Ok a few new posts and answers has prompted me to post my vision of how i would like to see /track work. As Promised my ideas on /track.
Calc has already sumited a question to TH about our interest in getting this feature implemented so with any luck our ideas will help.
TRACKING:
Within ranger there are certain skills that allow rangers to track the situation of creatures in the wildnerness. They use their ranger instincts and techniques to calculate where abouts a creature is in the world.
The basic skill we have is called /areatrack and it allows the ranger to search for animal/people/player tracks in the area and list all the results within a table. This is a great skill to have when searching for a wide range of creatures, however the most powerfull and unique ranger ability is /track.
This ability (through its various stages) allows the ranger to select a specific animal to track down and hunt. The basic abilty allows a ranger to select from a list of creatures catagorised under certain tabs and heading. Once an animal has been selected the ranger is sent in a direction within a certain range to narrow down the lair or game.
There are two distinct possibilities for tracking and instead of choosing one over the other, or having one but alittle of the other etc, i have decided that tracking NEEDS to be split into two completely seperate methods with two distinct goals.
The types of track are:
- Beast Tracking: Spawning andtracking a creature lair of the ranger's choice near him/her. (Organics Hunting)
- Big Game Tracking: Spawning and Tracking a single rare creature through a complex tracking interface. (Extreme Hunting (solo/groups), loot hunting)
Beast Tracking:
This type of tracking involves the seaking out of a creature and its lair. The ranger selects 'Beast Tracking' from the /track menu and is presented with an expansive list of animals available to track for. The animals are listed under thier respective meat/hide/bone types allowing for easy searching of the list.
Once a ranger has selected what animal he/she wishes to track down, the ranger presses the 'track' button and a wp is given (within 1000m) to where the beast's lair is located. A natural (lots of spawns) lair is created where the wp is and the wp is removed after the lair is destroyed. The ranger can then choose to refresh the track and search again with another lair spawning within 1k of the ranger and a wp indicating its whereabouts.
This type of 'beast' tracking is esentially devoted to organic hunting. It enables the ranger to spawn low and high level mobs that may not even be available on normal missions on his/her own or in group. It enables the ranger to spawn a lair of the beast they are looking for (type of meat/hide/bone they want) without having to resort to taking low spawning missions lairs (AND also bringing money INTO the economy via missions payouts rather than shifting money with the economy)
A master ranger using this ability will find that the turn around time (time it takes to find a lair or travel to and from a mission and gather more missions) is greatly reduced. As well as this the ranger will be able to spawn the creature that he/she is most comfortable taking or the most efficient creature to hunt.
An example of this benefit working would be: A master scout, ranger using /areatrack and a master ranger with /track embark on an organics hunt for nubian avian meat.
- The scout takes missions for kaadu (the highest level avian givers) - bringing money into the economy via mission payouts but unefficient on time due to long turn around times.
- The /areatrack ranger heads into the mountains in search of giant peko lairs using /areatrack - doesnt bring money into economy which is good however extremely long turn around time due to the nature of the spawning system.
- The master ranger heads out into the mountains, where the giant pekos become available to /track - he/she tracks a lair within 600m and repeats overs and over. Very low turn around time and also is not brining money into the economy.
The master ranger using /track would have an extreme advantage over the others in hunting and this is a perfect way to enhance both the tracking skills AND the hunting ability of the ranger in one.
This feature would:
- Push ranger to the very front of organic harvesting and hunting. We wouldnt have to compete with stacker professions on damage because we would simply be able to find them much much more quicker.
- Coupled with long overdue harvesting increases we should be able to harvest at a much greater rate.
- We will be desirable to groups because we can 'spawn' a specific creature over and over, whether it be harvesting, xp gathering or simply for fun we will be attractive to groups.
Big Game Tracking:
Big game tracking differs in many ways to its little brother, 'beast tracking'. It still enables rangers to select what creature they want (if they are in the right zone: Krayts become available in dune sea and krayt graveyard for example) However the main difference is it spawns 1 rare creature of the ranger's choosing. The ranger needs to use his knowledge of the world to visit the 'zones' where the animal in question usually spawns (some rares only spawn in certain regions). He/she is then able to select that animal from the list of rare and boss level critters.
Using the /track command the ranger would be presented with the tracking menu where he/she would select the 'Big Game Tracking' mode. Here is how the main menu would look:
Track Menu
The ranger would then be presented with the animal selection screen and can select what creature he/she wants to track and hunt in that area. Once the creature has been selected the ranger presses the track button and is presented with a radar-like interface screen. This is simlar to the radar a player has but instead this is used to see the tracks of the animal. In this case the screen would show a map of the surrounding area (500m radius)
It is the ranger's first job to locate the tracks of the animal. This can be done by following the interface prompts. 1 of the 4 sectors will glow yellow to indicate the direction the ranger must go in order to locate the tracks. Here is a screenshot of what the prompts would look like:
Track Interface Prompts
Once the ranger has located the tracks it will show up on the track interface. It will now have a distance gauge and concentration line (red) complete with directional path indicators (yellow arrows on the line). The line shows the direction of the animal and the path it has taken and it is now up to the ranger to follow this line using the 'Refresh Track' button to refresh ever so often. Here is how the line would apear on the track:
Concetration Line
Eventually the ranger will come accross the 'Game Habitat' (green). This area has a 400m diameter and the target is spawned somewhere in this Habitat Zone (once the ranger gets inside the habbitat zones to limit kill stealing. Here is what the Game Habitat will look like on the Track Interface:
Game Habitat
Ok these screens are only rough designs but highlight to true pupose of Big Game Hunting: To enable to ranger to participate or take groups on Big Game Hunts. This ability will effect ranger in many ways:
- It will present the ranger as the true hunter he/she is and master of the wilderness.
- Due to the fact some rares can only be found in certain regions, opens the possibility of experienced hunters furthering their skills by hunting down these regions and knowing exactly what regions can suport what. You should see the experienced hunters are much more favourable to groups than new master rangers.
- Although effectively 'spawning' a rare creature, the ranger will still need to do alot of work in order to find the game habitat for himself or group. This challanges the ranger and also provides a system that is rewarding for groups and fullfills the ranger's role as a path finder in groups.
- After the combat balance we expect groups to be back in force and this skill will make ranger a massively desirable profession and gain the respect that is deserved.
- Some creatures will have loot that is desirable by players, the ranger would now have the ability to take groups out hunting these beasts for their loot.
Overall i hope you like these ideas for tracking. I think seperating the skill up will provide to very unique and challanging ways to enhance ranger in many departments.
"Everything is going to my Design" 
