I think the element of "skill" in EQ is quickly dismissed, mainly because I've ran into a lot of bad players. If the game requires no skill, how can so many people be bad at the game? Additionally, it can't be solely based on how long you've played to "gain knowledge" as I assume most people have been playing p99 for quite awhile at this point, plus most everyone played at least a year on live with many playing for 2-4+ years. Even so, I've seen people like Jeremy who have never played EQ before p99 quickly excel at the game.
I think the level of skill required is a bit subtle and sometimes missed. That shaman in your group is just casting spells, but in their mind they have to juggle with situations like "the myconid reaver is beating the shit out of the enchanter, do I toss a torpor on him, does he need a sup heal, or will he be fine and should I just attempt to slow it?"
The game is slow paced, but you'd be insane to suggest that reaction time doesn't matter. I saw a cleric die just a few weeks ago because he had aggro and never clicked the DA button. There are lots of other things that require snap decisions and quick reaction like picking up adds, heals, etc. I'm sure a lot of the group and raid wipes you've experienced over the years could have been avoided if 1 or more people reacted to something more quickly.
|