First off let me say this, I am glad that Blizzard revamped the PvP system awhile back to allow for other servers to link together but the way the current system is set up might be in need of a few changes. Let me explain...
Years back before the BC expansion, I started doing BG's when I hit 60 on my alliance warrior and hunter. Other than the painfully long wait times it was pretty fun. You could actually get in on a BG and not get your ass handed to you by some nub in a top of the line PvP gear set. Back then to get the gear you had to get the rank and to get the rank you had to do the work for it.
A buddy of mine made GM and it took him months of grinding in BG's to get ranked and it was not about turtling and mooching the points. He had to actually know what he was doing. The way the system is now, anyone can obtain the best BG gear with simply cashing in points without really being good or knowing what they are doing...
It's pretty simple. Make a 19,29,39 whatever twink and run them in every BG you can get in. Chances are you will be geared pretty good if not great and because there is a cap on the gear at the lower lvl's it's not hard to get the stuff, so unless everyone else is doing this too (which only about 10% maybe 20% of the people playing do this) you can pretty much just set back for a few weeks or a month and soak up the honor points.
In my case (just using this as an example) I would love to have the Merciless Gladiator's Pursuit set which was the Arena Season 2 Set. Now you can get this with 65250 honor points and marks. Yes I know there is better out there and yes I know some people have actually worked their asses of in the arena to get this. This is just an example.
So what does that mean? Well it's pretty simple. Go set in on any and every BG you can, don't put any effort in it or try to understand the strategy behind it. Focus on trying to kill as many people as you can for the honor points, forget about actually winning (and collecting more honor points) and your one mark.
Do the math, for next to no effort you can obtain a really good armor set that someone like myself wants to get from actually winning. The armor set's use to be a way to show your skill and dedication, now they are just there for anyone to have. Now don't get me wrong, I know you have to put forth some effort to get 65250 honor points but lets be realistic here, it's not really that hard if you want to go and kill anyone you see for the honor points.
Ok, so how did I come to the conclusion that the PvP system is out of whack? Well, I started going to BG's a few weeks ago when I hit 70 so I could obtain better gear for raiding with my guild. My main reason for going after the PvP gear for raiding was the stats on the PvP gear is 10 times better than the stuff I have now and would help me and the guild while we where in the raids so we could actually do the end game instances and I could hopefully get the better raiding gear from the drops. Heading into the end game instances in dropped or quest reward green's and blue's is suicide at best and your not really helping the raid group the way you should with DPS, health if you get aggro, ect....
So I started back to BG's after almost 2 years of being gone (I took a break from playing). As I was trudging along through AV,AB and WSG I came to the sad realization that I stood a better chance in the end game instances than I did in these BG's full of nubs with full PvP gear sets. I use the word nub because I encountered more gnome rouges that had no idea how to play the class and when confronted with someone who could actually PvP either ran away or relied on other players to pull them out of trouble. I call them SAP gnomes because that's pretty much all they are good for. Killing anyone geared to the teeth with 12k of HP and over 10k of armor is next to impossible alone if your wearing the best you can get from quest rewards, AH buys or just standard drops.
And while there is no cure for stupid and Blizzard has no control over how someone plays, they should find a way to weed out the so called twinks from the general population. If I went into one more BG and saw a squishy wearing a full set of greens running the flag or a fully geared warrior running off to get an easy honor kill or a revenge kill instead of protecting an asset I was going to put my fist through my monitor.
As an example of what I encountered in one WSG (which pretty much sums up what they all ended up like). This is the way it went down...
Zone in
Chat: Buffs PLZ
spam buffing starts
Everyone starts inspecting everyone else
A few lvl 65, 66 and 67's with a mix of blues and greens
I say: Ok, I'll go on D. Need at least one or two to stay and help
No one says anything
I say: Another hunter (we have 4 in the group) and a pally or shammy plz stay here on D
No one says anything
Gate drops, WSG starts and the FR clears out leaving me and my pet alone
I drop a trap at the flag, turn on track human, put my pet on aggressive and wait...
BG map shows everyone in the middle of the field fighting and dieing and
1 minute into the BG I see on my map 4 alliance running up the tunnel and just as I'm about to say in raid chat we have INC, sap, I'm asleep and down to half health. My pet aggro's and starts tearing into this SAP gnome rouge who then runs away. Here comes the rest of them. Mage, warrior, pally and priest.
I am now dead.
Our flag has been picked up and on it's way back to their base.
This process repeats it's self again at which point I realize no one has made any attempt at getting their flag so I head over to grab it. Nope, they are using their heads and have 3 on D and I never even made it to the flag.
They grabbed our flag for the third time and then turtled it while my group ran head long into them dieing and giving them free honor points. Even after I said many times in raid to stop and meet up at our base so that we could protect ourselves and maybe they would get bored and just cap. I ended up leaving the BG after almost 5 minutes of this because I was not going to just give them my honor points and I was not going to go hide someplace and wait for the alliance to finally say enough and cap the flag so I could get my one mark and honor points. Besides the fact that they actually ran our flag back into our flag room and then sat there killing us as we tried to take it back. Sad, very sad...
Now I realize that this sounds like a rant about the poor team work on the part of the Horde on my server and the shear lack of common sense (and I guess to a point it is) but it's more a rant about how someone can get the gear and then dominate. Really not earning said gear in my opinion. What's next, Legendary weapons if you turn in enough bolts of cloth? (Ok, I know that's a bit extreme).
If anyone has read this far I'm sure your saying, then stop bitching and go to the BG's and do like everyone else; run around with no goal in mind, loose, get your honor points and marks no matter what, and get your gear.
I would, but unlike a lot of people, I get satisfaction from earning what I have and to me getting the higher level PvP gear is something that should be earned. I look at it now as I look at a simple gray item that drops off a trash mob. Anyone can get it. I admire the people I see who are wearing the end game raiding gear because there is no mistake that it took skill and knowledge to get it. Even if they kind of suck they still can not simply set back and let everyone else around them do all the work. It requires team work.
So what do I think needs to be done? Not that anyone really cares what I think, but since you read this far and you asked I'll tell you. I think Blizzard needs to put some kind of check and balance in the PvP area of the game. In my opinion, the difference from say a level 61 to a level 70 is just too extreme with the way the system is now allowing anyone to "purchase" the high level gear at 70 with nothing more than points and marks. The way it use to be was if you entered a BG as say a level 62 you stood a chance because not everyone was wearing the best gear sets unless they earned them and not everyone had the conviction, skill or drive to meet the challenge to be ranked in order to get the gear. Sure you ran into people that had good raiding gear on but you still stood half a chance.
In my opinion, they need to cut the level range in half. Instead of say a 61 getting into a BG that is mostly geared out 70's make it 61 to 65 and 66 to 70. I know better than to enter a BG at 61, 62, 63 or even 66. I am only going to hinder the others who are 70 and taking up a spot that another 70 could be in and help them to win. I am like a lot of other people. I see a 65 standing there and I want to kill them and teach them a lesson. I go out of my way to find them again and again because that is easy honor kill and I know I can blow right through them on my way to an objective. So I would never enter a BG at an odd level simply to be a target for the other side and taking up a needed spot on our side.
The BG's should also be set up in different categories or brackets based on honor. Someone with 2000 honor has no business being in a BG with people who have earned a life time of 200k plus honor. Even if they mooched half that honor they are still far more superior to the guy with 2000 honor just simply because of the gear they have on not to mention they more than likely know more about the PvP aspect of the game than the guy with 2000 honor (assuming the guy with 2000 honor never PvP'ed before).
My idea is to have an honor ranked system where you need to meet a certain requirement to get in a particular BG, kind of like the level system is now. You need to be in a certain range of honor points to get in a certain BG. Say, for example a difference of plus or minus 2000 honor points either way. As an example: A level 65 in the points bracket of 2000 points to 3999 points. You are going up against people 61 to 65 that are geared pretty much like you and have the same ability to get the armor to survive more than 2 hits. Then from say 4000 to 5999 you are in the next category and so on until you hit 100k honor for example. After 100k honor then it's just a matter of going from there to catch everyone else in the 100k plus honor bracket and your starting out with pretty decent gear in that points bracket.
At any rate, that is my rant about the imbalance in the PvP system as I see it and my ideas to change it and make it more fun for someone who has never done it before and make those of us that have PvP'ed in the past want to do it again when we are starting a new toon or what ever.
Oh, and one last thing, this topic is named, "To PvP or not to PvP". My answer is no. I will survive on my quest reward greens and blues until I can get good upgrades from dungeon drops. It will take me longer to do that than if I was to PvP but I know I will have earned my gear and didn't have to die to a twinked out gnome that really can't fight but they simply have enough armor and HP to get away from me so their friends can save them. The stress of the stupidity I see in the BG's and lack of organization to me is just not worth the reward.
Agree, disagree, what ever... Just my two cents and I know it's only worth a cent and a half so thanks for reading my ramblings and happy hunting.
And one last thing, if anyone was offended by me saying "SAP gnomes", "Mooches" or "stupid people in BG's" then your the ones I was talking about...
