The problem with "equal but not identical" is that it's monstrously difficult to get that "equal" part right without the "identical" part. As witnessed by a battleground that's arguably been imbalanced in the favor of one faction or another since it's come out.

WSG and AB are more or less mirror-imaged with respect to the starting positions of the two factions and the various architectural features that each side has to deal with, and people rarely complain about faction balance in those instances, unless I'm mistaken. I think making the sides equal is a noble goal, but as we're seeing, it's difficult, even for a studio known for world-class design skills.

I agree that it's certainly not easy, but it's far more interesting to at least try rather than to slap the same polygons down for everyone. Not to mention that in the same thread where you have Horde complaining about the bridge, you have Alliance claiming about Iceblood. The balance is closer than we probably give it credit for, it's just when you have something glaring in your face, it's harder to see it.

I'd be interested to know the win-loss ratios in various battlegrounds in the battlegroups. I'm willing to guess they're not SUPER far off each other in most places.

And I honestly believe allowing a 'queue by group' feature would go a long way for general enjoyment.

damn...

I would like to see that as well, because trying to coordinate 40 people in AV when all they want is honor and nothing else, you might as well consign to either winning or losing depending on what everyone else feels like doing.

Wait, so you want the alliance to get to IBGY before the Horde do?

It is ridiculous how people are blind to each factions' bias:
Alliance: IBGY is impossible to get past!!! (it's not, just run past the defenders instead of fighting them)

Horde: The DB base is ridiculous with all of the NPCs!!! (yes, they are closer to the path than in FW, but they are still easily avoidable)

The real issue IMO, is the actual design of the bases. Give Horde a moat outside the FW keep with the bridge the only way in. Also, change the terrain around SH so that you can only get past to the east of Bal.

It really pisses me off when a lot of people, both on the forums and here, just complain that the other side has it better (whether it be racials or terrain or generals), and yet do not think of it objectively. All they can think about is how [i]they[/i] need to be more powerful/get more honor etc.

Anyway, stop the blind QQ, and actually suggest something worthwhile to read.

@Fireflash38, I agree that IBGY is not impossible to get past. It's not uncommon to have a group of 3-5 Alliance riding straight through, hugging the side of the hill to the west of TP. The dumb ones stick to the road.

As for Aid Station, the Horde can split the middle of both groups of NPC, but the dumb ones stick to the road and aggro the npcs sitting by the forge. I'm so tired of fighting the likes of Lana & Dirk.

You're obviously not from the horde battlegroups that figured out how to win AV 100% of the time. If you just race, like the old days, then yes, either allie or horde can win. But the better horde servers have figured out they can just defend the bottleneck in front of IBGY, and allie has zero chance of winning.

For reference, http://www.wowinsider.com/2008/01/16/the-av-map-imbalance-in-patch-2-3/

@zenpunk

The Horde in my battlegroup put up a very token defense at IBGY if any at all. Most times a few will try to thwart the Alliance attack on Captain Galvanger, a few will then setup anywhere between IBGY, FWGY, and FWRH. I can't say that I've ever seen an organized defense at IBGY. It's always a race to the north and turtle only if all the graveyards end up getting taken and they're forced back to FWRH or FWGY.

On a positive note, from reading some of the comments here I should be happy that both sides queue up and play. Our queue times this weekend were between 1m-4m, with 10m showing up after 2am. :)

Oh, you must be on Ruin, eh? =P
I'm on Horde side, and out of the dozen or so games I played over the weekend, using varied tactics, we managed to pull out a single victory. 124 honor games FTL...

Or the 99% alliance win rate on our battlegroup (thanks Blackout)

I smell you are a NightElf Huntard... Am I right? Typical behaviour...