After reading posts in spvp since the beginning of S2, there are topics that have clearly emerged with regard to its current state of affairs. More particularly, MMR and how it effects discussions on player skill, rank, and progress. Many of these posts include people who like to let it be known to the rest of the Guild Wars sPvP community that they are “elite” and the rest of us just need to get as good as they are. They enjoy an “exclusive” status (hence wanting to keep it that way) and would have us believe that most of them “earned” their way to said status by their will to power over their teams, in some cases, and all cases, over their enemies. It begs the question, “do their statements and comments necessarily follow from their premise about skill and exclusivity?”
For example, “skill,” could have everything to do with a player’s proficiency, prowess, and ability to adapt to multiple teams, environments, and tactical circumstances all at the same time with incredible, even mind numbing success all the time, every single match, and that without exception. Having stated that somewhat tongue and cheek, I honestly believe that there are those who really can play at extremely high levels, but they are neither perfect nor are they always on top of their game. Rather, they are students of themselves, of their team(s), of their opponents, professions and environments. They are very good, even great, because they invest the time and energy to all aspects of the game and by wondering what they could do to be better individually while they are considering how they can be good for the sake of the collective whole of a team. This is what I believe about the vast majority of GW2 sPvP players or we wouldn’t be in a competitive environment to begin with. They do not feel the need to tell others how bad others are in order to let others know how “good” they, themselves are.
It is equally likely that some of those “legendary” players have found multiple ways of manipulating circumstances to their favor using the current MMR format. Whether its by their multiple accounts, professions, time of day, trolling others, even their computer gear (sorry can’t justify spending $100+ on a mouse or keyboard or $3000 on a new system – [have Asus g75w with Fios in case you are curious]- players sometimes have superior equipment but that still does not equate skill). So all of this talk about “exclusivity” with respect to “skill” is really a mirage because there are multiple ways to explain it away in this current environment without actually having to posses it. In other words, you really don’t have to be skilled, you can claim it by denigrating others who have not legitimately achieved it yet.
The other thing that is troublesome is when some talk about “carrying” your team. Anyone who has every played a competitive team sport knows that’s garbage. You can do a lot of things; primarily keep your team from losing by minimizing your errors and playing up to your potential, but you cannot “carry” an entire team, just not possible in a format geared for team rather than individual play. For example, if in sPvP you have 1 great player, 1 good player and 3 bad players versus a team of 4 good players and 1 bad player, give me the 4 good players simply based upon law of averages. No matter what that “great” player might be capable of, the numbers are just going to be stacked against him. Wait! He’s supposed to be “great,” “legendary,” even “pro” level but there are so many other things outside his control, he’s going to lose because its a team format. Let’s put this another way; 1 player = 20% (just playing up to his potential) of his team’s output, 80% is out of his control(playing up to their potential). So, if you are not on an established team, your odds of success are very low indeed if you have to “carry” a team even for 1 match. Not to mention if the other team knows who is the strength on the opposing team, they will find a way to minimize your contribution – you will be harried the entire or remainder of a match(team sports like football or basketball do this all the time).
My proposal is simply this, stop basing individual MMR on team wins/loses especially in solo que. Rather base individual MMR on other factors already being used in game which are a part of individual statistics: e.g. damage/condi-damage, players killed, etc, but not on total points in a match (I think this would penalize those who bunker/anchor for their teams – although you might be able to use defending capture points for that). So that your MMR is based on YOUR contribution rather than the success, or lack of success, of your team and its ability to win in the solo que. I always play hard in solo que, sometime I feel like a nut, sometimes I am one. If my team is substantially lower in ability(sometimes it is, and the reverse is true too because I have been on teams where I knew I was with others who are much better than me), then there should be ways of collecting those statistics and using them to gage both my skill level and my ability to contribute to a team. I know this is beset with issues, but its the only way that I can think of that keeps my MMR rating in my control, based on my contribution, and based on my current level of play rather than dependent upon others.
Finally, If the system were truly a fair mesure of skill for all, it would have to include balancing builds so that they would have multiple, viable builds and/or roles (including hard counters and built in weaknesses-might actually effect team composition if it were already so). Getting rid of certain items (e.g. amulets) because people exploit them is only a short term solution that creates a void if not properly filled with corresponding and reasonable buffs/nerfs. Furthermore, that system should also exclude externals, whether or not you can exploit mechanical features and, or even simply having a better computer apparatus; it would level the playing field for all (e.g. using standard keyboard and mouse set up – no key bindings). It would also include a way for people who seek to improve by rewarding them for good and consistant contributions (individual stats and overall rank should mean something) rather than rewarding those who think they already have it and just try to deny it to others based on false premises and assumptions or just simply grinding (well, some grinding should always be necessary, helps develop character
).