Not too long ago, Blizzard went ahead and implemented Phase 2 of the World of Warcraft: Classic experience. This second phase included multiple dearly-needed improvements, but the most important feature implemented was the World Player-vs.-Player systems, especially the honor system.
This feature, if you’re unaware, is integral to those that enjoy fighting each other in the open world instead of simply restricting it to battlegrounds. This style of play is vital to Player-vs.-Player (PvP) servers, and in many ways is really the only reason to play on them. The World PvP system, for better or for worse, makes it so that players of opposing factions can go to war with each other whenever they want. Of course, it isn’t always consensually, and you can expect to have an Undead rogue stalking you for hours if you step into Stranglethorn Vale at the wrong time.
Kills generally net “honor,” which could be used to increase your PvP rank or to purchase PvP-specialized gear. Until recently, however, the honor system hadn’t been implemented. This didn’t stop players from killing each other, naturally, but they did so with the only reward being bringing glory to their faction instead of getting an actual tangible reward for it.
The honor system that was rolled out was a bit frustrating, though. Players complained that honor wasn’t being calculated correctly and that they were walking away from mass wars without nearly the honor they should’ve had. Additionally, many mistook the unforgiving slow crawl of the honor system to mean that it was broken, or that they weren’t being rewarded properly.
Have you downed Lord Kazzak or Azuregos in #WoWClassic? pic.twitter.com/IrvlcrDVFu
— World of Warcraft (@Warcraft) November 22, 2019
“We also know that some players confuse ‘estimated honor’ with actual honor. . . or confuse honor with rank,” Pazorax explained in the announcement. “The honor system is slow to progress you through the ranks, even in the best case, so many of these reports aren’t a case of the honor going ‘missing’ as much as they’re a case of an unforgiving system giving you less progress toward a rank than you were expecting.”
In short, the honor system is working fine and works similar to leveling up needing more experience per level. The gap between levels 1 and 2 is smaller than the gap between 2 and 3, and so on, so why would honor work any differently?
Either way, it’s been a wonderful excuse to kill each other for minimal reward. It’s one of the most enjoyable parts of the Classic experience, some might argue. If you’re out there prowling through the Searing Gorge with a Dwarf hunter in your sights, then lok’tar ogar!
