Last night, we had an interesting time [CAMP]ing the JP in EB. We fought Tarnished Coast hackers. Four of them. Speed hacks and teleport hacks mostly. One thief had an invisibility hack so that he could attack while stealthed. But the most interesting part of all... these players were terrible at combat. And I think I know why....
When you use hacks, you enjoy the "advanced" abilities they bring. It gives a great advantage that one normally doesn't have. But used too much, and those same wonderful hacks slow reaction times and dull your skills. Hacks compensate for "actual" game play. Remember those times when you were/are leveling your characters that you were outnumbered, outclassed, and had to give it everything you had just to survive? Those events actually helped hone your skill. Some more so than others, but it still helps. You learn your profession, what it can do, what it can't do, and how to cope with situations. Being dependent on hacks, demonstrated that these players used them to the point of not being so good in combat. Their reflexes were slowed. And their hacks only "helped" to a limited degree.
Time and time again, they would attempt to reach the chest in the JP by porting up or stealthing through the lines. And time and time again, we fought them successfully. They even had speed rez ability so they wouldn't remain in a downed state for long. In other words, after having been "downed" they would jump back up on their feet while the "Finish Them" animation was still playing and they would "die" again. One would teleport back to their base, come back the to the JP, and teleport back up to where the bodies of his friends were and try to rez them. And of course, we would kill them again. And again. And again.
Now, I'm not the greatest at PvP. In fact, I have little faith in my abilities. But I did get 19 badges of honor from those hackers. And it was great fun fighting someone who had a clear advantage over me with speed skills and boosts. Definitely a great challenge. And I only died once. It happened when I spotted one of them sneaking back to the chest and I leaped to the next rock only to discover a great hole in the dome beneath me and I fell to the cathedral floor and died instantly. No armor damage since I died from falling. Heh, oops!
So when you join our server in [CAMP]ing the JP, be on the lookout for hackers. Yes, we report them. And then we kill them.
