Bring Back the 50% Battleground XP Bonus
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2026 9:58 am
I would like to suggest bringing back the 50% XP bonus for Battlegrounds.
Since the XP was reduced, I have noticed a major change in the BG leveling experience. Before the change, Battlegrounds were mostly populated by normal leveling players. Now, it feels like the majority of players queueing are twinks.
I understand that there were complaints about how much XP players could gain from Battlegrounds. However, from what I have seen, many of the people complaining the loudest were primarily players who prefer questing and don't actually want to level through PvP.
And that's completely fine. If you enjoy questing, keep questing. But players who actually enjoy PvP shouldn't have their preferred way of leveling nerfed because other players don't want to use it.
Some of us have been playing WoW for 18+ years and have leveled hundreds of characters over the years. At this point, doing the same quests for the hundredth time isn't particularly interesting anymore. Battlegrounds give us a way to level while actually playing the part of the game we enjoy.
PvP players shouldn't be punished because questers don't want to play PvP.
If the real problem was AFK players, then I think AFK behavior should be addressed directly rather than reducing the XP reward for everyone.
My suggestion
1. Bring back the 50% XP bonus for Battlegrounds.
This would make BGs attractive to normal leveling players again and give people a genuine alternative to questing.
2. Introduce a proper AFK system.
Something similar to Retail could work:
Players can report another player for being AFK.
A timer starts after being reported.
If the player does not participate in combat or the Battleground objectives within a reasonable amount of time, they are removed from the BG.
The timer could be longer than 1 minute if necessary, as long as it is long enough to be fair and prevent players from being kicked simply because they temporarily aren't in combat.
Players who voluntarily use /afk should be handled separately and should not automatically receive the harsher AFK penalty proposed here.
The longer cooldown should apply specifically to players who are reported for being AFK and then fail to return or participate within the allotted time.
Instead of the normal 15-minute deserter cooldown, a player removed for confirmed AFK behavior could receive a 1-hour Battleground cooldown — or potentially even longer for repeated AFK behavior.
The important thing is that there should be a fair way to distinguish between someone who is genuinely AFK and someone who is simply not in combat for a short period of time.
This would address the actual problem without punishing players who are actively participating.
I think Battlegrounds should be a legitimate alternative way of leveling. The 50% XP bonus made that possible, while the current XP rate makes BG leveling much less attractive for normal leveling players.
Please consider bringing back the 50% BG XP bonus and dealing with AFK players separately.
I'd also like to hear from other players who regularly use Battlegrounds as their way of leveling.
Since the XP was reduced, I have noticed a major change in the BG leveling experience. Before the change, Battlegrounds were mostly populated by normal leveling players. Now, it feels like the majority of players queueing are twinks.
I understand that there were complaints about how much XP players could gain from Battlegrounds. However, from what I have seen, many of the people complaining the loudest were primarily players who prefer questing and don't actually want to level through PvP.
And that's completely fine. If you enjoy questing, keep questing. But players who actually enjoy PvP shouldn't have their preferred way of leveling nerfed because other players don't want to use it.
Some of us have been playing WoW for 18+ years and have leveled hundreds of characters over the years. At this point, doing the same quests for the hundredth time isn't particularly interesting anymore. Battlegrounds give us a way to level while actually playing the part of the game we enjoy.
PvP players shouldn't be punished because questers don't want to play PvP.
If the real problem was AFK players, then I think AFK behavior should be addressed directly rather than reducing the XP reward for everyone.
My suggestion
1. Bring back the 50% XP bonus for Battlegrounds.
This would make BGs attractive to normal leveling players again and give people a genuine alternative to questing.
2. Introduce a proper AFK system.
Something similar to Retail could work:
Players can report another player for being AFK.
A timer starts after being reported.
If the player does not participate in combat or the Battleground objectives within a reasonable amount of time, they are removed from the BG.
The timer could be longer than 1 minute if necessary, as long as it is long enough to be fair and prevent players from being kicked simply because they temporarily aren't in combat.
Players who voluntarily use /afk should be handled separately and should not automatically receive the harsher AFK penalty proposed here.
The longer cooldown should apply specifically to players who are reported for being AFK and then fail to return or participate within the allotted time.
Instead of the normal 15-minute deserter cooldown, a player removed for confirmed AFK behavior could receive a 1-hour Battleground cooldown — or potentially even longer for repeated AFK behavior.
The important thing is that there should be a fair way to distinguish between someone who is genuinely AFK and someone who is simply not in combat for a short period of time.
This would address the actual problem without punishing players who are actively participating.
I think Battlegrounds should be a legitimate alternative way of leveling. The 50% XP bonus made that possible, while the current XP rate makes BG leveling much less attractive for normal leveling players.
Please consider bringing back the 50% BG XP bonus and dealing with AFK players separately.
I'd also like to hear from other players who regularly use Battlegrounds as their way of leveling.