WoW Tales: Player vs Player
I must admit that I’m new to this whole PvP scene, having only recently gotten into the battlegrounds in World of Warcraft. I avoided them like the plague for a very long time, right along with the PvP servers. I even hated dueling other characters for fun. It seemed entirely too stressful. I’d end up in a state of panic and hit the wrong keys and cast the wrong spells, and overall just make a fool of myself.
Going to the battlegrounds in WoW was something I didn’t think I’d ever do, despite the fact that I desperately wanted one of those ranks next to my name. Eventually, though, I succumbed to the curiosity.
Though at first I found the entire thing completely stressful, I have now died so many times at the hands (paws) of the Horde that I no longer mind. In fact, more often than not I managed to kill more than would kill me, and I felt entirely victorious watching their health bar dissipate into nothing.
However, outside the battlegrounds, I rarely have that PvP spirit. I find myself helping more and more Horde players for no particular reason. The other day I helped an Undead finish a quest that he was much too low to be doing alone. I’m sure I would’ve lost reputation points with the Alliance if they had the means to punish for such actions.
Still, I’ve come to see Horde players as nothing more than other players, rather than actual Horde characters. And so, I feel a particular instinct to help, rather than aggravate.
That said, last night, I was faced with a rather confusing situation. I was in Felwood doing a quest, when the NPC I was in the process of trying to talk to, suddenly aggroed a nearby mob. A Horde player began to attack the baddie, but somehow ended up getting attacked by my NPC instead.
At that point, the Horde became flagged for PvP, and continued to assault the NPC I needed to talk to. Being that I wasn’t alone, having a priest at my side, I could’ve very easily defeated the Horde player and continued on with my quest, but I wasn’t entirely sure if the Horde had just been trying to help, or if she really meant to assault my NPC.
Being unsure of the situation, I stood by and waited for the Horde to finish killing the NPC.
My question is, should I have killed her?
I had my mouse over one of my spells…. I was itching to click on it. But, alas, I didn’t.
I think, however, had the roles been reversed, the Horde would’ve killed me…
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POSTED IN: MMORPG, Musings, World of Warcraft
10 opinions for WoW Tales: Player vs Player
Jade Reporting » Blog Archive » Monday, October 16
Oct 16, 2006 at 3:01 am
[…] WoW Tales: Player vs Player […]
Lishesque
Oct 17, 2006 at 12:33 am
I remember my first PvP battle - a warlock 3 levels higher than me challenged me to a duel when I was but a wee level 10 warrior exploring Westfall for the first time. I lost without even putting a dent in her health bar. She was nice about it though, so I didn’t feel like a complete idiot/newb/weakling. :) The second time a dwarf paladin challenged me to a duel and I won, but he had resurrection sickness and said “i had rez sickness u idiot! u would never beat me if i didnt have it”. So I waited for his resurrection sickness to go away because he wanted a rematch and I wanted to kick his ass again for being rude. I lost. Badly. :) And so then I became determined to learn how to duel properly so that when I met nasty fellows like him again, I could take their egos down a notch. *g*
Chewy
Oct 17, 2006 at 11:14 am
Yes, you should have killed him/her. I take the stance of helping only Alliance when I’m Alliance and vice versa :-P
Sara
Oct 17, 2006 at 2:36 pm
*shrug* Depends on your code of honour, I guess. Generally I try not to attack flagged characters who’re already battling NPCs, unless they’re raiding a town or something. It just seems low — and plus, no one’s done it to this Hordie yet, so I can’t justify doing it to an Alliance character.
amber
Oct 18, 2006 at 4:00 am
I hear Cody has been kicking your butt lately. That is sad. So very sad. And I laugh at your misfortune.
Jenn
Oct 20, 2006 at 1:01 am
Oh the fun you are going to have when you get to “mix” races in The Burning Crusade. Be a “Blood elf” or a Draenei. It is fun! Trust me on that one. For the first time I have ventured into the land of the “dark side” of the horde world. (And am loving it, btw.)
For what it’s worth, I wouldn’t have killed the horde either.
angelo
Oct 21, 2006 at 12:24 am
I too was very scared of pvp encounters, which is why I made my first serious character on a PvE server. I also avoided pvp until I reached lvl 50 where I decided to join a battle in hillsbrad as the alliance on my server attacked tarren mill. That’s actually how I first reached scout. In spit of that i never entered a BG until I was lvl 60. My first was a game of arathi basin and I was hooked since then. I still hate getting ganked so i prefer to play in my PvE server. I’m more of a raider anyway =p
Teresa
Oct 21, 2006 at 1:39 am
If you want to try winning at the battlegrounds, roll Horde. They are generally better organized and just better at the battles than Alliance. Of course, I’m not sure how much has changed since the cross realm battlegrounds have been implemented, but it’s been my experience going from Alliance to Horde to win a lot more as Horde.
Also, it’s possible that the Horde player accidentally attacked your needed NPC, but it’s not necessarily unlikely that he/she attacked on purpose. It happens. For some reason, Horde love to attack Farmer Saldean in Westfall just when I need him for my quests!
I’ve played both Alliance and Horde and both sides have their positives, but Horde is nowhere near the “dark side”, nor is Alliance all that innocent. I’m sure the commenter above me was being facetious in labeling it that way, but I just wanted to clarify in all seriousness that there is no good or bad when it comes to Horde and Alliance. Humans could be labeled evil just as easily as anyone else.
WoW is a role-play game, and if you choose to play the role of a helper, so be it. You can help or ignore anyone you choose. Should you have killed the Horde who attacked your NPC? Up to you. If it doesn’t fit your code of honor or ethics, move on and leave her be. Some people will attack a flagged foe regardless of skill level because it’s what their character would do. Some find a sense of honor in defending their turf and NPCs even if the foe is decked in epic armor, because it’s what they feel is their sense of duty. To each their own.
Ingrid
Oct 22, 2006 at 9:22 pm
@Amber: What do you mean he’s been kicking my butt? All I know is he’s spent the past two days trying to get out of Tanaris ;)
@Jenn: First, so jealous that you’re in the expansion alpha/beta test!! LOL but so glad you stopped by. Major fan of your Aggro Queen blog. Hope you’re feeling better. :)
@Angelo: One level away from 60 and then I’m hitting Alterac Valley like there’s no tomorrow. For the Alliance! ;)
Farmboyheals
Feb 26, 2008 at 6:10 pm
YEs, you should have attacked him early into his NPC fight, for two reasons. Reason 1) You are alliance, if someone is attacking the NPC you are talking to for a quest it should be your natural instinct to beat the living shit out of it. 2) I am a die-hard Horde, and if I were in your shoes I would have waited till the NPC was at 75 percent health and jump right into the fray, causing panic to the fool who would be so vain to interupt my questing.
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