Ranger Archive

Ok all, what the heck is Ranger viability?

Ranger viability is the answer to the question: Do I want to become a Ranger? If Ranger is a fun, viable profession post-CU the answer will be YES! I have some questions I wrote out for myself, things to keep in mind as I play. Feel free to add or subtract from this list. Use it as a general guide, not a strict format. We all have different experiences and perspectives and getting ALL of those is one of the most important things we can do.

This is really about your general overall feeling about the profession and how the changes have affected it. If you have ideas about changes that could help (especially smaller ones that will have a big impact) share them! (Like I had to ask ) I am sure Owen will be looking for solutions to present to the developers, as well as issues. Keep in mind the other threads will be more specific so you may want to post there.

Here are my questions:

1. Is this fun?
The most important question. If it is fun, people will play it even if it is not economically viable, or gives you added value to a guild or group. They will play for love. Sound familiar?

2. Can I fight effectively on my own?
This is difficult because it is tied very closely to combat level (I think). Try Ranger at different levels of combat. Are the skills you get in Ranger helping you at all? Do they become obsolete the higher in combat you go? (i.e. if you pick up more combat do you become so uber that you would never need camo?)

3. Do I feel like I am bringing value to my group?
How do you feel when you group? Does this change with the group dynamics? For example: I feel useful in an all-Ranger group but not so useful in a group with all combat templates.

4. Has the CU changed my economic viability?
Keep in mind crafter requirements have shifted with buffs and armor changing, so keep an eye on what the customers/crafters are saying in their feedback. If there is a demand for a specific type of resource? What kind of creature drops it and is that creature killable solo? If not, how big of a group do you need? What are your other opptions/other creatures? Is it fun?

5. Does the CU create any new challenges I didn't have to face before? Does it present any new opporunities?
Basically I think of this as - did it break anything? Did it open up any new gameplay opportunities? Many times there have been changes - like Mounts, Shuttles, and POIs - that are great for the game and the players but bad for us as a profession. Likewise there have been some changes, like Hero quests, new Jedi requirements, etc. that have created opportunities. Ideally we want them them to mitigate the negative and enhance the positive.

I'll probably add to this list further as we go along. Feel free to suggest questions you feel are important!

Most of all, have fun. It's a new adventure, and obviously a time of great change. Hopefully we can make these changes positive ones for the Ranger profession.

Message Edited by Vorpaks on 04-26-2005 08:59 PM

This particular thread will be more useful when enough bugs have been worked out that we get a realistic idea of how viable and fun Ranger is.

Since the CU is going live veery shortly I thought I would give this thread a bump and see if it becomes useful for gathering feedback at this point. I edited it a bit to reflect our post-CU status.

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Kcocemag wrote:

Ya know from what I can tell from my limited testing time in the CU and of course my extensive reading, Snares/Roots have become the new "I-win" button, replacing Dizzy/KD for combat folks. Maybe it is just me, but I think those 2 skills should be Ranger-Specific skills revolving around the traps. It really makes no sense that someone can hold a gun a certain way and snare their target instead of throwing a trap. Now I am not a Ranger, and I really don't know if this has been discussed before. However it seems to me that a viable skill that COULD have been given to Rangers was handed out like candy to everyone else.

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