Pandaria's PVP Plan

The Blizzard grand scheme for PVP in Mists of Pandaria was announced recently. Basically the only change is for PVP realms. PVE realm players won't have any incentive to flag for PVP that I can see.

On PVP realms guards will be weaker and spawn less frequently when killed. If you are on a PVE realm, the guards will be just as strong as ever.

The new black market auction house will be located in a contested location, this won't mean anything on PVE realms. On PVP realms, Blizzard hopes this will be a revival of world PVP. I doubt you can kill the auctioneers, or I would transfer to a PVP realm today! I would bath in the sweet tears of people trying to buy spectral tigers only to find the corpse of some shady goblin lying violated by my sporebat, his twitching carcass still clutching his bag of gold.

Blizzard is also banking on cross realm zones to add some extra population to the world experience. Again this really only effects PVP realms, it is rare to see anyone flagged for PVP on PVE realms.

Mists will launch with two new battlegrounds, Silvershard Mine and Temple of Kotmogu. Thankfully not reskins of Warsong Gulch or Arathi Basin or any other existing maps. These will be unique play experiences. A new arena map is coming as well, a simple flat map with 3 large pillars called the Proving Grounds. Blizzard seems proud of these additions, but personally I always felt that new battleground a arena maps should have been supplied much more frequently. I won't say this is too little too late, it just not an overwhelming addition. Some other battleground changes include the ability to black list two maps when queuing for randoms and the extension of Call to Arms, which will now always be available.

Rated battlegrounds are not seeing any adjustments but arenas are getting a slight tweak. Before a match, players will be able to see their opponents spec, not their talents or glyphs, just their spec. They will also have the opportunity to adjust their talents and glyphs before the fight. I like the element of strategy that this might introduce and welcome this change.

There will be no Tol Barad or Wintergrasp of Mists, though. Blizzard believes the return of world bosses will bring people out into the world to duke it out of loot. I don't see how this will add any conflict to a PVE realm, but PVP realms will be damn lively when a boss spawns.

As a player on a PVE realm, I don't expect life to change in the slightest. However I think life on a PVP server is going to get pretty hectic. With all of the new daily quests (and the removal of the daily quest cap) combat pets to find/battle, crops to tend, and world bosses to kill, there is going to be a ton of players out in the world and add to that the cross realm zones. PVP could be back in a big way, on PVP realms.