Ranger Archive
Thread: Is our profession fading into obscurity
I still get a kick out of meeting others in game and seeing their responses when they find out I am a Ranger. I sometimes don't display my Ranger title...I just whip out a field base or drop and track, pointing out where the best prey is in the area...and get the "Wow...you're a Ranger? That's cool." It seems that the fewer of us there are, the more mysterious and interesting we become. I don't want a thousand Rangers on each server. We should be few in number and large in spirit. It is truth that we are the ideal role-playing profession. Only those interested in the deeper meaning of being a Ranger will get the long term joy from the profession that so many of us have. Those of you mastering Ranger because a hollicron told you to do so...I pity you. Those joyless hours of camping and crafting traps, not because you are learning to master life in the wilderness, but because you are "grinding" for Jedi. Master Ranger, then leave our circle.
Rangers are special. Rangers are unique. Rangers are an important addition to any hunting party...yet we need no one but ourselves to hunt and survive in the wilderness.
I love being a Ranger.
-Rylus
Rifleman/Ranger
Policy Of Truth PA
"bit unreasonable as our developer is also a lead on the vehicles and is involved with player cities."
Slight correction:
- GreenMarine is the lead in Player Cities, and has nothing to do with vehicles.
From my experience, I found that my skills as a Master Ranger are very much in demand. Since joining a PA, I've been very busy on guild hunts tracking krayts and busting out the HTFBs. We make a point of collecting the resources for our PA armorsmiths, medic/docs and BE's to use.
Also, I accompany a CH friend on the search for critters to tame. For example, had a blast last night wandering around Dathomir looking for a baby Rancor. None ever spawned, but it was still fun.
Now this is a post I don't like to see when I start venturing towards it....
Please say there is still hope!!!
I/ve been working my way to Master Ranger since the beginning and at times i wonder why. I rarely use traps since i always solo and traps just aggro the creatures on you (I need to start useing thme again now that the aggro/warping issue was fixed). Camps.... well alot of camping is needed to complete that line (just now starting box four in Ranger) and the usefullnes of them still eludes me as large groups rarely need them for more than pet calling (since most will have a doc in the group) and the ability to keep creatures away... well it doesn't keep them away.
Areatrack is definetly useful... but with creatures spawning and despawning so quickly it becomes frustrating.
What is cool is the ranger/scout ability to move around aggro creatures undetected... to walk right up to a rancor and /pet it ca make all of your group-mates jealous (and very nervous). This is an ability that is overlooked for most and definetly under-utilized if you're a ranged combat class. With maskscent/conceal you can get off those extra couple of shots that can mean the kill before aggro. It can also keep the other aggros in the area off of you while killing your prey. As my other profession is rifleman, conceal shot + maskscent/conceal allows me to take out a lair of aggros (really... really slowly) without much fear of being attacked.
Our ability to view the profile of creatures and see weaknesses and strengths is so very useful... even if no-one ever listens to us.
To say this class is fading due to upcoming patches and added content is just wrong. We have a class that is one of the few without any major bugs in the workings of the content (even if that content is limited).
Our usefullness to other classes is invaluable... expecially now with the vast amount of players wanting holos and kyarats. Go sell yourself as a hunting guide to a group... you'll be picked up in no time with your areatrack ability. Make a deal for a flate rate of tracking or percentage of the spoils. By the end of the nite you'll not only have collected a bunch of money... but you'll also have collected a bunch of resources and made a tonne of exp in any skills you haven't yet mastered.
I just don't see how anyone can say our usefulness is fading. If you have a ranger character goups will want you for hunts.. and they will pay well for you. And whatever your other class is you can collect on it while on the hunt. Docs can buff/heal, artisans can craft and sell items, combat can take part in the hunt.
We are not fading, we are becoming essential
Our profession seems to be like biorythms - we have our highs and we have our lows. Currently we seem to be in between. Several months ago we were elated when we finally got some of the stuff we asked for (camo, tracking). That high lasted for a while until the newness wore off and changes/tweaks were applied.
Now we are feeling a bit blase again because everyone else seems to be getting attention and we are not? Until SOE adds more developers, I'm afraid patience is the only comforting word one can advise.
We are still the hunt gods at this point - even with the mounts and vehicles and tweaks. No one can harvest more than us, no one else can tell the beastie weaknesses, and no one else can tell a group where the Krayts are at. Sure, others can now move more quickly from point A to B, but that really only helps me 'cuz now I don't have to wait every few minutes for their silly arses to catch up to me. What the vehicles, mounts and now player cities have done I'm afraid, is basically made Greenmarines idea of shuttle camps obsolete -there goes that cool perk.
So until they make another profession as useful for hunting beasties as we are, we will not fade into obscurity.
However, that said, if this GCW and faction questsbecome more of a focus in the game and our profession does not get any PvP abilities down the road, we will, in fact, only be beastiehunters. I guess the argument is that we can add to our PvP capabilities by using our extra points for some of the ranged skills, but that still leaves the Ranger profession itself out of the PvP loop.
I seriously hope that the one dev allocated to all this stuff (Greenmarine) will find time and the need to add some PvP skills to our profession. I see no reason why some of our traps or whatever shouldn't work on npcs or even pcs to afflict some dizziness or slowness. Heck, even combat medics get ranged attack with poison.
I've kept my master status and I don't want to give up the master title, but if I want to become an effective PvP player and actively participate in the ongoing story and quests (and protect/aid the Jedi :smileywink, I have a sad feeling that I just might have to. We've already seen many of the Antarian Ranger PAshaving to diversify in order to provide a supporting role.
Ever since I first expressed my desire to put together a Ranger association so many months ago, I have hadhigh hopes of seeing squads of elite Ranger fighters (ala Babylon 5)flying through space assisting and attacking as needed! Only time (and Greenmarine) will tell.....
what i find most remarkable about this post is the number of people saying "yeah, it could be better, we're kind of weak as is, but I'm sticking with it". Few other professions have that level of commitment. When they nerf skills of other professions and one skill set is clearly more powerful, people switch to maintain an advantage. With Rangers, there is less of that. We are the ultimate role-players and we have a lot of heart. Thank you to all the other Rangers who step forward and say that they're gonna stick with the proffession. It helps new Rangers like me find a community of people who are of strong moral fiber.
Hey, will some of you PLEASE come to TC? We need Rangers there. Come on. I swear it's fun.
If any of you have characters, Rangers or not, on TC, look me up. Phenix and Armani Stargazer.
I'm happy to say that rangering has, is, and will always be my first and only love and I will keep my master ranger status, so hard won, as long as I play. I'm very much the type of person who enjoys helping out those around me, both in-game and real-world, so to me the ranger class is perfect. Sure I'd like to see more of the goodies that people have suggested, and certainly those that have been promised to us, but just because others may be gaining abilities that used to be ours alone doesn't mean that I feel any less valuable to those I'm helping.
I founded a small PA on my server (OAFs) that is, so far, made up only of friends, and I happily gave up the nine lots (out of ten) that it takes to place a PA hall, and I'm enjoying picking up more and more squad leader and carbine skills to complement my role as a support person. I'm sort of rambling a bit here, but my point is that even if we are fading in the eyes of the masses, we will know the truth that we have unique and desired abilities that we can only hope will grow stronger. Once our /track skill, more diverse traps, and hunting blinds come in (and those are just the things that we've already been told are coming), we will be even more valuable and sought out.
And Phenix1050: I'd love to try out the Test Center server, but it just took so long to finally get master ranger on Corbantis! But maybe I'll create a character with a completely different profession set and look you up. Enjoy the rangering! It's only going to get better!
When I need a lift I look at this screen shot I took (notice the timely system message in the chat box). Its beauty reminds me there are places only Rangers will go and things only Rangers would take the time to stop and see.
What does the picture tell you? That the path before the Ranger is fading? Or that there are lands yet unexplored? Look at it a week from now and ask yourself that same question and see if it doesn't give you a different answer. I love this picture.
Zingonia
I may or may not stay a Master Ranger. I know of no other group of people in this game than the Rangers
Oops, sorry, mis-typed. Meant to say, I know of no other group of people in this game as good as the Rangers.
No other players are as helpfull or kind. I know of no other group that does not fill there forums with rants and flames and phrases about how bad this game sucks and what not (Although the rifleman forum has gotten pretty good at present). The people here truly do seem to appreciate this game and the people in it. For this reason above all others I encourage all the folks that I like to go the way of the Ranger.
I dont know how long I will keep the title. Everytime I get serious about dropping it and investing the points elswhere I get cold chills and just cant bring myself to do it. I like the people and the wicked numbers that I get when harvesting large creatures, like 450 units of hide off of a Rancor. And being a rifleman the crawl speed is actually very usefull for when I am in /conceal.
But, I truly hope they give us some small adjustments as I mentioned above. Even if they just got our camps to work like they are supposed to it would mean a lot. And even the ever small adjustment of letting our current traps work against CH pets, even the scout ones should with our skill modifiers at Ranger.
So, I hold out hope and enjoy what I am.