Ranger Archive

do what i did, stop playing until they fix it. If they do not fix it by the time my subscription runs out next month, I do not give them any more money. There are better games out there. Games that are not horribly broken and frustrating. This is perhaps the most half a$$ excuse for a game that I have ever had the misfortune of playing. The list of problems is nearly endless. If the game were free, because it isa beta test, I would not complain.

Every month that I pay the subscription fee for this game, is like setting fire to 15$.

What Gwee-Godo said... Either move on to a different profession, or a different game altogether.

No need to waste your money and time doing something that gives you no pleasure.

I agree on the terminals. For some reason, to get good missions in this game the terminals look at your combat ability. Okay, I realize you have to KILL the targets of the missions. But...Explorer terminals are for EXPLORERS, so wouldn't it make sense to give you missions based on RANGER level? Another problem I have with terminals is the lack of variety. You can hit refresh all day long, but all the missions usually involve 2 or 3 creatures that have been pre-picked(it seems)for that day. So if you refresh it 100 times, get a total list of about 600 missions, it's the same 3 missions repeated over and over. I think they should have some variety(as in complete randomness) and let you choose between hunting Gnorts or Humbabas no matter what your skill level.

As far as the worst game, Everquest will always take the #1 spot in my book of worst games ever. (oh wait that was SOE too, imagine that)

But you're right about the money pit. There is an estimated 300k players(last I checked) playing SWG at 15.00 a month. After one month they have enough to hire 60 GOOD developers for a year. That gives them 11 more months in a year to make profits and other costs. So, where the heck is our money going? Aside from the Ranger profession which I have no real issues with, a lot of this game needs serious fixing. You'd think that by paying for a game you would get an overall no-excuses game. But like EQ, SOE seems to always have excuses here too.

My next venture is definately going to be Final Fantasy 11. (just waiting on the money to go buy it) Square has yet to put out a bad game in my eyes, so I have faith this is going to be just as good. But in the future, definately checking out Dragon Empires. (www.dragonempires.com if you haven't heard of it) They're in stage 2 I think of the beta, and while it's probably about a year off, their developers have promised not to make these same mistakes and so far it looks good. I can't wait to play Beta(I'm in stage 3 or 4 can't remember)

Not to flame or anything, but a Ranger who has spent time really exploring the planets and noticing the differences between dominant fauna in each area will make a far more effective hunter than someone who worked their way up the profession while they watched that xp monitor the whole time. Areatack can be a boon, rather than a frustration.

Try checking the coastlines North of Theed if you're hunting Bol Bolles. If you're looking for insect meat on Tatooine, head out to Mos Taike and track the area between that town and the Krayt graveyard for giant sand beetle lairs. If you want to find Sludge Panther babies, head to Talus and take a walkabout to the east, around the foot of the mountains at the far edge of the map there.

Rangers are explorers and outdoorsman. Your skills will help you survive while you explore, but you have to know where to look. At that point, areatrack will help you quickly find your chosen prey. Granted, areatrack is probably the only Ranger-specific skill that is of any use, but in your particular situation, lack of utility in your skillset isn't the problem.

I guess I'm more of a "glass half full" sort of person. I can sympathize with the frustrations you experienced on your first hunt. It's these sort of issues that spawned the great suggestions in the recent "Outdoorsman" thread. That said...

You mentioned that you were on Dant, hunting and feeling rather pleased with your efforts. Then, when you talked to someone else, you were suddenly discouraged. Why should that completely jade you to what you are doing? Why is your satisfaction tied to somebody else's success?

Should there be better mission terminal choices? Sure. Do I use them to determine my hunts? Almost never. Finding the same problems you noted, I tossed in the towel on the mission terms long ago. The way they de-tuned the rewards and such just seemed to reinforce my belief that they are only there for very limited reasons. So what do I do instead? Like the poster before me, I started to learn where the general areas are that spawn particular creatures. I find that the non-mission lairs kick out many more creatures over the life of the lair, so if my goal is harvesting, that's the ticket anyways.

I also survey the resources in an area. Figure out what decent stuff drops so I can hunt for more than one type of item. It creates more targets of opportunity. The best that I've found is when you find a couple of lairs in the same area. By carefully switching between lairs, you can milk a remarkable amount of stuff before you eventually destroy the lair. If you find a particularly easy one, you can even force the spawn to kick out multiples so they start healing the lair. It's like finding a new one all over again.

Also, since I've only got limited combat ability, and I don't spend copious amounts of time trying to get great armor or weapons, I have to be a bit more selective in how I gather. Bringing down a torton for 50 hides might sound nice. However, if I can find some other less difficult critters, I can plow through those for the same 50 hides with less down time. I pay more attention to resources per time spent than the number off one particular creature type. If you have the skills to zap the bigger stuff like I go through the smaller stuff, then great. I know that there are plenty of folks that do. However, since that's what I can't do, I don't sweat it. Finding the mode for doing stuff the best that I can with what I have is what I enjoy. Not keeping up with the "Jones'."

I guess my point is that you know what parts of the "system" don't work for you. Concentrate on identifying the strategy, technique, game mechanic that you can work with whatever skills you have. 'Cause if you don't, it won't make a lick of difference what profession you choose becauseyou will always be faced with that same problem. Besides, if you find some technique that you can push, the next time you have that conversation with your friend, she'll be wondering why she can't do the same things as you are!