Ranger Archive

Under the Ranger "State of the Profession" post, NRaas asks how the /track command is coming along. Would someone please explain to me what this command is going to do?

Unlike the /areatrack command, which just apprises us rangers of the creatures/NPCs that are currently spawned in our immediate area (I believe it's something like 500 meters), the /track command will actually spawn a creature of that type somewhere and give us a waypoint to track it down (if I've read correctly). Failures in the skill could result in you trekking a long way to find nothing, and critical failures could result in finding a kimogila nest where you expected to find something small and cuddly to slaughter. As an analogy, /areatrack is kind of like hunting missions, where you have to go find things that are already spawned, whereas /track will be more like destroy missions, where it spawns it for ya and gives you a waypoint. I think. Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone.

Thanks man. Seems like a pretty darn useful skill to me.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, anyone."

Sounds right to me.

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You can findthe developers description in the Holocron post floated at the top of the forum.

Perfect explanation. However, I wish it only worked with existing critters. I envisioned using /areatrack to find out what's in an area, then using /track to set a waypoint on something that you find in the /areatrack menu. But the way itis supposed tobe implemented will add an element of fun and surprise to the game. Kinda like having your own little mission terminal on you all the time, but without the pay.

Using /areatrack you get a result that looks like "creature to kill (320m NW)". You need a waypoint on top of that? Just go 320 m NW and there it'll be.

Yep, that's pretty much how I read it way back when. The question I had on it, was, will it spawn any creature type of that planet, or do we get a list of creture types to choose from?

If we are able to pick what critter we want it to spawn for us, it will make those Explore missions very viable and lucritive for us.

Actually, I think that was the plan, Teranus. /track was abandoned a while back for the development of player cities. I'm pretty sure those explorer missions and /track were suppose to work hand in hand.

O'Reiley, the way I actually thought /track would work would be to pinpoint the closest creature that you specify...not necessarily in conjunction with /areatrack. Instead of /areatracking my arse off until I found a mountain dewback, I could just type in "mountain dewback" and get the waypoint of the closest one. I thought the range might even belarger than /areatrack. If you fail, you just don't pickup onthe trail of anything. Instead, there will be a whole new pack generated (or not, depending on failure) and you'll get a waypoint. I also thought /track could replace the "distance" portion of the /areatrack skill inthe ranger tree.

It just seems a little disingenuous to me, knowing that I have the power to spawn a group of mountain dewbacks on command. Where is the real "thrill of the hunt" in that? Plus, if the randomizing of the spawns is the way I understand it, you could end up with a waypoint clear across the other side of the planet. Talk about UBER tracking! That would be more like ESP.

Okay, enough rant on that. My demeanor may be coming across as negative and I don't really feel that way. Cuz when it comes down to it, and when /track is implemented as the devs have outlined, I'll be using it all the time. While it won't be done my way, it'll still be a good addition to the explorer mission system.