Battleground Battlegrounds are instance d areas used for player versus player combat . Each classic battleground ( Warsong Gulch , Arathi Basin and Alterac Valley ) has two red instance entrance portals : one for the Alliance , and one for the Horde . Crossing these portals was originally one of the ways to enter the queue for their respective battlegrounds . Now , to enter the queue for any battleground , the player must seek out a Battlemaster , which can be found at the portal or in any capital city , or do so through the Player vs . Player tab . Once inside the instance , the two teams will engage in large - scale PvP , with various objectives determining the winner . Players will earn honor point s making PvP rewards available . If a character goes AFK , he / she will leave the battleground and gain the Deserter debuff . This prevents entry to another battleground for a 15 minute duration . You can report an inactive player by right clicking the player ' s portrait and selecting " Report AFK " . When enough reports are registered , a 60 second debuff will begin to count down . Once the timer is up a new debuff will appear that will prevent the player from gaining any honor or marks while it is on . This debuff can be negated as soon as the player engages in PvP combat . This system is often abused , since a player can have good reasons for not participating in PVP , for example when he is defending . The two initial Battleground areas , Alterac Valley and Warsong Gulch , went live June 7 , 2005 . Arathi Basin was added to the list in Patch 1 . 7 on September 13 , 2005 . A fourth battleground , named Eye of the Storm , was released with the Burning Crusade . A fifth battleground , the Strand of the Ancients , was added in Wrath of the Lich King . The sixth battleground , the Isle of Conquest , was added in Patch 3 . 2 on August 4 , 2009 . Silvershard Mines and Temple of Kotmogu were added with the introduction of Mists of Pandaria . Deepwind Gorge were later added in patch 5 . 3 Winning a Battleground with characters below level 110 awards a Crate of Battlefield Goods . Players on the opposing team also have a chance to receive a crate with an increasing chance based on team score at the end of a match . The crate contains a piece of armor appropriate for the character ’ s level and specialization with a chance for the crate to contain additional rewards such as weapons or relics . Types . Blizz ard separates the various battlegrounds into three separate types : Existing battlegrounds . Eye of the Storm . Requires . Strand of the Ancients . Requires Isle of Conquest . Requires Battle for Gilneas . Requires Twin Peaks . Requires Silvershard Mines . Requires Temple of Kotmogu . Requires Deepwind Gorge . Requires In Cataclysm . In Cataclysm Patch 4 . 1 , another Dungeon Finder incentive called " Call to Arms " was added which encourages under represented combat roles to join dungeon queues , but it is not to be confused with the Battlegrounds holiday s also prefixed with " Call to Arms " . Patch 4 . 3 cross - realm battlegrounds . As of Patch 4 . 3 , Real ID cross - realm groups / parties can queue for battlegrounds together . Canceled Battlegrounds . Azshara Crater . Originally slated to be an Alterac Valley style instance , this battleground was far enough along in development that there were even Horde and Alliance entrances in Azshara . It never saw release , however , and with the zone overhaul in Cataclysm removing the physical location in which it would have existed , its fate seems to have been sealed . Azshara Crater in Mists of Pandaria . At BlizzCon 2011 , Blizzard revealed that they may be working on adding it into World of Warcraft ' s fourth expansion pack . Gurubashi Catacombs . A " deathmatch " style battleground , it was scrapped early in development but the concept eventually turned into Arena PvP .