You all knew this was coming. Anyways, I just wanted to mention a few things with regard to the previous 17 page long debacle of a discussion about PVP rankings/history/etc.
What many people don't seem to address or even consider when comparing the old generation with the current generation is one, the pool of talent and two, the knowledge base of the players, which dovetail into each other indefinitely. Before I retired here on BC, the aforementioned pool was much deeper than it was in 06' and 07. Because of the individuals who were willing to instruct new players and pass knowledge on, we have a somewhat decent PVP community here. This wasn't the case in 06', 07' and even early 08'. The talent pool was abysmal at the very best on the original Acclaim server. There were a few top tier players, and even then, these high tier players lacked the knowledge required to ever become "the best". In 07' and early 08', I was one of these players. Then, in late 08', came the onslaught of PVP guilds, where knowledge was passed around (I'll talk about this in a bit) and the community strengthened exponentially (Sanctuary, Death_Factor, etc.). The best drew from each other's talents and built their own skill sets. We had our arguments; however, we respected each other and enjoyed the competition. We entered rooms of 8 and watched as each of us took a turn in round robin tournaments to decide who was the best at the time. Save a few delusional individuals, we all knew who was the best and what needed to be done to become better. Yes, in 07' and early 08', S_A was indeed the best PVP in the game. I'm not going to take anything away from the man -- he held the most knowledge and detail about the intricacies of the game (more than anyone at the time).
Then, myself and Saphira decided to sit in a room together for probably 2 hours and delve into the gaps of our knowledge in an attempt to better ourselves. During these two hours, we discovered the glitches that only S_A possessed, amongst other things. We made a promise to never let these secrets out; however, I broke this promise when I made Sanctuary. Unlike S_A and Saphira, I wanted to spread this knowledge to better our community and better the game. I was sick of defeating all but one individual. I wanted more competition. I wanted more fun. And as time past, I developed my own abilities and skills that were independent of what anyone had seen in the game. I have no one else to thank for this but those I trained, who gave me great games so that I could hone my skills further in an attempt to acquire the top rank. To be as concise as I can with the inaccurate description of S_A's skills with regard to the information zeitgeist within BOTS!!, I'll describe the following situation. In late 08' / early 09', I had been beating S_A 50/50 for quite some time during our private 1v1 matches. We were both very curious who was the better PVP. We decided to do a best of 5.. I won 3 games straight, surviving in red, orange and orange respectively. Despite having an identical skill set and an account belonging to S_A himself, this avatar (who was really S_A) claimed that he wasn't S_A, but rather, his cousin playing on his account. Now, this may bring back a few memories about certain players (Nitex, for instance) -- certain people cannot handle losing big matches. They consistently find an excuse for why it is happening. S_A was no different. However, no one had the opportunity to see this side of him, save myself at the time, as I was the only one capable of bringing him down at a consistent level in 1v1 matches. At this moment, he was no different than Nitex.
The purpose of these details isn't to kick S_A while hes not around, it's to emphasize the importance of the information transition within this game (the only reason I was able to become better and beat S_A). It is ridiculous to hold S_A as the "gold standard" today, when, during his time, he denied himself competition by refusing to share his secrets with others. He lived in a time where the best player external from the group that consistently played together was a newb. Times have changed; The talent pool is greater; We all understand the game better. During our best of 5, even my knowledge was infantile compared to what it is today (continual information dissemination). Many of you now would fare better than even I did then during our best of 5. This is something many of you seem to leave out when describing the "best PVP ever". His time was then. Your time is now at a very different stage in the game's development. The players today have knowledge and information at their hands that we never had in the game's early stages. Comparing then to now simply can't be done (it is an ENORMOUS fallacy). A great analogy to this is Mixed Martial Arts. The sport has evolved so greatly, the talent pool has increased so much, that the best of 10 years ago wouldn't stand a chance in hell against the best today (there is simply so much potential that is readily developed and refined with the new-age techniques and information that those who previously held this information to themselves would be out shined). Many of you are living a dream, a delusion; you've never moved on. It's time to move on and admit to ourselves that the old generation of players (06', 07' and 08') simply can't compare to the best of today with the current knowledge available. The PVP realm within this game is an information war. Those who have it succeed; those without it fail. Anyone can press buttons. With timing and this information, you have a great chance at making it into the top tier.
So, can we all stop arguing about who is the best? Go in-game and show it to each other. Honesty is something we all held in high esteem during the old days of play (most of us). Today, it simply seems that lies, a sharp tongue on the forum, and yes, even lag (Tricky [remember, I've seen you play without it]), can make you a top tier player.