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World of Warcraft. It's an addictive game, an unstoppable force, and a phenomenon within its own genre. Millions of people play the game, spread across hundreds of servers. On each server, people interact with one another, quest together, and fight one another. It is that last aspect of the game that is most intriguing, since Blizzard is noted for it.
Throughout the last decade and a half, Blizzard has created some of the most renowned games, from the original Warcraft, to Diablo, to Starcraft. Each game has either focused, or in some way offered, combat against both computer AI and other people. I, along with many others, believe the competitive spirit of Blizzard's games is what makes them such a success.
But in World of Warcraft, things have taken a slight turn when it comes to competition in the Player vs. Player circuit. The ranking system that runs the game, a 14 tiered "honor" system, rewards players with various prizes to enhance their characters. The prizes are, as would be expected, progressively better as you ascend through the ranks. But there is a catch. The way you earn points and move up the ranks isn't by beating a set number of the opposing faction, or winning a set number of instanced PvP matches. Instead, you are compared to each and every other competing member on the server. And the number of people who actually get the numbers needed to move up the ranks, well, it's a frighteningly small percentage of the population.
Before I go any further, let me get a little down and dirty with the numbers. Bear with me. Every week, honor calculations are made and applied to the server's population. You earn reputation points which determine your rank, which for the most part are set 5000 points apart (excluding the first 2 ranks). The reputation points you earn are based on a very non-linear scale, with only a small percentage receiving the top numbers. By small, think less than 1% receives more than 11000, in a system where the values earned range from 1-13,000. Less than 10% get more than 9000. Frightening. To make things worse, you lose 20% of your total points each week, so you have to overcome the loss, before you can even start to earn points.
For all you math nerds like me, you probably realized something. For the top few ranks, you are losing 9000+ points a week. So to make any progression past rank 11, you must fall in the top 10% of the server. To make any progress towards the top rank, from rank 13, you must be in the top .2%.
On a server with 3000 people engaging in PvP combat, there are only 6 slots for people to make the big numbers and have a chance at making the big move to High Warlord or Grand Marshal. Believe me, the competition is downright ugly. There are people whose accounts are signed in for 8, 12, 16 hours each day, seven days a week to achieve this highest honor. Some people share their accounts, something that is actually against the Terms of Use in World of Warcraft. Some people just dedicate all their time into playing the game. So it makes it very difficult for the average gamer and even the high endurance gamer to really make a run for the big 14.
On top of the increasingly tense competition for points as you ascend in the ranks, there is another, almost frightening, aspect to the system. Should you decide to take a week off, either for school, work, or other reasons causing lack of access to the game, you will lose 1/2 a rank. Depending on how close you are to the top rank, that could be simply a few extra hours needed one week, or it could be two weeks of nonstop play. Think of the horror that a person only 1 week from rank 14 would experience should their computer break down and they lose access. Instead of having just one week to go, they now have at least 3 more.
So, if you decide that you are going to step up to the challenge of attaining rank 14, let me prepare some dialogue for you.
"Listen sweetie, I know we have a good thing between us, but I need some alone time. I promise, it's not you, it's me."
"Yea, boss, I'm gonna need to put in for all my vaction hours, to be used over the next month. Yes, all of them. Acutally, make that two months."
"Office of Admissions? Yes, I need to request a leave of absence this semester."
"Free trip to Hawaii? Oh man, sorry Bob, I have to stay home and...um...do some work."
Ok, now you're ready to go. Enjoy your tradeoff: life for honor.
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