gear-vs-skill
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The Daily Grind: Should veterans and newbs be on equal footing?
Age of Conan game director Craig Morrison recently tweeted a frank reply to one of his followers. The reader asked why Funcom doesn't revamp PvP items to make everyone's minigame stats equal, thereby relegating grindtastic PvP gear to the game's vanity armor slots and providing theoretical balance. Morrison's response: "Not everyone wants a new player and a two-year veteran to be on equal footing. Many want that to count, aside from knowledge." By "that," Morrison meant time spent playing the game and paying your character dues, as it were. This brings up an interesting debate, since MMOs have a reputation for rewarding geared players over skilled players in both PvP and PvE. What say you, Massively readers? Should veterans and newbs be on equal footing? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Gear vs. Skill
Bell over at 4 Haelz made an interesting post about gear and skill. She relates several experiences where, looking for group, players ask for her 'stats' and grill her further upon finding out that she's on the low end of the spectrum numbers-wise. Sometimes, those players don't invite her or, worse, log off from their party without even giving her a chance to prove herself. But there's a flip side, too, and Bell tells of running Heroic Ahn'kahet: The Old Kingdom with a tank who gave her a chance. That story ends well and a Druid in less-than-stellar gear earns some new friends along the way (and hopefully loot, although she didn't mention that).This is an old and valid argument. In many cases, some raids or instances just require a certain level of gear in order to beat it. Take Archavon, for example. He's the easiest raid boss in the game, but players will need to bring a minimum DPS in order to kill him before he enrages. It's a simple fight, and players don't need much skill to do it (step out of the clouds), but there's just a modicum of gear required to pump out enough DPS to beat him. No matter how good you are, weapons and gear scale your DPS upwards or downwards and there's a ceiling you just won't be able to break.
