WAR PvP ruins it in WoW

Over the weekend I was playing a bit of WoW and I heard some people talking about the new battleground, Strand of the Ancients. It sounded pretty neat, so I thought I'd give it a shot. Overall it is a neat battleground. There is a beach landing, tanks to fight in and a big fort to take. In the end thought, it was not very fun for me.

I have not done much PvP in WoW since I started playing WAR. There really seemed to be no reason to play that aspect of the game. It seems I was right. While PvE in Wow may be great, it is really obvious that PvP is just an afterthought. Not that there is anything wrong with that for WoW.

Some things that just don't work for me:

• No Bolster. Having to wait until the latter levels to be competitive is just a bad design decision. You could go in there as a 72, but you won't have very much fun versus 80's.
• Cross-Realm. When you go into a battleground, your teammates and enemies are from different servers. This does make getting in a match quicker, which is in line with WoW's honor grind. Rivalry is a big part of PvP in games, without it WoW's battlegrounds lose some excitement.
• Rogues. Say what you will about Witch Elves, but I would take them any day over a WoW Rogue. I play a Protection Warrior and heres how it goes: Rogue saps me, does a couple of attacks and re-enters stealth. Repeat. I know I can break it once or twice, but they are able to get stealthed again pretty quick. Must be a certain tree, as they are usually warrior food.
  
• No Point. The battlegrounds contribute to nothing. Lake Wintergrasp allows your side to get more experience points and Stone Keeper's Shards. That is pretty much it.
  
• Feels clunky. This is highly subjective, but the WoW PvP just feels bad when playing. It is most likely due to my class choice, but it just didn't feel fluid.
• Choice. Again, this is probably class subjective, but it feels like there is a lot less choice of how to PvP in WoW. In WAR, there are the 3 mastery trees (aka talent trees) but there are also tactic choices and morale ability choices. I feel like I can do a lot more experimentation in WAR.

I'm not sure I will go back to PvP in WoW. I'll likely check out Wintergrasp... but I don't see myself touching a battleground again. Before WAR, I used to do them for a change of pace once in a while, and then to get my Gladiator Shield Wall. Now, as I have no need for end-game gear (and you can actually craft some anyways)... there really is no reason to go back. At least Blizzard made the right decision not forcing people to PvP for entry level raid gear.

Posted in: WAR,WoW