Most gaming mousepads are actually pretty bad. Personally I think the razor cloth mats have too thick a weave and it impacts on the quality of the movement of the mouse. From the pads I have played with the QCK and the Puretrak pads both have a finer weave that does not have the same issue, but still gives enough resistance to provide good control.
There are a few models out there that are decent, but most mouse pads are rubbish. Equally a lot of people don't play competition FPS games and hence wont notice how bad their pad and mouse is but that doesn't mean in the grand scheme of things its good.
I blame the entire situation on the review sites. Places like Anandtech seem convinced that the only thing that matters is the shape of the mouse and its software, whereas actually in practice most mice have flawed sensor designs that result in terrible movement characteristics that impact on gaming. Particular mouse pads are also problematic with certain mice and aren't really very good quality. The places that do the reviews of these things well are a lot more underground and smaller than places like Anandtech. But what they lack in size they make up for in terms of really testing the mice and pads properly, all be it as a group effort.
People have this impression mice are all good and pads are all good. I look at a market full of rubbish and just a few products worth having, all of which have trade offs and minor problems.