Community Team: Joining us today to discuss the future of World of Warcraft Battlegrounds, including the upcoming epic siege-style Battleground, Isle of Conquest, is Lead Content Designer Cory Stockton. First, let’s discuss Battleground participation during the leveling process.
Q: As it’s something that has been discussed at length for some time now within the community, where are we at with allowing for players to obtain experience through Player vs. Player (PvP) combat and Battlegrounds?
Cory Stockton: We plan to implement this in patch 3.2.0. We have wanted to allow players to earn experience through Battlegrounds for a long time now and it’s great to be able to finally deliver this feature to players. Experience will be granted based on honor gain from actions, not kills. For example, if you capture a flag in Warsong Hold, you would gain experience, but killing a player would not grant experience.

Q: If players in the lower level ranges choose to utilize Battlegrounds as a means of leveling their characters, how will the experience gains compare to the Player vs. Environment (PvE) experience?
Cory Stockton: This is something that we have thought about quite a bit. We want Battleground experience to be rewarding, but we also don’t want it to be the fastest way for players to level up. Based on that, players can expect to earn experience at a rate that is a bit slower than questing at the same level, for the same amount of time.

Q: Will rewards of some sort for winning a Battleground match be available?
Cory Stockton: Battleground rewards are high on the list of features that we would like to get in the game. We are not planning to implement this for patch 3.2.0 but we are currently working on it and expect to implement it into a future patch. We are planning to let players roll on mostly greens and the occasional blue item at the end of each Battleground. These items will be highly optimized by class, level, and talent specialization.

Community Team: Given that gaining experience through PvP game play is a rather substantial addition to the World of Warcraft leveling process, there is bound to be some concern among players that enjoy staying at a particular level to participate only in specific level brackets of the Battlegrounds, otherwise known as “twinking.”
Q: Do these players still have an avenue to remain at a level of their choosing while still being able to engage in PvP combat?
Cory Stockton: Yes, players will have access to a new option that will allow them to turn off experience gain in PVP. This option also ensures that you will only be matched against other players that have set the same switch. Players can activate this option by talking to new NPCs, Behsten and Slahtz, near the Battlemasters in Orgrimmar or Stormwind. This new ability will cost 10 gold to turn on or off each time.

Q: If these players disable the ability to gain experience, will this apply to PvE content as well?
Cory Stockton: Yes, this option will apply to PvE content as well as PvP.

Community Team: Shifting gears a bit, let’s talk about the ambitious new Battleground coming in the next major content patch, Isle of Conquest. We understand it is to be a large-scale Battleground allowing for forty players on either side of the siege.
Q: What player level brackets will have access to this Battleground?
Cory Stockton: The brackets will be the same as they are for Strand of the Ancients, so a 71-79 bracket and an 80 bracket.

Q: What is unique about Isle of Conquest when compared to the Battlegrounds currently available?
Cory Stockton: The Isle of Conquest will offer a number of unique features that players will not find in any other Battleground. Parachute into your enemy’s base and destroy the keep’s walls from the inside using Saronite bombs, drive our newest vehicle, the Glaive Thrower, or hop into the Catapult and launch yourself over the enemy’s wall. Those are just a few examples of the new things you will be able to do in this Battleground.

Q: What is the story behind the Isle of Conquest; and why are the Alliance and Horde concerned with controlling it?
Cory Stockton: The Isle of Conquest is located in the Frozen Sea, north of Icecrown. This small island may look insignificant but it is actually loaded with resources and a great spot to launch a full attack on The Lich King and his forces in Icecrown. Both factions have set up a foothold here and now the battle is on to decide who will control the island and make the final push against Arthas and his undead army.

Community Team: While Alterac Valley is still a relatively popular large-scale Battleground with players, a common critique we hear is that opponents are not incentivized enough to engage each other in order to win the match.
Q: With that in mind, does the layout of the Isle of Conquest and strategies involved in winning the battle encourage a new level of engaging the enemy head-on?
Cory Stockton: We have designed the layout of the map based on this kind of input. Players come face to face in a matter of seconds and must fight over the only siege workshop on the map right away. We have also made a big effort to create intelligent choke points on the map that force players to fight for control of the various capture points and objectives.

Community Team: We would like to take a moment to delve into the various strategic points found on the Isle of Conquest.
Q: Why do players have an interest in capturing the Oil Derrick or Cobalt Mine?
Cory Stockton: Not only do these capture points give valuable reinforcements but they also grant honor each tick. Holding both points for the majority of a game will grant a significant increase in overall honor.

Q: If the Docks are captured, what are the strategic advantages of producing Glaive Throwers and Catapults?
Cory Stockton: Glaive Throwers are one of the new vehicles we are introducing for the first time in the Isle of Conquest. These are mainly intended to be anti-personnel attack vehicles but they also have an extremely long-range glaive attack. The Catapults are unique in that they allow players to shoot themselves to any destination they see fit. I would recommend shooting yourself over your opponent’s walls and using the Saronite bombs inside!

Q: What will the Gunship offer the faction that controls the Gunship Hangar?
Cory Stockton: Gunships are giant flying transports that fly in a path over the enemy keep. The Gunships are outfitted with turrets that players can use to blast the opposing team’s keep walls or players. The gunships also offer parachutes to everyone on board, so you can jump off the side and land inside the opposing team’s keep!

Community Team: Given that the Siege Workshop is located in the middle of the map directly in between the Alliance and Horde bases, it is bound to be a hotly-contested node.
Q: What kind of vehicles will this workshop offer the faction that controls it?
Cory Stockton: Players will be able to obtain both Siege Engines and Demolishers. The Siege Engines available in the Isle of Conquest are upgraded and allow up to three additional passengers. Two of the passengers have access to their own anti-personnel flame throwers while the third gets a gun turret. The Demolishers have three seats in total. Two of the passengers allow players to cast their own spells while the driver gets access to a gun turret.

Q: What system is being used for capturing these nodes?
Cory Stockton: Nodes in the Isle of Conquest are captured exactly like the nodes in Arathi Basin.

Q: Will there be a system in place to ensure that those defending strategic nodes on the map are awarded honor comparable to those on the attack?
Cory Stockton: This is a common complaint and as such, we have been working on a design to solve the problem! As of patch 3.2.0 any honorable kills that are made within range of a capture point grant 50% increased honor. This change is retroactive to both Arathi Basin and Eye of the Storm.

Q: How important will producing and operating siege vehicles be to reaching victory?
Cory Stockton: Siege vehicles will be important since they are your primary means of destroying your opponent’s keep walls and gaining access to the general. However, players can also parachute off of the Gunships generated by capturing the hanger. Once players land inside their enemy’s courtyard, they can use the Saronite Bombs to destroy the walls from the inside. Saronite Bombs will also generate at the Siege Workshop once it is captured.

Q: Other than the generals that sit in either keep, will there be other NPCs that play strategic roles here?
Cory Stockton: We do plan to have NPC guards who will run out of the keep to help defend it once a wall has been breached.

Q: Once the walls of the opposing faction’s keep are breached, how does the invading force ultimately defeat their opponents?
Cory Stockton: They must enter the keep and kill the opposing faction’s general. Gates block entry into the keep until at least one keep wall has been breached.

Q: Now that we’ve covered the major points of interest in this new Battleground, will you give a basic rundown of how you expect events to unfold in a match (i.e. where does each faction start, what is the focus of defense, what is the focus of offense, etc.)?
Cory Stockton: Players start the game inside of their keep’s courtyard. Once the battle begins, players have a choice of going to the Hangar or Docks capture points, or they can opt to head straight for the Siege Workshop in the middle of the map. The main objective is to destroy the opposing team’s keep walls so you can gain access to their general and defeat him. There are a number of ways to go about doing this but they all involve taking a capture point first.

Defending your keep is also an important aspect of the game and we have provided no less than 12 gun turrets on each keep to help you out in this department.

Q: Assuming there will be achievements associated with performing specific tasks on the Isle of Conquest, will there be any change to the “Battlemaster” meta-achievement?
Cory Stockton: Yes, we have new achievements for the Isle of Conquest but we are not sure what we are going to do with Battlemaster yet. A lot of people already have this achievement so we can’t just go and change it. We will either make a new one specifically including Isle of Conquest, or just not have it be part of a meta-achievement at all.

Community Team: Just to touch upon one last topic pertaining to World of Warcraft PvP in general, many avid Battleground players would love to see some sort of skill-based ladder system for measuring talent and providing optimal rewards.
Q: What are our plans for the future of the Battleground system beyond 3.2, and where do you see non-Arena PvP game play fitting in the World of Warcraft, whether it be through the leveling process or at the endgame?
Cory Stockton: We plan to deliver more Battlegrounds to the players as often as we can. We see Battlegrounds as a very large and important part of the World of Warcraft PvP game and we would like to expand the system as much as we can. I do have a little tidbit that I can share with you guys today, though. We are planning to implement rated Battlegrounds in a future patch. We will be giving more details on this system at BlizzCon.