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On the Players of Guild Wars, and Their Varying Relations to Established Builds
 Introduction
It is a distinction that has long been made in video gaming. Whether players are aware of it or not, their experience, knowledge, wisdom, skill, and even charisma are constantly being observed by others. Players often don't even realize they're making these observations, but all players without exception do it daily. As a Guild Wars player, you are constantly vetted by your peers, often without much thought on their part. This vetting ultimately ends in one unspoken decision regarding you as a player. Are you a noob, or are you pro? Often enough in Guild Wars, a person's level of competence is judged by their build. The logic is simple. If you understand how to put together a good build, you obviously understand synergy, which means you are more than likely a pro. If you have stupid skills that don't work well together, then it's equally obvious that you're a total 'tard. There is, however, a problem to the simplicity of this system.
The Metagame
Oh, God... I said it. Metagame. *cue all to cower in fear* This monster of a force is the Most Holy standard by which all builds are judged. The virtual bandwagon of all bandwagons, the metagame can whip about in all directions, changing as fast as within days. Those who can successfully keep up with and ahead of it, to put it simply, win. There's only one problem - the metagame isn't a secret. In fact, it's becoming less and less of a secret every day. "What's popular" can now be determined easily, without even having to boot up Guild Wars. Just admit it, you've used it, and know all too well what I'm talking about. Yep, PvX Wiki. With builds becoming as easily shared as they are now, the metagame could do a total volte-face every day, and even a below-average player would be able to keep up with it. This, unfortunately, makes understanding the current meta much less of an advantage than it, honestly, should be. The meta becomes not a vague set of ideas open to interpretation, but a written group of skills meant to be used in the prescribed order with equipment provided. The challenge, to put it frankly, is gone.
Innovation
So, when it comes to the bottom line, is having a good build really that critical to a player's success? While this may seem like a simple yes-or-no question, there are actually five answers. Or rather, there are 5 groups of people who respond to this question differently. You might call it the Evolution of the Guild Wars Player. We've all traveled it. From worshiping Hundred Blades to getting Rank 15, there is a set series of steps that all players follow. This was supposed to be the main point of my essay, my apologies for being so long-winded in getting here. I guess I'll just make it a separate title and put it in a fancy frame. :P
From Do-do to Leet Pro: The Evolution of the Guild Wars Player
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Type I: The Neophyte
The first type of player is the most fun to talk about, simply because he is the stupidest. These are the alpha dogs of the noob pack. I'm talking absolutely ridiculous builds here. Smite Mo/R's with pets and Sig oJ as the elite. Necromancers with 12 Air Magic. Dervishes who throw spears. Also known as the "Hundred Blades Noob" or the "Flarespammer," the Neophyte makes his own builds based on how "cool" they would be, rather than their actual viability. Not much more explanation is needed here, as you've no doubt seen enough of these in-game, and they are much more rare than the middle types.
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Type II: The Generic Noob
The second type is another you are familiar with, and an only slightly less stupid one. My apologies if you are a member of this group, but it's true. Also, congratulations on finding the Wiki. Give yourself a cookie and then go back to AB. Anyway, this group is the people who know what builds other people have come up with, but are unable to understand what makes a build good, and probably still do not understand synergy perfectly. This is the Spirit's Strength Ritualists in RA who use Brutal Weapon instead of Vital because it adds more damage, not taking the time to RTFM and realize that SS is an Enchantment, and thus cancels the effect of Brutal. Also, SS Rits suck even when they are using Aggression or Vital like they're supposed to. This lack of forethought puts the nooby RA SS Rit smack at the bottom of Type II. I'm taking back my cookie now.
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Type III: The PvX'er
This group is by far the most common. I don't mean to suggest that all Type III players use PvX Wiki, because a good portion of them probably don't, but the name serves to demonstrate the attitude of this type of player. This player is the player who use cookie cutter builds, and succeed at it, but think that builds cannot be changed under any circumstance. This is the group who will complain if you bring Death Pact Signet instead of Flesh of My Flesh, just because Wiki says it's supposed to be Flesh, and Death Pact makes you die moar. This group understands synergy, but only to the extent that they know why the build they use works. They are still not confident or skilled enough to make modifications to their own builds. For example, a Wounding Strike Dervish might be told to use Conjure Lightning when a SF Elementalist on the same team has Mark of Rodgort, and a Fiery Snathe with Conjure Flame would cause MoR to trigger, allowing the Elementalist to maintain Burning more easily. This menial oversight doesn't make a whole lot of difference overall, but is indicative of an underlying lack of comprehension that will prevent the team from doing extremely well. Essentially, Type III demonstrates an ability to realize that their own creativity sucks, but hasn't yet figured out that build =/= God.
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Type IV: The Pro
This group is where a player finds himself if he is starting to get that modifications to builds aren't limited to the "Variations" section on PvX. You might find this player to be ranked somewhere between 3-4 and 8-10 on the Hero title track. This is the elite PvP'er class. Builds are thoroughly thought through and extensively customized, or perhaps even made from scratch. Also, specialization tends to occur here. A player will start to discover that he is slightly to much better at a certain profession than others, and will learn it and perhaps one or two others inside and out. Here's another example. Say, for example, this group's balance build calls for a PD Mesmer. The group has done 2 or 3 runs, and notices that most of the groups they are facing have been running Heroway. The group's Mesmer talks it over with the team and decides to change his build. Even though PvX says he is supposed to run a PD Mesmer, he runs Migraine. Since Heroway is seriously lacking in hex removal, he feels this will be a better way to shut down the enemy backline. He brings CoF and Power Drain so he can still deal with the Elementalists as needed. If he has an open slot, he may even take Mirror of Disenchantment. Then, when the match starts, he watches the enemy Taint. He diverts Tainted Flesh, then casts Mirror of Disenchantment to make the disease asplode back on to the enemy team. Although this only took perhaps five seconds at the most, it seriously impairs the other team's pressure. He then tabs around and messes with the Eles a bit to get them to be overly cautious with their AoE, then Migraines the backliners and camps them with interrupts. The team rolls the Heroway easily, and gains hearty lulz as they Bambi Shame the corpses in a much more satisfying manner than a PD Mesmer would have been able to. Like I said, pro.
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Type V: The Apotheosis
And just when you thought I was done. Believe it or not, there is a 5th type of player. I call it the Apotheosis, kind of a quasi-subgroup of the Pro, and I will tell you right now that I am not one. These are the gods of Guild Wars. I don't want to name names, but you know who these people are. If a frontliner on one of the top 10 GvG teams changes from using a Warrior to using a Dervish, what do you think all the Type IV's do? Yep, even the almighty Pro is influenced by a higher power. Type IV may be the innovators, but Type V are the source of meta. I don't know how many of you were paying attention to this on observe, but did you see how fast Hidden Caltrops spread as meta? I swear, one day no one had even considered it and then one day somebody decides to try it out during an Exhibition match. Top guilds may just use those for testing, but people watch them, and they start using concepts before the Type V's are done with them. This group is unique in that it is skilled enough to pull some random build out of nowhere and run it, creaming everyone he comes up against. In other words, the Apotheosis is... the balls.
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Conclusion
I sincerely hope that those of you who follow the "Too Long, Read Anyway" policy enjoyed this enormous article. Seriously, when I started writing I meant for it to be like two paragraphs. Nonetheless, my talk page on the second tab above, as well as the talk for this page, are open to discussion. If I in some way opened your mind to some new piece of knowledge that you hadn't considered before, you are welcome. I had a great time doing it.
-Adella Vorith
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