'Sit back and take notes!'

About a week since patch 2.2 was implemented on realms world-wide, I must say that the must talked about AFK scandal in Alterac Valley has been put to rest. After winning five AV battlegrounds in a row (and on a battleground holiday), this is the best thing to ever happen in the World of Warcraft for PvP fans, including me.

In patch 2.2, a feature was added where players can report a player for being AFK. When enough reports are received, the AWOL player gets a debuff preventing s/he from gaining Honor Points from the players’ hard work. Previously, the Alliance would win every Alterac Valley 80 percent of the time. In my realm’s Battlegroup, Rampage, this was unfortunately true. Before the patch, I have been a part of 3 AV victories since level 50 (the minimum level for AV).

Now, with many efforts of reporting absent players in the battleground, the embarrassment of the Horde losing every AV has been cast aside! During the Alterac Valley holiday, I would enter for the extra Honor Points – putting all the work I poured into my warlock to the limit. The points I would get were poor. About an estimated 100-300 every three AV. That is good, for a semi-casual player like me, but this was unbelievable the amount I have gotten after the patch:

Amount of Honor received after first win.

Honor after second win.

Honor after third win.

Honor after fourth win.

and finally…

Honor after fifth win!

The honor points for 9/30 were tallied at 5 AM and the final calculation was 2715 points. During the tally, the fifth AV conflict lasted a little over an hour, so the points gained from before 5 AM carried over to today’s estimated honor, which is 437. Pretty good! In celebration of the long awaited balance of Alterac Valley, I was able to get my first piece of epic gear: Sergeant’s Heavy Cape