Ranger Archive

Ranger is really what each of us makes of it, as is any profession. Obviously, there are several "archetypes" to choose from going into it, as has been mentioned, and I think we all started with something in mind. But, it goes beyond that.

Regardless of faction and affiliation, each of us has developed a particular style of play and probably a set of specialties or most frequent actions. I know I have.

I started out as a Scout with the idea that I would learn on the way up the tree where my interests lay. I added every basic profession early on and dropped the ones that seemed completely at odds with my own playing style. I just could not resolve myself to dancing for tips.

My goals at character inception were probably equally aimed toward Ranger, Squad Leader, and Bounty Hunter. I enjoyed hunting creatures, both alone and in groups; I enjoyed group dynamics and being part of a combat unit; and I enjoyed the thrill of stalking and bringing down criminals.

However, it turned out that, after playing them all for a time, I enjoyed being a Ranger most of all. I was most comfortable away from cities; creatures did not lower my faction points, and there is a thrill associated with stalking through a dangerous area without aggressive creatures trying to make me into a tasty snack. That episode on Tatooine with the squills is a good example here. It just felt good to invite that guy into my realm to play with the squills.

I have done the same with my choice of weapons, starting as with pistols, moving through rifles, and into carbines, then finally into the LLC via Bounty Hunter. Ranger is not as effective without an associated combat profession. I tried close up, medium-range, and long-range combat. The tactics were different for each and I learned a lot during this experimentation.

It turned out that, regardless of what I carried on me, I would reflexively equip my rifle and go prone out around 80m to crawl closer to my objective, whether that objective was a bounty, an Imperial camp, or another player. I would then pummel my target with /aim and /headshot2 until dead. It actually took discipline for me to equip the pistol and move in close for the kill. I have not equipped my pistol in ages, not since getting the spraystick. I guess it's time to pare down my inventory.

My initial vision of Ranger was something like Remington and other classic big game hunters combined with the image of a modern, well-equipped soldier: capable, well-trained, confident, self-reliant, at home in any terrain.

It has evolved into my character as he is now: clad head-to-toe in Ubese armor and carrying a T-21, stalking whatever quarry happens to be hot today alone or in a group, and returning to cities only when forced to do so. I have a house on Dantooine that I visit occasionally, usually to store or retrieve something. Most of the time I sleep in my field base.

My vision of the profession now is Ranger as ultimate survivalist, stalker of game, tracker of quarry, and killer of same. We get the job done, regardless of the objective, and don't need to rely on others to do it. Things seem to sort out best when I let my rifle do the talking, anyway.

---

Phenix1050 wrote:

i read your whole post.....

so you're telling me Jaegermeister actually means master hunter or something like that? No wonder I love that stuff so much.

---

You are right. Jägermeister translated into english is Master Hunter or something like that. As far as I know the name has something to do with an old german legend of an called Hubertus. I dont know the whole story, but the deer on the bottle has something to do with this legend.

---

AgonThalia wrote:
Jager

Yager \Ya"ger\ (?; 277), n. [G. j["a]ger a hunter, from jagen to chase, hunt.] (Mil.) In the German army, one belonging to a body of light infantry armed with rifles, resembling the chasseur of the French army.

Meister... well, you know...

now i need a drink. and im at work..

damn you phenix

---

In the germany army there is something like the rangers of the american army called Jäger. But some kinds of jets are called Jäger.
I think the variety of meanings of the word ranger is so big, and I think everybody can find something he would like for our profession, but it is all up to the DEVs.

It's interesting (to me if nobody else) how we each have our own notion of 'ranger' which is informed by our own cultural background. The token 'ranger' represents to some a member of a military unit, to others a wanderer, to others a hunter. Immediately we encounter the token we create an image in our mind of what that token represents to us.

When we utilise the token in any social transaction between individuals we begin to develop a value for the token which again varies dependant on the situation in which we find ourselves. Thus some will have a very high value for the token and be more prepared to defend their notional value against the baser currency of others...

/grin I'll spare you the rest. Basically, we all see ranger differently and while there are general similarities between these visions, we have given the idea of ranger a value which is unique to ourselves.

Oddly enough, I was attracted to the ranger community because it is a broad church, more than capable of accomodating all the different 'types' of ranger which we choose to enact in our gameplay.

My own ranger would, if we encountered him in real life, be a bit of a bum. He works only if he needs to, does as little as is necessary and prefers to spend as much time as possible doing whatever he wants not what 'they' want.

Ex-military, politically a convert to a new cause, bereft of fixed family or social ties. He hunts partly from necessity (it generates the funds that he needs to continue to exist), partly from enjoyment of the hunt and partly out of pride in being able to do a job and do it well.

So much for the 'reality' of my character, the romantic view, the one which I would attribute to his imagination if he had such a thing is that he is a gentleman farmer, living in detached solitude in a small township near a major provincial market town.

He garnered various skills 'on the way up' including the use of weapons, fieldcraft and some rudimentary butchery. He has enhanced his knowledge of skinning and fleshing various creatures by practical experience, literally getting his hands dirty.

There is unrest in the society around him. Lawlessness exists despite the oppressive presence of liveried troops. It is therefore the responsability of every citizen to be able to defend themselves and theirs as best they can. A sense of loyalty to the state resulted in his serving a tour of duty with the Empire before a growing political awareness led him to spend much of his retirement attempting to frustrate the excesses of Empire in his local area.

He neither accepts the Empire nor the Alliance as his ultimate master but for the time being has sympathies for the Alliance to whom he makes his skills available, for a price.

Hmm, maybe we're not so much Rangers as Reivers:

http://www.sorbie.net/border_reivers.htm

Have a look at the idea of what the Reiver was and then the imagery of the song right at the end of the piece.

Remember also that these men were farmers, shepherds, farm labourers, town dwellers and countrymen alike. Some had military experience, others learned to fight for what they believed in out of necessity.

---

Jasse wrote:

Almagill:

I find it interesting too, no need to spare us, or atleast me /grin. Everywhere I looked for definitions of "Ranger" it seems to be not one but many, I liked the start of one paragraph from my wikipedia reference "The mystique of the ranger has been harnessed for..."

Great post by the way.

As for Jägermeister beeing our "unofficial official drink" (as SOE probably wont condone profession drinks ), why not, is there a better drink (namewise atleast) out there?

Sidenote: I always have some jägermeister (and I belive this is a widespread nordic/germanic traition) in the hunting lodge, and after a succesful hunting day we always finish with a tot sup (drink to the dead animal), a small shot of jägermeister.

hmmmm....better pick up a bottle tomorrow. AgonTalia, it's not damn you phenix, it's THANK you phenix

---

Does Jägermeister most accurately as Hunt Master or master hunter? There being a slight, subtle difference

I'd like to think a ranger is a hunter and a guide. Whether we hunt animals or people or guide people through bad passages. And I believe Ranger and Squad leader should somewhat mix together to form a new profession instead of two. But that's just what I think.