Ranger Archive

Thread: Ranger Revamp: The Proposal

SickSix
Thu Jan 20, 2005 12:14 pm
#27

To Owen ^


Well, your ideas would make it useful, but unless what your talking about is actually being discussed among the devs, who cares? Buff myself??? Heck Yeah that'd be cool! But what's the likely hood of that, or I say make foraging a tracking ability, where the ranger actually examines the ground for Krayt poo or Rancor tracks..... But if they aren't going to change it... Dump it.



SickSix
MASTER INVISI-PUSS
HadesNNHellriders
You're supposed to sit here
and die while I poison you.

Owen-Lars
Thu Jan 20, 2005 12:25 pm
#28

Well ill let you in on a little secret .....


The devs arnt working on anything ranger atm, does this mean they should drop everything? Half of our measly skills are severely lacking or useless, anyone want to see camps go?


Ok a little harsh but its extremely important in this forum to be constructive even if the likelyhood of getting changes are next to nil. Its the only thing keeping us going.


As for using them as a component in buff creation:


I think you are slightly blinded by the word "buff" because of its current (doctor made and applied) form. Buffing could essentially mean increasing our resistances to poisons, diseases and even creature damage. Increasing our harvest skills, trapping skills even giving us completely new abilities to the point where it buffs your skill at being a ranger not just a stat or mod.


I wouldnt dismiss something just because it hasnt been worked on yet, imo (and your welcome to disagree ofcourse) foraging is a key component of survival, not tracking but actually increasing your effectiveness in the wild, helping you 'survive' in the wilderness.


Once again i see lots of potential, and something that could become very effective.



THORTAC BALCOR
The Lost Ranger
RANGER
Felisconcolori
Thu Jan 20, 2005 9:44 pm
#29





The devs arnt working on anything ranger atm, does this mean they should drop everything? Half of our measly skills are severely lacking or useless, anyone want to see camps go?


Is this really any surprise? With the Combat Upgrade in the works, the Devs are almost/not quite tunnel-visioned on that. I'm happy they have added some content in the meantime... think about the Chef revamp, the droid revamp, the Jedi revamp... they like to focus in on fixing one thing at a time, seems. (Maybe a little breadth of vision would help, but hopefully the all encompassing combagravance will show this. Side Note: Owen-Lars, anything you could possibly say without violating a NDA?)


I think you are slightly blinded by the word "buff" because of its current (doctor made and applied) form. Buffing could essentially mean increasing our resistances to poisons, diseases and even creature damage. Increasing our harvest skills, trapping skills even giving us completely new abilities to the point where it buffs your skill at being a ranger not just a stat or mod.


Hmm. Foraging has some of these things already... As a Scout, foraging was about useless (IMHO) when compared with flora extractors (for that matter, Medical Forage is equally questionable). As a (now) Novice Ranger, I find I am foraging strange foods... which are weak, very limited, and also horribly filling when compared to Chef foods. An upgrade, maybe, but still not as good as it could be. Much like the Smuggler's "Underworld", I think this branch could use some fine tuning.


I wouldnt dismiss something just because it hasnt been worked on yet, imo (and your welcome to disagree ofcourse) foraging is a key component of survival, not tracking but actually increasing your effectiveness in the wild, helping you 'survive' in the wilderness.


Once again i see lots of potential, and something that could become very effective.


In reality, foraging is in fact a very important ability. However, in terms of game mechanics, the forage skill does nothing to truly increase my effectiveness at surviving in the wilderness. (The wilderness in question seeming to be smaller and smaller every day.)





Gypsia d'Catman - Tough Chick with a Flamethrower
Catman Dewback - Famed Trando ex-band leader of the Wookettes
Felis Con'Colori - Bothan Spy back before there was a "Spy"
Larrana Darkewave - A Silent Dancer

All dead as of 11/30/05. We tried. Gysia's flamethrower blew up. Catman was arrested for trumped up charges of slavery. Felis grew cold in the grip of Darth SOE. Larrana finally swallowed her NDA and choked.
Hail, Hail the NGE! SWG is dead! All praise the NGE!
SickSix
Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:25 pm
#30



Felisconcolori said:
In reality, foraging is in fact a very important ability. However, in terms of game mechanics, the forage skill does nothing to truly increase my effectiveness at surviving in the wilderness. (The wilderness in question seeming to be smaller and smaller every day.)



I agree, 100% that to survive in the wild foraging is an essential skill........ BUT IN GAME IT DOESN'T SERVE ANY WORTHWHILE PURPOSE!!!(yet.....) My Zabby doesn't need to eat everyday to survive ingame, foraging is useless to him..... Could it be fixed so that we could actually forage worthwhile things, sure, will it happen anytime soon (ie. 6mo).... doubt it. I'd rather be able to just harvest all resource types from one carcass than have any foraging at all at this point in time.




SickSix
MASTER INVISI-PUSS
HadesNNHellriders
You're supposed to sit here
and die while I poison you.

Dariane_Kamutsovy
Thu Jan 20, 2005 10:37 pm
#31




As said before, it's dumb to concentrate only on "small" parts of the game.

Like the previous CH revamp, making it completely andutterly borked.

Or the chef/doc/buffs, completely disrupting all balance

And again, disrupting balance even more, by adding the dot weapons.


If balance is to be achieved, ALL professions should be considered, not just a few.


And the remark about foraging: foraging in itself is a usefull abilitie... However, in terms of gamemechanics it's useless (see mentioned chef/doc/buffs). If not even that is altered, remove it alltogether. Fixing it is rather simple: increase the stats of the items foraged (so they get better or equal to chef stuff).


Why not, as in BE terms, forage "nutritients" which can be used by chefs to make better buffs?

There is a lot of potention lying within foraging, but if it's not changed, it can just be removed, since no one is using it. At least, I'm not, except when some friends ask me to so they can make nice decorations to a house...


Correct me if i'm wrong, but Ranger class is supposed to be a combat class?

If so, the current revamp is called a combat revamp?

Hence, Ranger should be considered.

It's only logical

Message Edited by Dariane_Kamutsovy on 01-20-2005 09:40 PM

Owen-Lars
Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:49 am
#32

Felisconcolori Wrote:


"Neither Scout nor Ranger gain any weapon certifications beyond basic CDEF and C12 grenades; all characters have these certs. (I don't count traps as "certifications"; they are useless against NPCs, and their usefulness against creatures is debatable.)"







This i disagree with, rangers are a combat class, theres no two ways about it. The devs have 'tried' on many occations to explain to us why rangers are not in the CU and therefor not a combat class but everytime they have done this, their explanations can be flawed within a few minutes. Try explaining to the Ranger Alpha Team that rangers arnt a combat class and im certain you will get a united response of "We are a combat class because.....".


Ill never back down from this standpoint either and im sure youll hear me on my deathbed screaming "rangers are a combat class, rangers are a combat class".


There are some major points to address here in regards to rangers combat involvement but they can be highlighted as:


  • Ranger skills are design to be used Prior, During and Post combat. We are designed to work in combat and directly with the combat system therefore we are combat orientated

  • Brawler/Marksman are not required for you to be combat orientated. All they do is simply allow you to use firearms of melee weapons.

  • Traps ARE weapons, you may not see them as certifications but they are. To call something a weapon doesnt mean it should just do damage. Id argue with anyone who says that a stun gun (real life non fatal device) is not a weapon.

  • Just because scout is our pre-requisit doesnt mean we should be super scouts. Take the ideas we learn in scout and make a unique profession based off them, not following on from them.

  • Ranger should not be creature only. Scout is creature only, if you go ranger youtake the ideas and concepts you develope in scout (pathfinding, intel gathering, survival and trapping) and move them into the elite domain (pvp/npc/creature).

  • CH uses the same starting profession as we do yet they are a combat class. CH got it right, using the scout pre-reqs as the foundations and foundations only for making a unique elite proffession based in all combat domains.

I know ive rambled on but those are some major points id like to get across.


We just need to remember not to think 'inside the box'. If we take forage away, we are not getting it back, likewise with anything else. Keep foraging in until our revamp so the option is there for developing it into something great. Simply dismissing a skill on the eve of our revamp (admittedly a long 'eve') is extremely short sighted as it has the potential to be a great feature of the ranger profession.





THORTAC BALCOR
The Lost Ranger
RANGER
Huntseeker
Fri Jan 21, 2005 6:58 am
#33

I've ordered second hand a copy of the Ranger Handbook, just to see what real life Rangers follow and see how the current Ranger status could maybe reflect this.




Karimicu's Sukkarius Master Ranger\Bounty Hunter CAUSAL FIZZ PLAYER
VT-49 Decimator R.A.M.B.O {Ranger Armoured, Mobile Base of Operations} Y8-Minning ship RAMBO II {Ranger Armoured Mining Base of Operations}



THE INSANE IMPERIAL RANGER!

Felisconcolori
Fri Jan 21, 2005 1:37 pm
#34






Dariane_Kamutsovy wrote:





Correct me if i'm wrong, but Ranger class is supposed to be a combat class?

If so, the current revamp is called a combat revamp?

Hence, Ranger should be considered.

It's only logical

Message Edited by Dariane_Kamutsovy on 01-20-2005 09:40 PM




This is ONLY my opinion, and I very well could be wrong, but..... IMHO, you're wrong. And here's why.


Ranger only grants a combat modifier of "creature to-hit" bonus. Further, Ranger derives from Scout, which has no combat abilities. Neither Scout nor Ranger gain any weapon certifications beyond basic CDEF and C12 grenades; all characters have these certs. (I don't count traps as "certifications"; they are useless against NPCs, and their usefulness against creatures is debatable.)


Further, all "elite" or "hybrid" combat classes include some or all of Marksman or Brawler. In this way, all combat derives from Marksman or Brawler. Without Marksman or Brawler, you cannot use any weapon with proficiency save for the CDEF (or C12 grenade, when you can find it). Similiarly, most (not all; most notably BE) crafting professions derive from Artisan. Scout seems to be a harvesting profession, along with Ranger (Scout Supersized). By itself, it is not capable of surviving long in combat. In fact, without Marksman or Brawler, you are up the creek with no paddle in most all combat situations. In this way, and because of its pedigree, a Ranger is NOT a combat profession in any significant way. Without a secondary profession, as a Ranger, you will die. Most horribly.


How do I know this? I am now a MBE-3324CH-MScout-0010Ranger. My only weapon is the CDEF, my pets, and some guildie provided C12s. Since adopting this spread of skills (for reasons and rational, PM me), I have been incapped 4 times tonight alone, and died once. I narrowly survived running from an Imperial inspection by green-con stormtroopers because I can burst-run around them in circles. Since dropping Pistoleer to pursue Ranger, I have seen the world anew, from a combat perspective. It looks a lot like it did almost two years ago, when I started this lovely world.








Gypsia d'Catman - Tough Chick with a Flamethrower
Catman Dewback - Famed Trando ex-band leader of the Wookettes
Felis Con'Colori - Bothan Spy back before there was a "Spy"
Larrana Darkewave - A Silent Dancer

All dead as of 11/30/05. We tried. Gysia's flamethrower blew up. Catman was arrested for trumped up charges of slavery. Felis grew cold in the grip of Darth SOE. Larrana finally swallowed her NDA and choked.
Hail, Hail the NGE! SWG is dead! All praise the NGE!
SickSix
Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:33 pm
#35

^ lol That's funny, I can tell you right now, (personally knowing 3 former rangers) that RL Rangers are an ELITE combat unit. In SWG they are simply Elite Scouts, which are 100% NON-combat..... So making ties between RL and SWG is hard. Because obviously the DEVs had no-intention of the two being related. But I'll still push for Rangers having rifle mods because, Big Game hunters use big rifles. Your not going to fight a Rancor with a Vibro Knuckle.....(in the game now, sure you can, but in *real*StarWars you'd get eatin' in like 2.1 seconds), or....... (lightbulb!!!)



GIVE US MELEE DEFENSE!!!!


If we're not an offensive prof, fine, then give us DEFENSE mods against the Animals that are trying to MELEE us to death!!!! Then, Rifle(or any ranged) users can do Scout/Ranger and not have to stack in Fencer(or whatever). BRILLIANT!!!!!




(apologize if this has been stated already, but it just came to ME!)



SickSix
MASTER INVISI-PUSS
HadesNNHellriders
You're supposed to sit here
and die while I poison you.

Calculus_Entropy
Fri Jan 21, 2005 4:49 pm
#36






SickSix wrote:

^ lol That's funny, I can tell you right now, (personally knowing 3 former rangers) that RL Rangers are an ELITE combat unit. In SWG they are simply Elite Scouts, which are 100% NON-combat..... So making ties between RL and SWG is hard. Because obviously the DEVs had no-intention of the two being related. But I'll still push for Rangers having rifle mods because, Big Game hunters use big rifles. Your not going to fight a Rancor with a Vibro Knuckle.....(in the game now, sure you can, but in *real*StarWars you'd get eatin' in like 2.1 seconds), or....... (lightbulb!!!)



GIVE US MELEE DEFENSE!!!!


If we're not an offensive prof, fine, then give us DEFENSE mods against the Animals that are trying to MELEE us to death!!!! Then, Rifle(or any ranged) users can do Scout/Ranger and not have to stack in Fencer(or whatever). BRILLIANT!!!!!




(apologize if this has been stated already, but it just came to ME!)





Ummm...we have Melee Defense in the Master Box...BUT not much.


The idea of Defense vs. Creatures is one that I will make owen push really hard when the revamp comes around. We Rangers have often suggested that we should have inherent resitsts vs. State effects and Poison and Disease as well as a Creature Damage Mitigation (creatures hit us less hard).





Calculus Entropy
Ranger Blue Glowie Emeritus
Garindan used /areatrack to find Han.
Inkanissen
Fri Jan 21, 2005 5:28 pm
#37

Forage is handy, it gets food for your pets so that you don't need Chef food for them. I agree that those foods are too filling, a short bonus for low filling would be better in my opinion, perhaps 10 filling would be appropriate for that plant I found today that was +200 action for 200 seconds.
Owen-Lars
Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:00 pm
#38

In SWG they are simply Elite Scouts, which are 100% NON-combat..... So making ties between RL and SWG is hard.


How about ties between SWG rangers RL rangers and SW rangers?


Many SW rangers are combat orientated, real life rangers are combat oriented and survivalist so why shouldnt the idea of SWG rangers change? We dont need a firearm or melee weapon to be combat orientated, simply a set of skills that interact with the combat system directly. We have all those, we are combat arientated.


IMO though the devs got SWG rangers wrong big time. Star Wars rangers and Real Life rangers should of been the references they needed to look at, notfind an area of the game that was perhaps lacking (organic collection) and add in a half finished proffession there to make up the numbers. I mean come on, its ranger! Every other game featuring rangers or scouts have a direction involved in combat. SWG rangers should too.




THORTAC BALCOR
The Lost Ranger
RANGER
Dariane_Kamutsovy
Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:44 pm
#39

I'm keep wondering why everyone is saying some kind of combat skill (rifle!???) should be added.

Since there are other options for combat (like pike, sword... and such) I think it should not go there.


What is the power of a ranger if you ask me? To me, it would be able to do ranged attacks, no melee, since armor in the bush is, well, awkward... A ranger in composite armore (kling-klang) being concealed/camoed creeping up on a rancor to do it in with TKM skills.... yeah right.....


No.. If there should be added something to the class in terms of weapon specialisations, I'd like to propose the *SIMPLE* use of a BOW! (As someone else mentioned before, I had my mind tossing and flipping the idea and I came to like it).


Simple add the use of Bow and inherent technologies into Scout/Ranger trees. If done right, a Ranger may choose not to have another combat (marksman/brawler based) profession so skillpoints could be used for something like FS or even artisan/entertainer.


Have not figured out the tree skill, mods and options, but some general ideas:

* types of bows: small, medium, long, crossbow

* types of ammo (bolts/arrow): piercing (very damaging to armor, including PCs!), blunt (dizzy strike), normal (damaging)

*bolts (crossbow): same as above, energy bolts, nets (sort of trap!), strike-thru (bolt goes thru multiple in line placed adversaries)

* special arrows: as generic ammo, but also acid/poisoned/flame/knockdown(as in tkm knockdown)/lightning(electrical)

* use of conceal when using a bow (just as rifleman has with a rifle): being able to fire a bow without being noticed.


a) more to do for weaponsmith

b) ranger/scout can/need to provide items for special arrows (acid, poisoned), or maybe even a BE....

c) the ability to do combat (ranged) inherent withing scout/ranger

d) different kinds of armor and creature resistances made even more usefull by being able to choose the _right_ tool for the right job.


damn, getting alle excited here

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