Yesterday, Game Director Tom Chilton gave us a MoP PvP treasure chest of info.
Mists of Pandaria is launching with the largest amount of new PvP content in the game’s history; with two Battlegrounds featuring all new gameplay styles that we have never seen before and a brand new arena.
The first of the shiny Battlegrounds coming with launch is The Silvershard Mines, where players escort one of many mine carts — using strategically located switches to change tracks — to a supply depot to score points. Players can attack the opposing team, trying to slow down their cart, or stop it entirely.
The Temple of Kotmogu contains four artifacts located on different parts of the map, that players use to score points. Holding the artifact in the center will score you more points than one of the other locations, but keeping track of the other 3 relics will be a challenge.
The new “Downvote” system allows players to downvote two Battlegrounds of their choice, unless it is the active Weekend Battleground, making it less likely they will be stuck in a Battleground they don’t enjoy. No word on when the new Battlegrounds will be added to the RBG system yet, but let’s hope it isn’t too long after launch. The new additions brings the total number of Battlegrounds to ten with six active arena maps.
Speaking of Arenas, there are a few changes in store for the Arena crowd.
Along with the addition of the Tol’vir Proving grounds, players will be able to see the class and spec of the opposing team — though they won’t be able to see their glyphs and exact talents. They will be able to change their own talents in the staging area prior to the match, so players can try to counter what others might be using.
World PvP is getting a kick in the pants, too.
Chilton confirmed MoP won’t have a version of Wintergrasp/Tol Barad, saying, “We’re deliberately trying to get people out into the world and these areas ended up being more like instanced areas than World PvP.”
With the addition of Cross-Realm-Zones and World Bosses (Hooray!) as well as a shared daily quest hub, Blizzard is hoping to create more organic and spontaneous PvP in the world. They’re even adding in an item that will dismount players on a flying mount.
Places like the Black Market Auction House, have the potential to be prime brawl spots on PvP servers, while players on PvE servers won’t feel forced into PvP unless they chose to participate.
In addition to all that good stuff, they’re nerfing the city guards on PvP realms to make raids on the major cities more attractive. The guards will not hit as brutally and will take longer to respawn — they will remain as is on PvE realms.
Citing new technology enabling them to differentiate PvP realms from PvE realms, when asked about future possibilities Chilton said, “It’s always a possibility. We want to see how things go with these changes first. We don’t want to promise any big plans at this point in time, but we are always thinking of ways we can add to the experience where we can.”
Things are looking better and better for PvP players this expansion, crunchy PvP goodness in healthy doses.
Will you be tempted to queue up for these new areas?
