Ranger Archive
Thread: Wish for stalking sense expansion.
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DaveG
Sat Nov 13, 2004 11:48 pm
#1
If there's an existing thread this should be added to, please post a link for me.
One of the very first things that hit me way back when I became a novice ranger was the innate sense of when you are being stalked. I still find this really useful, and I think it's an under-rated skill.
I got to thinking, that if I was taking a group of people out into the wilderness, what would help me defend and prevent surprise attacks from creatures? I would really like to know when something is stalking someone I'm grouped with! You know howit is, you take someone out with you, you camoflauge them, but you both fail to notice it'sworn off, or been broken, and before you know it, things have got messy.
Maybe I've been watching adventure films too much, where the jaded but fearsome hunter turns round, stares at a member of the party and says "move very VERY slowly" as he brings his rifle up to aim at the nasty that the other person didn't even know was there.
What do you think?
Nemo0
Sun Nov 14, 2004 12:53 am
#2
That would be quite cool. I don't think it would be all that easy to implement (can you imagine all the cross-checking they would need to do if you had a group of 20 rangers?) but it would be nice to have. And it could be quite useful, especially post Combat Upgrade.
Rhyeal
Sun Nov 14, 2004 5:41 pm
#3
Ranger 1: There he is!
Ranger 2: NO! THERE he is!
Ranger 3: No, he is clearly there.
Ranger 4: What? I dont see anything...
Ranger 5: Shoot! Now! I see him!
Ranger 6: No, point your rifle that way!
Ranger 7: I'm melee, I'll get wasted!
Ranger 8: I'm melee too...should I be scared?
Yeah, that would be slightly crazy with tons of Rangers, but it would be cool 
Landorien
Sun Nov 14, 2004 7:09 pm
#4
Holy crap.. a new _and_original idea.. which is good. What are the odds??
DaveG
Sun Nov 14, 2004 8:04 pm
#5
Wow, thanks for the compliments to my idea!
'Been thinking about the constructive criticisms. I've got three possible solutions:
- Only activate this sense when you (a ranger) are the group leader.
(This conflicts with squad leaders though, unless the sense alertsare 'routed' to the squad leader, if the SL is the group leader). - Exclude other rangers in the group from the alerts you would get.
(This implies that other rangers in the group can look after themselves, but all the rangers present would know which non-ranger is being stalked). - Make the sense more general, so you just know that someone in the group is being stalked.
(You'd get a message like "Your group is being stalked by an XYZ").
What do you think?
Message Edited by DaveG on 11-15-2004 03:08 AM
Rhyeal
Sun Nov 14, 2004 8:08 pm
#6
ok, on the way to the dath village, i noticed alot of things stalking me. now, i personally wouldn't want a ton of "Your group is being stalked by XYZ" "You are being stalked by XYZ", so make it if another of the group is stalked, you get the message, but if it is you, then you just get the you message, and not the group one. also, make this skill activate at tracking 4. that way novices arent dabbling to get this skill.
DaveG
Sun Nov 14, 2004 8:14 pm
#7
Yeah I agree, in the implemenatation of this there will have to be some smart selection done of who gets what information, to avoid indescriminate cross checking like Nemo0 mentioned.
As for when it's activated, I'd even go so far to say as make it a master skill only, make those skill points pay off a little more, but that's all I'll say, I don't want to get in a debate about that, just yet anyway.
icarus-uk
Mon Nov 15, 2004 3:57 am
#9
I really like the premis of the idea. But I see it as more of an player activated special.You still get that inate sense for animals stalking you, but you need to concentrate harder to know whats going on with your group, so it requires it to be "activated" at the cost of a little HAM and then the 10 - 20 minute timer starts (much like mask scent). This way you can choose to have the stalking XYZ messages (you just dont turn the skill on). Although my way it would have to be very usefull for rangers to bother turning it on in the first place.
DaveG
Fri Nov 19, 2004 6:37 pm
#10
Okay I thought about this some more, and have another solution.
So far, with existing stalking sense, and the systems that have been purposed the following issues came out:
- Too much "stalking spam" on your screen, particularly in a large group.
- Too much server overhead on all the cross checking may be required.
So, what is you (a ranger) manually targets and checks the person withyou to check for a stalker? Then you get a message on your screen saying whether or not that person is being stalked.
What do you think to this?
Personally, I'd place this on the master ranger level. Reason: The inate self-stalking sense comes with novice, and it isn't increased with further experience (as opposed to creature knowledge for example which grows as you advance). Therefore, for the sake of symmetry and to make the full set of skill points more worth while, the master ranger box seems the most logical place to put it.
Nemo0
Fri Nov 19, 2004 10:39 pm
#11
Limiting it like that would make it a lot less useful. Usually the stalking sense alerts you that something is wrong when you are not paying that much attention (i.e. your camo/maskscentwears offwithout you realizing it). For another player, it's probably easier to just check for camo and reapply if necessary than to check for stalking. If they did add it as a targetted check, what would you use it for? I personally can't think of that much of a use but I might be missing something.
DaveG
Sat Nov 20, 2004 1:14 pm
#12
That's fine, just wanted to keep this going, and the idea I had did get around those issues I outlined. However it was the "easy way out", probably better to find some smart checking algorithym that doesn't do too much cross checking of group members.
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