Greetings, community of Warmane. Hopefully not only those I regard as an issue in this post read this, but people interested in the future of the game as well and mainly, it's Player Vs. Player aspect. Let me start with this. I very much enjoy PvP. In fact, to be able to partake in it, I donated for and geared a protection warrior and have been having a blast playing it ever since... Until I noticed a certain pattern. I made the toon to play with friends and they were interrested in playing on the horde for a while (we all originally being alliance) so I moved with them to join one of the PvP guilds there. Name in particular is not important, but its last word rhymes with "barn", which would be a fitting habbitat for said fellows as well, but that's just my hate speaking. It was then when I started noticing the pattern that had been escaping me to that point. Mostly, the premades they were doing and the ones I partook in together with them. Due to the lack of PvP from the horde side, the queues for battlegrounds were instantaneous and made it extremely easy to have not 5 but up to 15 of us join at the same time.
Now most people in that guild that partook in these guild battlegrounds were much like myself - owners of fully donated and ready to play characters and sometimes - not often, but some, we would match up against a team with a likewise powerlevel... Well... Twice. In the entirety of my four day stay in that guild, we fought a team with equal strength twice. Everything else was a one sided rush, resulting with a graveyard farm (now you might be starting to figure out the name of the guild I am talking about that rhymes with barn... but idc...) On my first day on the horde side, I made 946 kills, having played barely half of it, stomping over lower geared players who just didn't stand a chance the moment they were matched against us.
To me, that took a lot of the fun in the game out. I do understand that my criteria for fun might not mirror everybody's and that some people might legitimately enjoy being an absolute menace to everybody around them but the people in their own bubble, but from a global point of view, I think my observations have drawn correct conclusions, which are the following:
- PvP is ridiculously inbalanced as is. The fact that 15 of us, geared to the teeth, managed to match up against 15 randomly gathered players with gears of various qualities is enough evidence as is. Battlegrounds have became way more gear dependant than they should be and so much so that it came to a point where I saw a warrior talk trash down to a friend of mine for being too low geared in a battleground. Friend in question was 5,400~ gear score.
- The PvP scene, as is right now, is too favouring elitists and is borderline toxic to players who want to get into it without having to spend real life currencies to do so. I myself am part of the "donor" problem and didn't understand it until just recently. The fact that I can take down any sub-24,000HP person in a battleground pressing not more than 5 buttons in succession without having to worry about the same being done to me in return now strikes me as morally wrong, so much so I look to restrain from battlegrounds. At least past my daily win, plus-minus one or two with friends occasionally.
Fortunately, both of these issues have a solution. I very much understand that this is a private server and it runs on donations more than anything and that these donations go for gear, which is not a problem, in my opinion. People have the option to get into further content of the game faster - that is okay... However, a large amount of people can't or even want to aford that and want to play Wrath as a pasttime after work and whatnot (much like how I was prior to me donating) and I see a lot of people quitting the PvP scene because of the imbalance. The solution, however, is simple and is one that already exists written in the game code.
That solution is item levels. To enter a random heroic dungeon, the system checks your average item level and checks it with the minimal such required to enter each individual dungeon of the wrath content. This means that a code is in place that sums up all of your gear and divides it to the number of available equipment slots. It also does the same for each member of your party as it runs them all through the same check before allowing you to queue as a party leader.
My suggestion is. First and foremost, disable AV enabler. This addon is beyond cancerous and then, write a few lines of code. Get the average item level of the party by dividing the summed average item levels of the members and queue them against a team with item level equal, or similar to that. A difference of up to 20-25 shouldn't be as much of an issue. Make gear in battlegrounds unable to be changed with the exception of what is currently allowed to be replaced in arenas to prevent people from entering with one average item level and getting another once in. In addition, have an item level during the time of queue act as a break to that queue to prevent people from queueing with low tier items and then getting their original high gear.
I believe that the only rational solution to the PvP issue at the moment and that it will bring nothing but more interresting and engaging battlegrounds. Right now, the reality is as it follows. In most battlegrounds, you as an individual doesn't matter. You get one of two options: you either have a premade on your side (or are a part of one) and win, or you face one and ultimately lose. Gear dictates everything, making it bordeline impossible for some people to obtain that exact same gear. I do understand that my opinion doesn't ultimately matter, but would be glad if it could be taken in consideration, not just by staff but by players as well and get discussion on the topic going. I won't play battlegrounds (or at least not with passion more than to get my daily win) until the PvP scene remains the same as it is for being against the problem feels just as toxic as being a part of it.
Kindest regards,
- Berserkyd, The Ganker, The Toxic