I know there are hundreds of World of Warcraft screenshots out there, but it
just so happens that I felt compelled to take two of these myself within a
half-hour time, which is rare enough, so I thought I’d share my experience (and
said pictures).
I took these two screenshots in Alterac Valley, which is one of WoW’s three
player-vs-player (PvP) areas. In these areas, members of the main two
factions are pitted against each other and assigned certain goals. In
Alterac Valley, the goal is to conquer the enemy’s fortress and kill its general
before your opponents do the same.
Alterac Valley is a big battleground with various buildings and constructions
that you can choose to conquer or skip, depending on your strategy. The
Alliance put up a good fight in one of their advanced bunkers and it took us
numerous attempts to finally capture it. The fights were fierce and all
classes of combatants were involved. I died several times myself along the
way, but since the graveyard was nearby, I was able to come back and continue
the fight.
Finally, we were done, and when the flag eventually converted to our color, I
emerged from the bunker, still pumped with adrenaline and ready to move on to
the next target, but the landscape outside just stopped me in my track.
The moon was rising behind the hills and a pond way down below the valley was
reflecting its silvery rays. The entire scenery looked so peaceful and it
contrasted so starkly with the intense scrimmage I was just submitted to that I
paused and took this picture. The two blue banners in the distance are set
on the Alliance fortress, which is our next goal.
The moon rises over the Frost Wolf Fortress
Click for the large version (3 megs)
There are various ways you can make the fight for Alterac Valley more
interesting. One of them is being able to summon various elite characters
or animals that will help you in your fight against the other faction. You
need to fulfill certain conditions before you can do this (such as turn in items
collected on the dead bodies of your enemies), but once you’re done, it’s
definitely worth making a quick run for the altar and do the summoning.
While the Horde can summon a creature called the Ice Lord, the Alliance can
invoke the help of Gryphons, which hover high above the fight scene and have the
ability to cast a powerful knock back that will throw all the troops under it at
a distance. It doesn’t harm anyone, but it causes chaos that is very
valuable to the attackers.
The Gryphons fly so high that you usually never notice them until you feel
yourself lifted in the air for no reason. This is exactly what happened to
us during that fight and the group reacted immediately by concentrating their
firepower to the harmless-looking creature flapping its wing over our heads.
Again, the sight was so taking that I stepped back on a nearby hill and snapped
several pictures to immortalize the instant…
A Gryphon becomes the target of a Horde group in Alterac Valley
Click for the large version (3 megs).
Say what you want about World of Warcraft, but I have yet to come across a
game that, one year and a half after I started playing it, is still making me
live such intense and gratifying moments…
#1 by Christian on July 25, 2006 - 5:19 pm
What class are you playing? I find PVP with my holy-specced priest a little less than rewarding and I’m really looking forward to the forced-group feature coming up in 1.12 (rids me of silly “/1 Holy priest LFG”).
#2 by Cedric on July 25, 2006 - 5:22 pm
I’m playing a Rogue right now, which I’ve been carefully holding at 59 in order to enjoy WSG and AB as much as possible. Despite that, I’m already half-way to 60 unfortunately. I also have a 60 Priest and while I’ve never used him for PvP, I can understand your frustration…
#3 by Patrick Calahan on July 25, 2006 - 6:13 pm
“Well, I think that time has finally come. I can proudly announce that ‘I am over World of Warcraft.'”
– Cedric Beust,
November 23, 2005
http://beust.com/weblog/weblog/archives/000341.html
😉
#4 by Laurent Foret on July 27, 2006 - 2:28 am
For my part I am a little wawa (lvl 49), what I prefer is the taste of the Horde blood.
To be honnest, it was shortly after read your post of the 23 November I bought the game. A friend was talking about this game to me from several months, so I decided to try it for a month or two. I still play today and I have never enough time. My wife do not thank you for this post ;)!
#5 by oneal on July 28, 2006 - 7:23 am
access your blog by accident. it’s intresting that you like WOW.
could u please give me some suggestion about testinfg for EJB. It rathre addles my head.
#6 by AT on September 14, 2006 - 4:21 pm
Cedric,
just out of curiosity, what’s your playtime? 😀
#7 by Nareal on November 20, 2006 - 12:12 pm
Awesome, I didn’t know some of that about AV, I’m a level 43 Lock and I can’t wait for AV…
#8 by Nyghte of Madoran US on June 17, 2008 - 10:09 am
I just stumbled across your lovely site. Its a beautiful tribute to a complex, sometimes frustrating, sometimes rewarding game. I’ve played since the beginning and have several capped characters. Your insight has renewed my own appreciation. GJ!
#9 by Anonymous on September 1, 2009 - 5:50 am
i love wow and its so fun im 12 and have been playin it for years although i find it quite addicting so if u try it once ur hooked : )