Since I am specifically mentioned in the thread, allow me to say a few words. I accidentally stumbled upon a bunch of guys doing rated BGs when one of my friends and arena partners, who was playing on the team at the time, asked me if I wanted to go since they're short a DPS. We played a few rounds and did pretty well, and I got hooked. Since then I spent about a week bouncing between various groups, until all of a sudden they all just died. At that point my rating was about 1000, and I was choked because I was so close to a title. So I took matters into my own hands and formed my own group. The first few days was rough, and I had to ask trade frequently (which conventional wisdom tells you is a big no-no, but I am here to tell you otherwise). To my surprise I actually got a pretty solid group going, and all sorts of excellent PvPers came out of the wood work, including an ex-alliance rank 13 who rerolled Horde because he was tired of not enough PvP on alliance side (Matok/Symbul), and many other players I haven't played with since vanilla. I even got a few 2k rated players to join just from trade chat PUGing.
About two weeks of doing that I had a solid group going, a good 50 people. Word of mouth soon spread, and I got to a point where I could dependably get a group together every night. I didn't always get the best people but I always got a chance to play. In the end I won more games than I lost, and got up to 1800 rating in only 4 weeks.
So to all of you wanting to play RBGs in this thread, here is my advice in point form:
- Just start a group. Ask your friends, get the ball rolling... and ask trade for people. Insist on gear and some minimal PvP experience, but don't be stingy. That 'scrub' warrior in mediocre gear could might well be an ex-rank 14 from back in the day on a different toon. Give people a try
- Keep it consistent. Send calendar invites at a consistent time, say MWF at 6:30. Once people start to know that you'll have a group going, they will attend whenever they can and before you know it you got a solid group of regulars.
- Use word of mouth. Ask people to ask their friends and guildies to join up. Again, give people a chance. You won't always group with 9 others who will be gladiators this season, doesn't mean you won't have a good time. It's better to play consistently and regularly then to bank on an all-star team. Indeed playing with non-all-star teams makes those great teams feel even better. Also, you won't know who your all-stars are until you played with them.
Anyway, I hope that you guys get the ball rolling because I would like to see alliance PvP revitalized as well. I still remember facing the old 'helmet team' back in vanilla and those were great memories. Best of luck to you and feel free to give me a shout if you want some more advise.
