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Back in the days when World of Warcraft
was shiny and new, players everywhere took part in a bloody sport
called World PvP. This sport could happen almost anywhere in the
world, although there were many preferred locations. There were no
real rewards for this, except for the glory, the honor, and the
thrill of gathering up some companions and going and ganking one of
the other faction's cities or towns.

However, as the game has aged, World
PvP has almost died out. Most World of Warcraft veterans will talk
fondly of it and occasionally a group of die hard players will gather
to assault a city, however, it seems the days of World PvP are
numbered. What caused the demised of this once beloved activity? We
have a few theories on the matter. Check out our top five below:

Outdoor PvP Zones

One of the main reasons World PvP took
a downward turn was the introduction of outdoor PvP zones such as
Wintergrasp. These zones, totally dedicated to PvP, gave players a
designated place to PvP, while still having the feel of being
outdoors. Outdoor PvP zones offer up more potential honor, as players
inside are likely all looking for a battle. This is vastly different
from World PvP where many players were simply trying to quest or were
quite content to just watch the fighting take place. Not to mention
the cool toys Blizzard has allowed into these zones, siege weapons
anyone?

alt="Wintergrasp" />

Battlegrounds and Arenas

This next item on the list ties in with
the first, however, was a significant enough player (in my humble
opinion) in the demise of World PvP to earn its own spot on the list. Like
Outdoor PvP zones, Battlegrounds and Arenas played a big part
in the demise of World PvP. Chock full of juicy rewards, these PvP
havens drew players by the dozens. Why run around the world for
little reward when you can jump into a battleground or arena and get
twice the reward for less work? With better and better rewards
constantly being offered to players through these venues World PvP is
constantly looking less appealing than ever.

Endless Guard Spawns

Back in the good old days when you
killed town guards they stayed good and dead, at least for a long
while. Not so in more recent years. Town guards nowadays reappear
almost as soon as they are killed. This makes getting into towns and
cities especially difficult. In fact unless you have a very organized
raid group, it could be close to nearly impossible. This quick guard
spawn effectively ended any spur of the moment assaults and thus
aided in the downfall of World PvP.

Player Enjoyment

Believe it or not, not everyone in game
enjoyed World PvP. Imagine if you are a new player just trying to
turn in a quest and another player hell bent on World PvP keeps
taking out your quest giver? Not much fun. Blizzard saw this problem
and has made adjustments (such as faster guard spawn) to help balance
this out. However, these adjustments, designed to make those who
didn't want to participate in this type of PvP have a better play
experience, severely hindered World PvP.

Additional Flight Paths/Flying Mounts

World PvP often happened spontaneously
as groups were traversing the landscape. Additional flight paths and
flying mounts have pretty much made it so that players can go from
point A to point B without ever touching the ground. This leaves
little room for players to meet up in out of the way outposts and
decide to take over the town. Why stop in to favorite World PvP
places like the Crossroads when you can fly right over to get to your
destination?

alt="Kalimdor Flight Paths" />

That concludes our list of the top 5
reasons for the demise of World PvP. What are some of the reasons not
listed above that you think World PvP is no longer popular? Do they
match up with any of the ones listed above? Share your thoughts with
us below!