Whats with the World of Warcraft Crowd?

[erog84]

I agree with a lot of the comments made already. I played a ranger in classic, starting a few months after the game came out all the way to lvl 80. Sadly by the time I got to lvl 20 I had to box a cleric to duo or use the cleric as leverage to get in a group(if a group needed a healer, I would heal outside group while ranger grouped just to get some xp). Anyday of the week a good player > a crappy player, regardless of xp penalties. But what if gear/skill is the same? That is how I look at it for those that I don't know yet. Also while I am by NO MEANS worried about racing to lvl 60 (i love starting new characters and lvling up with people), I do like to see my xp move, and when you group for an hour to get 5% xp, it can suck(at level 30).

This is how I look at things:
- Sk/Pal doesn't cross my mind unless we already have a tank. If so, I personally try to find dps classes that don't have such high penalties.
- Bards, unless we already have an enchanter, I won't ever hesitate to invite a bard.
- Rangers, sadly while I love rangers, I just don't see the point of inviting one to my group unless they are well geared when there is always plenty of other dps around. Rangers are rare as is, I can't even remember the last time I grouped with a ranger.

[fuark]

I played a ranger to 40 here a while back. Never once had an issue getting a group, and in fact had multiple people that would always invite me to group the moment I logged on. These same people leveled on in KC, seb, etc and I know had I kept playing that char I would have had groups there as well.

All it comes down to is whether you show the people you group with that you play your class well.

Specifically for rangers, pull well, leave no downtime, do damage, and people will invite you.

Of course I don't like the locked time investment of grouping for exp to begin with, so stopped playing melee period.

[Grozmok]

Someone help me out here, what's a rangers job in the EQ group dynamic?

DPS?
Damage mitigation?

To this day I'm still not sure. I just thought they were added to the game because of Aragon in LoTR...

[Ssleeve]

Originally Posted by Grozmok [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Someone help me out here, what's a rangers job in the EQ group dynamic?

DPS?
Damage mitigation?

To this day I'm still not sure. I just thought they were added to the game because of Aragon in LoTR...

DPS, pulling, and some Utility.

[sbvera13]

Originally Posted by erog84 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

- Rangers, sadly while I love rangers, I just don't see the point of inviting one to my group unless they are well geared when there is always plenty of other dps around. Rangers are rare as is, I can't even remember the last time I grouped with a ranger.

Rangers are a DPS/Control combo. They do this with root and snare, and incredible aggro control. I can pull of an enchanter who's charm just broke without half trying, and either drag the mob away from group and root park, or hold him long enough to regain CC. I can peel off healers and nukers the same way. I can grab aggro and offtank at will to split incoming damage and reduce pressure on the MT, and release it just as quickly by rooting and stepping away just long enough for MT to regain aggro (or using Jolt come Velious and lvl 55). While a ranger is no tank, it CAN take significant hits, so it can do all this without risking an instant facesplatter like an enchanter would if CC fails. I can even MT in the right group, not by virtue of damage mitigation, but by controlling the mobs enough that I never have more then 1 hitting on me at a time. I can even aggro tank while taking no melee damage at all, by snaring the mob, running in small circles, and using spells to hold aggro extremely well (this assumes an open, cleared area is available). And when all this is done or in places it's not needed, I'm back in melee delivering pain again. No other melee class has this flexibility. I think that's more then worth a little lower DPS compared to a rogue.

Nobody bothers to notice that they have this ability, though.

[ShadowWulf]

Originally Posted by sbvera13 [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Rangers are a DPS/Control combo. They do this with root and snare, and incredible aggro control. I can pull of an enchanter who's charm just broke without half trying, and either drag the mob away from group and root park, or hold him long enough to regain CC. I can peel off healers and nukers the same way. I can grab aggro and offtank at will to split incoming damage and reduce pressure on the MT, and release it just as quickly by rooting and stepping away just long enough for MT to regain aggro (or using Jolt come Velious and lvl 55). While a ranger is no tank, it CAN take significant hits, so it can do all this without risking an instant facesplatter like an enchanter would if CC fails. I can even MT in the right group, not by virtue of damage mitigation, but by controlling the mobs enough that I never have more then 1 hitting on me at a time. I can even aggro tank while taking no melee damage at all, by snaring the mob, running in small circles, and using spells to hold aggro extremely well (this assumes an open, cleared area is available). And when all this is done or in places it's not needed, I'm back in melee delivering pain again. No other melee class has this flexibility. I think that's more then worth a little lower DPS compared to a rogue.

Nobody bothers to notice that they have this ability, though.

Except for the Melee tanking you just described a Druid, who can out heal out travel and out buff a ranger while usually doing comparable DPS unless the ranger has dumped a ridiculous amount of Plat on gear.

[Raelador]

I just don't remember Rangers being perceived as useless. I played on Xegony during Kunark/Velious and I remember several popular high lvl rangers who always had the best gear. I also don't remember ever denying a person because they were a hybrid or being denied because I was a hybrid.

If someone on this server denies you a group because you're a hybrid I would encourage you to post his/her name on the forums so we can bash them so hard for dissuading people from leveling on this great server.

[SirAlvarex]

Back in the day? As a ranger who only played into his 30's, the only negative thing I ever came across were the "Ranger Down..." jokes, and people trying to convince me I was a tank since I had taunt.

If anything we were considered aggro hogs due to the "Ranger Down..." jokes. I constantly found that I would peal aggro, even not being uberly geared. Of course this was back in 2001ish, where Twinks were few and far between.

I hate the XP penalty. I agree with those who say that knowing about the XP penalty breaks classicness. If anything, if they wanted to mimic classic they would randomize the XP penalty across all classes, and then tell people they removed it. It wouldn't mimic classic in that the XP penalties are different, but it would mimic everything else about XP penalties.

Or you know...juts remove them.

[sbvera13]

Originally Posted by ShadowWulf [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

Except for the Melee tanking you just described a Druid, who can out heal out travel and out buff a ranger while usually doing comparable DPS unless the ranger has dumped a ridiculous amount of Plat on gear.

Perhaps, but the tanking is important if your'e gonna be drawing aggro to drag mobs around and position them for the group, and it frees up the druid to be doing more important things. Also, ranger DPS doesn't go oom. They are useful, though not as powerful as specialist are when operating within their specialization, but if you have a min/maxing mindset then why bother bringing anything other then warrior/cleric/wizard with you?

[Pomaikai]

Originally Posted by Ssleeve [You must be logged in to view images. Log in or Register.]

If you think Steaks represents the average R99 player, you are dumb.

Steaks is the poster child of R99...