In Defense of Rank
If you would like to read Sholtar's editorial click here.
Rank. There is no denying the factor it plays in the upper echelons of competitive Guild Wars matches. And there is no solid argument against having a uniform rating system for cooperative gaming, either. I doubt anybody can honestly say they feel Tyria would be a better place without deer, wolves, and tigers to back up a claim of being experienced in the Hall of Heroes. After all, that is what it boils down to: experience.
Not "skill," or any other misinterpreted meaning. Rank doesn't mean you have a good guild and nothing else. It doesn't mean you have no life beyond Arenanet's servers. It means you've done, and subsequently learned from things an unranked player simply hasn't. Things like running relics, body blocking, interrupting the enemy Ghostly Hero, as well as how to handle certain situations.
You may be surprised to find out how often the tournament is won just by good timing and awareness. Should you take the altar now and defend, or wait for the 2 minute mark and make a run for it? There just isn't a definitive answer for any question like that. It depends on equal parts how your team is built as well as assessing your opponents' capabilities. You have to know every nook and cranny of each map. Where is the best spot for dropping frozen soil - and when?
You have to know what the other teams are likely to do, and be able to counteract it. You can't expect to beat IWAY with 8 random people. The same goes for ranger spike, VIM traps, minion factory, edge bomb, mass hex, or any other organized build. Why? Because everybody in an organized build has a specific role, and monks aren't just monks. They could be Infuse, Bond, Boon, active prot, Word, Spell Breaker, or even smite. That ranger could be - well, you get the idea.
Now consider this: would you prefer an infuse monk who can see a spike coming, or one who thinks only drinks can be spiked? Would you prefer casters who can kite well, or ones who think kiting is for playgrounds? On a larger scale, would you prefer 8 people with 8 skills each, or a well oiled machine with 64? Those questions are pretty obvious, but people complaining about the rank system seem to forget that unranked players generally, well, suck.
By "suck," I mean in comparison to a high ranked group doing a similar build. For example, just an hour ago I was in a r3+ pressure build, and our first match was against a pickup IWAY team. We won flawlessly in just under 4 minutes. On the very next round, we played a r9+ IWAY, with players from guilds like [news], [MATH], and [Prav]. We lost in 3:17.
If you think the "/rank" emote causes discrimination, take the following true story, as told by a good friend and guild mate, for example. You're in a r6+ group, and need one more to start. You state you need a rank 6+ warrior, and get a whisper. They go make the character, presumably with the skills you gave, and come back. Imagine the shock when you show up to kill the unworthy ghosts and see an unprescribed Elder Wolf following the new guy. If it wasn't bad enough then, they won the first round and saw the announcement that the new guy "is now rank 1!"
That was their only win, with several attempts after that.
If you think I'm taking this all too seriously, try thinking about Guild Wars as a sport. Or anything more than a video game, for that matter. Try to separate Guild Wars from Super Mario, and appreciate the competitive aspect. Imagine you're playing chess with REALLY awesome graphics. Enjoy the side you haven't yet discovered, or see your own path in a different light. Or just ignore me. Part of the beauty is that everything here is multifaceted. You can completely refuse my - or any - idea you disagree with. But try opening your eyes to another point of view. You might like it.
