The Myth of the KDR
Everyone knows what a Kill-Death Ratio (KDR) is. It's the amount of kills you have divided by the amount of deaths. So if you have nine kills and three deaths, your KDR would be 3. In other words, the average amount of kills that you get per death. Ok, so everyone knows what it is, but it's come to my attention that few people understand it's significance.
How many of you have heard people say something like "KDR means nothing!" Or "You can't judge a guy by his KDR!" Or perhaps you're on the flip side and hear people say something like "Wow he's so pro! He has a 5-1 KDR!" What are we to make of these kind of statements? This is where my thread will come in handy. My goal in this thread is to examine just what a KDR is and what it means. I'll do this by dispelling several common myths that we hear all the time.
Myth #1- "Bad KDR means bad pvper!"
It is so easy to size somebody up right away by their KDR. Try not to! While, as a general rule, a good pvper will, in fact, tend to have a better KDR, that is not always the case. Many times the pvper will have just caught on to pvp and his KDR will have sucked from the previous couple weeks/months or however long he's played. Shoot, he may have even gotten several thousand kills negative and is just now catching up to positive status!
Another possibility that I've found to be fairly common is that the pvper sells free kills for in game gold. I don't even know if this is allowed (I wouldn't advise it) but it does happen.
A few other possibilities include a character that someone hasn't played on in a long while and since then has improved, a character who, perhaps, gets picked on a lot for whatever reason, a character who was in a rushing guild, etc. All things said and done, there are many, many reasons why a bad KDR does not equate with a bad pvper. If you need a specific example, check out Paaahudd (check birdy DM leader board) He's one of the most talented birds I know and he doesn't even have a 1.5 KDR.
Myth #2- "Good KDR means good pvper!"
Similarly to the first myth, a good KDR doesn't mean that they're good at pvp! I know so, so many boosters! (I won't name any names) Also, a lot of times the pvper with the epic KDR doesn't even fight anyone with talent. They simply challenge the weaklings and farm the new guys. Now, this doesn't mean that everyone with a good KDR is a bad pvper. It just means that you can't judge somebody's talent by their KDR.
Myth #3- "The more kills, the more talent!"
This is also a very popular myth. Many people think that the more kills you have, the better you are at pvp. Not at all!!! The only thing that more kills means is that you've spent more time playing the game. Sure, it is very possible that by spending more time on the game, you've acquired more experience and skill. However, that doesn't have to be the case. I don't know how many cocky "pros" with some 20k+ kills have gotten mad at me for whatever reason and began rushing me only to get their butts handed to them. I don't say this to put myself up. I'm saying this to prove the point that lots of kills really doesn't mean anything more than lots of play time.
Even that last statement I made isn't always true! I remember when a guy (forgot his name) gave his account to a buddy of his. He had an intense amount of kills with like a 4-1 KDR and I don't think he even knew how to chat...much less pvp.
Myth #4 (This one is my favorite) "KDR means nothing!"
This is perhaps the greatest myth of them all and the original reason why I began writing this thread. We have already seen one reason why this simply isn't true! The bigger the amount of kills and deaths, the more time they have spent in the arena. However, this is a very minor detail considering everything else that you can determine about a person by their KDR.
I've also found KDR to be a very good indicator of a characters pvp style. When I watch another level 50 take out a glyph a couple times in a row and he has a KDR of 4,000+ kills to 3,000+ deaths, there's a very good chance that he's very reckless. He probably rushes a lot and doesn't back down ever. My guess is he's seen a lot of FFA and been teamed many times as well.
Now, if a guy has say a 4,000 kills and 1,000 deaths KDR, it paints a totally different picture. That good of a KDR can't come easy. There's a very good chance the person boosts, fights lower levels, doesn't FFA too much, teams a lot, etc. He will most likely get more upset than most if you rush him and probably doesn't hand out frees either.
There's only so many examples I can give, but I think you get the idea. KDR means a TON. It may not be a good indication of skill, but it certainly speaks volumes about everything else. Learn to read people's KDR's. Never assume anything, but always study other's KDR's.
Just figured I'd try and post a little something helpful since I haven't really tried to help anybody lately! Hopefully you learned something!
-MM
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