A Vicious Proposal

Let’s say you read my modest proposal and didn’t agree with it.  Not one bit.  You want blood, and lots of it.  If silly people with orphans are going to get in your way, that’s too bad for them, right?

I can dig.  I get it. I pretty much want to kill things all the time in game too.

So let me make a second proposal.  A vicious proposal.

I hereby declare next week to be the First Annual Southshore / Tarren Mill World PvP Free-For-All. All PvPers with blood in their eyes and rage in their hearts are hereby commanded to report to their respective towns and tear apart the opposing factions.  Even if the other battlegrounds are compromised, the fields of Hillsbrad are not.

The fighting will be bloody and glorious.  There will be ganking.  There will be no quarter asked and none given.   Blood will stain the cobblestones of those two towns next week that will be remembered for years to come.

Or at least as long as the towns stand.

And when we get bored?

We’ll go to Halaa and do it all with flying mounts.

Why I Love Fishing In Wintergrasp

Big Bear Butt has a great interview with a PvP hunter in his guild who love to PvP and fish.

As someone who loves to PvP and fish, I especially enjoyed the following bit:

“What I do”, Ruuaarr said, “Is go fishing in Wintergrasp, and I’m the bait. Rogues can’t resist trying to kill someone just standing there fishing. So, they stealth in to take me down, and that’s when I destroy them.”

Great article, and one that makes me glad to be a PvP Angler.

Don’t Hate Me Because I PvP

I was a young warlock in her 30s when I ran across a dwarven Death Knight massacaring the goblins of Booty Bay. I was a little irritated when he killed my quest turn-in, but didn’t say anything — the dude would respawn, after all. But another bystander ripped into the DK for killing all these goblins and “ruining his game.” Another bystander chimed in with something that really stuck with me:

He’s playing the game too. It’s a different part of the game than what you’re playing, but no less valid. Deal with it.

I bring this little scene up because Midsummer Festival is here, and with it Durotan is seeing a lot of players venture into enemy territory, usually wearing raid epics. And somehow, I CAN’T IMAGINE HOW THIS HAPPENS, they wind up under my Shadowfury targeting recticule.

Shocking!

So, needless to say, I’m making good progress on my [City Defender] achievement.

But last night, as I was defending The Exodar’s flame, I got called a jerk for killing Horde. This was a first for me.

“Don’t be a jerk, they’re just here for the achievement.”

Listen. There are plenty of reasons why I’ll leave you alone in a hostile city — well, one, really: you’re there to fish — but working towards the holiday achievements? No way. This is part of the game, too, and it’s not even nearly as hard as [School of Hard Knocks], just wait until off hours to sneak in and desecrate a fire, or get a big group together to do it. In a great display of efficiency last night, the Horde roared through Stormwind and killed the king before moving off to descrate the fire. I got steamrolled by them. It was great!

So, facing a heckler in the Exodar, I thought back to that dwarf DK in Booty Bay, and replied:

“And I’m working on [City Defender]. Do the achievements cancel out?”

I didn’t get an answer.

The Scarlet Monastery Lobby

The call came out over guild chat: “Cyn, we need you at SM. Hurry.”

I was already mounted and galloping out of Southshore before I stopped to get details; when you call out for a PvPer to help in a low-level instance, it’s usually not to down a boss. There’s guild honor to be upheld – and butts to be kicked.

PvP outside of a battleground is a street fight. Any concept of a fair, balanced fight goes out the window, and you use every advantage you can — or you lose.

The lobby of The Scarlet Monastery on a Saturday night resembles Grand Central Station, with dozens of Alliance and Horde groups running between the different instances. The low ceilings, bad lighting, and pillars create a nightmare of a battlefield. Ambushes can take advantage of party members who stray too far, and AoE can hit those who stay too close together. I spent a lot of time with Shadowfury targeting all of my opponents, waiting for them to unflag.

World PvP on a PvE server involves a lot of watching for the right moment to unflag and attack. Fighting in the SM Lobby presents an unique opportunity to quickly unflag – jumping in and out of an instance resets your PvP flag, and both sides used that to their advantage. No one knew who would jump in, and who would sit on the sideline.

As a Destruction Warlock, Shadowfury is very helpful in managing opponents in tight quarters. You can stun them as they unflag, or as they’re making a break for a portal. Even more useful is your Demonic Circle – being able to teleport around a pillar is a key ability. I wish I’d used it more, to be honest.

The terrain of the lobby actually serves as a great practice ground for other battlegrounds. You have to maintain situational awareness and learn to force the disadvantages on your foes, and not suffer them yourself.

Now if only I’d seen that Pally in the shadows, healing the Rogue and Druid…