Suggestion Limit Rangers' Track

[Roadkill909]

My major issue with Track is that Rangers are basically omnipotent. They can sit safely from home barking out coordinates every two minutes. Meanwhile the poor target, kilometers away, has no warning that they have been targeted by a bloodthirsty high-level party led by an all-knowing being.

I also think combat classes should be for combat, and professions should be for making money. That and few combat specs have profitable skills. Track in its current state, I'm sure is a fairly profitable skill. However this is only a secondary argument and not the focus of this discussion.

I'm sure many people have enjoyed their short semi-carefree ranger-free time on the server and aren't looking forward to being hunted down. So here are my solutions, that let rangers keep their skill but balance its functionality:

Compass Option: Track would grab the coordinates like normal, but instead of giving them to the ranger, the ranger's compass would point to where the player was when the skill was called. This limits the money making part of track, and means the ranger has to get in harm's way and accompany their client.
Edit: Typing the command "/skill track" with no arguments would reset the compass. Also to buff this it could also give the ranger a very rough distance like (500m, 1km, 2km, etc)

Spook Target Option: Track has a small random chance of telling the target that they are being tracked. The ranger wouldn't be told they "spooked" the target, and this gives the target time to flee or prepare an ambush.

Limited-Range Option: Track would only work if the ranger was within a certain range of the target (say 500m). Track could not work if the target is in another world/dimension. This means the ranger can't be the GPS satellite they currently are and find you from space.

Also keep in mind these options can also be combined. Discuss and vote away. Also if any of these were implemented, I think it would be fair to lower the cooldown

 

[leftovers5]

Track is a central part to the ranger's arsenal. It gives them utility for ambushes, attacks, counterattacks, defenses, etc etc that only augments the class. Currently, track is fine and not overpowered in any way. People usually will know if they've done something to warrant a good tracking anyways, not to mention this is a survival server and encounters facilitated by tracks are just part of the game.

 

[Roadkill909]

Track is a central part to the ranger's arsenal. It gives them utility for ambushes, attacks, counterattacks, defenses, etc etc that only augments the class. Currently, track is fine and not overpowered in any way. People usually will know if they've done something to warrant a good tracking anyways, not to mention this is a survival server and encounters facilitated by tracks are just part of the game.

I agree with some of your points, which is why I didn't suggest completely removing the skill and why I personally like the compass option. The point of this suggestion is so that rangers can't sit safely in their town/spawn and sell coordinates.

 

[Kainzo]

Rangers have a "randomness" added to their track so its not 100% pinpointing. It's a rough area.
I'm increasing this rough area slightly.

Track:
  use-text: '%hero% begins tracking their prey. [%skill%]!'
  randomness: 50
  mana_reduce: 0.1

 

[lhatchy1]

I like how @Roadkill909 has done this. He has not gone 'TRACK OP!', but rather, he has acted civile. And I agree with him, I feel the compass idea, combined with the spook, or just the spook would work well. He is so right, and this is waht aminly contributed to newb deaths on the old map.

Killer:
1. Find Ranger
2. Pay for Track
3. /hero who caster
4. lhatchy1
5. Tracks lhatchy1
6. Loses all mining stuff, rages server forever.

 

[Fjordsen]

It's kind of a nuisance. Imagine a guy hiring a Tracker (Ranger) to track down a foe. The Ranger can sit in his own house, look at his own floor and say "Your target is a gazilllion miles away in The Nether", and it would be completly accurate. It doesn't make sense, how can a Tracker find tracks from his own house? I support the compass idea.

 

[MultiHeartGold]

The compass idea seems somewhat good, but there is one but. When you track a target, it shows the target's current coordinates. Lets say, the target is running in wilderness. The hunter, be it ranger or someone else, goes to the coordinates shown on the track, but the target most likely has moved. The target usually knows the surroundings better than the hunter, so it can set up an ambush. Yesterday, when I bought a track from the ranger, I ended up in a town of people, who gangbanged me nearly to death. I ran away, but when I got away, the found me, because they most likely knew the area.

 

[j2gay]

I like the compass option combined with spook. I think it would add alot of realism.

 

[Dsawemd]

Spook should not say who is tracking you, if implemented. Much spookier to hear "Someone is looking for you..."

I like track as is, its one of the most unique skills in the game.

 

[leftovers5]

Spook should not say who is tracking you, if implemented. Much spookier to hear "Someone is looking for you..."

I like track as is, its one of the most unique skills in the game.

I actually really like that Dsawemd. Wouldn't mind this being implemented if this was the case. I like being anonymous.