I know I haven't been the most enthusiastic voice about Pandaria in recent months. Thus, this post seems strange for me to write, given the things I was saying about the expansion not two weeks ago. I suppose it was silly of me to think I'd be rid of Warcraft even after a break that lasted the summer... and here I am, plotting and scheming again.
That all being said, I think there's an opportunity that the Allies have here. Not only to earn phat loots, and not only to engage in roleplay- but to change the narrative of the entire server. Hear me out.
There are about to be huge things that go down. The patch notes clearly state that Theramore is about to get stomped- making this another Alliance settlement that's been put to the torch, and Theramore is FAR larger than Southshore or Astranaar were. This is a huge blow. Point being: The narrative of the game seems to state that the Horde is winning. Now, we can't control which areas the Devs blow up- but, even if Theramore wasn't about to get deep sixed, the narrative of Feathermoon as a server seems to state that the Horde is beating the Alliance, and has been for some time.
However. I don't believe the Horde players are intrinsically better at PvP than the Alliance are; they're just better coordinated as a whole, and have more practice. But neither of these are conditions that the Alliance can't reproduce. We can work on coordination. We can practice. We can win in PvP, in Arenas, BGs and open-world engagements.
Still, this alone wouldn't change the narrative. To do that, we'd need something more- recognition. The ability to walk onto a battlefield and have people listen. The Horde achieves this more effectively and more often than we do, but again, this is something we can reproduce.
To do that, we would need brand recognition. This is more difficult to achieve without a unified <Guild Tag>, but not impossible. Here's my plan.
1) Create a series of Arena teams that would share a name theme. The name itself is irrelevant; I don’t care if it ends up being <Hinote’s Volcanic Fan Club>, but there has to be a common string between them. <Rider Strike Team 1>, <Rider Strike Team 4>, to beat my own guild’s drum- something to let people know that you’re about to go up against a division of a larger organization. And you’d need a fair number of such teams- I’d say, assuming 5-man teams, you’d want 6+ teams out there. Eventually, people would start recognizing your organization in the Arenas. But that’s not enough.
2) Neither normal or Rated Battlegrounds allow team names like Arenas do, but they’re an essential part of building a strong PvP base. Furthermore, if we have to work with random people, we’ve got to practice having good chat-based command skills. This will serve us well in world PvP, and will allow the use of macros- for instance, having “Randoms defend the Blacksmith! <Rider Team 3>, move to attack the Stables!” bound to a hotkey wouldn’t only be good practice, but would again put our brand out there to be recognized.
3) World PvP is where the whole thing comes to fruition. By communicating with our own team over TS or Skype, and coordinating the other Allies through chat, we begin winning more Feathermoon-only engagements than we lose. Eventually, the narrative changes. “The Allies used to always lose, but since Theramore got stomped, they got their act together and pushed us back.”
The drawback is how large of an operation this would have to be. Assembling the needed core of PvPers would be a huge undertaking- just to get the bodies on the field, much less to find enough people with enough desire to do this for it to be effective. But IF we’re interested in moving the war in our favor (Dev actions aside), I think this would be the path to take.
Thoughts?
Winning the War in 5.0
Moderator: Guild Officer
Winning the War in 5.0
[Fells] says: I LOBE DACNIEBG kiTTLES
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Re: Winning the War in 5.0
Sorry, but I'm still somewhat confused - is this an idea, a suggestion, or an offer?
Re: Winning the War in 5.0
Both an idea and an offer, I suppose, but mostly an idea for now. I usually put my thoughts up for public comment even before they've finished solidifying in my own head.
[Fells] says: I LOBE DACNIEBG kiTTLES
Re: Winning the War in 5.0
I'm in. I see a few things we need:
1) two five man PVP teams
2) a day where we do rated BGs
3) Follow up with World PVP
Now, I may hve more time this year as my supper club is being reduced to every-other-week. That being said, first and foremost I want to make sure that TRI Hangover has a good schedule of raiding/dungeoning.
1) two five man PVP teams
2) a day where we do rated BGs
3) Follow up with World PVP
Now, I may hve more time this year as my supper club is being reduced to every-other-week. That being said, first and foremost I want to make sure that TRI Hangover has a good schedule of raiding/dungeoning.
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Re: Winning the War in 5.0
I am definitely interested in more PvP shenaniganry if you find yourself in need of an extra healer. Organized PvP in Cataclysm was the most fun I've had in PvP since WoW launched, but sadly it just was not meant to be.
Re: Winning the War in 5.0
I would game for helping out with this, the only problem I see is I suck at PvP XD
"A little extra DPS never killed anyon... Oh wait."
"Still alive, I see. Clearly you're not trying hard enough."
"Still alive, I see. Clearly you're not trying hard enough."
Re: Winning the War in 5.0
Loreli wrote:I would game for helping out with this, the only problem I see is I suck at PvP XD
So do I. Still, willing to throw a Pitch at this if I have time- I'll have to see how bad my altoholicism is in MoP.
Will you carry me down the aisle that final day
With your tears and cold hands shaking from the weight
When you lower me down beneath that sky of gray
Let the rain fall down and wash away your pain
With your tears and cold hands shaking from the weight
When you lower me down beneath that sky of gray
Let the rain fall down and wash away your pain
Re: Winning the War in 5.0
Loreli wrote:I would game for helping out with this, the only problem I see is I suck at PvP XD
Well, the only way to get better at it is to train!
[Fells] says: I LOBE DACNIEBG kiTTLES
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Re: Winning the War in 5.0
Ulthanon wrote:Loreli wrote:I would game for helping out with this, the only problem I see is I suck at PvP XD
Well, the only way to get better at it is to train!
Also, 5.0.4 included the change that builds PvP Resilience into every character, so all damage other players deal to you is reduced by at least 40%, even in full PvE gear.
Although, considering that PvP Power hasn't really been added into the game yet for most players, this has also had the side effect of making healers nigh-invulnerable in PvP, so things are probably going to be weird for everyone pre-Pandaria.