Skill and Conclusion

The last thing that bugs me is the suggestion that Guild Wars is a true skill game. Now don’t get me wrong, there’s skill involved – especially when you consider co-operation and planning to be skill – but it’s not the kind of skill I personally can appreciate and get excited about. Perhaps I’m getting old and cranky in my dotage here, and thinking too much about Quake, but that was a skill game.

To those that didn’t understand it, it seemed like nothing but a game for teenagers with hair-trigger reflexes and a knack for camping the rocket launcher and red armor. To those who understood a bit more about it, it seemed all you had to do was run the right routes to control armor and weapons, and have good aim. Those people, they believed that all you had to do was memorize routes, count off seconds in their heads and practice a lot and you could be as good as anyone else.

But there’s a lot more to it. It’s about knowing your opponent. Thresh was far and away the best Quake player – ever. I wouldn’t bet for him in a match against Fatal1ty in one of the Unreals or even perhaps Quake 3 (though then again, I wouldn’t bet against him), but I’d lay down my life savings in Thresh vs anyone in Quake, assuming he practiced to get back in shape.

Why? Because he knew his opponents. I played several matches against one of Thresh’s clan mates, Kenn, who repeatedly abused me from directions I never saw, whose skill with rockets and the lightning gun was undeniable, but who ultimately killed me mostly because he knew where I’d be. It wasn’t just a matter of following the sounds – I’d played enough Quake to be deceptive with those. He’d adapt and compensate and beat me at it anyway – and that’s what Thresh did to him. That’s what Thresh did to everybody. When I asked Kenn to describe what it’s like going 1 on 1 against the grandmaster, he said, and I quote, “You never made a sound, he didn’t see you, but you turn the corner and there’s a rocket coming at your face.”

Of course, this is about Guild Wars, not Quake – but it gives you an idea of why I can respect what Guild Wars is trying to do with its competitions, but can’t enjoy it just the same. Yes, there’s a certain need to understand your opponent’s strategy, but it’s all buffered with skills, teams, and class selection – Quake is pure, unfettered. Being responsive to your team’s needs, casting the right spells at the right time and target, managing mana – I’m sure it’s fun for the right crowd, but it isn’t for me. Unlike World of WarCraft or EverQuest, there really isn’t a permanent payoff at the end; and unlike Quake, the competition isn’t satisfying.


That ultimately sums up my feelings about Guild Wars in general. I absolutely respect what the development team did. They produced a game that’s balanced on all levels, offers variety, great performance on all technical merits, and throws in some revolutionary concepts to boot. Despite all that, it is terribly boring for me personally – not because it’s a bad game like Daikatana – but because it just isn’t my thing.

Flame on.