by Novae » Mon Mar 14, 2016 3:09 am
Uzephi, I'm more of a forum lurker than poster, but I thought I'd throw my opinion in here, as this is something that I am very familiar with. If there have been very recent server changes on Nostalrius then some of this may not apply - this is my experience up to at least a few weeks ago. Incoming wall of text:
I almost exclusively played on retail PvP servers since release, and how the flagging works here is NOT Blizzlike. Keep in mind that what I am posting here is based on what retail servers were like from beta into at least TBC, and does not include "smart" PvP flagging server actions that were more recently introduced.
Mobs such as the Laughing Sisters at Raynewood Retreat in Ashenvale, the dwarves at Bael Modan in Southern Barrens, and the undead at Bathran's Haunt in northern Ashenvale are NOT supposed to be flagged as PvP targets. That being said, at least here they do not actually flag you for attacking them, regardless of their own flag.
There are a LOT of PvP flagging actions that are just outright wrong here. For instance, on retail vanilla, if you were flagged yourself and took a flight from any location, even if from inside a contested zone, you would immediately become unflagged while flying, and would remain unflagged until landing. If you landed in a contested zone, your flag would immediately turn back on.
There were many times that I, myself, would be fighting Alliance in Crossroads, flagged of course, and when I had enough and just wanted to unflag as quick as possible, I would just take a flight to Ratchet and it was immediately off and stayed off.
Also, here on Nostalrius PvP, if you are not flagged and fly from Stormwind and fly to Ironforge, you become flagged as soon as you cross into contested zones like Burning Steppes or Searing Gorge and remain flagged for as much as the 5 minute timer remains once you land. This is not Blizzlike.
Something else I've noticed is that friendly targets flying past you are immune to anything done to them here on Nostalrius. In retail, I used to see someone coming and give them Mark of the Wild or Rejuvenation while they went over me - sometimes with a whisper back saying "WTF?" afterwards. I did this for years. Not the case here.
In addition, there are quite a few other "bugs" regarding flagging I've noticed. I know for a fact that there is unintentional flagging that can be done. I can be flagged in front of the Stormwind bank and drop a campfire down. Any player that walks past it and gets the +4 Spirit buff becomes instantly flagged if they weren't before, because I was, and I "buffed" them. I have been flagged by other people's campfires sitting in cities as well.
One thing I did try on the PvE realm, was I came across a friendly Horde player that was AFK in a hidden spot. I flagged myself, dropped a fire down and my fellow Hordie got flagged. These types of flagging bugs care be abused way too easily.
This is on top of the already well-known AoE flagging bug on the PvE server - see a mage doing AoE, flag yourself, walk into it, and boom - he's now flagged and attackable.
One last thing - it's also known on the PvE realm that you can attack enemy NPCs and guards and you will not become flagged. What??? That's not right. On retail, you would also flag yourself for accidentally buffing or healing a friendly town guard instead of yourself or a friend. This does not happen here.
I state all of this not only from personal experience, but also from my videos and screenshots I've taken over all the years.