[url=#user_comment_53952]@Querzis[/url]: that IS skill, or maybe experience but experience does equal skill in a sense you level by fighting gain gear by exploring, and fighting, skill is the product of experience,. or at least something that PASSES for skill.

allow me offer a HISTORICAL insight into skill vs gear importance.
armour and shield quality was a very decisive factor on a battlefield.
skill still played an enormous role though..

This is the story of PWI PvP.

Welcome to EVERY MMO! Gear owns skill. And the PVP scrubs that can't fight in games like Street Fighter, Team Fortress 2 (Yeah, you MMO PVPers are ruining TF2 now that it's free. You SUCK! But you're easy kills now that you got no gear to depend on. :D ) know this to be true. Blizzard thanks you!

Wow people get mad at everything. Me and my friend started doing arena with terrible gear, almost never won. We both know how to play and played since vanilla but going against people who have the best gear isnt winnable.

We eventually managed to get some good gear, and then we started winning.

Why did she have to die? She was a hot furry!

While the honor calculations for starter blue gear is decent, you can have starter pvp gear crafted plus do 2s in crappy gear and get an epic wpn in 3 wks easily. Not to mention honor from TB and easy honor from a quick WG if you play it smart. In any event SkillX + Gear > SkillX

ahhahah clearly u know nothing about this game. Your one of those noobs that got happy getting passed 1500 bcz of playing in WOTLK of GCDING people GG. L2p faggot..

GCD = no skill

srsly, plz you the kind of people that makes wow sucks, just by what your saying i am 100% sure you are the BIGGEST noob to wow on this planet, so plz stfu and stop playing wow

level 70 = skill
level 80 = gear
level 85 = GEAR
why? because of the complainers. Blizzard gave up on this game.

It's her fault for not wearing any armor.

AKKAAKAKKAKEKEKEKEKEsorry minus

THe whole problem of mmorpg's Are all of u who thinks its about skill vs Gear, Skill vs gear isnt even a fucking matter, Skill is the Basic value And gear adds up to that Which means dont ever come with a Bullshit excuse, of Im skilled enough while ur in green gears, Couse obviously < Ur not.

@autor-just-bad: its not that I cannot get 2200 (and I got it on multiple chars in many seasons) - it's stupid, dumb gameplay in pvp, I'm disappointed in Cata pvp: even when it's not worse than wotlk, but not better either. Cannot find any point in playing arena anymore, since it's the same old crap

Cool comic, definitely a reason I hate PvP in MMO's. I like how he draws his sword with his right hand and then crushes the rogue with the sword in his left. I understand it looks better in both panels with each hand respectively.

he grabbed the sword with the right hand, but stroke with the left... just saying C:

Good players can easily get 2200 with shitty gear. You can't? Then you are not as good as you think. Period.

love this comic .. it's real .

"Working as intended."

PvP in MMORPGs isnt about posessing and/or puting skill to use. People dont PvP for a challenge on MMORPGs - if they did you would get a great deal different experience in MMORPGs with open PvP. PvP is all about dominating someone who doesnt have the chance to retaliate.

Quit after having played this crappy arena battles of pure 5-10sec zergfests, even s8 wasn't THAT bad - oh wait, playing rogue or hunter against LSD was much worse..:/

Another scenario is your teammates (warr+feral for example) are 1sec faster then enemies and open 3k-res dk,killing him in 4sec pounce into 2.5sec throwdown, colossus bullshit, dcalm, - before their hpal bubbles out of your NS-ed instant hex(or he is sitting in instant clone after trinketting hex)

You enter arena at ~2200mmr as rsham in this shit gear(and you already spend pretty much 150h of farming!) and what you see? a mouth-breathing TSG, where a dk and war are in 359-372 pve/pvp mix. They faceroll through your 3500res in blanket strangulate. 5sec of battle and game over. Pure skill!

- 60-70% of ppl, about 20-30min in queue; taking in account ~50%winrate, in average you're gaining 100honor per hour. So you need to spend 150h on one char on one spec just to collect crappy 352 blues! And here you go - in 352,339 crappy blues with some 359-365epics from arena, 3500res

Speaking about WoW: at 85lvl you have to farm about 15k honor just to buy 12 blue starter pvp pieces. One bg yields you 100-150 honor if you win, 30-50 if you lose. It lasts about 30-1h, and assuming you are playing horde

I'm pretty sure that the way he grabs his sword is doable no matter which hand you use.

vileroze rank 1 glad with S6 gear with T1 weapon in S8, but yeah no skill there at all obviously.

[url=#user_comment_54081]@retards[/url]: You are absolutely correct!!! Anyone arguing against this comic is most likely just a bad :<

You really don't know how to deliver a joke.

Since when does it take skill, to stab someone in the back.

Wait a sec. In the 4th panel he grabs the sword's handle with his right hand... and then it it suddenly being swung by the left hand.

WHAAAAAAAA?!?!

Actually this is quite common in Monday Night Combat Live... Would you do a comic about it, Jo?

anyone who says rogues take no skill has never played once except maybe 29s

[url=#user_comment_54268]@Mirdan[/url]: So what the fuck would you prefer happening? In battlegroups with such lopsided A/H populations and Battlegrounds populated with weaklings, even if you play well you still get dragged down by your team. So by all means have a man waste 15 minutes in a BG and get 30HKs/KBlows for jack shit.

i'm guessing this is a wow joke on some levels.. but tbh, all you whiners that believe this is how it work, have you ever wondered what it takes to get that gear?

in what i have seen most gear takes time and skills to gain. so plz, stop whining just cause you actually don't have skills

>Hat Fortress 2
>No Grind

Right, instead you leave the game on overnight, idling for hats.

I love TF2 as well, but the game has a grindy side for sure.

in WoW you can get points for PVP gear from -losing- in some PVP situations...

Wow in depth conversation about a comic that is ment to be silly people should really look at them selves and ask is this truly worth getting your panties in a bunch?

The real skill is to see that he takes the sword with the right hand and hit the girl with the left hand ?
Okay guys ? Thx

LOL :D

When I read those comments, I lose faith in the human race.

Typical that people here are assuming that:

Jo is talking about WoW in particular here rather than just MMOs in general.
Talking about specific class (warrior/druid) balance.
Saying skill is useless or gear is overpowered no matter what.
Thinking 325 is the guys item level.

Erasmus, I believe the 325 isnt his ilvl.. I think its the damage the rogue did;)

And 325 is a sign of great skill? That won't even get you in heroics.

All the complaints of how "hard" the game is come from people who have cheated with their item level (piece of off-spec quest reward gear in their bank) to enter heroics, but don't have the necessary skill.

[url=#user_comment_54004]@jasdero[/url]: it is only wasted in your opinion. If someone feels it time well spent on an MMO, then it is certainly no more wasted than hours spent painting or playing tennis or whatever.

this is a metaphorical example, author is not specifically stating what class takes skill and what doesn't. author is simply saying skill should play a larger part in the grand scheme of pvp.

you guys are all morons.

"Everyone playing less than ME is a noob. Everyone playing more than ME is a no-life." How original...

[url=#user_comment_53943]@Zexxix[/url]: Haha, my lvl 46 mage has a Frost PvP-spec with heirloom staff, trinkets, shoulders, chest and cape. It is kinda op at BG's :D Just spam Cone of Cold and Ice Lance ^^

The game is a grind all for numbers without this number crunch and grind you couldn't get past anything will skill.

Not saying 100% skill and 0% gear and stats is the way to go and i doubt anybody is, don't be morons about it, but honestly I feel the gear gap is too big or to influential.

because spammin mutilate is so much skill.

There's no skill involved in getting gear and certainly all skill should trump all gear because I'm sure at level 85 in green gear you've already mastered rogue pvp and deserve to kill everyone. Try not playing RPGs anymore if you don't like gear playing a purpose. Rogues take zero skill.

She should've known better, especially a rogue thinking it can easily topple a plate-wearer one on one. Now she knows.

There is a game out now called Bloodline Champions, gear has no impact other than for looks. You control and aim everything from melee to spells manually. It released last week and is free to play atm, try it out.

I play wow and i have to master 30+ keybinds (as a priest) and use them as fast as i can react to a situation.

On high end pvp in wow where all have the same top gear takes alot of skill to actually be on top.

[url=#user_comment_54022]@Shadow12000[/url]: glad to know my name is wrong :D true... but its still gamers logic to run up to fully armored people with nothing but two tiny daggers, "MOTHERFUCKANOWAYHELIVE! LEEEEROOOOY JEEENKINS!"

[url=#user_comment_53999]@youdontcarewhatIthink[/url]: What are you, the guy in that Armour?

[url=#user_comment_53999]@youdontcarewhatIthink[/url] Realistically, you'd stab the inside of the holes in his helm to disable him at the least, but NO, it MUST be gamers logic...trolls....

the 4th panel with the catgirl in the corner needs to be made into a wallpaper with a black background.

Good luck with this idea in EVE! =3

Hat Fortress 2 in a nutshell...

[url=#user_comment_53999]@youdontcarewhatIthink[/url] you imply mmos are built around logic and I lol

skill, right, well realistically, i think a person with a full set of Armour would and a long sword would win in a fight against a cat girl with tiny daggers, but NO it MUST be an "unbalancing" issue.... gamers logic...

[url=#user_comment_53992]@Nanosheep[/url]: Otacon!

[url=#user_comment_53967]@Scout[/url]: This is approximately Jo's opinion of game forums: http://www.nerfnow.com/comic/286

I'd argue that knowing what gear to use is also a skill. And if it's an RPG, then high level gear would be locked to a high rank.

Oh my god!

Metal Gear!

Ever since I learned about this comic site, you've always done well, Jo. Keep it up as long as you can with this site.

Happy Birthday or if I missed it. Happy late birthday!

He points at the forum so the "skill" guy can go cry about gear counting more.

[url=#user_comment_53967]@Scout[/url]: I'm pretty sure he is pointing her to the forums so she can rage not so she can get tips.

I really love how the amount of epic gear you have is tied to how much of your life you have wasted on a mmo

Nope.avi, u are all wrong. Since MMORPG is a game for noobs, those 2 are indeed noobs. Butthurt? Let's play TF2.

well the player is not exactly skill if he/she is just pounces on a character with a lot of gear. further more the guy in "gear" went to the forums while the "skill" person did not.
I believe you have the roles mixed up.

the guy in gear is skill
while the trigger happy rouge is a noob. =/

Well with recent changes to feral for next patch..it fits Feral just as much :P

As for "skill" in Mabinogi: I do agree. With how the combat system is, it definitely requires more "skill" than watching your character auto-attack in WoW, and maybe spamming hotkeys. At the same time, in Mabinogi, spamming Icebolt or arrows does not require much skill though.

[url=#user_comment_53930]@Jhtpo[/url][url=#user_comment_53863] @BigB[/url] I have to agree and disagree. Depending on how you enchant and upgrade your gear, it can make a grand difference from one player to the next. At the same time though, skill ranks are just as important for the damage and stat increase.

For any World of Tanks players, the Skill player would be in anything German, generally around Tier 6-8 (The VK Tanks through to the King Tiger work).

The Gear player is either in a T-54 or an IS-7. Whichever it is the community is scared of more.

You want a game where GEAR counts for nothing? Play World War II Online. EVERY SHOT COUNTS.

You want a game where GEARS counts for nothing vs a horde of newbies? Play Eve Online. EVERY SHIP COUNTS.

I love euphemisms. Sometimes you'll find dicks that are called "gear".

omg jo this comic actually made me laugh! especially that big slash of GEAR hahahaha so true man, so true

[url=#user_comment_53957]@Random[/url] Shooters are point and click too. So are puzzle games. RTS' And every other video game. The way you do it and when is where the skill comes in. Or are you a gorilla chewing on a controller pulling off lawlcombos? heh

Lol MMORPGS require skill? All it is is point and click. Spam and tank damage that's all this BS genre is for the most part.

In the original I preferred Sami.
In the second either Sensei or Colin.

@>:-/: Bah, Nell isn't that great, though it is funny to see a damaged Mech unit take out a full health medium tank in 1 shot with her CO Power.

Personally I prefer Grit or Eagle.

Luck IS a skill.
You'd know that if you played advance wars.

Oh come on. Skills no matter if its in a MMORPG or even a normal RPG? Really? Its all about level, gear, learning the opponents weakness (revive kill zombie) and luck, nothing else. If it took you that long to realize that, just stop playing RPG.

@ :D

That a mighty nice face you have, lets be frands!

Happy Barthday Jo!

it's straight up bad game design, and it's why most online multiplayer games don't make a big distinction between the amount of gear people have

except world of shitfuck of course, because blizzard is incompetent and all the talented people left the company years ago

Looks like someone has heirlooms.

Skill in a rpg? Ahahahahah! Instead, come play some fighting games. If you're lucky, you may even qualify for my collection!

No grind is one of their core philosophies that will make it to GW2, the forum gw2guru has a lot of articles if you want to inform yourself. I just read this article about the new profession and groups <3 http://uk.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/guildwars2/news.html?sid=6286994&mode=previews&page=1

Happy belated birthday.
I wonder how the others knew ahead of time...

You might be right random git, but it still fell to a Knight of the Reliquary ;)

I have the funny feeling that the neko costs G, and could be as big as a 3/3 if you have the right lands.

You have eloquently summed up the very reason I stopped playing WoW and most other MMO's. *laughs* Vindictus ftw.

[url=#user_comment_53929]@Korey[/url]: I just figured it was all artistic representations of your standard MMO. Not really directed at any one MMO in particular.

I think it's funny that people assume this is WoW and that is a Fera Druid when it looks nothing like a druid and more like a Rogue Catthing

PvP characters in Guild Wars 2 will all have access to all the best gear from the get-go, so gear discrepancies shouldn't be an issue for Organized PvP. However I can't say the same for World PvP, though I have heard that there may be some measures taken to somewhat "equalize" player level and such

[url=#user_comment_53923]@Meh[/url]: same

[url=#user_comment_53912]@Errores[/url]: Mabinogi. There is still some grinding, to be expected but gear doesn't do a lot other than look decent. And the battle system is this real time/turn based rock-paper-scissors system that if you know what you know what you're doing, you can take on an enemy several times as strong.

Not gonna lie, when I saw the name I thought it was going to be about TF2 and how people treat their hats.

MMO's have to have grind in them, otherwise you would quit playing after one month, tops.

Silly kitty-rogue your supposed BLEED a warrior not ambush. Hit and Run, Guerilla tactics.

But seriously if there is ever a MMO were skill matters more than gear tell me. I'm tired of getting stomped cause I don't play for hours/days on end.

If its so unfair, why didn't you try dodging that? You were so busy thumbing up the camera.

Lol? Can't take this comic seriously - feral druids are the most OP class at the moment. They need very little skill to win in arenas. I hate losing to noobs.

And gear! Disc priests need 2.5k resilience to even survive 15 seconds on arena, no matter how skilled they are.

Pretty much why I avoid all PvP in MMOs. Not because there's anything wrong with it, but because I don't have the time to invest to get good gear.

I don't see it changing anytime soon, if it was boiled down to nothing but skill those who constantly chase the rabbit(Gear) wouldn't play anymore.

[url=#user_comment_53897]@Chris[/url]: Just like Chess. You don't even have to aim at the spaces, your pieces land on them every single time without fail. How completely devoid of skill.

Why is there still no "Pow"-Note in final panel? I start worrying...

Any game that's based on Auto-Aim, like WoW and other MMO's, the game is purely gear based.

I mean, if you can't even aim yourself, how big is the skill margin?

I Picked up Bloodline Champions recently. I never thought I'm gonna enjoy pure skill based game like thiss :D

Vindictus/Mabinogi Heroes

Silly cat thing tries to slash up knight in full plate armour and whinges when damage done is superficial.
Real skill would be dodging the mighty swing of the greatsword, or maybe attacking the eyeslit.
Nothing unfair here.

One of the reasons why I loved Planetside. A 1 hour old character could get nearly all the same equipment, and use it exactly the same, as a 4 year vet. It was the player that made the weapons work.

EVE is also like that, the value of the ship doesn't mean shit, if you don't know shit.

The bad balance says:
"If my gear level is near your gear level, i will massacre you!"

soo the druid cat would have killed the warrior. Ferals Imba!!

if you were playing some sort of cat-akali, you shouldve had your gear too. specifically, LOLINUKEU, UMAD RYZE?

Also, skill allowed neko-chan to get the hit down to 9999.

Obviously it could have crit still, notice the lack of (!) or any other crit indicator.

Or else they'll sell the gear in crates that you need to buy keys to open...

PSSSHHHH JO! DONT LET EM HEAR THAT! Or else...

[url=#user_comment_53874]@Guido[/url]: Skill? In a video game? You're just pressing buttons, the same as everyone else. See I can troll too.

Skill? In a MMO? You're just pressing buttons, the same as everyone else.

So moral of the story:

Get money, save money, spend money on the best items available then practice your swagger.

You have same birthday as me?

Awesome.

To some extent skill can compensate for lesser gear, but yeah gear is probably more important than it should be.

What bothers me is then mentality of "min/max or bust".
When other setups are perfectly viable.

from what i heard about the Guild Wars 2 its leveling curve is actually not that bad. i dont even think it compares to the first guild wars.
http://www.arena.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/07/LevelingCurves-600x403.jpg this might be accurate it might not be,i just found this on the web.

That's why I play Mabinogi. all gear is equipable to anyone (with some racial requirements on some) so gear isn't that important. Its all about skill ranks.

Rock is OP. Paper is fine. ~ Scissors

PVP is a joke hell half the time "Skill" translates into gainking, stunlock or exploiting broken mechanics(eg player collision or lack there of)

Its a gimmick, its just there to keep you paying monthly once you run out of content. Sadly what little honor remains is oft outmatched by twinkgear.

(cont) However, the young neko makes a grave mistake, assuming victory too soon. Though the gear-knight's response is slow, it is also decisive. The beaten neko-hunter sulks off to the message boards to lick its wounds and complain....there will be no food for the young nekos tonight....

Unfair? She is the one who tried to ambush him. She got what she deserved.

PvP is a useless gimmick anyways; there will never be anything fair about it, and nobody should ever expect there to be.

[url=#user_comment_53842]@Mike[/url] If GW2 follows the same path as the first, it actually won't. Dunno if you ever played Guild Wars, but there was no gear grind. You hit max level in about a day (Or less if you started with the Nightfall Campaign), and by that time you already had access to the best stats in the game.

All mmo's require the grind, and sadly I don't think GW will be much different. There will always be the players with the sick gear that play all day. Here's hoping right?

wow, I never imagined I would be first at anything.
Now I have posted a first comment for the first time in my life on a popular webcomic. My life is now complete. Thanks Jo! And happy birthday or something?

It exposed itself, it deserved it.

first!