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WoW 5.0: The Future of PvP in Mists of Pandaria

With the Mists of Pandaria beta in full swing we thought we’d take this opportunity to shed some light on what lays ahead for PvP. To that end, we sat down with World of Warcraft Game Director Tom Chilton to discuss the future of PvP in Mists of Pandaria.

What is the overarching design philosophy for PvP in Mists of Pandaria?

Tom Chilton - We want to have more new PvP content than we’ve ever had before. With this expansion we’re adding two completely new Battlegrounds with new gameplay types. We’ve never done that before at the start of an expansion. We also have a new Arena to add to the current pool of options. That will bring our count of Battlegrounds up to ten and our Arena count to six.

Temple of Kot'mogu - Who's got the relic now?

How is the war being brought back to World of Warcraft in relation to PvP?

Tom Chilton - Well, the best answer to that is that we’re very deliberately trying to get people back out into the world, and so that means on a PvP realm, you’ll have more people to kill that are out in the world. Generally speaking, the most fun outdoor PvP is just the spontaneous conflict that happens as a natural result of people being out in the world. It’s not the stuff the designers create for you.

Many players on PvE realms are concerned about being forced to PvP or take part in World PvP when they don’t want to, what can you say to them about the plans for this?

Tom Chilton - There are no plans to force PvP on players who are on PvE realms. Their experience shouldn’t change and they’ll have the same opportunities for PvP (if they wish to take part) as they do now. It’s also worth noting that the Black Market Auction House has the potential to become a world PvP location for those on PvP realms. Just like the name implies, these are goods being sold out in shady locations away from the prying eyes of guards in the cities. They are not in neutral or safe zones. For PvE realms, it’s not going to have that same risk for placing a bid as on a PvP realm (aside from being outbid).

Temple of Kotmogu - Plenty of room to run and run and run.

On the other hand, PvPers are afraid that things won’t be taken far enough and they won’t get the world PvP they want; they often mention the issue of guards in major cities hampering their ability to do these raids. What could you say about that?

Tom Chilton - We know that for many PvPers, the idea of getting a large raid (or two) together to invade a city is something that can make for great world PvP. We also know that there has been an issue with guards causing this to be a less appealing undertaking for them as the guards have gotten stronger. We obviously want those guards there doing their jobs, but we don’t want them to be the wall that you just can’t get over. So, we are planning to adjust the guards only on PvP realms to where they aren’t quite as strong as you’d find them on a PvE realm, and they won’t respawn quite as quickly either. We’re still working on this, but we hope to get this adjustment in before the release of Mists of Pandaria. It’s worth noting that the guards on PvE realms will remain the same as they are now.

Temple of Kotmogu - One of four artifacts in Temple of Kotmogu