Something is happening in the Stormstrike battlegroup. We all know what it is and when it started. The patch 2.3 changes to Alterac Valley that seemed to, in some battlegroups, tip the scales of victory entirely 100% towards the Horde. Ultimately opinions vary wildly and nobody really knows for sure if an imbalance even exists. In some battlegroups the Alliance still beat the Horde in AV on a regular basis.
But not in Stormstrike. Why is this so? Taking for granted a relatively random and evenly distributed population of players across all realms and battlegroups the win to loss ratio should be about the same, whether it is on Stormstrike or Vengeance or Bloodlust or any other battlegroup.
Ultimately I feel what happened was, not too long after patch 2.3 went live, something caused the better alliance PvPers on Stormstrike to altogether swear off queueing into AV. People have started to call it a "boycott" but really, it isn't a boycott because for the most part it is not organized on a large scale. Oh sure small groups of players in correspondence via forums and in-game channels could potentially be organized but, as a whole, it is not organized. It is a natural human reaction. Alliance PuGs were getting stomped by Horde PuGs repeatedly and after some time, more and more players on the Alliance side got completely sick of it and started looking for their honor elsewhere.
As a direct result of this, Horde queue times into AV skyrocketed on Stormstrike. We know this and I often see it mentioned in game. And here comes to the crux of this thread.
The Horde Premade.
Sick of 2 hour queues into AV, Horde players on the Stormstrike battlegroup have begun queueing into WSG, AB and EoTS in premades in high numbers. And I mean, REALLY high numbers. The last few weeks it has gotten incredibly bad. I can go a whole night without seeing a PuG across from me. No matter what battleground I choose.
The effects have already begun on our side. Knowing there is really no option other than leaving and getting a 15 minute timeout, alliance players refuse to participate the moment they see a premade on the other side. Some players give them grief but I feel those who complain about this are either foolish or completely unaware of the fact they are about to be knocked a few tiers down on the food chain. In all honesty, I feel that sitting there and waiting for it to end is a sound decision. I have been in numerous PuGs that have tried to take premades on. And we get hammered. In WSG they get to 2/3 and then delay the final flag run for a little while and extra kills. In AB they force us back to the Trollbane GY and farm us as we spawn. And in EoTS they back us up to the starting rock and pick us off if we try to get down. Or they just let the rogues own us right where we spawn. It is as bad as AV in some ways. And if the proposed 2.4 honor changes do go into effect when 2.4 goes live, it'll only get 10 times worse.
And why has this happened? Can it really be the fault of the Alliance for becoming cattle for Horde premade honor farms? Not really. The Horde could have just stopped queueing into AV too and start queueing into other bgs. Which they did. But they weren't queueing randomly.
Especially in the last three weeks or so I have seen a remarkable decline in Horde PuGs in bgs, instead opting to organize into premade groups. The fact that they are doing it this way is what puzzles me. I've toyed with the ego-boasting notion that ultimately Horde PuGs are inferior to Alliance PuGs. But that is kind of silly because, again taking for granted a relatively random and evenly distributed population of players across all realms and battlegroups, who wins and loses should roughly be a perfect coin toss, a 50/50 chance, every time.
So why the premades? I don't see too many Alliance premades recruiting on Thrall however I do not know if this is the same on other realms in the Stormstrike battlegroup. Could it actually be that Alliance were the first to start massively bombarding bgs with premades, thus forcing the Horde to retaliate in kind? Possibly, but I don't think so. I almost never queue into partial premades. Others could have better experiences though.
So what it all boils down to is...
Why are the Horde forming so many premades in the Stormstrike battlegroup? What exactly is it in their psyche that says "we need to organize ourselves against a randomly distributed group of Alliance players on a level and equidistant playing field."? And why does it seem like the Alliance is not doing the same?
Feel free to voice yourself here. Your thoughts on this matter can only benefit the rest of us.
DISCLAIMER: I have posted this in a legitimate attempt to open discussion about this growing tragedy that is sucking the fun out of so many bgs. If you feel you wish to flame one faction or another, then go for it. But bear in mind a flamefest is not my goal.