Be careful about falling into the trap of "100% skills = invincible". It's something of a running joke in Asgaard every time someone posts a log somewhere, and the feedback is always along the lines of "Damn. That victor must have worked so much harder on his skills.", and someone checks the guy's file and the victor doesn't even have enhanced damage perfected. I would much rather go into a tough area or difficult PK fight alongside an experienced player with crappy skills, than a newer player with 100% in everything. The difference that practicing skills makes isn't so big in the grand scheme- take it from someone who had a solid PK record despite mediocre skills. (93% parry at level 47 (250 hours) according to one log I have at home, liching/IMMing (750 hours) with sub-100 crimson scourge, whip, energy drain, hand to hand, forget, PWK, ritual of abominations, etc. Keep in mind I had a 23 int and Tome all this time.)

The counterargument is often "Yeah, but I'm sorta new here, and the only way I can compete is to have 100% haggle." I'll ask you this then: Who is more likely to kill you?

1) The newer player who spends 150 hours perfecting all of his relevant skills by spamming them at local mobs, or in his guild.

2) The newer player who spends 150 hours exploring areas, IDing new gear, RPing his way to a tattoo, and developing alliances.

Player #1 might have a short-term boost in power (and not nearly as big as a lot of people will sell you). But once he deletes, guess what: All those 100%s go away. Player #2 has also gotten tougher- he probably has more prep items available, more hiding places when he's hurt, more friends that he can call on, and maybe a tattoo. He's gotten pointers from his friends, and maybe been in a few scraps to learn tactics for himself. Maybe he's lost a little con, but he probably picked up a few skill points here and there too.

In the long run, I'm much more scared of Player #2. Player #2 also adds a lot more to the game, and is happy to let the Player #1s sit on Eastern Road, use their one stone skin item for prep, and bash each other. That's because Player #2 knows that area knowledge, gearing strategy, timing, preparation, and RP rewards will beat 100% skills every time. Plus, Player #2 is probably really busy playing with out-of-the-way quests, IMMteraction (who wants to run a quest for a guy that's in his guild spamming 'detect invis'?), exploring areas that Player #1 can't even find, and laughing all the way. Player #1 is getting his 14th Mountain Dew out of the fridge to keep awake, and wondering if he could get away with a bot that auto-flurries kobolds for hours at a time.

Why the hell would anyone want to be Player #1?

From the pen of:
valguarnera@carrionfields.com">Valguarnera Trisseptia

valguarnera@carrionfields.com