Heh Yeah. World of Warcraft has ****ed up a lot of things for me. Ive spent sooo much time on it.
My character is on Tichondrius (sp?) a PVP server. This server in fact carries several beta guilds from CB and OB before WoW went gold. So the competition is pretty intense.
As for paladins not being able to cut a wet paper towel: Well, currently Id rate myself as one of the top paladins on our PvP server. However, unlike 99% of the paladins out there I am a protection paladin, I dont have seal of command. But one things for sure, I kill any class I come across 1v1. And its not that I get luck, its consistancy in beating all types of builds and classes a good 90% of the time. I am a sword shield user specialist also. The only time I use 2hs is in certain PVP situations, otherwise you could consider me a true PvE paladin!
Comparing my own character with Goldfish here: He has more STR, STAM, AGIL, INT, and SPRT than my own character. He has about 1.7k more armor than me, and my damage is 79-144. Ive noticed hes using a sword shield combo too! This might be because Im the only paladin to use cloth/leather/mail/plate in PvP as well as PvE (Molten Core/Onyxia), which pretty much sets me aside from all the paladins that exist across servers. (Bracers are cloth, my shield is actually a book sometimes, my belt is mail along with my shoulders, my head is leather, etc).
Gearwise I have: Full Lightforge (if Im ever feeling like wearing it), Partial Lawbringer, Partial Judgement set, Epic Quest Mount, 7 2h weapons, 6 1h weapons, however my main weapon is the Hanzo Sword (35dps 1.5speed).
Goldfish, you should have shielded + hearthed in your pic :p
Edit: My hp is 3.1k, mana is 3.2k. Mind you, this is with my best gear on (I dont consider judgement/lawbringer/lightforge my best gear as opposed to the combination of cloth/leather I wear).