And then there's the fact that private servers exist.
There are various private servers where drop rates are jacked up to make it a 100% rare item/card drop.
Others have malls installed where almost every damn item can be bought if you have the Zenny for it, and though MVP cards may or may not be present, these servers also tend to have events where MVP cards can be obtained easily - I've gotten Valkyrie Randgris cards, Turtle General cards and the like on such servers >_>
These servers also tend to have high level caps, which make skill far more necessary than gear set-up (though the gear set-up helps a bit). In a server where every damn player is Lv500 (because the exp rate is like 9m/9m/10k or something) you need to be able to hold your own and having a shoddy skillset alongside decent gear isn't going to do jack shit.
Even in the official servers of RO, there's usually only anywhere between 1~10 copies of such a rare item floating around, and you can bet they're worth hundreds of millions.
You mean
only in official servers of RO. Nobody plays in private servers that don't change the drop rate, and I doubt any of those exist anyway - the lowest rate server I've played at least boasted a 10% card drop rate for normal mobs and a 0.1% card drop rate for MVPs.
my complaint is that MMOs don't reward skill more than playtime. Which causes that issue (losing to people who've merely played the game for more time and had been given and helped by material advantages). And tell me, how can one expect to catch up with someone else who've played longer, if that person can just keep playing as much as you? And, how isn't this reduced to a contest of who has grinded more for levels/equips/items?
This is false. Haven't you read a word AlexX said? You need a combination of both knowledge of how your skills work, when to use them, the proper timing, appropriate counters for other classes, and such in order for you to stand your ground against even opponents of an EQUAL level. That's not how MMORPGs are supposed to work.
I'll cite a browser MMORPG I've been playing since earlier this year, where levels really do not matter at all, but rather, knowing how the game works and having the appropriate measures to defeating your opponents:
http://www.estiah.com/character/combat/replay/id/10356504/owner/33693(Xmoonstar [Lv30] vs Fenelia
me [Lv20])
This was a battle that took place when my character Fenelia was only Lv20, and just class changed to the first tier (Recruit). Fenelia only had 280 HP, and the attacker, "Xmoonstar," had a 121 HP advantage, a 10 level advantage (meaning access to more gear). Ignore the spirit advantage, that does not matter in this battle - I still won on the defense because the attacker seemed to have no idea what he was doing. He still uses low-level gear, he has no deck synergy, and he has none of the major important charms to be obtained in the 20s, such as Night Cloaks (Extra Action, +5 to melee ongoing, lose 5 life).
9
Xmoonstar88 uses [Duelist Sprite Invocation]
Xmoonstar88 summons a Sprite
Sprite shoots a water bolt, Fenelia takes 6 magic damage
10
Fenelia uses [Warrior's Earth Staff]
Xmoonstar88 takes 78 magic damage
Xmoonstar88 takes 8 melee damage
11
Xmoonstar88 uses [Greater Lightning Scroll]
Fenelia takes 13 magic damage
Sprite shoots a water bolt, Fenelia takes 6 magic damage
12
Fenelia uses [Mud Splash]
Xmoonstar88 takes 25 melee damage
Xmoonstar88 takes 8 magic damage
** Battle status **
Xmoonstar88 : 277/401 HP, 0 Armor, 0 Ward, 3 Willpower, 28/34 Charm(s) left
Fenelia : 255/280 HP, 0 Armor, 0 Ward, 0 Willpower, 29/35 Charm(s) left
In about 2 rounds I already shaved off 130 HP off my opponent (the previous rounds were spent setting up my method of attack - high damage burst), whereas I only lost around 25. My opponent essentially only did around 20% of my total damage despite being
10 levels higher and having far more HP than I did. Hell, the game even REWARDS you with being able to defeat opponents of a higher level than you.
that doesn't happen in competitive single-player/2-player games, either. Someone who excels at various games often will be defeated by specialists in a game, who've focused in improving in said game more (this can be sometimes said for game characters!). You may also notice that in these games, playtime is a consequence, how well you play is what really matters. No need for lvl. 60 Chun Lis here.
It doesn't happen in competitive games
because it's not supposed to. An MMORPG that introduces factors or is rebalanced so someone who is completely new can take out a so-called specialist is bullshit and shouldn't be played, because that goes against how PvP should work. Highly skilled players of a high level should be encouraged to take on those who are better than them in skill, but lower leveled players shouldn't be given BENEFITS just because they're NEW. If they want to excel at a low level, they have to work for it and conduct research on how the game works. I know that's what I did
http://www.estiah.com/pvp/coliseum/tournament/id/51975http://www.estiah.com/character/combat/replay/coliseum/51975/id/363825(Fenelia
me [Lv26, L] vs Bateau [Lv26, W])
Yeah, the fighters are at an equal level, but you have to note that there are many different strategies to employ in any PvP scene. Notice that earlier I did a burst damage approach, here I tried to tank and exhaust the opponent - I lost, but that proves that knowing the game well is a huge advantage over just having high levels and having an HP advantage.
Of course, knowing tactics is important, the wood doesn't defend itself [/Bruce Lee]. But, if you were ever to almost defeat someone, and then get defeated not because of the opponent's merit, but because of levels/equipments, wouldn't it be frustrating? Like, I'm new at this school, and physically just as capable as the other dude who has some years here. Then, we somehow get to fight, or he chases me for some weird reason. But wait! He brought his friends with him! Now.. how do we know how well that person would do, if he didn't have said friends? We won't know. He will likely say that he "fought better", or at least admit that he's not so sure about it. (he may even be right, who knows?)
This pisses me off so much because there are only a few isolated cases of MMORPGs where people can gang up on you - RO is one of them, so you chose like one of the worst examples to defend your case. Most PvP systems feature a fair 1v1 or a team-based system. Arad Senki/Dungeon Fighter Online/DNF is one of them. In PvP, you can either have a team battle or single combat. Gear for certain classes here is important, but not as important as knowing which skills have priority, which skills have wonky hitboxes, the appropriate spacing for your skills not to whiff, zoning, placement, etc. There's NEVER an instance where an opponent wins not of his own merit - there are VERY FEW high level players who do not know what they are doing - they got to that level, WITH that high gear, for a good reason - because they exerted effort into doing it. That's how MMORPGs work because
you aren't the only player playing the damn game. Of course there's going to be a skill gap, but the skill gap between two individuals playing WILL ALWAYS NARROW, it's just that since there are SO MANY PLAYERS, you are making a gross generalization of the genre.
