Call to Arms being removed

[Madruga]

http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/14058436162#4

We've removed Call to Arms in Warlords. Originally, the feature was added to bring some variety to the battleground experience and allow players who like a specific battleground to occassionally binge on it. But, like any feature, we have to weight the benefits with the consequences. Call to Arms has an adverse affect on queue times in a pretty profound way. When certain battlegrounds are up, one faction will tend to queue for Call to Arms while the other tends to avoid it. As a result, we're going to remove it so that the majority of players are queuing through Random Battlegrounds.

Thoughts? I am fine with it for the most part, but this will significantly increase the time needed to farm my Veterans achievements. Considering I already got it in about half the BGs. =/

[Livevil]

How is it going to increase the time needed when you can just queue for specific anyway?

[Rorke]

This is a bad change. I don't understand why Blizzard is keeping the horrid blacklist feature while removing the CTA due to "faction imbalance." They basically removed a feature because of an issue that is completely controlled by the playerbase.

Don't dwell on the veteran achievements. They're worthless.

[varkar]

Exaggerating to make my point, imagine if there was a PvE analogue of Call To Arms: For the next two months, everyone queuing for dungeons and raids will be sent to repeat 100 times over <insert a dungeon you don't like>. Don't like it? All you need to do to change it is wait a couple months.

(Yes, I know it was weekly rather than for 2 months, but a week is a long time if you play a lot more often than once a week).

Removal of Call To Arms is good, even if Blizzard did the right thing for the wrong reason (or rather not the greatest reason).

CTA encouraged lack of variety, playing the same battleground many times over throughout the entire week. And, regarding it being an aid for "players who like a specific battleground to occasionally binge on it," who would not mind waiting many weeks for their favorite BG to come up in the rotation again, without PvPing in the meantime in between?

A PvEer not much into PvP at all anyway.

Not me.

A random battleground queuing system could easily be better programmed to switch the most favored battleground even every single hour, rather than having it stuck on one for so long, while combined with players being able to rank battlegrounds from their most to least favorite in a weighted semi-random queue system (not guaranteed to get one of your top choices if marking that near-minimum queue times were your personal priority but more likely to than your bottom choices).

The CTA rewards might seem nice, until one realizes that such could have been as easily given otherwise.

A similar game design issue applied with guild perks and guild levels. They seem nice until you realize Blizzard could have simply given the perks like mass rez to everyone, and about the only difference to the average player would be not being relatively penalized for considering joining a non-large guild or ever forming their own. Any person who actually bothers to level up a guild in search of the perks is rare compared to the far easier way of just joining a huge guild already having them.

[Maleficents]

Blacklist needs to go too. The problems mentioned in the post didn't exist prior to its addition (I don't remember queue times ever being a problem before, actually).

[Eliot123]

Meh, I like call to arms. I has existed for a long time, sad to see it go. :<

(Especially as Alliance ._.')

[PrairieChicken]

I wish they make blacklisting into 3 (so that I can ban strand in addition to 40 mans)

[Blade and Soul]

Well...

More concerned they aren't going to be adding new battlegrounds.

The one thing (hmm, maybe only thing) I used the CTA for was when Warsong and Arathi Basin were up. It helped with gaining reputation. Other than that I would very, very rarely queue for it unless I was in a premade group and it was a battleground we liked to play.

[DiscoGhost]

im still not going to queue for AV or IoC. you can guess which faction i play...

[Itisamuh]

How is it going to increase the time needed when you can just queue for specific anyway?

Because people tend to only specific queue when the one they like is the call to arms. Few people bother without the bonus rewards.

I think this is a good idea, and see no downside to it. Of course, people will find reason to complain about it, no doubt.

[Deleted]

Please increase blacklist options to 3, then I can finally add Strand to it even tho I'm horde usually.

I like CTA but I'm drawing a blank a bit; does it give extra honour? IF so why not just boost honour gains from BGs across the board?

This is an innocuous comment and please don't take it as a request for gearing to be easier. (So not in the mood for that argument...!)

[Tya]

Blacklist needs to go too. The problems mentioned in the post didn't exist prior to its addition (I don't remember queue times ever being a problem before, actually).

And what about those of us that don't want to fight walls (IoC) or npcs (AV)? If I queue for PvP, I want PvP. I like being able to blacklist the PvE instances that somehow found their way onto the list.

[theostrichsays]

Sad to see it go, though most likely once geared, my friends and I will simply que which BG we want in particular anyways.

- - - Updated - - -

And what about those of us that don't want to fight walls (IoC)

That wall called your mother a dirty whore, not get out there and show it who is boss.

[Rafoel]

And what about those of us that don't want to fight walls (IoC) or npcs (AV)? If I queue for PvP, I want PvP. I like being able to blacklist the PvE instances that somehow found their way onto the list.

And what if I like to play only area-holding battlegrounds - Arathi Basin and Battle for Gilneas? These are the true battlegrounds, I want to be able to queue only for them! Let the players choose what type of PvP they prefer! *sarcasm*

[theostrichsays]

And what if I like to play only area-holding battlegrounds - Arathi Basin and Battle for Gilneas? These are the true battlegrounds, I want to be able to queue only for them! Let the players choose what type of PvP they prefer! *sarcasm*

I know you are being sarcastic... but you can totally que into those specifically, if you did like them.
Disliking BGs that only have a small amount of PvP (Middle mostly bots IoC, and maybe some garrison defense in most my matches/and some garrison defense and forcing a bottle neck which starts the never edning QQ CHANTS OF JUST LOSE ALREADY!!!!!) is completely fine, we can black list. Liking certain ones are fine, you can specifically que.
Why take something away from a player instead of providing more options if possible?

[Tya]

And what if I like to play only area-holding battlegrounds - Arathi Basin and Battle for Gilneas? These are the true battlegrounds, I want to be able to queue only for them! Let the players choose what type of PvP they prefer! *sarcasm*

"Let the players choose what type of PvP they prefer!"

Are you saying that AV and IoC involve PvP? Pardon me for a moment while I laugh at you.

[Deleted]

Blacklist is the best feature since sliced bread. Finally i can block both terrible flag battlegrounds.

[Naxere]

I'm fine with it. It should help reduce queue times.

[Soisoisoi]

Exaggerating to make my point, imagine if there was a PvE analogue of Call To Arms: For the next two months, everyone queuing for dungeons and raids will be sent to repeat 100 times over <insert a dungeon you don't like>. Don't like it? All you need to do to change it is wait a couple months.

(Yes, I know it was weekly rather than for 2 months, but a week is a long time if you play a lot more often than once a week).

CTA is like 3 days now, not even half a week. Exaggeration to make a point is one thing, blowing it up like that is a different story. Not to mention you can blacklist the CTA and still queue random. You should be able to blacklist random dungeons/raids in that scenario, but you can't. (Lookin' at you, Gate of the Setting Sun & Siege of Niuzao Temple) :/

With that said, I do think it's good that it has been removed. If you queued random without blacklisting the CTA whilst it's active you still get it half the time. Plus like in the post, when something like SSM came up as Alliance you blacklist it then anyone queuing CTA as Horde were basically sat waiting around. At least now it's all random and Blacklisting will be used to actually blacklist the ones they don't like rather than the CTA.

[yetgdhfgh]

Blacklist needs to go also

Lets be real i can get a 30 sec wait time if the CTA is IoC or AV gosh i wonder why that is. But if the CTA is anything else its a ten min wait.

BGs need to be random or people will pick and choose which ones will guarantee a easy victory.