Ranger Archive

This is copy and paste from a thread I placed on the main SWG Discussion Forum. I'm tossing it up here since its chances of staying "on the crest of the wave over there", so to speak, is pretty slim

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Devs, I would like to discuss a situation that has, expecially in light of the requirement changes for Scouts/Rangers, resulted in resource shifts being potentially deadly to the Scout/Ranger out in the field.

Issue:

Under the current resource shift system, when an animal harvest resource enters the pre/post shift mode, the result is the one specific resource type on said animal transitions temporarily to 1 unit of hide/bone/meat. This transition phase can sometimes last for a few hours.

Problem:

Case 1 - A scout/ranger is in the field and has just engaged in a large scale battle either solo, or grouped. After the confrontation, in order to make it back to a safer zone, he needs to construct a camp. Short on one resource type to construct the camp he needs, he harvests from the creature/s he has just killed to get the necessary resources, only to find a resource shift is underway and he can only get 1 unit per creature.

Result - The scout/ranger now stands a severe chance of not making it back safely, especially if there is no medic with a droid in the group.

Case 2 - A Scout/Ranger is in a large group and is using his traps, one of the few group oriented skills either class currently has, to assist in the battles against high level mobs. The scout runs out of traps and goes to harvest to construct more, only again, resource transition is in effect and the resource he needs can not be obtained.

Result - The only true profession specific offensive capability of the ranger/scout is now effectively nullified.

Case 3 - A Ranger is travelling solo, or in a small group. Due to the nature of the recent changes to Mask Scent and the addition of Conceal, the Ranger needs to use his conceal capability to further enhance his and his groups survivability rate, especially on a hostile planet. The Conceal kit is extremely specific in the contents required for its manufacture and is now generally considered a key functionality of a Ranger, much as a stimpack is to a medic. The Ranger finds he needs to harvest a specific resource to produce more kits, spends the time and difficulty to successfully kill the somtimes deadly creatures to obtain the resource he needs, only to find that he only gets 1 unit per harvest.

Result - One of the now key functionality skills of the Ranger is rendered null and void during the transition phase.

Overall problem summary - Unlike most other classes who simply lose time/money due to a resource shift taking place, the Scout/Ranger, whose havesting abilities require direct and damaging physical confrontation with mobs, can be detrimentally impacted if a resource type is rendered almost non-existstant for an extended time period because those resources are not simply a source of income, they are, by nature, a core facet of both professions' design. Arguements that the scout/ranger can simply kill another creature type for requirement purposes is in many cases difficult or impossible on some planetary regions, like Rancor infested zones of Dathomir for example.

Potential Solutions

1) Move animal harvested resources over to a different shift system than planetary harvested resources. A system that either:

A. Instantly transitions from one animal resource to another with no 1 unit delay between.

B. Bleeds in the other resource type. IE. During a transition phase, you pull the same amount you normally would incur from a harvest, only half the, meat for example, would be of one type and the other half of the new upcoming type.

2) Alter the entire resource system to something similar to that outlined in solution 1.

3) Set up some sort of notification system for Rangers and Scouts that informs them on planetary arrival, in some manner appropriate to the fictional setting, of resources currently in, or about to enter into the transition phase.

Overall Summary

The Ranger/Scout profession is severely impacted by the inclusion of their resource types under the current rules governing the transition of all resource types. What may work from a logical and potentially practical sense for the non-combat obtained resources, fails logically(a Ravenous Torton only offers up 1 unit meat?) and raises potential survivability issues that are not a factor in any other resource using class, save perhaps the medic based professions to some extent.

I hope this thread helps raise this issue to greater awareness and results in some thought being put into the current situation by the devs. Any other Rangers/Scouts who have comments on this, please fire away in the thread...I think most of us can agree that any solution, not even necessarily the ones i came up with, would be a better alternative than the current system.

btw, the link to my original thread in the SWGs discussion forum is:

http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=Development&message.id=545212

Should anyone feel the need to keep the thread alive if it sinks or offer up some commentary on that board instead.