Ranger Archive

All these great mods that were coming our way.

Here's the dev reply on this one. I want to emphasize that some of these changes are large enough that they will take a while.

1. We aren't unique.

"Rangers have very little that differentiates them from scouts. Once Master Scout is reached, Ranger is essentially more of the exact same thing."

In my mind this issue is of critical importance and largely trumps the rest of the Correspondent list. The other 4 issues are mainly issues with inhereted scout ability bugs.

The focus of this post will be on how we are making Ranger different from scout. Ideologically, the ranger is still a "super scout." The key is implementing new and unique ways to go about that kind of gameplay.

Each skill tree is being adjusted to be more interesting and unique.

Wayfaring

Scent mask is now the realm of scouts. Rangers will now get a similar ability called /conceal. A Ranger's conceal ability works very much like scentmask, except for three differences. First, it is a lot more potent: it lasts longer (up to 25 minutes for a Master Ranger) and it rarely breaks. Second, it can be applied to other players. You can now conceal your friends to give them a chance to sneak past enemies as well. The success of the conceal depends on the skill of the Ranger who applied it. Third, it requires a component to apply: a camouflage kit. Camouflage kits are crafted by the Ranger and are planet specific. For example, a Desert Camouflage Kit will allow a Ranger to conceal themselves on Tatooine. Each camouflage kit is assembled from resources gathered on the planet it affects. Camo kits for advanced planets like Endor may be fairly difficult to assemble.

The Ranger will earn experience for successful sneak checks by players he conceals.

It is also possible that the rescue command will be beefed up and moved to the Wayfaring tree (it doesn't really fit in trapping). Bugs with rescue are being fixed as well.

Frontiering

The most important change to Frontiering will be the introduction of special camps. These camps will not operate like a normal rest camp. The Ranger's "Hunting Blind" will give him special bonuses to attracting and hunting creatures as long as he stays within it. Other special camps with unique functionality are being designed.

Bugs with camps repelling creatures will be fixed...see the scout correspondent response post for information on camp xp related changes and fixes.

Field Bioscience --> Tracking

The Field Bioscience skill tree will be renamed Tracking. All of the current functionality will remain with two major additions.

/scanarea - At Novice Ranger, the Ranger will recieve the /scanarea command. Players familiar with EQ's tracking system will understand how this works. You can search the area for animals, people, or players. As you climb the tracking tree, more options and information (like direction and distance) will appear. This should make rangers effective at completing hunting missions or tracking down a specific target.

/track - Higher up the Tracking tree, the Ranger will earn the /track command. The /track command will let the Ranger specify a specific creature he wants to find. Hunting for a Veermok? If you are in a region where Veermok live, you can /track for one. Tracking a creature will lead the player on a small mission to find a creature in the area (or in the case of a critical success or failure...an unexpected surprise). Whereas scanarea checks for already existing mobs in the area, /track can be used even if a Veermok lair (or whatever creature you want to find) isn't nearby.

Advanced Trapping

Rangers are getting a whole new trapping system. Instead of throwing their traps at a target like Scouts, Rangers will deploy their traps on the ground. Each trap will have a different kind of effect. Here are some examples:

Heavy Claw Trap - In order to use this trap, you'll need to draw a creature across it. When the creature draws near enough, the heavy claw trap snaps shut, rooting the creature. The stronger the creature, the more likely it will eventually work itself free.

Lure - A lure can be filled with meat or greens to attract nearby creatures. A creature who detects a lure might break off from its packmates to inspect it.

Tripwire - The tripwire trap can be laid against NPCs as well as creatures. A target who runs across the tripwire will be knocked on his back for a short time.

These unique traps should increase the Ranger's effectiveness soloing and in groups.

When Do We Get It

I hope to have the implementation of these new features wrapped up soon, but since the Ranger is getting a lot of new functionality to make up for a weak initial skill set, it may take a bit longer to get these features to you. The new traps and wayfaring changes are very close to being ready to go, with the tracking and camps to follow some time after.

Most of the other concerns in the Ranger correspondent report are covered in the Scout response, so go check that out. The key thing for Rangers is the new functionality that should make them a more unique and interesting profession.

-Raph Koster,


Creative Director

I'm just wondering what happen to these???

Well you didn't really need to repost this... As the original post is still floating at the top of the forum.

Our developer has been adding the elements a piece at a time...

• We have received /conceal and /areatrack already.

GreenMarine is our primary developer and also in charge of Player Cities...

• So once the City code got pushed to TC, he has been hip deep in fixes regarding that system.

His next mandate is to send some love to Smugglers and possibly Chefs after that.

• Eventually, he will return to us... But possibly not for quite a while.

GreenMarine, The ranger dev is one of the head devs on the Player City Project, So Rangers aren't Likely to see some loving for a while

At least thats what I think a dosh Tka/M Ranger said
/tip 2 credits

Sorry for the repost but I have been watching devs respond to posts since day one now. Once a post goes past 6 or 7 pages the devs stop responding to it. I was so excited when I read the post 2 and a half MONTHS ago.

I reread the post and saw things like the new traps are very close to deployment ect and then realized that was over 2 months old.

Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers just wanted to squeak a little in hopes of some oil. Lets all hope its not snake oil.

Ya but,

The new traps and wayfaring changes are very close to being ready to go, with the tracking and camps to follow some time after.

If these were close how much time would it take to finsh them, by the next patch. Come on, we have been through some sall patches an one really big update since this was first posted.

This is at least one small thing that we should be talking to THUNDERHEART about. Especially, with the new creatures changes that are coming up.

"Didn't mean to ruffle any feathers"

No worries mate...Just like to keep the noise on the forum down to a dull roar.

But it is still a far cry from the Ranger that we need. We all understand the pressure that the Devs are under to make this game happy for all, but consider this: This does not look like the Star Wars universe. We all know that once the mounts, vehicles, and the space layer are incorporated that it WILL be different. But lets face it, how many times have we seen in the movies or read in any of the books about a character that has pets? I mean. I ran into a master ranger on yavin4 that was running around with two graul maulers. Granted, he helped me when i asked for it, but that is just it. I should have been ABLE to ask for it. The Ranger is still a park ranger, the devs are in too deep, and GL, SOE, and the rest make too much money off of us all for this post to even be necessary. I understand the thing takes time, but we paid to play, not to b$#%@.

Sounds to me that Sony had better hire some more developers.

"Sounds to me that Sony had better hire some more developers."

The main problem is that the ramp up time for new developers to projects is enormous.

• It takes a good year to properly integrate any new staff into my I.S. department.


• There is so much information regarding limitations of the available systems, what not to do, what is possible and what is not...

Asfor proper programming practice...

• Man, some of the summer students we have hired had some of the worst programming habits


• And they still had them after 4 months of working with us.

As for existing system maintenance...

• Usually the only person that knows enough about the system to make any changes is the original developer, which can cause some issues trying to give it to someone else.


• I like to think I could teach someone new about the systems I maintain, but it would take some much of my time, I would not get anything new done.

----

Ah... Software Development.

But again if a few of these items were so close, how much work would it take.I am sure that when THUDERHEART vists our forum, this is some of the things that need to be discussed. Besides MASTER RANGER withtrapping skills is a good foil for creature handlers and makes the excuse the DEVs use that creatures are overpowered a lame one.

"Besides MASTER RANGER withtrapping skills is a good foil for creature handlers"

Agreed.

The change may be simple... But even a small change might havea wide ranging impact on the system.

So before any change is made, some thought has to be put into it...

• And I would suspect a newly hired developer would not have the experience to think of all the possible implications... (Even the existing developers can'tdo that all the time =P )