The PvP Episode ft. @TipsOutBaby & @Savixirl | Episode 4 - The WoW: Forever Podcast

Summary

The episode focuses on PvP design and community feedback for WoW: Forever. There is no story plot; the discussion covers realm choices, world PvP, battlegrounds, and a community dueling tournament.

Realm Choices and Roleplay-PvP

• Players will choose between Normal (PvE) and PvP rulesets. Since characters are not expected to move freely between them, the developers recommend choosing the environment that best suits each player’s style: PvP offers unpredictable fights, while Normal is less disruptive for players with limited playtime.
• The developers have no immediate plans for a separate RP-PvP ruleset. They cited the risk of splitting an already smaller roleplay community and noted that past RP-PvP realms often did not retain their intended roleplay character.

World PvP and Design Goals

• The team wants outdoor faction battles to be a major part of the game and says it has improved the technology supporting large-scale fights. Further work on grouping, layering, and zone-boundary PvP is planned.
• PvP should draw on the full range of WoW’s RPG systems—including class abilities, unusual items, consumables, professions, and gear—rather than being designed only around tightly regulated competition.
• The developers want scarce resources, rare recipes, world events, and other objectives to give players natural reasons to contest areas. They are considering how to bring back or adapt ideas such as world bosses, the Ashenvale and Stranglethorn events, Eastern Plaguelands towers, and Silithus objectives; no specific plans have been finalized.
• Ordinary PvP-server camping, including high-level characters attacking lower-level players, is considered part of that ruleset. The developers will act against cheating and exploits and may add temporary protections for purpose-built PvP events. They also argued that difficult encounters can encourage players to seek help from guildmates and others.

Battlegrounds and PvP Progression

• Alterac Valley (AV) honor gains will be less lucrative, while Warsong Gulch, Arathi Basin, and Dark Spear Islands will be made more worthwhile for honor. The goal is to encourage players to rotate between battlegrounds instead of feeling compelled to run AV—even during another battleground’s holiday.
• The team wants Rank 14 rewards to feel meaningful while keeping battlegrounds enjoyable rather than turning PvP into an obligation. It is wary of adding highly competitive, arena-style systems that could distort class balance and the broader game.
• Premade groups are intended to face other premades. Solo players and very small groups should generally be matched with similar groups, though the exact small-group threshold may still change.
• War games are intended to work, though they may not be available at launch. The developers are also monitoring battleground strategies and will address exploits, flag hiding, and other tactics that stall games. It was unclear whether all battlegrounds will have hard time limits.

Community Dueling Tournament

• TipsOut described a community dueling-tournament series that began with the Classic WoW demo in 2018. The current open tournament drew more than 6,000 sign-ups, with prize money increased after TimTheTatman contributed.
• The developers revealed a special arena space in a crater associated with Mount Hyjal for the tournament’s top 32. It is being prepared for the event rather than opened for general access; vendors and possibly a cooldown-reset option may be provided.
• The team is interested in future dueling spaces and events but wants public, everyday dueling to remain visible in the world. It also clarified that class changes are not being made to favor tournament competitors.

Featured Gamers and Sources

Josh Corbett (host), Aggrend, Tim Jones, Savix, and TipsOut were featured in the discussion.

Others mentioned: TimTheTatman, Chris, Zirene, John, Moxis, Light, and Red Ridge.