PVP server is one of the 3 types of server which is offered by World of Warcraft for players to play on, each offering a different ruleset in terms of how each server is implemented in the game.
Terminology
**Honorable Kill (HK) - An honorable kill is gained when you kill an opposing faction member of a similar level. This varies and is very similar to the experience point system. Characters who are more than 12 levels lower than yourself at level 60 will not give you any HKs. This scales down slightly for lower level players. HK’s give players Honor Points (HP) which are essential for progression in the PvP ranking system.
**Honor Points (HP) - Honor points were formerly known as contribution points. Once a player obtains a HK he will be assigned some honor points. Honor points can be gained in three ways : (1) Killing players of a similar level to yourself. (2) Killing racial faction leaders. (3) winning objectives in battlegrounds / killing NPCs in Battlegrounds.
A level 60 player killing another level 60 player will get more honor points than a level 30 player killing another level 30 player. The only NPCs which give out honor are special faction NPCs, you cannot gain honor from killing normal mobs / or normal NPCs.
**Dishonorable Kill (DK) - A Dishonorable kill is obtained by killing a low rank NPC character from the opposing faction. These characters are usually quest givers, vendors etc. DK’s reduce your PvP ranking significantly so they should be avoided at all costs.
**Mobs - Mobs is a term used to describe PvE opponents, for example spiders, kobolds, orcs etc. A mob is any computer controlled opponent.
**PvP Ranking System - Players who compete in battlegrounds and who hunt down and kill players on the opposing faction will move up rank. The first level is rank 1, all the way upto rank 14. It should be noted that it is very difficult to do well in the PvP system unless you are very high level, 60 is recommended. That’s not saying that your task to get to rank 14 at level 50 is not impossible, it's just that it is very difficult and that your time would be best spent obtaining a high level before you participate in the PvP system full time.
**Battlegrounds - Currently there are two Battlegrounds. Alterac Valley is located in Alterac and can be entered from either on site in person, or you can sign up through a Battele master at either Iron Forge (Alliance) or Ogrimmer (Horde) Warsong Gulch can be found on the border of Ashenvale forest and the Barrens and can be entered in a similar fashion.
**Warsong Gulch - This is a 10V10 capture the flag style battleground on a fairly small map. This Battleground is designed for very fast play and can usually be won in around the 15-45 minute mark.
**Alterac Valley - This is a 40 man V 40 man battleground and is designed for more strategic play where players can capture guard towers, graveyards and call in air strikes. Alterac takes a lot longer to complete, anywhere from 1 hour 15 to 6 hours depending on your team. It is also advisable to join Alterac during peak time as on some servers it can be hard to get in due to the 60 players required to start one.
The Payer vs Player server is designed for players who wish to be able to participate in this combat while adventuring throughout the lands. This is truly the World of Warcraft, where the races are in constant conflict with each other.
