What puts the "gank guilds" and the hardcore PvPers above the casual players and pick-up groups? People always argue, "they've got better gear than me." While often true, there's a lot more factors that seperate the two.
Whether you end up playing with the hardcore crowd, the newbie crowd, or somewhere in between, here's some guidelines of what you can expect.
Hardcore PvPers...
... play almost exclusively with guildmates or close friends and know what each other is capable of. Go ahead and make that suicide run, you know they've got your back.
... analyze class combinations up and down and have determined what they think works best. Hardcore players retire primary characters to reroll new ones simply because it will work better in their group.
... have expirimented extensively with most if not all possible spec options for their character class to determine what works best in most situations. These sick bastards dream about the game.
... will take one for the team and play their less-desirable alt if the group is missing a core class.
... always use voice chat.
... have massive amounts of gameplay experience with their character in PvP. When your /played value approaches 50+ days, not only do you need to go outside and get some sunshine, but you also probably have a general idea of what you're doing.
Noobie PvPers...
... play with whoever is available. Which is usually strangers and their behavior in combat is unpredictable to say the least. Will that healer actually heal you? Who knows! But you'll find out soon enough.
... are often a part of groups that can best be described as "bad gumbo". It's a mish-mash of classes that usually don't even make sense together. Five heavy tanks and a caster... honestly, how could that possibly go wrong? The casual group is often low on healers and often missing valuable utility classes.
... often don't have an optimum spec. In DAOC terms, these are your Void Eldritches and Mentalism Mentalists... Yes, "THOSE" guys... They could be a less-than-desirable spec because they consider it fun, flavorful, or it's the first spec they've tried and are just too stubborn to switch. Often you don't find out until its too late:
"Uh, why didn't you PBAE that huge cluster of Mids?"
"I'm Enchantments spec."
"Oh... Well, sorry guys, I need to, uh, go eat dinner..."
... might as well not even try to communicate in a fight. Half the people don't have voice chat (some have never even heard of it) and those that do have the outbound volume set a few decibles above "jet engine". Add some steel drums and it would sound a lot like Mexican radio.
... often don't know how to handle their character in PvP. This could be a bad case of "the lights are on, but nobody is home" or they could just be the much dreaded "eBay Bard". Either way, you're screwed.
It's pretty clear who has the advantage here, even without putting gear into the equation. It's like a SWAT team taking on a pack of 10-year olds who broke into their uncle's gun cabinet.
