Long-time players of NCsoft's PvP-heavy MMORPG Guild Wars who are fairly familiar with elite competitors can appreciate the latest State of the Game issue the most. Prominent team Dark Alley, composed by former Idiot Savants and Team Quitter members, take the spotlight as veterans reveal the secret behind an offensive split build's success.

Contrary to popular belief that the best guilds follow the convention of having a tactics caller to lead the team, Dark Alley employs a group of self-efficient individuals who are experts in their roles. They all held the Guild Leader title earlier in their Guild Wars career, which allowed them to learn the ropes. With that said, "there is considerable individual effort."

Aside from skill bar synergy, it takes a lot of practice and ample time spent together before a guild can compete even without anyone at the helm. Since Dark Alley players already achieved those, the next important aspect is the guild's play style. In that department, everyone in the crew are on the same boat - it's all about offense with emphasis on split.

Taking the guild's philosophy to heart, members then know how to tweak their characters. They do so often not only to keep enemies' heads spinning, but to keep things fresh and fun. Along the way, Dark Alley as a major guild on Guild Wars' ladder tends to shift the metagame to its direction.