WoWGrrl's World

History

I've played RPGs for a long time - the first one I remember was on the Commodore Pet, and when I got my Commodore 64 I had to run a "Pet emulator" (which sounds cooler than it was) to be able to continue to play Dungeon.

When I left home and went to my only year of University in 1991, I got onto the Internet and was introduced to MUDs online. Text-based multi-user dimensions that were much like the Zork series I had played on my '64 while I still lived at home with my folks, except there were other people playing.

On the MUDs I played, I never ever got into Player Killing (PKing) because I found it annoying. I was definitely a Player-vs-Environment (PvE) player, preferring my opponents to be "stupid" in the way that only computer-generated, low-tech beings can be.

I finally got into some Player-vs-Player (PvP) action in RuneScape, by playing Castle Wars (their name for "capture the flag"). I found Castle Wars to be a great lot of fun, mainly because death meant very little, and the whole point was to keep going and not worry about "concequences".

Warsong Gulch

Now, in World of Warcraft, I'm getting into the long-standing war between the Horde and the Alliance by participating in the Battlegrounds.

At level 10 you can start getting into the Warsong Gulch (aka WSG, aka "capture the flag") battleground and you'll be placed in an Instance that contains other folks from level 10 thru to level 19. I didn't start until level 21, so I've been playing in the same 20-29 level range Instance throughout my experience with it.

What a great lot of fun! Sure, sometimes I get killed 14 times in a round but I've also gained a respectable number of honorable kills, killing blows and honor points myself so it all works out.

Apparently I am told I have to wait until Tuesday for the new ranks to be handed out. Right now I'm essentially rankless.

Arathi Basin

AB is another Battleground that I'm high enough level to get into, but it doesn't have a 10-19 play range like WSG does - you have to be at least lvl 20 to get in. I haven't checked this one out but the game played is different than in WSG, in AB it's a 'resource collection' task. I'll write about it when I dive into there, but for now I'm having fun with WSG.

Rewards For Participating

I don't know exactly how it works, perhaps the WoW website gives that info but I'm too lazy to check - all I know is that after a round of killing and being killed, I end up with items in my inventory that I can trade with an NPC near the battleground master. Three of these (insignia's?) are worth 25 silver coins and 1200 experience, which is a nice payout for a low level!

In addition to the financial payout, there's the honor points accumulated, and the Honorable Kills, plus you get a military title applied before your player name once you get a rank!

Plus it's fun to change focus occasionally and kill other players instead of killing mindless monsters.

Plus hey, maybe you'll make a few new friends for killing those mindless monsters and completing more quests on the outside, so you can get big, burly and strong for the Battlegrounds!!

Related posts:

1. PvP fun continues in World of Warcraft
2. Ways To Be Sneaky In PvP Battlegrounds
3. Playing the Battlefields in World of Warcraft