Ewing Oil

[Olofsson]

As a continuing part of our improvements, we will be implementing the following changes in the next patch.

Strategy can be an important element of any battleground. We want to emphasize this in Alterac Valley more and give players additional meaning to both defending and attacking. To push the strategic element of the battleground to the next level we have changed how players maintain their reinforcements or deprive the other team of theirs.

Each team will have a starting reinforcement count. Reinforcements can be lost in significant amounts if a tower is destroyed or if Captain Galvangar or Belinda Stonehearth is killed. For each team member death, an additional reinforcement will be lost. On the death of General Drek’Thar or Vanndar Stormpike, all reinforcements are lost and the team is defeated. At any point in time, if a team is reduced to zero reinforcements, the opposing team will win the battle. Defending your own teammates, towers, and key NPCs will be an important aspect of maintaining team resources and achieving victory in Alterac Valley.

Warmasters can be the boon or the bane of any team. They are an important element for the defense of your general or the defeat of the opposing general. Warlords and their general will be more closely linked in the next patch. Pulling one is a guarantee the other will come as well. Each team begins with four Warmasters. Destroying a tower will eliminate the associated Warmaster. Unlike the current game play, however, destroying the enemy tower will not add a Warmaster to your own side.

We will be changing the pace of the battle slightly with a reduction in the time needed to control a tower or graveyard. Where it currently takes five minutes to gain control, the time will be reduced to four minutes. The honor for capturing a tower will also be increased.

Graveyards can be an important resource for getting your teammates back into the battle more quickly. Currently, players can sometimes be sent to their starting tunnels far from the battlefront. This can often be an inconvenient location to respawn and more out of the way from the action than we would like, to correct this, players will instead respawn at a team-controlled graveyard. Should the team not have a graveyard under their control, they will respawn in the starting tunnel.

Players will only be awarded bonus honor during the battle for destroying enemy towers and slaying the enemy Captain. Once the battle is concluded, bonus honor will be awarded for intact towers, a surviving Captain, and for victory in battle. The bonus honor awarded should be similar to previous totals, but will reward players for taking more active roles in Alterac Valley toward defending or attacking key locations and NPCs.

Lastly, we are changing NPC interactions within Alterac Valley. We have reduced the number of elite NPCs in Stormpike and Frostwolf holds as well as sent all Commanders and Lieutenants out of Alterac Valley. They are currently in search of other battle opportunities. This should reduce the amount of NPCs that players will have to fight and place more focus on PvP combat over key locations on the map.

Strategy is the name of the game in Alterac Valley, and these changes will bring out the need for more teamwork and coordination from both the Horde and the Alliance as they vie for domination of this battleground.
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Rogues do it from behind

[Olofsson]

IMO hopefully this will end the PvE-zerg AV and bring back the good old avs where every inc of the map mattered
Back on the alliance side before x-realm BGs playing an AV took some time

Estimated queue time : 4 hours
Estimated time in AV : 4-8 hours.

But that was a long time ago, teh farfars tid, almost...
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Rogues do it from behind

[RootofEvil]

Heh, longest I've seen was a 33h AV, I played the last 3h or so of it. Good old times.

I guess this makes it a bit more tactical but if it just turns into turtling it will be very booring, but that remains to be seen.
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"On a related note: never wear 3D glasses and look at fullscreen winamp'esk visualisation while stoned, trust me on this one."

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The artist formerly known as Rootofevil, Avenge and Imperium

[Barbaro]

No more effortless honor
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[10:09] <Barbaro> you didn't DI enchilada yesterday!
[10:09] <gpq> cd!
[10:09] <gpq> I di:d eienne earlier
[10:13] <Barbaro> eienne? what a waste!

[Dera]

[Deveon]

i found the old AVs a drag.. NPCs all over the place keeping you from solo adventures to towers or whatnot..

just repeatedly bashing eachothers heads in for 12 hours with the occasional NPC assaulting you.. and diminishing honor returns..? *yawn*

fast paced and fun.. thats how I like it
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☺
WoW; Twilight's Hammer: Deveon - Shaman - lvl 70 {retired}

[Barbaro]

I find AV the most rewarding BG. They're all horrid pointless grinds, but at least AV is guaranteed honor regardless of wins or losses.
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[10:09] <Barbaro> you didn't DI enchilada yesterday!
[10:09] <gpq> cd!
[10:09] <gpq> I di:d eienne earlier
[10:13] <Barbaro> eienne? what a waste!

[Nazsnagga]

[Olofsson]

I think it'll be more plp guarding towers after they are tagged etc. as towers and GYs will have a bigger impact on the game. And i also think alot more ppl will help defending balinda and other important NPCs
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Rogues do it from behind

[varnik]

[RootofEvil]