Blizzard to address Tol Barad balance issues

An assault on Tol Barad is one of the toughest challenges in World of Warcraft - so tough, in fact, that Blizzard have caved to vocal criticisms and agreed to rebalance the whole shebang.

MMOCrunch flagged a blog post from Cory Stockton in which the lead content designer promises a Tol Barad fix.

“[W]e intend to make several updates in the next minor patch to address design and balance issues affecting attackers that we can’t address with hotfixes. For example, we plan to alter the battle slightly so that a team with two bases captured can more quickly and easily capture the third, as opposed to a team with one or zero bases. This way, if the defenders turtle up, it’ll be a little easier for the attackers to take their last base before the defense can take one of the attackers’ other bases.”

Stockton adds that "While the attackers may always face somewhat of an uphill battle, the defenders should feel much more pressure not to lose than they do currently. Just the same, the attacking faction should feel motivated to take Tol Barad back, but they shouldn't feel that the odds are insurmountable."

The island of Tol Barad was introduced with the Cataclysm expansion as a PvP zone for level 85 characters, in which quests and the Baradin Hold raid are only accessible to those holding the castle.

Its steep attacking difficulty is so unpopular that its complaint forum thread is vociferous even by WoW's usual standards.