Common Sense Perspective - Rank

Rank. No matter what you want to do in PvP, it always comes down to rank. From the obvious uses, such as high-ranked pick-up groups in the tournament, to the not-so-obvious like guild recruitment, rank is everywhere in Guild Wars. After all, if the game provides you with a built-in measure of someone's skill, you should use it, right? Unfortunately, it's not quite that simple. Not only is rank not a proper measure of someone's skill, it also leads to discrimination. As most of us lower-ranked players know, rank causes very able players who can contribute to a group to be forced into pick-up groups with people who don't know the difference between a monk and a necromancer.

Now, don't get me wrong, rank is very successful in some situations. For example, high-ranked pick-up groups do tend to be far more successful than low-ranked ones. If you take enough time to attain a high rank, you have to have some idea of what you're doing. That said, there are enough problems to merit a change. For instance, one can attain a decently high rank without doing anything. Though this is a stretch, it is true that one could become highly ranked just by being in a group that was good enough to win with 7 competent players. Of course, this is an exaggeration, but it is true that relatively unskilled players do reach high rank.

Conversely, there are highly skilled players who have had success in GvG and are intelligent enough to adapt to the tournament but have no rank. These players are forced to spend hours upon hours trying to deal with imbeciles in an attempt to reach a rank at which they can begin joining competent groups. Some are fortunate enough to have supportive guilds that are willing to form tournament groups, but not everyone wants to participate in the tournament. So, there remains skilled players out there who are unable to enjoy the finer aspects of the tombs.

The question remains, what can we do about this problem? Many people have put forth ideas. Ideally, the system could be reworked to either include other PvP venues or base fame on personal achievements rather than group successes. Unfortunately, these ideas have significant flaws. GvG has significant rewards already, and 4v4 is something entirely different altogether. Individual rewards would be great, but it would be incredibly difficult to judge how well an individual did in a tombs match without a vast amount of manpower. Another idea was to have some form of a rating system, either by popular rating or by specified raters, but like all the other ideas it has flaws as well. Frankly, there just isn't a simple way to improve the personal rank system.

Though there's nothing that can be done to change the system, there is something we can all do as individuals. Next time you're starting a pick-up group for the tournament, refrain from your normal routine. Instead of only inviting players of your rank, base it off a different requirement. Invite intelligent people, people willing to take an active role in the group and work together to make the group successful. Sure, it takes longer and is a far more grueling process than just inviting random people by rank. I think you'll find it's worth it. Not only do you end up having more fun, you meet people and become better friends than you would have otherwise. You can also receive valuable input, and maybe better yourself in the process. Though rank provides an easy look into a person's experience, try to take a look into their character instead.

So what did you think of this article? Did you like it? Did you find it useful? Or maybe you didn't like it at all? Be sure to tell us about it on this thread!