Arathi Basin
Since the release of version 1.7, World of Warcraft has seen a major shift in battlegrounds play. The Arathi Basin offers short, fast action play for the masses. What does this mean for Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch?

Alterac Valley has shown itself to be the place for die-hard gamers. The battles could last hours, and a character could rack up thousands of honor points in a day. Arathi has changed all that. Because of the honor system, honor points would rapidly go down after you killed the same person several times. While you would get plenty of honorable kills defending your village, honor points would be lacking, especially if you were in a raid group. Playing Arathi has shown that an hour or two can yield the same contribution points that Alterac Valley gave.

Warsong Gulch continues to be popular for the same reason Arathi is now. The short battles, and quick action, allows gamers to quickly gain reputation and access to the respective clan's items.

We are just five days into version 1.7 and there has been on single Alterac Valley battle on Magtheridon. Is this the end of Alterac Valley? What can Blizzard do to make it popular again?