Sorry all, I don't work for SOE :)

[Jay]

<div>Hi all -</div><div>Most of you know I try to be supportive and encouraging, try to advocate for the class, etc. I enjoy doing those things. I'm not smarter than any of you, I don't have any more connections than you do, and I'm not even really THAT good a player. As much as I want to, I personally cannot do anything about LU20 or our current situation. I don't have the ear of Sony Devs. IMO, the best we can do is to continue to make our collective voice heard in a manner that's amenable to the SOE powers-that-be.</div><div> </div><div>I'm saying this here, now, b/c I'm getting a lot of PMs and in-game tells from people that want me to know exactly how much everything sucks. I know, from firsthand experience. Last night I shut off the WorldRanger channel b/c all the complaints were just bringing me down even lower. It's not wrong to complain, but there comes a point for me where I need to stop hearing that so I can try and focus on enjoying what there is to enjoy. But no sooner had I said my goodbyes in the channel than I get three different tells from rangers who want to share their experiences with me directly. I'm not angry at the people for doing so, they just want to appeal to someone for change. I'm just trying to make it clear that I can't do anything about our plight on my own. If we're going to get anything changed, we're going to accomplish that together, as a community.</div><div> </div><div>I'm as discouraged as most of you. I'm not giving up, but I'm not having much fun either. I'm just buckling down for a long, painful adjustment, and I'm doing my best to forget how things used to be. I'm focusing on trying to re-learn the basics, so I can regain whatever ground is possible with the current mechanics.</div>

[Vimy]

Hehe.  Poor Kaeros, the price of being a celebrity is a tough one, eh?  <span>:smileyvery-happy:</span>I'll try to remember to send you a tell:  "Dude, can u plz fix my class?"<div></div>

[meest]

So that means you don't care if i'm your biggest fan?!?!*Run's and cries in a corner*I HATE JAY!! <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> j/k<div></div>

[Bithnar]

<div></div><div></div><div>You . .  You . .  You mean there aren't little cheribim flying around Kaeros in game throwing rose petals at his feet? <lip quivering> :smileytongue:</div><div> </div><div>I can understand your frustration and dont blame you one bit for wanting some piece and quite.  Right now its "misery loves company."</div><div> </div><div>I think what we really want is to know that someone is listening to us and have them actually post some of what they are looking at.</div><p>Message Edited by Bithnar on <span class="date_text">02-23-2006</span><span class="time_text">12:06 PM</span></p>

[TaleraRis]

<div></div>I haven't shut the channel, but I've been ignoring it a bit myself. It's all complaints and conspiracy theories going back to how SoE has always hated rangers because of Brad, etc etc. Or I find the bar scrolled suddenly by unannounced posts of parses. I miss the conversations and fun we had in there. It's depressing to even look at that window now.

[Briz]

<div></div><div><span><blockquote><hr>Bithnar wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>You . .  You . .  You mean there aren't little cheribim flying around Kaeros in game throwing rose petals at his feet? :smileytongue:</div><hr></blockquote>No, he's got a high elf monk to do that for him. <span>:smileywink:</span><span></span></span></div>

[brandi7920]

<div></div><p>I know what ya mean Jay...I'm not thrilled about the changes..but I still love my ranger and I'm more interested in doing the best I can with what I've got than crying about what I lost. lol, That was the first night..now I'm over that. I'm still on the ranger forums..but I'm looking for constructive comments and game tips. I see whining and skip to the next post. I've said it before, the game is for having fun, and all of the bad posts are just gonna make me feel bad. I closed the ranger chat tab last night. I'll reopen later..after things calm down.</p><p>Inspite of all of these changes...I still had a ton of fun last night, exploring with my friends running the Egg group instance. I was having so much fun that I didn't even think about the ranger changes (..well until I planted a trap for a group mob..lol).</p><p> </p><p> </p>

[Jayad]

<div></div><p>I haven't played for a few days.  It has let me be a bit less frustrated at least.  I could log in (my account doesn't expire til end of month) but I think it would just annoy me.</p><p>People play the game for different reasons.  If it's still fun, then you should enjoy it and not worry about the changes too much.</p><p>Personally, I derive my satisfaction from grouping with people and doing my job well, whether it's healing, dps, tanking, etc.  It makes me feel like I'm making a difference.  To be so gimped as Rangers are now, I'd feel like I wasn't pulling my weight.  I'm also very frustrated to be LFG for long periods of time, because I feel I will make any group I join better, and I knew with these changes it would soon become very difficult to find good groups.  My guild is not big enough to provide xp groups all the time, so pickups are a way of life for me as for many.</p><p>If you are the type who will play the class no matter what, I salute you, because you have more fortitude than I do.  I have played several classes to 50+ and therefore don't feel a particular attachment to Rangers, other than I really enjoyed their playing style.  For such as me, it removed any real fun in it to be awful at our primary (only) job.  If we become good at it again, I might play again, who knows..</p><p>On a side note, it's surprising that so many people (mostly non-rangers) are reporting we still are near the top of DPS.  I had to think about it a little.  I have run parsers almost the entire time I play, because not only do I want to understand my own class better, but also understand others.  Running a parser for so long has given me a pretty good idea of how much classes can do.  One thing that was very clear is that, frankly, most people don't play their classes well.  If you aren't a raiding type, hardcore, or just interested in efficiency like myself, it usually is just not that important to the average player if they are running at 50% or 90% effectiveness.  It was very apparent to me over many parsers that, for example, the difference between an 'average' ranger and somebody who knew what they were doing was huge.  I played with many Rangers equipped as well as me who did half my DPS on most of the fights. </p><p>It comes to no surprise to me then that SOE thought their changes werent' as bad as they were.  A lot of Rangers just didn't know their class, just like most players in a class.  There is no other explanation for not knowing Rangers don't do 55-60% of their dps through procs/poisons.  It's something you know only if you research it, or take input from those who really have done the homework.  It makes me laugh at all the people who think Rangers just hit a few keys to do 800 dps, or for that matter that Wizards do.  OK the common theory is that Rangers could do 800 dps, but for the most part I would see 300, 400, occasionally 500 dps from other Rangers.  I'd play with Wizards who would do 400, but then play with another one who would be within 10% or 20% of what I was doing. </p><p>The point being, I don't think *in DOF* that things were so out of line.  A 20% adjustment would have been sufficient.  In KOS I'm sure that certain AAs would cause breakage.  I was drooling over the possibilities myself, even as I knew it would never happen. </p><p>Anyways, like most stuff, people's understanding of their characters is like a bell curve.  It's why I'm skeptical of the average reports on who did more dps.  That's not to say they're invalid, just that there is a wide range of capabilities.  What I don't understand is how SOE managed to be ignorant about some basic facts about our DPS and what their changes would do, especially considering the feedback Rangers provided in beta and in testing feedback. </p><p>I'll give you another example.  I have a mid-50s Warden.  Prior to LU13, we were awesome, because we had both effective specialty heals (over time) and big direct heals.  (Most of the other healer classes were broken)  After LU13 came out, I logged in and was very disturbed at the changes.  I was incapable of keeping any group member alive.  After research, analysis and testing, I found I could barely keep a group alive if i spammed my heals as fast as possible and we had no adds.  So you could say, there was a learning curve, but frankly we were broken as to our primary function.  SOE did not understand this, because they had not thought their changes through.  It should be obvious to any thinking person that if another healer can heal 1000 HP in one shot (or a ward), and a Warden heals 1000 HP over 10 seconds that although it's the same amount, the Warden heal is vastly inferior.  However, this escaped them.  It took several months to get 'fixed', where a Warden has a chance to keep people alive, but I still think in grouping situations Wardens (and Furies) tend to be inferior.  (They are very nice in raids, though)  But they can do their primary job now, I will give them that, and that is fine.  I don't need to be an uber-healer, just a good healer if I have put the time and platinum into it. </p><p>The point of all this is, I think SOE tries to do the right thing, but their understanding of their own game mechanics and playability is not very good *in some areas*.  I'm not sure how they test it out, or whom they talk to about changes, but it's broken right now.  They get some things right the first time - I've applauded many of the changes - but their misses are huge and their resolution time is much too long.</p><p> </p>

[Jayad]

<div></div><p>One addition I thought of..</p><p>I do think it was easier to get good at Ranger DPS than it is for say a wizard/warlock.  It takes "more" gear to get really good at caster DPS.  On the other hand, we have to buy poisons and arrows, so take your pick.  In my parses I did notice that on average, predators would utilize their potential DPS a lot more than casters would.  In a way, it's counter-intuitive, but for a mage to do a lot of DPS takes some dedication.  It's hard to find that last 20% of +int stuff, whereas you didn't need to get your STR/INT nearly as high as a predator, and the proc system made DPS more accessible than having to upgrade every DPS skill.</p><p>Of course, I'm talking in a group situation, not raid-buffed.  Sorry to be anecdotal, but I did parses for my own interest, not for collecting data to share.</p>

[Althkael]

Awesome post, Xney!  Thought-out, well-organized, and easily readible.  I applaud your command of english, sir, and I wish I could find people such as yourself in my pick-up groups!Oh, and I agree 100%, too.Jay, I feel for ya, even though the worst I've had to put up with is merely a coercer friend saying that it's about time, and that all is well and good!SOE may have bent our arrows, but it is clear that there are still some straight-shooters among us!<div></div>

[Jay]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Brizzy wrote:<div></div><div><span><blockquote><hr>Bithnar wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>You . .  You . .  You mean there aren't little cheribim flying around Kaeros in game throwing rose petals at his feet? :smileytongue:</div><hr></blockquote>No, he's got a high elf monk to do that for him. <span>:smileywink:</span><span></span></span></div><hr></blockquote><div>YOU!!!</div><div> </div><div>^^ That's my MT up there, guys. Say hi to one of my favorite guardians. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Being the victim of drive-by gimping himself, he was very sympathetic with our plight. I believe his exact words were  "Oh NO! Your DPS is SOOOO bad! I only killed that mob 5x faster than I would have solo!! /rolleyes"</div><div> </div><div>So you can see that his heart overflows with compassion for the ranger cause. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><div> </div><div>But hey, you've got it mixed around, I throw the roses at *her* feet. And then we get down and... nvm.</div>

[Bithnar]

<div></div>way TMI !!!!!! :smileysurprised:

[Vimy]

<span><blockquote><hr>Jay42 wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>Brizzy wrote:<div></div><div><span><blockquote><hr>Bithnar wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>You . .  You . .  You mean there aren't little cheribim flying around Kaeros in game throwing rose petals at his feet? :smileytongue:</div><hr></blockquote>No, he's got a high elf monk to do that for him. <span>:smileywink:</span><span></span></span></div><hr></blockquote><div>YOU!!!</div><div> </div><div>^^ That's my MT up there, guys. Say hi to one of my favorite guardians. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Being the victim of drive-by gimping himself, he was very sympathetic with our plight. I believe his exact words were  "Oh NO! Your DPS is SOOOO bad! I only killed that mob 5x faster than I would have solo!! /rolleyes"</div><div> </div><div>So you can see that his heart overflows with compassion for the ranger cause. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></div><div> </div><div>But hey, you've got it mixed around, I throw the roses at *her* feet. And then we get down and... nvm.</div><hr></blockquote>GAH!  My eyes!  The goggles, they do nothing!/e runs away looking for the brain bleach.<span>:smileytongue:</span></span><div></div>

[Briz]

<span><blockquote><hr>Jay42 wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>Brizzy wrote:<div></div><div><span><blockquote><hr>Bithnar wrote:<div></div><div></div><div>You . .  You . .  You mean there aren't little cheribim flying around Kaeros in game throwing rose petals at his feet? :smileytongue:</div><hr></blockquote>No, he's got a high elf monk to do that for him. <span>:smileywink:</span><span></span></span></div><hr></blockquote><div>YOU!!!</div><div> </div><div>^^ That's my MT up there, guys. Say hi to one of my favorite guardians. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> Being the victim of drive-by gimping himself, he was very sympathetic with our plight. I believe his exact words were  "Oh NO! Your DPS is SOOOO bad! I only killed that mob 5x faster than I would have solo!! /rolleyes"<font color="#ffff00">You forgot the "OMGWTFBBQ" that I added in for good measure. </font></div><div> </div><div>So you can see that his heart overflows with compassion for the ranger cause. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ffff00">Actually, I do feel bad for you guys. As a member of the official EQ Nerf poster child class, I am very aware of how much it sucks to be knocked off the high horse. I won't say that changes weren't warranted - they very clearly were, and you (among other people here) have said as much. Those of you who complain that things were fine can, well, shove it; but the rest of you can rest safe in the knowledge that SOE always fixes problems inflicted on classes when they make a mechanics change that harms them too much.</font><font color="#ffff00"></font><font color="#ffff00"></font><font color="#ffff00">*Desperately tries to keep a straight face*Actually, I wish you the best of luck, and I really do hope that you get balance back to where you should be (but not where you were...soloing [Removed for Content] heroic named...got no sympathy for you over <i>that </i>loss) <span>:smileywink:</span></font></font></div><div> </div><div>But hey, you've got it mixed around, I throw the roses at *her* feet. And then we get down and... nvm.<font color="#ffff00"><i>That</i> explains why I found all those rose petals stuck to the walls. Um, eew.</font></div><hr></blockquote></span><div></div>

[Jay]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Brizzy wrote:<span><div><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ffff00">Actually, I do feel bad for you guys. As a member of the official EQ Nerf poster child class, I am very aware of how much it sucks to be knocked off the high horse. I won't say that changes weren't warranted - they very clearly were, and you (among other people here) have said as much. Those of you who complain that things were fine can, well, shove it</font></font></div><font color="#ff0000"><font color="#ffff00"></font></font></span></blockquote><blockquote><span><font color="#ffff00"></font><div>HEY!!! Nobody tells rangers to shove it but ME!!  <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />  We don't need no stinkin' GUARDIANS comin up in here and messin with our boards! <pushes futilely against plated back> You go now! You been heah fow houah!<font color="#ffff00"><i>That</i> explains why I found all those rose petals stuck to the walls. Um, eew.</font></div><font color="#ffff00"></font></span></blockquote><blockquote><span><div>Eh, no worse than the souvenir I left you under the sheets.</div></span><div></div><hr></blockquote>

[Bithnar]

<div></div><looks around for a bucket> I think I am gonna be ill and I just ate lunch

[Gumbercules]

I think it is funny that you had to post that you dont work for SOE on the boards that is greati know you have you done a lot for the Ranjors in the past and hopefully we will be able to get through this all againstay safe have fun

[Cron]

Hey Briz!!!!!! /waveKae - Sorry for all the tells. LOL. IF any of this was directed at me (can never tell with you), understand that I don't think you can wave a magic wand. I just wanted to get together to compare notes because you seemed interested ,in the forum, to do so. You and Tek are really the only Rangers I "know" on the server. Let me know if I can help you with anything.

[Blackin_DeMast]

<div></div>It is heartening to finlly see some fun posts coming back tot he ranger boards.  Hope we can contineu to laught it up guys.(Specially at Jay)

[Jay]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Blackin_DeMaster wrote:<div></div>It is heartening to finlly see some fun posts coming back tot he ranger boards.  Hope we can contineu to laught it up guys. (Specially at Jay)<hr></blockquote><p>Hey, I can't do math, I don't use parsers, I have no idea how this game really works, and I often nock my arrows backwards so they poke me and it hurts!! I gotta contribute somehow <img src="/smilies/283a16da79f3aa23fe1025c96295f04f.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p>