not combat skill, but overall skill.
in RS they have that kind of system. your lvl is made up by ammount of hp, mp, magic lvl, combat lvl, etc. Thus its only a indication. a lvl 50 person is strong, but if he has a few stats of all, a person consentrating on 1 stat and raising it high could defeat the lvl 50 before nr 2 is lvl 40.
Do you know a little bit what i mean? the lvl indicator only makes it easier to estimate, so that a n00b doesn\'t go and attack that extremely powerfull monster each time, and keeps wondering why he dies. It also helps in future events, so that it will be easier to make seperate ranks (if there comes a 1 vs 1 event, it would be strange if the strongest would face a n00b)