Rangers? Rangers! Rangers.
 

Against my better judgement I'll start this here, and hope some decent discussion happens before it gets banished to the R&F dungeon by assclowns who's only input is 'Good for the DT'. Save yourself the key strokes if you're that guy.

So, I've always been curious about Rangers. They seemed like a great class on paper, and I have zero heartburn with one in my groups. The seem to do pretty much everything well enough to get the job done. They track and pull, they DPS well, they snare/root park, they offtank, they spot heal... they give me foraged food and water...
So I rolled one and he's been a blast to play. But now he's in his mid 20's and I'm running into the stereotypical Ranger-hate. I've recently soloed alot because my /ooc LFG's go unanswered. Even in outdoor zones where tracking, harmony and pulling is key.

I chatted up a few rangers, all in their 50's, and almost every one of them painted a dreary picture of 'get good weapons and learn to use a bow, because all you'll do is solo light blues and get made fun of".... yet they themselves were 52, 53, even 57... If it's so bad, why play?

So my TL;DR question is: Where's the disconnect? Why is public perception so much different than what I've personally experienced on both sides of the coin?

I typically played a Cleric back in live but also had a ranger that never made it past 20. I rolled a Ranger as my first class here on P99 so I'm really interested to see where this thread goes. I was hoping to be able to have fun with this class as I really enjoy it from my limited experience with it. I could always go to a Paladin or Cleric if Rangers get no love in groups later on.

I like rangers. Had a ranger main on live years ago and multiple ranger twinks throughout my earlier days playing.

I dunno how they're setup with archery on p99 but they get a bad rap here. I think I'll eventually roll one but playing a ranger before AAs went in with endless quiver was always a pain in the ass.

I really wanted to get involved with a guild and do high end stuff that I never got to when I was a teenager. Am I gonna have to re roll a different class? I'd rather do it sooner than later.

Rangers dps about the same as warriors, if you want dps you will always pick a rogue or monk over them for sure, and most likely would also take a necro/mage/wizard/warrior since they will all do comparable dps without bringing the nasty shared hybrid xp penalty.

If you need a tank, you will always take a paladin, warrior, or sk over a ranger. For that matter I would take a bard first also since they tank about the same and their utility is greater in other aspects than a ranger.

I have grouped with rangers who are outstanding at snaring and root parking for ghetto CC, but of course if you have an ench or bard they can do CC in a much better way that also deals with casters, and in some camps this strategy is very limited because of the tight quarters.

Tracking is nice to have but matters little when camps are well established. I will take a ranger or bard pulling for me in a crowded KC where everyone fights over every pull, but most places tracking is simply not needed in a group.

Basically being the jack of all trades is not something that is useful in a group, b/c any roll you might fill is done better by someone else. People also are biased against them because they bring an exp penalty and will often prefer to fight with 5 until someone else is lfg.

Lots of poopsockers on this server that can't handle being any less than the best. Monks and Sk's all around!

I'll happily take a ranger in my group any day of the week.

This nailed it.

I pretty much solo'd or duo'd my way from 36-50 in kedge at a reasonable rate of xp as a ranger and I loved the classic experience on p99.

As one of the best equiped rangers on the server along with a good reputation and a guild with many members it did not help my cause.
The first week of kunark I spent 10-12 hours a day looking for a group without much success or finding a group and getting xp at a 40% difference than others. Netting 1 level in about 40 hours.
Considering the highest level ranger on the server is still only around level 57... you can see why it sucks to play the class. I'd say it would be a lot better after ridding of the hybrid penalties, but you won't find that on P99.

As for the class, its incredibly fun to play when you are in situation that doesn't require just hitting the auto attack button. If you have the spare time to sit around LFG, solo, or xp incredibly slow; go for it.

Blah... looks like i'm rolling a Pallly tonight. LOL :)

I would bet the 8 or 9 rangers that are actively still playing past level 51 are doing so because of a combination of 2 reasons: they played the class in Live and enjoyed it immensely (it got better after AAs were introduced), or because they already have a ton of playtime invested in their ranger.

It's a fun and versatile class if played well, but the server is full of min-maxers that want the best class for a particular role in their groups, as was said above.

However, if you get to raid, not a whole lot of competition on drops. Probably the only advantage right now. If you absolutely want to try a ranger from scratch, I would wait until Velious when they remove the class penalties and give rangers Panic Animal.

Well thanks for the info guys. What I'm getting in the early stages of this thread is that rolling a ranger to play as an alt because I'm sick of sitting at ZL /OOC'ing LFG for 3 hours as a necro was not a remedy to my situation. LoL.

I'll keep him on the back burner I guess, see how it goes.