Grants
Legend
Recently I’ve been giving some thought to the lack of World PvP options for F2P players. Higher level players have designated World PvP zones (Halaa, Wintergrasp, Tol Barad, etc.), but there is no real equivalent available to level 20 characters. Previous attempts to organize World PvP events (such as the Zul’Gurub event last month) seem to have been well received, and more frequent World PvP strikes me as something much of the F2P community would have an interest in.
This all started when I was running around doing exploration achievements a while back and I happened upon what was left of Southshore after the Forsaken plague-bombed it (you bastards). I was reminded of the massive World PvP battles that used to happen between Tarren Mill and Southshore during classic WoW, especially before Battlegrounds were released. No queues, no objectives, no scoreboards, just good old-fashioned killin’ people. Hillsbrad was the place to be for large-scale PvP back in the day, I wanted to see if I could figure out a way to get something similar going that is specifically aimed at F2P players.
With that in mind, my goal here is to put together a list of locations that are reasonably well-suited to World PvP for F2Ps (though honestly these places could work at any level range). My hope is that one or more of these locations could be thought of as places where players interested in World PvP can go in order to find others looking for a fight, or can be used as battlefields for future organized World PvP events.
Locations need to have certain qualities in order to be suitable for this kind of thing. The main qualities I was looking for were:
Faction-Neutrality
Locations should not offer significant competitive advantages to either faction. This means:
Low Probability of Interference
Players should ideally be able to PvP without monsters or high-level players interfering (No one wants 90s flying by every 10 minutes wiping out an entire group with one AoE). Suitable places should have:
Accessibility
Potential locations should be easy to get to. It’s a hassle to have to swim or wall-climb for 10 minutes to get to the battlefield. Same if summons are required. For optimal ease of access, sites should be:
Note: Many of these do require travel through high-level zones to get the nearby flight paths. However, once you’ve done the run once you should be able to get to these places fairly easily by flying.
It is difficult to find anywhere that fulfills all the above criteria perfectly. However, here are a few places that do pretty well:
Locations
Blackrock Mountain
Zone: BRM is considered its own zone, between Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes.
Nearest FP: Flamestar Post (N) or Iron Summit (N).
Description: Once an important destination for end-game raiding, the interior of Blackrock Mountain is now largely empty thanks to Dungeon Finder. An outer ring surrounds the Forgewright’s Tomb, which hangs suspended by chains over a lake of lava. Elemental shamans and priests would have a lot of fun here.
Stormrage Barrow Den
Zone: Moonglade
Nearest FP: Moonglade (A) (H)
Description: There are three barrow dens in the area; the only one suitable for this is the central one. If you’ve ever leveled a night elf, you’ve probably seen this layout. There are winding tunnels and a number of smaller side rooms, abundant opportunities for using line-of-sight and such. There are level 90 wardens at the entrance, so fighting would be confined to the inside of the den.
Caer Darrow
Zone: Western Plaguelands
Nearest FP: Chillwind Camp (A) Andorhal (H)
Description: Home of the Scholomance dungeon, Caer Darrow is something of a ghost town on the surface (pun obviously intended). Much like Blackrock Mountain, the addition of Dungeon Finder has eliminated much of the need for players to travel here. The island features the main keep as well as a number of smaller buildings.
Seradane
Zone: The Hinterlands
Nearest FP: Stormfeather Outpost (A) Revantusk Village (H)
Description: Seradane is the location of one of the four portals to the Emerald Dream where the world-boss Dragons of Nightmare used to spawn. Those dragons have since been removed, leaving the area empty save for the portal and a few old night elf ruins. The Horde does have a bit of a trek to get here from Revantusk Village, especially compared to the proximity of Stormfeather Outpost for Alliance.
These are four of the more promising locations I’ve come up with. Any thoughts or ideas? Feel free to suggest any other locations you think might work well for this kind of thing.
Additional Suggestions:
Violet Stand (Credit: Kincaide)
Zone: Crystalsong Forest
Nearest FP: Dalaran (N)
Description: The Violet Stand encompasses the area directly beneath Dalaran, and can be reached from the city via a teleportation crystal. The surrounding area features varied, multi-level terrain, a number of Night Elf ruins (potentially excellent jumping and LoS features), as well as a large natural area near the Great Tree. This area is devoid of hostile NPCs and should see very little traffic from high-level players.
This all started when I was running around doing exploration achievements a while back and I happened upon what was left of Southshore after the Forsaken plague-bombed it (you bastards). I was reminded of the massive World PvP battles that used to happen between Tarren Mill and Southshore during classic WoW, especially before Battlegrounds were released. No queues, no objectives, no scoreboards, just good old-fashioned killin’ people. Hillsbrad was the place to be for large-scale PvP back in the day, I wanted to see if I could figure out a way to get something similar going that is specifically aimed at F2P players.
With that in mind, my goal here is to put together a list of locations that are reasonably well-suited to World PvP for F2Ps (though honestly these places could work at any level range). My hope is that one or more of these locations could be thought of as places where players interested in World PvP can go in order to find others looking for a fight, or can be used as battlefields for future organized World PvP events.
Locations need to have certain qualities in order to be suitable for this kind of thing. The main qualities I was looking for were:
Faction-Neutrality
Locations should not offer significant competitive advantages to either faction. This means:
- Not in Alliance or Horde territory (Contested only).
- No guards nearby for either side.
- Towns and graveyards for each faction are within equal or near-equal distance.
Low Probability of Interference
Players should ideally be able to PvP without monsters or high-level players interfering (No one wants 90s flying by every 10 minutes wiping out an entire group with one AoE). Suitable places should have:
- No enemies nearby.
- Minimal traffic from high-level players.
- No real reason for anyone else to be there.
Accessibility
Potential locations should be easy to get to. It’s a hassle to have to swim or wall-climb for 10 minutes to get to the battlefield. Same if summons are required. For optimal ease of access, sites should be:
- Located in Kalimdor or Eastern Kingdoms.
- Reasonably close to flight paths for both sides.
Note: Many of these do require travel through high-level zones to get the nearby flight paths. However, once you’ve done the run once you should be able to get to these places fairly easily by flying.
It is difficult to find anywhere that fulfills all the above criteria perfectly. However, here are a few places that do pretty well:
Locations
Blackrock Mountain
Zone: BRM is considered its own zone, between Searing Gorge and Burning Steppes.
Nearest FP: Flamestar Post (N) or Iron Summit (N).
Description: Once an important destination for end-game raiding, the interior of Blackrock Mountain is now largely empty thanks to Dungeon Finder. An outer ring surrounds the Forgewright’s Tomb, which hangs suspended by chains over a lake of lava. Elemental shamans and priests would have a lot of fun here.
Stormrage Barrow Den
Zone: Moonglade
Nearest FP: Moonglade (A) (H)
Description: There are three barrow dens in the area; the only one suitable for this is the central one. If you’ve ever leveled a night elf, you’ve probably seen this layout. There are winding tunnels and a number of smaller side rooms, abundant opportunities for using line-of-sight and such. There are level 90 wardens at the entrance, so fighting would be confined to the inside of the den.
Caer Darrow
Zone: Western Plaguelands
Nearest FP: Chillwind Camp (A) Andorhal (H)
Description: Home of the Scholomance dungeon, Caer Darrow is something of a ghost town on the surface (pun obviously intended). Much like Blackrock Mountain, the addition of Dungeon Finder has eliminated much of the need for players to travel here. The island features the main keep as well as a number of smaller buildings.
Seradane
Zone: The Hinterlands
Nearest FP: Stormfeather Outpost (A) Revantusk Village (H)
Description: Seradane is the location of one of the four portals to the Emerald Dream where the world-boss Dragons of Nightmare used to spawn. Those dragons have since been removed, leaving the area empty save for the portal and a few old night elf ruins. The Horde does have a bit of a trek to get here from Revantusk Village, especially compared to the proximity of Stormfeather Outpost for Alliance.
These are four of the more promising locations I’ve come up with. Any thoughts or ideas? Feel free to suggest any other locations you think might work well for this kind of thing.
Additional Suggestions:
Violet Stand (Credit: Kincaide)
Zone: Crystalsong Forest
Nearest FP: Dalaran (N)
Description: The Violet Stand encompasses the area directly beneath Dalaran, and can be reached from the city via a teleportation crystal. The surrounding area features varied, multi-level terrain, a number of Night Elf ruins (potentially excellent jumping and LoS features), as well as a large natural area near the Great Tree. This area is devoid of hostile NPCs and should see very little traffic from high-level players.
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