PvP before level 80 can either be an effortless and rewarding experience, a frustrating nightmare or a well-balanced challenge. Unfortunately what happens often, especially to those who have had the misfortune of choosing the minority faction on a particular realm, is that one finds themselves grossly outmatched in most PvP encounters.
Two factors come into play here – faction and level imbalances. Faction imbalances are the main issue, as a large difference between the number of Horde and Alliance characters obviously means that one faction will simply outnumber the other in most PvP battles. Of course, even on the most balanced of servers, trends may differ between factions and you may find a high number of active Horde characters in the level 30 to 40 range, but a small number of Alliance players in the same bracket, for example. To top it off, there may simply be more Horde players than Alliance players in that range that partake in PvP.
Unfortunately, imbalances between factions at lower levels are not often a priority of Blizzard’s, simply because level 80 is where the majority of characters lie and where balance is the most key. Balance is hard to achieve anyway, as it is constantly thrown out by the number of new players joining realms, the number of alt (secondary) characters that established players create and of course the speed at which they level.
What does that mean for the twinks among us? Well, virtual life can be pretty tough. Your best bet is to do a little research on the realm and battlegroup you intend on joining in order to determine whether or not you’re going to have a hard time finding other people to play with or against, and whether or not the opposing faction will outnumber you (making certain battlegrounds, like Alterac Valley, extremely frustrating). This is where the official realm/battlegroup forums come in handy, as you’ll be directly dealing with players from the realms and battlegroups in question.
The end-game really seems to be where it’s at, so if you’re interested in balanced PvP that is the place where you’ll find anything close to it. Most naturally, if you are on the side that outnumbers the enemy, then you may very well have a great time doing nothing but dominating due to large numbers. But where’s the fun in that?
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