Ranger Archive
Thread: Ranger Revamp Please: Get rid of Survival/Camping XP
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Jalelreb
Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:04 am
#14
they need to come up with a way to make camps mandantory for something. like groups have to use a camp to heal out in the field. no medic or doc just healing willy nilly.
Vorpaks
Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:17 am
#15
They put it in the patch notes JB, so I guess technically it is a feature. It seems like kind of a pointless change. Camping xp was hard to get because no one needed camps. WIth combat becoming harder and grouping becoming more prevalent I think it would be much easier to get camp xp.
Unless they removed it because they didnt have time to fix the "infinite number of visitors" bug. Though that seemed pretty harmless, especially if they were thinking of doing away with the xp all together.
I guess it makes me nervous. There are somethings that definitely fall within the scope of the CU for us - we need to be balanced with the other combat support professions, and the combat changes they are making applied to us. But there are other things that I would rather wait for the revamp, so they can do them up right.
Camps is definitely something that can be very interesting if they spend the time to develop them, as hopefully they will do in a revamp. I really don't want to see them modified drastically at a point when they have 0 time. It makes me nervous.
I guess I am also watching out for what the Doctors went through. The "you are a combat class now so we are going to make you focused on just one thing." I want to stay a diverse and unique class. But I will hold off on the panic mode.
For now.
Unless they removed it because they didnt have time to fix the "infinite number of visitors" bug. Though that seemed pretty harmless, especially if they were thinking of doing away with the xp all together.
I guess it makes me nervous. There are somethings that definitely fall within the scope of the CU for us - we need to be balanced with the other combat support professions, and the combat changes they are making applied to us. But there are other things that I would rather wait for the revamp, so they can do them up right.
Camps is definitely something that can be very interesting if they spend the time to develop them, as hopefully they will do in a revamp. I really don't want to see them modified drastically at a point when they have 0 time. It makes me nervous.
I guess I am also watching out for what the Doctors went through. The "you are a combat class now so we are going to make you focused on just one thing." I want to stay a diverse and unique class. But I will hold off on the panic mode.
Almagill
Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:20 am
#16
Jalelreb wrote:they need to come up with a way to make camps mandantory for something. like groups have to use a camp to heal out in the field. no medic or doc just healing willy nilly.
Hehe, yup, make camps the only other place medics can get XP... Healing in combat only, daft notion.
As for scrapping camping, gah, no! Yup, I hated it when I did Scout, I hated it ten times more when I did Ranger, and on the toons I'm working up through scout / ranger elsewhere its a royal pain in the butt, yet I'd not want to see it go.
Sure its time consuming and holds back the "I mastered scout and ranger in an afternoon" crew, but since when was it a race to finish?
Like JB I've always enjoyed the fact that scout/rangers get multiple bites at the cherry. Weapon XP, combat XP, scout XP, a bit of trapping and survival XP (am only novice med so capped out on that weeks ago but when I mastered medic most of the XP I got was gained 'in the field' and a fair chunk of that was gained in camp!) so having a wee bit of 'pain' to balance out all the gains seems a fair price to pay.
Not 100% sure I like the idea that survival XP is being replaced by scout XP, am hoping that this is just a mechanism to allow levelling on TC (Easier to grind kills and generated more info for the dev team than have players sat in camp 'inactive'??? Hope so.) I'll echo the sentiment "be careful what you wish for, you may get it".
frightwig
Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:30 am
#17
Off the patch notes:
Profession related changes
And from what I saw on test:
Profession related changes
- Added conversion of existing camping xp to scout xp
- Changed camps to require and grant scout xp rather than camping xp
And from what I saw on test:
- When you log in (on TCep3), you'll notice your survival XP in your skills menu set to 0. ("Wilderness Survival" is still in the skills menu, but it says 0).
- All survival xp seems to have been converted into scout XP.. you'll still have the survival boxes, but you'll probably find yourself closer to the next box in survival, if not ready for training.
- Dropping a camp now gives you scout XP
- crafting camps and traps now give the same amount of scout XP as it used to give survival XP
- conversion rate was 1:1
Almagill
Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:43 am
#19
Maavek wrote:Has anyone ever questioned why we Rangers have an entirely separate...xp class for....CAMPING??????This is the most grueling, boring, time-consuming, and utterly useless XP grind in SWG.
OK "Why do we have camping"? Because, as Rangers we are not only resource gatherers but experts in wilderness survival.
That the came mechanism allows anybody in their underwear to survive outdoors isn't the fault of Rangers or camping. The fact they've taken away the usefulness of our camps by allowing pets and vehicles to be called anywhere, healing with droids, etc etc, is something that should be addressed and fixed, not just swept away.
Allow med XP to be gained in camp, let ents buff/heal all mind wound damage in camp and give us a wider range of funtionality from camps (see modular camps in the Outdoorsman proposal) to make the pain of the grind worth suffering. Instead of doing away with a type of XP lets get more value from it.
"This is the most grueling, boring, time-consuming, and utterly useless XP grind in SWG" I'd argue the point that double mastery of musician/dancer, grinding tailor or the med crafting XP for Doc/CM is more time consuming and boring. Certainly the crafting XP was a lot harder on the eyes and wrist
Getting Master Ranger IS an acheivment. That tag tells anyone else who has done it that you too have suffered, that you deserve to wear the tag with pride in having persevered and won through. Drop it all back to scout XP and what? It means you grouped up with a gang of buddies who have massive killing potential, went after some high end critters and hauled some hide....
Either one of two things would come of scrapping the survival XP requirement.
1) Mastery of the profession becomes ever more devalued.
2) To balance the change the dev's increase the level 4 scout XP requirements to insane levels. Fancy getting 4 boxes of 250k Scout XP each? And, just for balance, let's tweak that trapping box up to 250k too...
If you doubt they'd do this, think about what they introduced to make getting jedi more 'challenging', make pilot 'easy to understand, difficult to master', or to add more high end content for entertainers... yup, 6 figure XP grinds.
Key phrases to hold dear from the dev vocabulary "has to be engaging for the casual gamer" "easy to understand, difficult to master" "more challenging, more fun" That last one, whenever it or something meaning the same has been dragged out has invariably meant "Hey, look, we're gonna make it easier to do but boy, you are going to do a LOT more of it..."
[careful what you wish for, you might just get it]
ioan
Fri Apr 15, 2005 8:33 am
#20
I'm concerned by the change. It feels capricious, and I don't trust that there is a plan. I'm concerned by where it may be leading. Some clarification from the DEVs would help a lot, here.
I know that camps don't seem particularly useful, but I did make use of them. In a practical sense, they were a way for me to recover from my wounds, while in the field. In an intangible sense, they provide a focal point, a cozy spot in the middle of nowhere, and another layer of the wilderness experience. For those that might claim that those intangible benefits are a waste of time, feel free to go back to playing text-based adventures because none of the abstractions we play with are truly necessary. While text-based games are greatfun, they don't have the visceral impact of a visual-oriented game.
It was a bittersweet moment when I struckthe camp that qualified me for the Master Ranger license. I was glad to get the license, but that part of the journey was over. If you're bored and grinding, thenit's your own fault. There are more than enough hooks, in this game, on which to hang your own story. Mindless grinding, begging for people to visit your camp so that you can get experience,is a symptom of a lack of initiative and imagination. If you want to play using the "grind" method, that's your right and your choice. But, don't try to blame any unpleasantness you might experienceon anyone else.
JascoSmlee
Fri Apr 15, 2005 12:27 pm
#21
The biggest problem with changing camping xp to scout xp is that people will simply not camp at all any more. I agree in its current state camping is just a waste of time but I would *MUCH* rather camping be made useful again.
ioan
Fri Apr 15, 2005 12:39 pm
#22
If you let it happen naturally, camping flies by and is fun. Use the camps for healing, crafting, taming, fishing, but there's no reason to sit idle and grind. Removing Survival, diminishes the profession.
DesktopSaki
Fri Apr 15, 2005 5:51 pm
#23
JBMat wrote:
Not a smart idea, as now 3 lines of ranger all depend on one form of XP. It will take longer to make Master, unless you are a dabbler and only wanted a couple lines (why I have no clue, not with the way health is figured).
It'll take less time to Master, actually. A friend of mine with Novice Scout harvesting rancors beside me made a full tree of Scout in about a half an hour, hour or so. Before, you had to work hard for that Survival tree; now you just need an hour of harvesting big stuff.
Geo-Pride
Fri Apr 15, 2005 6:05 pm
#24
agreed it devalues the profession, rangers are meant to be at one with the land and able to do everyting where ever they can. What would explorers do with out wilderness survival knowledge..... die thats what. If anything trapping xp needs to become wilderness survival. Also lowering the xp gained per trap. its possible to get the trapping tree in an hour just throwing wire mesh at naffs or rancors. reconsider please
Maavek
Fri Apr 15, 2005 6:49 pm
#25
Good Points ya'll.
Getting through the camping for Master Scout happened all by itself, for me, just like some of you have said; i was able to kill (rifle xp), trap, harvest, and camp my waythrough novice scout and marksman, camping to heal, and even had novice entertainer at the time to heal mind wounds for me and my companions.
But, I never got XP for making tents. I checked, several times, to see if I could just sit in my camp for the time required to get full point value for my camp, and make tents for xp. It didn't happen, not once did I ever get XP for crafting tents, otherwise, I would have actually finished the survival tree for Ranger. Camping at that point became a grind, because even guild mates didn't have much reason to use a camp on our hunts. Everyone is buffed, and in a hurry to get as much of whatever resource we were harvesting, and then move on to something else. Camps, right now, just aren't a draw for anyone to spend time in.
I agree that there is nothing wrong with survival xp, IF: camps become useful again, like they were when we were noobs and needed a place to rest every once ina while, and the survival xp will fullfill itself in time.
Or if the devs end up leaving survival xp in the game, they could add a new way to get survival xp. Crafting and/or Applying disease/poison reduction salves might be a useful and even passive way to gain survival xp, much like doctors/medics applying stims to people and getting xp for it. It would also expand Ranger in a wonderful way that reflects the diverse nature of being a ranger. I often think of my favorite character of all times: Aragorn, Son of Arathorn, a Ranger who had the Healing Touch, finding just the right flower on the floor of the forest to ease Frodo's suffering after his run-in with the witch king at Weathertop, or how it was Aragorn who nursed Eowyn back to health after her run-in with the witch king. Adding Poison/Disease resistance just FITS Ranger, and adding the ability to forage for the items to make and apply poison/disease reduction salves to the survival tree would give that tree value again, even before any changes to Camping and Foraging to make them useful.
What is that called when you use mud on a poisonous bite, in order to 'draw out' the poison? There is a word for it. Give that ability to Rangers. We are outdoors(wo)men. We are going to get bit, and we are going to have a way to do something about it, since the nearest hospital may be two starsystems away.
For the record, I am humbled. I did not finish the camping tree of Ranger, and I respect all of you that did...immensly. /kowtow
Geo-Pride
Fri Apr 15, 2005 7:56 pm
#26
nooo.... in the grind of camp exp you do realise some of the best scenery and how good the game can look
i do want it to stay.
i do like your idea of harvest all too, but there should be a large penalty so you have just over 1/2 of normal, so people dont loose the focus of going out just to get good spawns quickly
i do want it to stay.
i do like your idea of harvest all too, but there should be a large penalty so you have just over 1/2 of normal, so people dont loose the focus of going out just to get good spawns quickly
Message Edited by Geo-Pride on 04-16-2005 03:59 AM
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