Shadowburn on one hand. Yes, I earned my Hunter’s Black Battlestrider through almost 30 grueling losses. I was only hoping to be of some use, which I was not. I think my greatest contribution was passing out Mark of the Wild as people left the graveyard. I did manage to down someone with a 5k crit, though I have no idea how.
More depressing was the realization that I’d almost never PvP’d my Druid. 70 levels, and I’d never even seen the far side of Warsong Gulch (which I quickly reconciled with a flag cap) or killed a boss in AV or done anything to put my Honor Kills up over 1000. So enamored was I by the nostalgia of my Hunter’s merits and successes and chart-topping, kill-soaked brilliance, that I hadn’t paused to consider that I might PvP my Druid like a fat-thumbed gorilla who has had his mouse carefully replaced with a rabid badger. And I’d say that’s just how well I did, except I’d be insulting the badger. It wasn’t that I didn’t know what I was doing. I know my Druid abilities and when to use them, but knowledge alone does not keep one from acting the fool.
For example, I had a priest two levels my senior (it was all I could do just to find people near my level) on the ropes and ready for the 5-point killing blow when she slapped me with a fear.
- Professional Solution: Quickly slap Berserk to break out. Feral Charge right back to her location. Strike the killing blow. Be ready to react if she survives.
- My Solution: Panic and fumble for the Berserk button. Realize that I never put it on the quick bar. Throw hands up in frustration. Get killed by a 78 Blood Elf Paladin while running in circles.
Don't blame me because you suck.
It all comes with practice, I suppose. My failure rides in the back of my mind, though. Once I get my affairs in order, my bags packed and the extra stuff auctioned, I’m leaving my alts behind and headed for the PvP server of Ner’zhul. Oh, I’ve leveled on PvP servers before, but I’ve never reached a level where I might actually stand a chance against the people I came across. No, it was pretty much just my level 30s getting repeatedly trounced by 80s a few times an hour. Having my 70ish getting trounced by 80s, or eventually my 80 trounced by 80s in far superior gear and numbers probably won’t be any different, but the very idea that if I gain some handle on my PvPness I could potentially challenge equal-powered foes in honorable combat has me tingling. It’ll probably never happen. The equal-powered part, that is. From what I’m told, PvP will forever be about finding that unfair advantage and wielding it against anyone weaker than you. I can dream, though. I can dream.
