Ranger Archive

• We are still barely more than super scouts.


• Using /conceal and shuttling bugs /conceal and /maskscent (can be fixed by using /conceal with nothing targetted and starting over).


• Dizzy doesn't work on creatures yet 2 traps (the lowest [novice scout] and highest ones [advanced trapping 3]) cause the state.


• Traps root you in place when throwing them.


• Traps don't work on the big creatures.


• Traps need to work on NPCs and in PvP.


• We need more new and useful traps (AoE snare/root, lure, knockdown, etc, or some new system).


• Harvesting increase is minimal.


• Up to 2 resources are wasted on each corpse we harvest.


• /conceal and /maskscent like to break more often than they should on kreetles, rasps, etc.


• /conceal needs to have an increased effectiveness for the resource and skill point costs.


• A /concealself skill with no resource cost at Master Ranger would be greatly appreciated.


• Terrain Negotiation over 50 only seems to apply to crawling.


• Some sort of creature defenses would be nice (creature toughness?).


• Some sort of state defenses (especially poison and disease, although all states would be welcome) would be nice.


• Camps need to be made more useful at all levels.


• Camps don't repel creatures.


• Camps disband if you leave them or enter combat. At the very least, the Field Bases should be able to stay up as bases of operation (although some balance with the creature repelling will be needed).


• Foraging is mostly useless.


• Creature to Hit bonus only applies to range.


• More creature information would be nice (like social assistiveness, ranged attack, HAM amounts shown in the /examine window, etc).


• /Rescue can easily lead to the death of the Ranger. Some sort of defensive bonus (either on use of the skill or just general defense increases) would be nice.


• A /scare skill (possibly like an AoE warningshot) would be really nice. Think of Obi-Wan making a krayt call.

Eh, I can't be bothered to list everything. I hope this is a good start.

These are always hard to write because you don't want to sound negative or bitter... but you always do.

1. We aren't unique. (see the holocron post. Ya, ya... I know its old... but still.) We have great skills, but none of them are really functional enough to be worth the skill points, except perhaps for tracking III. But even then you are mastering a whole novice profession just to be able to use a slightly iffy areatrack command and harvest a bit more. Other game features have marginalized our original skill set so that the ability to camo and the terrain negotiation are just not as great as they were originally intended. Most rangers master for the ideal, not the skills themselves. Enhance our skills and give us one or two unique ones in addition to areatrack (which IS great) that will really make Ranger worth the investment.

1b. We need unique, USEFUL, skills. In one of the threads we had discussing what being a "super scout" meant Klif_Hangar compared us to Doctors. We are often seen as "only super scouts" but Doctors are never really seen as "only super medics." The difference is that Doctor has unique, extremely useful skills that make them stand out over medic. Rangers have areatrack and camo kits but neither of these are really useful enough to compare with the huge advanctage that rezzing and buffing gives doctors over their novice profession. Link here

1c. In addition to unique useful skills, we need our current skills to be upgraded. Our harvesting rate should compare to a scouts the way that an armorsmith's composite compares to an artisan's bone armor.

1d. Because areatrack and harvesting ARE arguably our best skills our profession has become very focused on being the organic resource providers. The ability to be the best explorers/survivors really became obsolete with speeders, cities, and uber templates. There have been some really great suggestions on the board on possible ways Ranger could regain some of the other playstyles rather than just hunt/harvest.

2. Our skills are dependent on things we cannot control like server load/spawn rate, lag causing areatracked creatures/npcs to dissapear from the list - or whatever is causing that - mission terminals not covering all types of animals so we can't reliably hunt them due to spawn rates. The /track ability (either Holocrons original proposal or preferably the new and improved versions that have been suggested) would go a long way to solving this I think. Give us some control over what we hunt.

Thats five points - these things usually come in fives right? Here are the additional ones we all know and love:

- Camo kits should work on NPCs
- Camps should heal BF
- Camps should either repel agggro correctly or stay up in combat.
- Traps need to be revamped so that they are actually useful (I like the idea - Nemo's? - that we should get some that substantially reduce resistances. This would begin to give us an advantage over combat stackers in hunting high resist creatures and make us useful to a group.
- Traps should stick on NPCs
- We should be able to harvest everything off a corpse. Waste not, want not.
- Terrain negotiation bonus should be to something more useful to everyone than crawling. Vastly increased burst run efficiency comes to mind.

I could go on and on. You all already know this, but for anyone else that is reading - I really love this profession. I love the fact that we have three trees that have very unique aspects to each of them. The POTENTIAL of Ranger is incredible. Even if we never got revamped I would still be a Ranger because the community and the IDEA of it is so much fun.

However, it is hard to see new players get dissapointed because the skills weren't what they were expecting them to be - what everyone automatically assumes them to be. I hope we can see Ranger become what we always assumed it would be.

Message Edited by Vorpaks on 10-15-2004 02:01 PM

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Fodder650 wrote:
Along the ideas of Pak's reply would be to point the devs at the medicinal herbs post from a few weeks back. It wouldn't take any new art since you just reuse what we have. And it wouldnt make us to powerful but it would give us a new interesting ability.

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Message Edited by Chra on 10-15-2004 01:11 PM