#0 - July 31, 2008, 1:50 a.m.
Yet we've had a PvP zone, and we've had it completely gutted. Alterac Valley was, in every way but one, the PvP zone everybody seems to "want". In the Alterac Valley of old, the primary objective was, yes, to kill the opposing general, but it was also generally accepted that this was not something that could be easily accomplished. Indeed, on some servers, one could leave an Alterac Valley and come back the next day to the exact same game.
The focal point of the zone was the frontline, where scores of players battled viciously in an attempt to gain whatever ground they could over the enemy. The Field of Strife used to be named aptly so; the Alliance and the Horde would push from one end of the field to the other and back again for hours upon hours.
But the frontline was only the beginning. When not fighting to further the cause, players had a multitude of ways that they could assist the frontline without actually being there. Players used to collect supplies out of the mines to be used in summoning a brigade of powerful soldiers, or tame friendly mounts and hunt the skins of the enemy mounts to bring out the riders. The flesh, blood, ears, skulls, tusks, or feet of the enemy were all potentially used for something, from summoning your god to feeding your flyers. Each side even came complete with their own faction, reputation, and handsome rewards!
The one thing that made Alterac Valley not a true PvP zone was just that; it wasn't a zone, it was an instance. Yet, at the same time, that solved what so many people see as a potential issue with PvP zones: faction balancing. In an instance, this is easily controlled, in a pure zone, not so.
So why was Alterac Valley gutted, when Blizzard is trying to bring back the exact same concept?
Edit;
The only people who appear to be opposed to old Alterac Valley are the same people who seem to PvP for the sole purpose of getting gear. The point of Alterac Valley was not to get gear. Let me repeat; The point of Alterac Valley was not to get gear.
If you want honor and marks, that's fine. There were two other battlegrounds for you to reap. If you wanted large-scaled, epic, fun battles where time allowed actual tactics and strategies to emerge, then you could play Alterac Valley. True, Alterac Valley was not for everybody, but nobody was forcing you to play.
Alterac Valley is one of the few cases I can recall of a large chunk of content being outright removed. To say that Alterac Valley was gutted, downsized, or simplified are all terrible understatements; Alterac Valley was removed and replaced with a PvE race.
