Ranger Archive

I thought it would be useful for a ranger (uber scout) to be able to blaze a trail. This would allow rangers to show party members a "safe" rout to missions or POIs. This is what rangers do IRL.

The command would be like the /find command in that it would use a yellow path to mark the "safe" path. The ranger use /blazeTrail (coords x y) and the party would be able to have a safe path to what ever that waypoint is by following the ranger. This wouldn't work all the time of course (i.e. put the path through a bunch of aggressive creatures). It could also have a range of effectiveness too. I could also see the range be something like 15000m for a master ranger.

I am interested to see what you think about this ability. Also try to think of exploits or better ways to use this skill.

-Kaabezza

Ranger 4,4,3,4

That's a very decent idea.

I was gonna say that dynamic spawns pretty much destroy the idea, but then realized that, I think, you were inferring that the skill would essentially block dynamic spawns across a given route...interesting.

I can see how it could be exploited. Ie, if a rare(er) creature spawn point or general spawn location was located, Rangers could essentially destroy it, or block other people from attacking it.

I'm not sure the game mechanics would be able to handle /blazeTrail, but it's a great idea.

With a little work, it could be useful. And I remember a game called Talisman were the Scout charactor could make a place on the board only accessable by him. This "greifing" is actually put in some games on perpose.

This IS a great idea, but with spawning they way it works, it probably wouldn't work.

"I'm not sure the game mechanics would be able to handle /blazeTrail, but it's a great idea."

/find uses a pathing system that is laid out by hand along the roads of the city.

• Because of that, the same system could not be used to create paths to spawn points.

----

Unless of course we got some poor developer to hand path every planet... Oh yes, that sounds like fun.

hand pathing every planet...sounds ike a job for a newbie programmer so...who's on the list of people to do this?

You wouldn't have to use a pathing system, just add invisible "areas" to the world (c.f. camps).

well maybe it wouldent destory things that are there, like if there is a spawn in the path it would go around it, it would just block new spawns from spawning

Since the spawning mechanics probably can't handle a "safe path" marker, couldn't it work where a ranger using that skill (/blazetrail) could either repel aggros for a group (just like camps SHOULD do) or even cause them to despawn or never spawn? I think the aggro repellent idea would work best.

But that basically nullifies Conceal.....

Which might not be a bad thing...

Well, the problem is, there are two types of spawns.

Static spawns are easy, as well as already established dynamic spawns and mission spawns they're in fixed and semi-permanent locations, easy to program around.

Then there are dynamic spawns. How easy would it be to plot a path first, modify it to fit around any static spawns in the way, then make it stop any dynamic spawns anywhere close to it?

I can see how it would be possible, creating a 'null' zone along the path where no creatures are allowed to spawn, but it sounds a little to complicated to expect to see anytime.

Since the spawning mechanics probably can't handle a "safe path" marker, couldn't it work where a ranger using that skill (/blazetrail) could either repel aggros for a group (just like camps SHOULD do) or even cause them to despawn or never spawn? I think the aggro repellent idea would work best.

Wow thanks for the nice response guys. Let me throw this out.

What if it worked like an electronic mouse in a maze? Since the maze is different for dynamic spawns, the "mouse" would have to find a "safe" rout dynamically over a distance. It would have to be semi-intelligent. The intelligence would be baised on a skill mod: +50 BlazeTrail would be right 50% of the time or something like that. These types of mice are easy to program. All it would have to do is dynamically "mouse drawn" instead of hand drawn. Programmers are used to making programs like this. I should know; I had to write one when I was a CS major . I would also like to see something like that in the cities too.

oh I almost forgot. The "mouse" doesn't have to figure out the entire path before you start running. It could be a distance ahead of you making as you went, say 300m or so (doesn't have to be 300m), but would also have a limited range baised on skill. That way it could draw/map around dynamic spawns easier.