How I'd design School of Hard Knocks



(image from wow.com)

The School of Hard Knocks requirements make little sense, being very individual goals/accomplishments in what are supposed to be team matches. The Warsong Gulch and Arathi Basin requirements are okay, since they fall right in line with the battleground's primary victory objectives, but they're stupid hard for healers to get since they require being IN melee and not standing back and doing what they're supposed to be doing - healing!

That being said, this achievement is particularly bad in Eye of the Storm, where EVERYONE just swarms the flag, ignoring the bases which are needed to actually win the match. And Alterac Valley...ugh. 40 players, but only 4 bunkers to cap? Per match? Which can take 30 minutes to complete? What a tiresome, horrible ordeal.

I did some brainstorming about what I'd rather see as the Orphan's Week PVP achievements. Everything else we do with the orphans involve taking them on tours around the world, teaching them lessons (in this case, teamwork) or visiting important people, so why not maintain that pattern in battlegrounds? I don't think any of these would be too difficult, but would also encourage playing the battlegrounds and contributing properly.

Oh, and you should have to finish the battleground to get credit for the task. No getting it done and quitting. That's like running a heroic and the tank dropping group after the first boss because he got the one drop he needed. Don't do it. Don't be selfish and screw over other people.


Warsong Gulch

• Get an honorable kill on an enemy flag carrier (not a killing blow, just an HK)
• Take your orphan to visit the enemy flag room & graveyard
• Be in your flag room with your orphan when your team captures the flag (including capturing the flag yourself)


Arathi Basin

• Take your orphan to visit the Farm, Lumber Mill, Blacksmith, Gold Mine and Stables
• Assault a flag with your orphan
• Get 10 defensive honorable kills with your orphan (HK's around a base you control)


Eye of the Storm

• Take your orphan to visit the Fel Reaver Ruins, Blood Elf Tower, Mage Tower, and Draenei Ruins
• Get an honorable kill on an enemy flag carrier (not a killing blow, just an HK)
• Help capture a base with your orphan


Alterac Valley

Alterac was the only one I got a little stumped on. There's so many potential "tasks", yet the majority of AV matches I've been in just tend to be zergfests: Rush Captain, then cap some stuff while rushing off to Kill General. In such matches, doing things like taking the mines and returning Armor Scraps are pointless; nonetheless, I think the following Orphan's Week achievements would convey a feeling of AV the way it was supposed to be played.

• Take your orphan to visit Drek'Thar (Horde) or Vanndar Stormpike (Alliance)
• Take your orphan to visit the Coldtooth Mine (Horde) or Irondeep Mine (Alliance) while your faction controls the mine (meaning you might have to capture the mine for your faction)
• Turn in 20 Armor Scraps with your orphan to Smith Regzar (Horde) or Murgot Deepforge (Alliance) (Armor Scraps are looted off dead enemy players and are turned in back at your faction's base; 20 is the amount needed for a single turn-in)

9 Responses Subscribe to comments

  1. gravatar
    Djed

    Dear Blizzard,

    Please give this man a free year of subscription and use all of his ideas in this post.

    Love,

    Djed the Dwarf Shaman

    May 2, 2011 at 3:40 PM

  2. gravatar
    Unknown

    These are excellent ideas. This achievement design is just befuddling terrible, as it actively breaks the mechanics of most of the battlegrounds in question, and is so easily grief-able by uncouth teammates. Another change could be a simple, straightforward 'get 15 honorable kills and win with your orphan out.' This would encourage more people to do battlegrounds, without requiring them to do strange tasks that make the experience unpleasant for everybody involved.

    May 2, 2011 at 4:12 PM

  3. gravatar
    Anonymous

    a year of subscription? Hire him! :p

    I agree about the griefing part... hardcore BG players usually ferak out when they see you with your orphan... and enemy players abuse of you, specially being a clothed armor pj...

    May 2, 2011 at 4:25 PM

  4. gravatar
    Anonymous

    Awesome ideas :) Or they could just change the focus totally from BG's to duels with members of the opposite faction. Duel with an Orc Hunter, Troll Shaman, Tauren Druid, etc. to get the achievement.

    May 3, 2011 at 3:50 AM

  5. gravatar
    Keeva

    Like!

    May 3, 2011 at 4:45 AM

  6. gravatar
    Jarr

    Great ideas! I love them. They feel like they are far more inline with the true intent of the Children's Week events.

    The only one I see as potentially problematic would be "Be in your flag room with your orphan when your team captures the flag." I can just envision a whole flag room of toons and orphans standing around going "Someone go cap the flag."

    Either way, though your suggestions are FAR better than the current ones. Hopefully Bliz may catch wind of your suggestions.

    Thank you for sharing.

    May 3, 2011 at 4:56 AM

  7. gravatar
    Megan B

    I agree on all of this except the one about ditching after completing your achievements. The kind of person who's only in a BG for a holiday achievement and wants to get out ASAP is probably going to be a terrible PvPer, and the next person in the BG queue at least has a chance of being an improvement.

    May 3, 2011 at 5:54 AM

  8. gravatar
    Anonymous

    Awesome ideas. Please send these to Blizzard immediately so they might be considered for the next year.

    May 3, 2011 at 6:18 AM

  9. gravatar
    Tel

    These are far better than the current ones - I really, really hope Blizzard employees will read your post!

    May 3, 2011 at 7:27 PM