New WoW battlefields

By Ellie Gibson Published 8 June, 2005

For hot PvP action.

Blizzard has announced the release of the first two player-vs-player battlegrounds for PC MMORPG World of Warcraft.

Described as “the single biggest update to the game yet” by Blizzard bigwig Mike Morhaime, the battlegrounds offer new map designs and game objectives and are designed for both expert and rubbish WoW players.

Alterac Valley sees two teams of up to 40 experienced players battling it out and features fully functioning bases, NPC defenders, PvP quests and unique allied monsters.

Bonus Honor points can be earned by achieving key objectives and, ultimately, by beating the other side into submission. Or to death, of course.

Warsong Gulch is designed for players who’ve reached level 21+ and offers a faster pace of play, with the average game lasting around 45 minutes. Two groups of 10 fight to capture the other team’s flag, receiving extra Honor points for a win.

Blizzard promises that there’s more to look forward to in the coming months, too: "We're excited that players can now experience Horde-vs-Alliance combat as it was meant to be, and we're looking forward to adding even more battlegrounds to the game with future updates,” says Morhaime.

Leeroy Jenkins was unavailable for comment.

Picture of Ellie.

About Ellie Gibson

Since joining Eurogamer in the mid 2000s, Ellie has written about subjects as diverse as the fall of Gizmondo, the rise of Hollyoaks actresses in Red Alert games and the noise a bear makes under NSFW circumstances.

Read more articles from Ellie by visiting the Ellie Gibson archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (9) Latest comment 7 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #1 7 years ago

    Alright yeah, so I'll be on to try this out later probably.

    'Leeroy Jenkins was unavailable for comment' hah, /snort.

  • Teeth #2 7 years ago

    ok, ok, I'll do it then

    LEEEEEROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO*smack*

    /slumps across keyboard

  • Tiiti #3 7 years ago

    Had some BG action in my lunch break. I think most people including myself were just running around killing anything coloured red. Huge battle mayhem :)

  • #4 7 years ago

    Hopefully this'll take all the gankers away from where I am playing.

    How long do we have to wait for dishonorable kills to give a negative to your ranking?

  • jimmyjimbob #5 7 years ago

    Cool, somewhere new to be GANK'ed in... LOL

  • Gurgeh #6 7 years ago

    You don't have to wait - from the patch notes:

    "Dishonorable kills - gained by killing a trivial Civilian NPC - now has a negative impact on a player's honor. Enough dishonorable kills will reduce a player's rank all the way to zero"

    Doesn't apply to players of course, but for those smart enough to go on a PvE server where PvP is optional that won't be a problem.

    Betters questions might be "how long do we have to wait for European realm forums?" or "why have there been no European events?" or "what happened to the ability to transfer characters between EU and US servers?"

  • #7 7 years ago

    >Doesn't apply to players of course,

    Why the fuck not? I mean really?

    /anger not directed at you Gurgeh

  • Bertie Verified Senior Staff Writer, Eurogamer.net #8 7 years ago

    I've got two dishonourable kills! :o

  • Gurgeh #9 7 years ago

    >>Doesn't apply to players of course,

    >Why the fuck not? I mean really?

    Because high level PvPers could create or recruit low-levels to shield them in PvP. Mage hits a mixed group of high and low levels with an area-effect and instantly picks up a stack of dishonour points. The end result would be no area-effect spells being used by either side.