Ranger Archive

To follow Holo's lead, I though I would do a detailed analysis of the Ranger correspondent feedback. After Holo's response to Minera's post I felt a little disapointed with the dev team, fortunately this post has redeemed them beyond words. They are listening it seems, but please don't let the discussion stop here. To follow is a very detailed analysis by a Ranger in training (. Much like Holo's response to Minera's post, which forced us to look at the problems facing the development team from their prospective, my analisys hopes to shine a light on the feedback from a Rangers prospective. Some of the ideas and questions are not mine, and have been posted on before. I am hoping to put it all in one easy to answer format. So here goes....

Holocron wrote:

Here's the dev reply on this one. I want to emphasize that some of these changes are large enough that they will take a while.

1. We aren't unique.

"Rangers have very little that differentiates them from scouts. Once Master Scout is reached, Ranger is essentially more of the exact same thing."

In my mind this issue is of critical importance and largely trumps the rest of the Correspondent list. The other 4 issues are mainly issues with inhereted scout ability bugs.

The focus of this post will be on how we are making Ranger different from scout. Ideologically, the ranger is still a "super scout." The key is implementing new and unique ways to go about that kind of gameplay.

Each skill tree is being adjusted to be more interesting and unique.

Well there is no argument here! Scout skills are one thing and Ranger skills should be another. While the "gameplay" does not change, the skills and tools used to accomplish our goals should be different. The fact that 4 of the ranger issues were really scout ability issues really emphasizes this point.

Wayfaring

Scent mask is now the realm of scouts. Rangers will now get a similar ability called /conceal. A Ranger's conceal ability works very much like scentmask, except for three differences. First, it is a lot more potent: it lasts longer (up to 25 minutes for a Master Ranger) and it rarely breaks. Second, it can be applied to other players. You can now conceal your friends to give them a chance to sneak past enemies as well. The success of the conceal depends on the skill of the Ranger who applied it. Third, it requires a component to apply: a camouflage kit. Camouflage kits are crafted by the Ranger and are planet specific. For example, a Desert Camouflage Kit will allow a Ranger to conceal themselves on Tatooine. Each camouflage kit is assembled from resources gathered on the planet it affects. Camo kits for advanced planets like Endor may be fairly difficult to assemble.

The Ranger will earn experience for successful sneak checks by players he conceals.

It is also possible that the rescue command will be beefed up and moved to the Wayfaring tree (it doesn't really fit in trapping). Bugs with rescue are being fixed as well.

OK, many questions pop up with these changes.

1. First question deals with /conceal. Is this a group command or something that must be applied individually to everyone in a group? The reason I ask is simple. If I have a group of 20 going to Endor will I need a camouflage kit for each party member or will one kit cover the entire party?

2. Will this skill set use scouting XP or a new form of XP? Again the reasoning behind this question is simple. First, if each member of my party gives a ranger XP for a successful sneak check and I have a 20 person party it could add up real fast. Second, why would killing creatures have any effect to my camo abillity? I should be rewarded new skills in the Wayfairing line by being a successful sneak not cause I kill lots of creatures.

3. Does Engineering ability have any effect to the new crafting system? If a ranger has no artisan skills will this hurt his ability to craft these new camo kits?

4. Please answer how /conceal will effect PvP. Will my party be hidden from radar, visually camo'd on-screen, will my enemys be unable to use tab to target me? These are very important issues that could determine a Rangers role in the GCW. PvP issues aside, until they are addressed, I am very impressed with these changes. It would be great to find out exactly what the devs had in mind with /rescue. Overall with the addition of more craftable items, more resource gathering, and true stealth gameplay Wayfairing feels complete. Only one issue remains, how about a cooler name? Wayfairer, lol!

Frontiering

The most important change to Frontiering will be the introduction of special camps. These camps will not operate like a normal rest camp. The Ranger's "Hunting Blind" will give him special bonuses to attracting and hunting creatures as long as he stays within it. Other special camps with unique functionality are being designed.

Bugs with camps repelling creatures will be fixed...see the scout correspondent response post for information on camp xp related changes and fixes.

1. This has been suggested 1000 times on the ranger board and will really give the Ranger a big advantage over scout.

2. Other special camps? Oooh ,exciting! some of the best suggestions so far have been a Mobile Shuttle station where players can get back to the action faster after a DB, a Mobile Cantina where people can heal BF in the wild, and a Mobile Cloning Station where a player could set a temporary cloning point for a cost and some wounds to get back to a group faster.

3. On to issues with our current camps. Should a HT field base be disbanded by combat? Could it be a permanent structure, in other words, it could only be disbanded by the Ranger or if the Ranger goes off-world?

4. Last but not least, is it possible for a Master Ranger to set up more than one camp at a time? Example, a Master Ranger takes a group out to Endor or Lok and sets up a Field Base as a central point to operations as well as a Hunting Blind, allowing group members to go back and get some healing from the group doctor. Meanwhile the groups Combat Medic is tending to the fighters in the Hunting Blind. To take this even further, other rangers could set up Mobile cantinas and cloning stations to give a large group all the comforts of home in the wild.

Field Bioscience --> Tracking

The Field Bioscience skill tree will be renamed Tracking. All of the current functionality will remain with two major additions.

/scanarea - At Novice Ranger, the Ranger will recieve the /scanarea command. Players familiar with EQ's tracking system will understand how this works. You can search the area for animals, people, or players. As you climb the tracking tree, more options and information (like direction and distance) will appear. This should make rangers effective at completing hunting missions or tracking down a specific target.

/track - Higher up the Tracking tree, the Ranger will earn the /track command. The /track command will let the Ranger specify a specific creature he wants to find. Hunting for a Veermok? If you are in a region where Veermok live, you can /track for one. Tracking a creature will lead the player on a small mission to find a creature in the area (or in the case of a critical success or failure...an unexpected surprise). Whereas scanarea checks for already existing mobs in the area, /track can be used even if a Veermok lair (or whatever creature you want to find) isn't nearby.

1. Great addition! Or should I say, "wow they finally added the tracking that was promised in the manual!" but I digress, this is all a good thing. hehe.

2. Scan Area seems like some interesting stuff. Many questions come up though. Can we find anything? Player characters? Enemy Faction members? Humanoid NPCs? Lots of interesting things come in to play with PvP if this can allow us to track enemy faction members in a much wider range than the radar. Could a Master Ranger track down a group of PvP players getting ready for an assault and warn the town or base? Now that would be cool, but only if its use could not be used to exploit or grief.

3. Tracking, what can I say, THANK YOU! I can't wait to see how this is implemented. Seems like something with ideas from the BH missions and destroy missions would work for tracking. Example, I type /track Bantha, a waypoint is generated. I head to the waypoint, and a message says you see signs of a large bantha heard but it seems they have headed north from here, new waypoint is generated to the north, closer this time of course. it might take 4 waypoints to track down a mob for a novice ranger with tracking 1 but a master would find it on the first or second waypoint.

4. (or in the case of a critical success or failure...an unexpected surprise) I Love it! Expecting to find a durni at the next waypoint, nope its a pack of agro'd reds, now that would provide some entertaining gameplay. Critical success intrigues me even more, what will we find? I can't wait to find out!

Advanced Trapping

Rangers are getting a whole new trapping system. Instead of throwing their traps at a target like Scouts, Rangers will deploy their traps on the ground. Each trap will have a different kind of effect. Here are some examples:

Heavy Claw Trap - In order to use this trap, you'll need to draw a creature across it. When the creature draws near enough, the heavy claw trap snaps shut, rooting the creature. The stronger the creature, the more likely it will eventually work itself free.

Lure - A lure can be filled with meat or greens to attract nearby creatures. A creature who detects a lure might break off from its packmates to inspect it.

Tripwire - The tripwire trap can be laid against NPCs as well as creatures. A target who runs across the tripwire will be knocked on his back for a short time. These unique traps should increase the Ranger's effectiveness soloing and in groups.

1. This is what I see a ranger doing! Lures and bear traps oh my! Grouping with a Ranger just keeps getting better and better. Since these are just some examples, how many new traps are we talking here? 6? 8? Any chance we could set up harvesting traps? Leave one in an area with lots of the type of animal we're looking for and come back and collect the hides/meat/bones. Seems this would work great with our /scanarea skill.

2. How many times have you wished you had a lure command? I'd love to take out some mobs that BAF but the fact is I just stay away from them, don't take the missions, etc.. I love the idea about using meat or flora to attract a certain kind of animal, carnivores/herbivores.

3. Rooting and Knockdown are a perfect addition to the Rangers skills lets not forget NPC traps! the question still remains, will any of our traps work on Creature pets and faction pets? Can we root a AT-ST or Rancor? Can we knockdown a huge rush of rebel troops? once again the Ranger is soo close to being a PvP force but alas no answers.

When Do We Get It

I hope to have the implementation of these new features wrapped up soon, but since the Ranger is getting a lot of new functionality to make up for a weak initial skill set, it may take a bit longer to get these features to you. The new traps and wayfaring changes are very close to being ready to go, with the tracking and camps to follow some time after.

Most of the other concerns in the Ranger correspondent report are covered in the Scout response, so go check that out. The key thing for Rangers is the new functionality that should make them a more unique and interesting profession.

In closing I must commend the devs again. We aksed and you gave us what we wanted. There will always be some idea someone had that didn't get included this time, but the fact that so many of our ideas are in this report make me very happy! I'm still amazed you actually said "make up for a weak initial skill set" but even this shows me that you are willing to admit mistakes and that as we all know is a good thing. The fact that the new Traps and Camo changes are close gives me renewed vigor as I work up the Ranger skills. I wonder which of the four I'll be maxing first! lol.

Tracking and camps will take a long time, I think we all understand this. New art assets and a new game system should take a while, its a given. One request though, keep us up on whats going on. Ask us what we would like to see, it seems to have worked so far. One last question, and an important one; If XP requirements change, and if these new skills have a new type of XP, say Tracking XP, or Camo XP, what happens to those with 1, 2, 3 or 4 skill boxes filled, or a even say a master ranger, will we continue to have the same level of boxes filled and retro all new skills or will we have to work our way back up? At the rate I am going chances are I will be a Master before any of these changes make it in the game and I was wondering if it was worth it to continue or should I just work on other skills?

Congrats for reading this all the way through. I know it was a lot, but hey this has really got my mind spinning. There are more questions I'm sure. I just hope I have represented the Ranger community well.

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