Should a Low Level Warlord Level Up? (and some pvp riffing)

I have a pvp question from David:

Hey Necro I've been reading your posts for sometime now and there are really amusing! Well probably you get this question over and over but I haven't had the time to look for an answer, well my question is I have a lvl 16 warlord and wanted to know if it is a good idea to lvl up I'm thinking to lvl 22 since I'm dueling wizards in lvl 40's and up and not getting any easier. Thanx for taking the time to read this!

Oh man . . . I'm so not the guy to ask pvp questions to! I'm probably the biggest pvp noob on the planet, but I think I might have an answer for you.

I was over at Central reading this thread and it has a direct quote from Professor Greyrose about pvp matching. This was enlightening since I had no idea how that pvp matching worked. Here's the quote:

The Ranked Player vs Player (PvP) matching system in Wizard101 is based on two very important factors: the Level of your Wizard character and the current PvP Rank of your Wizard character. The Level of your character is more important than the Rank, but your Rank is still a significant determining factor.

When you join a Ranked match, the system takes your information and tries to pair it up as closely as possible with other players who are currently waiting to compete. If no comparable players are waiting to compete, the system will widen the search. The longer you wait, the wider the search, and the bigger the difference between yourself and your opponent.

For matches of 2v2 or higher, the system will average out the determining factors for all the participants and attempt to match up players to the best teams and opponents that are available. The more players who are online and participating in the Player vs Player feature, the more closely the teams will be matched. When there are fewer players participating in the Player vs Player feature, the team members will be more varied and the differences between opponents will be larger.

I hope that helps our players understand a little better why not all the match-ups seem equitable . . .

Hmm, so it all comes down to time of day and a formula that figures in level and rank. Interesting.

You know, maybe one of my readers has a better answer for you, but I'm thinking if you're a warlord at level 16, then leveling will only bring you harder and harder opponents? But, really, wouldn't it be best to level to level 50 now with your warlord ranking so that you can even the playing field?

/shrug

You know what game's pvp I thought was fun? Guild Wars. What I loved about Guild Wars pvp was that ranking seemed pretty well matched. Level 20 is the max level in Guild Wars, so pretty much everybody was level 20. In Guild Wars you can only bring eight spells into the fight so you have to plan your strategy early and come up with a "build."

Now this wouldn't be anything to replace the current dueling system, but imagine applying this to Wizard101 . . . When you log on the screen to this alternate pvp, you are greeted with this interface:



Only spells from your spellbook would be allowed (no treasures). Then you assign point values to each card or perhaps you bend the rules so that shields only last one round or perhaps players have 10000 life, so no one is defeated and victors are declared on point values from card use, timing, and ending life value. /shrug Or maybe the game looks at your spellbook for you and then you randomly get 6 spells from your spellbook to play for the whole match. /double shrug

I'm just riffing here and it's not my job to invent any new kind of pvp game for Kingsisle, but here's the thing, think of all the countless card games that have been invented over the years around a simple deck of cards. Wouldn't it be cool to have more than one pvp option in Wizard101? Or if I was to ask that poetically, "Wouldn't it be cool to have more ways to duel?" Think of what a simple game Blackjack is, yet people constantly play it. Why shouldn't we get a version of blackjack for Wizard101 as an alternative to the current pvp? Something quick. Something repeatable. Something with a different strategy applied.

It would be kind of nice to have more pvp choices in the game we all love, wouldn't it?

Meh . . . I digressed big time there.

Anybody have a good recommendation for David on leveling when you're a level 16 Warlord? 22 seems to be the next logical step so you could open up the next tier of cards, but my thinking is why not just level all the way to the top now that you're a warlord?

Someone help a pvp noob like myself out, would ya?

Happy Dueling!