Battlegrounds are instanced areas used for player versus player combat. Each classic battleground (Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley) has two red instance entrance portals: one for the Alliance, and one for the Horde. Crossing these portals was originally one of the ways to enter the queue for their respective battlegrounds. Now, to enter the queue for any battleground, the player must seek out a Battlemaster, which can be found at the portal or in any capital city, or do so through the Player vs. Player tab. Once inside the instance, the two teams will engage in large-scale PvP, with various objectives determining the winner. Players will earn honor points making PvP rewards available.
If a character goes AFK, he/she will leave the battleground and gain the Deserterdebuff. This prevents entry to another battleground for a 15 minute duration. You can report an inactive player by right clicking the player's portrait and selecting "Report AFK". When enough reports are registered, a 60 second debuff will begin to count down. Once the timer is up a new debuff will appear that will prevent the player from gaining any honor or marks while it is on. This debuff can be negated as soon as the player engages in PvP combat. This system is often abused, since a player can have good reasons for not participating in PVP, for example when he is defending.
No factions are directly associated with the battleground, but members of The Silver Covenant and The Sunreavers appear during its battleground holiday.
Base
Neither side has a fixed base as teams alternate playing offense by attacking the keep and defense by preventing the attack
Exterior entrance
There is no exterior entrance to the battleground as in the classic battlegrounds, but the Strand is presumably found south of Dragonblight.
No reputation can be gained while playing in the Isle of Conquest, however the Alliance is represented by members of the Alliance Vanguard and the Horde by members of the the Horde Expedition
There is no exterior entrance to the battleground as in the classic battlegrounds, but the Isle of Conquest is located northwest of Sholazar Basin and west of Icecrown.
There are no specific reputation factions for the Battle for Gilneas, but the Alliance are represented by the local Gilnean worgen and the Horde is reperesented by the invading Forsaken.
Base
There are no bases, just initial spawn points (Forsaken start from the Forsaken Landing Site from a ship docked along the northern coast and worgen from the Gilnean Outpost in the southwest).
Exterior entrance
There is no exterior entrance to the battleground as in the classic battlegrounds, but the Battle for Gilneas appears to be located northwest of Gilneas City.
Originally slated to be an Alterac Valley style instance, this battleground was far enough along in development that there were even Horde and Alliance entrances in Azshara. It never saw release, however, and with the zone overhaul in Cataclysm removing the physical location in which it would have existed, its fate seems to have been sealed.
Blizzard stated that XP for playing in the battlegrounds has been added in Patch 3.2.
Slahtz and Behsten are the NPCs that can eliminate your experience gaining for a 10 fee should you decide you want to stay a certain level in the battlegrounds. Note that turning off xp will do so for all sources of experience, including quests.
In Patch 3.1.3, Alterac Valley (AV) you can earn XP by killing mobs, however the XP gain is very low if a lot of your faction players are within range.
By glitch or by design, XP awards were increased to move twinks to next bracket quickly, but Call to Honor weekend play still acts as a multiplier of this increased amount, allowing the player to add one level in as little as three wins.[citation needed] Players that know this can use PvP for leveling. Example: Level 42 to level 47 was done on a Sunday in about 5 hours. Incredible XP! :)
Patch 4.0.3 (2010-11-15): New Battleground Level Brackets.
Patch 1.8.4 (2005-12-5): Battles must now last at least ten minutes after the start of the battle in order for the losing team to receive a Mark of Honor.
Patch 1.8.0 (2005-10-10): Upon completion of a Battleground, the winning side will be awarded three Marks of Honor while the losing side will be awarded one Mark of Honor.
In the Battlegrounds, you will now automatically be resurrected by Spirit Healers unless you choose to decline.
Characters that use the Battlemaster to enter a Battleground will now port back to that Battlemaster when they leave the Battleground for any reason.
Fixed range check for removing insignia from players in Battlegrounds.
Entering a battleground now resets the timer for the AFK flag. This should prevent players being kicked by the AFK timer moments after they enter the Battleground instance.
Using the /who command while in a Battleground instance will now only display players in your instance.
Patch 1.6.0 (2005-07-12): Battleground scoreboards now display the time elapsed in a battleground.
Patch 1.5.0 (2005-06-07): Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch added.
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World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade.
World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
World of Warcraft: Cataclysm
fee should you decide you want to stay a certain level in the battlegrounds. Note that turning off xp will do so for all sources of experience, including quests.
World of Warcraft US Community Site New Battleground Brackets by Blizzard Entertainment, Dec 1, 2010 3:54:23 AM UTC
Blue posts at MMO-Champion Cataclysm Currency Changes Explained *Update #184 by Nethaera 2010/09/15 06:52:08 PM
