Ranger Archive

1) How long have you been a Ranger (this is not limited to masters)? Been a ranger for 5 months give or take a week or 2 (out of 6 months)

2) Why did you choose to become a Ranger? I saw that people really needed creature resources to keep the economy going good, keep good buffs flowing, keep making great foods, and all that good stuff. I felt I'd really help people if I could supply them with their needs.

3) What is the largest problem with Ranger in your opinon? Harvesting bonuses don't seem to increase your harvest rate very much.. 1111 ranger versus master maybe has a 6-7 unit increase per creature on creatures averaging 50 units of 1 resource, or around that...

4) What is the greatest asset to the Ranger profession? I believe harvesting is the greatest asset to rangers, that is where most of my time is spent, but I'm not saying nothing else is as important..

5) Do you feel satisfied playing as a Ranger right now? I am satisfied playing as a ranger.. it may need improvements but it's nothing that detracts from my playing experience.

6) Are there issues with Ranger that could lead to you leaving the profession? If so, what are they? Nope!

7) Do you think the Combat Upgrade will positively or negatively affect the Ranger profession? Why? I don't know much about the combat revamp, but if mitigation is taken away and other various melee/ranged defensive skills it could make tkm/rangers less self reliant. But really I don't know much about the revamp, most of what I hear are rumors.

8) What are you biggest fears about the Combat Upgrade (as it relates to Rangers)? Again I don't know much but if rangers aren't allowed to be able to handle themselves alone out in the wilderness then it defeats the purpose of being a rather mysterious and resourceful profession.

9) Do you plan on staying with Ranger after the Combat Upgrade? Yes.

10) If Rangers are hurt by the Combat Upgrade, will you stay a Ranger? Probably, it'd take a lot to make me shave my stubble cut my hair and gimme a bath.

11) What issues do you think could be addressed in the Combat Upgrade to help Ranger? Giving rangers the ability to utilize their combat profession along with the ranger skills, much like rifleman complements ranger with the concealed shots, prone attacks etc.

12) What issues would you like to see addressed in a Ranger Revamp? Harvesting bonuses.. it'd be great to have master rangers harvesting at a higher (but fair) rate than what it is now. Also tracking is only effective for up to 500 meters.. this maybe needs to be a variable that SEA's can enhance, to vary ranger skills to make us more unique, or perhaps just widen the range. And the ability to track specific creatures.. whether rangers are allowed to select on mission terminals a creature.. that way they can only see certain missions, or they could track specific creatures in the region.. this would greatly add a profound unique feel to the class.

13) Do you have any fears about the Ranger Revamp? I have fears about being eaten by krayts in my sleep.. nothing out of the ordinary about rangers!

14) If the Ranger Revamp does not fix some of the problems with Rangers, will you remain a Ranger? Of course.. the spirit of the profession remains and if it is not enhanced, it still is great by itself.

15) Do you have any other questions or concerns that this poll did not address? Nope!

Since November '03.... mastered in September '04

Bored with PvP, already had Master Scout from when it was required for BH

Not really different from Scout

Tracking

Now I do... since I dropped down to 0-0-4-0

None

I don't think it'll affect it at all

None in particular

Yes

No, because that'd be ridiculous for the CU to hurt Rangers. If it did, then SOE is incompetent

I'd love it if traps were more advanced above the Scout traps

Camouflage is already pretty darn cool, but camps are useless nowadays with player cities every 1000m. They need to be more beneficial to PvE hunters. Also, traps need to be more advanced. Biggest wish: the /track thing from Phenix's Outdoorsman Proposal

That it'll suck

Probably not. I'd go experiment with some other professions

Concern: the next correspondant won't be as good as Calc

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I figured I'd get things started...

1) How long have you been a Ranger (this is not limited to masters)? I have been a Ranger since September of 2003

2) Why did you choose to become a Ranger? I decided to become a Ranger because I enjoyed hunting and role-playing an adventurer.

3) What is the largest problem with Ranger in your opinon? The largest problem with Ranger is the fact that we do not have a well-defined role.

4) What is the greatest asset to the Ranger profession? Our greatest asset in-game is our diverse skill-set. Out of the game, it's our smart community.

5) Do you feel satisfied playing as a Ranger right now? I personally am satisfied, but I also feel that there are many changes that could be made that would make being Ranger a more rewarding experience.

6) Are there issues with Ranger that could lead to you leaving the profession? If so, what are they? For me, there is very little that could get me to leave. If we continue to be less effective at hunting and collecting resources than combat-stackers, and we recieve no benefits to solo hunting, I could imagine me dropping some boxes of Ranger, but I will always keep some boxes in Ranger.

7) Do you think the Combat Upgrade will positively or negatively affect the Ranger profession? Why? I think it will make fighting creatures harder, so it will negatively effect our ability to hunt alone, but since combat will be harder fo everyone, Rangers may be asked to come along for more hunting groups, so it depands on the Ranger.

8) What are you biggest fears about the Combat Upgrade (as it relates to Rangers)? i fear that we won't be able to collect the same amount of resources and will be out-harvested by combat stackers who take a few boxes of Scout to harvest a little bit.

9) Do you plan on staying with Ranger after the Combat Upgrade? Yes, though I might change my combat profession.

10) If Rangers are hurt by the Combat Upgrade, will you stay a Ranger? Yes, I can accept some slight changes in order to make the game as a whole better. I think that it might be different after the Combat Upgrade, but I cannot forsee enough damage done to Ranger to make me want to leave.

11) What issues do you think could be addressed in the Combat Upgrade to help Ranger? I think harvesting levels as well as combat modifications to make Rangers' better creature hunters would be issued that could be addressed in the CU.

12) What issues would you like to see addressed in a Ranger Revamp? I'd like to see us be better hunters, and have increased utitility in the GCW, as well as be more effective in general. I'd also like to see modular camping become a reality.

13) Do you have any fears abou the Ranger Revamp? I fear that we may be forced more into a support role (better tracking and camping, but no help to hunting) and are thus forced into a niche that doesn't fit what anyone thinks Ranger should be.

14) If the Ranger Revamp does not fix some of the problems with Rangers, will you remain a Ranger? I will remain a Ranger until it is un-fun to be one. There are few issues that single-handedly could make me leave, but if enough things are handled in ways I don't agree with, I could forsee dropping many boxes in Ranger.

15) Do you have any other questions or concerns that this poll did not address? No, I think the original poster did a a wonderful job.

1) How long have you been a Ranger (this is not limited to masters)?

I got the game in May, mastered Scout in July and have been climbing Ranger ever since.

2) Why did you choose to become a Ranger?

Before I got the game, I wanted to be a Scout and CH. I enjoyed mastering Scout so much, I contiued on into Ranger.

3) What is the largest problem with Ranger in your opinon?

Only 2 unique skills, pathetic. As an unbuffed non-armor wearing Ranger, I never use Rescue. That leaves me with 1 unique skill and some slight upgrades on Master Scout.

4) What is the greatest asset to the Ranger profession?

The community, definetly. The community keeps us optimistic, it keeps us as Rangers and it keeps former Rangers hoping to return.

5) Do you feel satisfied playing as a Ranger right now?

I'm somewhat satisfied. If I could hunt faster, I could harvest more and make a living. That's my own fault for dropping Pistoleer for Rifleman so late in my "career."

6) Are there issues with Ranger that could lead to you leaving the profession? If so, what are they?

Only if I leave the game, which could happen.

7) Do you think the Combat Upgrade will positively or negatively affect the Ranger profession? Why?

I'm thinking more people will be hunting to make money after the CU. Will help the economy, maybe, but not Ranger.

8) What are your biggest fears about the Combat Upgrade (as it relates to Rangers)?

See above.

9) Do you plan on staying with Ranger after the Combat Upgrade?

Yes.

10) If Rangers are hurt by the Combat Upgrade, will you stay a Ranger?

Yes.

11) What issues do you think could be addressed in the Combat Upgrade to help Ranger?

Make traps affect NPCs and PCs. Make dizzy affect creatures.

12) What issues would you like to see addressed in a Ranger Revamp?

More traps, more reliable /maskscent and /conceal, offensive and defensive mods vs. creatures, more xp per camp or less xp needed for Frontiering, faster travel, more Ranger only skills.

13) Do you have any fears about the Ranger Revamp?

It might do more harm than good, if they don't pat attention to us.

14) If the Ranger Revamp does not fix some of the problems with Rangers, will you remain a Ranger?

Yes, but only until my subscription runs out.

15) Do you have any other questions or concerns that this poll did not address?

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Phenix1050 wrote:

1) How long have you been a Ranger (this is not limited to masters)? Sheesh...started Ranger in September 2003, Mastered in October? 2004.

2) Why did you choose to become a Ranger? Why not? Really, I just liked hunting, and Ranger seemed the way to go.

3) What is the largest problem with Ranger in your opinon? No unique role. We really are just Super Scouts.

4) What is the greatest asset to the Ranger profession? Tracking.

5) Do you feel satisfied playing as a Ranger right now? Yup.

6) Are there issues with Ranger that could lead to you leaving the profession? If so, what are they? Nothing I haven't dealt with for a year.

7) Do you think the Combat Upgrade will positively or negatively affect the Ranger profession? Why? Negatively. ItMAY make more people take up Scout (and not Ranger) for hunting, and MAY make us group more, negating our harvesting bonus with the grouping penalty. Now, keep in mind that no one really know HOW the CU will affect things, so this (as well as everyone else's answer) is just speculation.

8) What are you biggest fears about the Combat Upgrade (as it relates to Rangers)? Losing the ability to solo hunt.

9) Do you plan on staying with Ranger after the Combat Upgrade? Dunno. Prediction are hard to make, especially about the future .

10) If Rangers are hurt by the Combat Upgrade, will you stay a Ranger? Dunno. Prediction are hard to make, especially about the future .

11) What issues do you think could be addressed in the Combat Upgrade to help Ranger? The devs need to make sure we can still harvest competitively.

12) What issues would you like to see addressed in a Ranger Revamp? Better harvesting options, camp revamp, stealth implementation, basically, the Outdoorsman proposal.

13) Do you have any fears abou the Ranger Revamp? Nope, I know the devs will take our advice and do what's right.

14) If the Ranger Revamp does not fix some of the problems with Rangers, will you remain a Ranger? Depends on what it DOES fix. Predictions and all...

15) Do you have any other questions or concerns that this poll did not address? Nope.

Thank you in advance for taking this poll. I think it will help us gauge where we are as a community.

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1) How long have you been a Ranger (this is not limited to masters)?
From Beta 3 to my account cancellation on Oct 27. (less time for launch)

2) Why did you choose to become a Ranger?
I am an explorer at heart and love the outdoors and creatures.

3) What is the largest problem with Ranger in your opinon?
The Tracking line is the only one to function properly. The others either give little to no benefit or are buggy.

4) What is the greatest asset to the Ranger profession?
Most Rangers choose the profession because it "feels" right rather than because it gives them a huge benefit. The ideas generated tend to be better thought out and discussed maturely because of it.

5) Do you feel satisfied playing as a Ranger right now?
No. Nor with the game as a whole (see answer to #1). My lost faith in the dev team is what finally did me in after months of waiting despite an invite to the Sandbox.

6) Are there issues with Ranger that could lead to you leaving the profession? If so, what are they?
I dropped from master Ranger to Tracking III due to the issues in the profession. While I am okay with being an 'underpowered' profession, I could not justify skills that gave me zero benefit. Combined with being a master Creature Handler which also suffers from a large expenditure of skill points for little return, one of the two professions had to be reduced. That let me dabble in a slew of other professions, which kept me in the game a year longer than had I only stayed a master Ranger/CH.

7) Do you think the Combat Upgrade will positively or negatively affect the Ranger profession? Why?
8) What are you biggest fears about the Combat Upgrade (as it relates to Rangers)?
My guess is that it will negatively effect the Ranger, but indirectly. Creatures will likely be much tougher to kill. The amount possible to harvest will drop dramatically. The market will be turned upside-down as resources and thus products become scarce. Buffs and food will likely be reduced as well, so their demand will be lessened, also reducing the need for resources. People in space won't be needing harvested materials either...

9) Do you plan on staying with Ranger after the Combat Upgrade?
If I return to the game, I will try to keep at least some of it. The chance of that is low. Assuming that does happen, I will have to drop it if I finish trying to become a Jedi. The future is cloudy.

10) If Rangers are hurt by the Combat Upgrade, will you stay a Ranger?
While I think it will possibly hurt the profession as I outlined, my reasons for being a Ranger are not dependent upon the CU. I imagine I'm not alone as per #4.

11) What issues do you think could be addressed in the Combat Upgrade to help Ranger?
Giving Rangers the ability to be the 'ultimate creature hunters' if that is the role they are going to be forced into. They should not have to take an outside profession to be successful in their designated role.

12) What issues would you like to see addressed in a Ranger Revamp?
Effictively duplicating maskscent as an advanced skill (make maskscent go to 200 and anything over 100 starts to affect NPCs). Foraged foods. Useful traps. Useful camps (modular?). Being more effective at creature hunting than a BH, rather than less.

13) Do you have any fears abou the Ranger Revamp?
The devs won't listen.

14) If the Ranger Revamp does not fix some of the problems with Rangers, will you remain a Ranger?
In my case, would it continue to be a strike against ever returning to the game?

1) approximately 10 month

2) I started to follow suggestions from my guildies first, which was 'combat medic, pistoleer'. I hated it quite a lot (both of it), and when someone from my guild asked for some ressource hunting (naboo wooly iirc) I found out I very much enjoyed roaming around free instead of the missionrunning I did for leveling pistoleer. And so I was changing plans and took up a profession that helped me in doing so (and enjoyed the idea to be a 'ranger' itself so I didn't just level up the tracking tree but went for master)

3) Not enough unique skills above the starter profession, scout 1.5 just doesn't seem to be enough for an elite profession

4) /areatrack by far. Even with all the issues it's still the thing that was the initial reason for me to pick Ranger

5) This question is almost unanswerable for me atm, as I do not participate in the ground game . However I did enjoy playing the Ranger before JTL

6) Clearly depends on the outcome of the combat revamp. If I feel the need to put more skillpoints outside of Ranger when that hits live it might very much happen that I drop the Mastery and go back to Tracking IV. I will not drop all Ranger-skills though.

7) I do not participate on wild speculations based on unknown changes that might come in the future, so I won't answer this .


8) None, I don't expect the revamp to be remotely perfect, however I expect it to be an improvement for combat as it's quite impossible to make it even worse than it currently is

9) See 6

10) Last time I checked the Ranger profession won't be touched during the combat revamp so I do not see the point of this question

11) None. The combat revamp is about the combat professions, not about supportprofessions like Ranger. The combat revamp itself is TOO crucial for the future of the game, so it's development should have a clear focus and clearly should NOT be 'watered down' with putting other things in it

12) More unique abilities, /track, Modular Camps, etc. Basically most parts of the outdoorsman-proposal EXCEPT stealth and faster base run speed.

13) No.

14) Very likely. I knew the very limited unique abilities Ranger has and still went Ranger, so I see no reason to leave Ranger if the Revamp doesn't give enough unique abilities.

15) Yes. When do you plan to play on Eclipse again ?

1) How long have you been a Ranger (this is not limited to masters)?

October 2003 - Master acheived late Oct. early Nov. of that year.

2) Why did you choose to become a Ranger?

I like to explore and chart unknown territory; find things that other people normally wouldn't find; I like to imagine myself to be fairly self-reliant (even if that may not be the case); I liked the idea of being the tracker from the old westerns who could follow any trail and knew the territory like the back of his hand - not so much the role of a wanderer as that of an indigenous inhabitant...

3) What is the largest problem with Ranger in your opinon?

Our core role is defined by only one of our skilltrees 0040 -- in other words, players turn to us when they need to track something or they need animal resources, but outside of these roles we really aren't sought out. I keep my master title because I am very proud of it -- I earned it before grinding or macros or the advent of the 2-day holo wonders, but I could be equally as effective with just 0040. I haven't used a trap in ages, use camps more on a whim than out of necessity. I'm willing to concede that the faster crawling mods are useful to riflemen (which I am), but not that useful to non-rifleman rangers. Camo kits are cool, but not so much better than maskscent as to justify their use.

4) What is the greatest asset to the Ranger profession?

The 0040 tree -- the harvesting and the tracking abilities are very nice and relatively well implemented. OK, we should be able to harvest more and areatrack can be refined, but if you use them in conjunction with hard-earned knowledge of the wilderness and spawn points, they can really help you out.

5) Do you feel satisfied playing as a Ranger right now?

No, not really -- as I said above I only use skills from the 4040 trees (the enhanced crawling for rifleman and the harvest and tracking mods). The other two trees really don't contribute to my gameplay, nor, as far as I can tell, to that of my fellow players. Random spawns get worse every day - I really hate exploring desolate landscapes. Why can't we get the random spawns back!

6) Are there issues with Ranger that could lead to you leaving the profession? If so, what are they?

I'm probably going to leave the game before I give up ranger -- meaning that I'm really close to giving up on the game right now because I see ranger as suffering from the same woes as a lot of other professions. There just doesn't seem to be a vision for this game that extends beyond the next big upgrade. I know the devs work really hard, but my feelings are that they are dealing with stuff on an ad-hoc basis - like, let's fix this because we have to, let's fix this because we have to. The things that are not the most broken don't get any attention, but these are things that really, really kill the game for veteran players.

7) Do you think the Combat Upgrade will positively or negatively affect the Ranger profession? Why?

I think that it is going to take away from our sort of self-defined role as the solo hunter. Or, well maybe we'll thrive because a lot of us spend so much time on tactics. One thing that is frustrating, but very very enjoyable about jtl is the need for groups. I think that if the combat balance can restore the need for players to work together, then overall this will be a positive change for the rangers.

8) What are you biggest fears about the Combat Upgrade (as it relates to Rangers)?

That the biggest impact will be on those who can't dedicate the skillpoints to two elite combat professions. Right now, these players dominate the game, and the loot and the current mission system (which is changing soon, thank god) pretty much reward them for that. I'm worried that the combat balance will reduce the effectiveness of single combat masters or even single combat non masters to the extent that those of us who have the majority of our skillpoints invested in scout and ranger (and hence not much room for more combat skills) are going to end up severely underpowered for the roles that we have been long accustomed to filling.

9) Do you plan on staying with Ranger after the Combat Upgrade?

Probably yes

10) If Rangers are hurt by the Combat Upgrade, will you stay a Ranger?

Probably yes - I might leave the game, but I will do so as a ranger...

11) What issues do you think could be addressed in the Combat Upgrade to help Ranger?

I think it would be useful to see how professions that are not necessarily combat professions can be more beneficial to combat roles. For example, in the wild, terrain negotiation is very useful, esp. to ranged professions, but the FOTM l00t whores and ub3r l33t pvp'ers are all melee and generally frequent areas like dungeons and cities where you don't need terrain negotiation, so what's the point. I would like to see a combat revamp that gave some advantage to those of us who choose the path less followed.

12) What issues would you like to see addressed in a Ranger Revamp?

Camps and traps should have a purpose, we should be able to harvest more than we can at the master level. We should determine what our key roles should be and the profession should be reorginized so that you can't just get one tree (0040) and get 95% of the benefits of our profession.

13) Do you have any fears abou the Ranger Revamp?

That it will be like the image designer revamp -- in other words that it won't really encourage more people to be image designers, but it will give a key ability to image designers (stat migration), and players will get frustrated because there are no rangers around.

14) If the Ranger Revamp does not fix some of the problems with Rangers, will you remain a Ranger?

probably - I might leave the game, but I'll do so as a ranger.

15) Do you have any other questions or concerns that this poll did not address?

Iseult
Master Ranger / Mediocre Rifleperson
Bloodfin

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Phenix1050 wrote:

As we all know, there will soon be a change in the correspondant position for the Ranger community. Because of this, I thought it would be good for whoever takes over that position to have an idea of where the Ranger community stands right now. As such, I have developed a short poll for the full-time Ranger community to fill out when they have a chance. The purpose of this would be to give whoever takes over a reliable guage with which to look at the Ranger community. Now before we even begin, I want to begin this by saying that this is not a place for anyone to rant or rave (not that I expect that from the majority of the people here). I am looking for some basic information, not for a rundown of what's wrong with this profession or why we need changes now. This isn't meant to stifile your opinions, but ranting makes a poll such as this harder to get through for everyone. With that said, here's the poll:

1) How long have you been a Ranger (this is not limited to masters)?

About 3 months2) Why did you choose to become a Ranger?
I like to live off the land. I also thought that rangers are cool because of TN

3) What is the largest problem with Ranger in your opinon?

It isn't really any better than scout4) What is the greatest asset to the Ranger profession?
tracking

5) Do you feel satisfied playing as a Ranger right now?
Nope. and that's why i dropped it. Too many skill points are wasted.

6) Are there issues with Ranger that could lead to you leaving the profession? If so, what are they?
The bonus they get over scout aren't that impressive. Harvest rate is too low, traps are worse than the scout traps, and camps don't do anything

7) Do you think the Combat Upgrade will positively or negatively affect the Ranger profession? Why?
I hope positive. I've taken BE till the combat rebalance, after that i want to take ranger again because i like the playstyle. I hope they would give some more useful benefits to the ranger

8) What are you biggest fears about the Combat Upgrade (as it relates to Rangers)?
I've heard classes get specific armors. I don't want my ranger to wear armor, so i hope they won't make armor too strong (as it is now)

9) Do you plan on staying with Ranger after the Combat Upgrade? As said before, i'm planning to pick up ranger after CR

10) If Rangers are hurt by the Combat Upgrade, will you stay a Ranger? Nope

11) What issues do you think could be addressed in the Combat Upgrade to help Ranger? I don't see rangers as a combat class, but more support. So i won't say increase harvest rate etc. Though i do hope they balance traps some more, and the camps could have a more battle kind of function

12) What issues would you like to see addressed in a Ranger Revamp? It depends. I guess there are a lot of different views on what a ranger is. To me it's someone who can survive in the wild. So i would say improve tracking/harvest, Make camps useful, and give us a bit more CL level to control

13) Do you have any fears abou the Ranger Revamp? No, i don't think it's possible to have it more broken

14) If the Ranger Revamp does not fix some of the problems with Rangers, will you remain a Ranger? Well it all depends on the CR and how the other proffessions are changed. I prefer to fight with creatures, so if CH would be strong enough to be a stand alone combat prof than i would def pick up ranger again.

15) Do you have any other questions or concerns that this poll did not address?

Thank you in advance for taking this poll. I think it will help us gauge where we are as a community.

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