Q u o t e:
Just an intellectual discussion of what you feel are going to be the largest concerns with rated BGs.


Largest concerns for me are:

1. Queue times will be massively long.
2. Exploitation of group make-up. i.e. FOTM teams, etc, etc,


I can probably think of others but would like to see what others think as well.

We're currently expecting both normal and rated battlegrounds to be cross-battlegroup (within a region) for the launch of Cataclysm. So, players queueing from anywhere in north america (for example) could play vs players on any north american battlegroup, etc. This applies to all regions, not just north america.

Q u o t e:


Too bad. Cross-server BGs were one of the things that, while convenient, overall have hurt the game and it's sense of community.

At least an option to only queue on-server would be nice.

We're simultaneously working on a "war games" mode for battlegrounds that allows groups to challenge other groups to a battle in a specific battleground (including horde vs horde and alliance vs alliance). Granted, the rewards aren't significant, but it's more for players to be able to have fun battling their guildmates and friends or for players on a server to throw down for the sake of pride and bragging rights.

Q u o t e:


Not sure if I'm understanding you correctly, but does this mean I will have to learn French and Spanish to be able to effectively communicate in BGs in Cataclysm? I think there may be some potential language barrier issues with such a setup.

You'll still only be grouped with players of your language, although your opponents can be from whatever part of the region, regardless of language.

Q u o t e:


Please do this and please do this for Cataclysm. The opportunities suddenly become endless from player made tournaments to just duking it out with your guildmates.

Yep, that's the idea.