Confusion: Archer to Bard? Where is the Ranger Job?

[Shyd]

One could only say that EVENTUALLY there will be a "Ranger" "Hunter" "Marksman" etc etc job.

Musketeer will be a class so there will be even more opportunities for "Ranged" jobs. ie. "Cannoner" "Engineer" etc etc.

[Onidemon]

Where do you base this incorrect assumption?

Marriam-Websters says:

Rangers are persons who range over a region to enforce law or regional rule

or

Fighters trained in close range fighting and raiding tactics.

Encyclopia Britanica says:

Ranger units originated during the French and Indian War (1756–63), when the British formed special units of expert woodsmen and marksmen to range the forests on scouting, screening, and harassing missions.

Ranger referes to one who ranges an are not one who uses range weapons.

Are you serious dude? I'm refering to rangers in FFXI or other mmos which plays exactly like archers do now.

[DNO]

It's likely that neither Archer nor Bard would have fared well in XIV alone. - However, since I'm not the type of person to make a claim and not back it up, a bit of a history lesson and update on MMO building.

Ranged DPS is hard to fit into modern MMO mechanics, where classes have more responsibilities than they used to. In early MMOs, especially over dial-up, battle was basic, laggy, and slow - every class's job was simple. It had to be. Either take damage, do damage, make people take less or do more damage, or heal people who are taking damage. Today, that's not the case. Every job has more responsibilities. Hate rotations, skillchains, snap judgment on single-target heals, timing on "support" abilities - but ranged DPS remains largely unaltered. Stand back, hit hard, don't get yourself killed. While every other job gets more complex, ranged DPS still just stands off to the side and tries to not get hate. This can't continue to be the case; it's not fair, it's not balanced, and it throws the responsibility scale way off.

This is related to, but the flip-side of, the problem that plagues non-damage support classes such as Bard. Jobs that DPS but have support abilities (crowd control, hate management, acute cures, etc.) fare better now than ever - we've brought in the mechanics of split-second timing, positioning, etc. However, non-damage support faces problems from two directions: One, like Archer, it's hard to expand its responsibilities without expanding its capabilities, non-damage support classes still just buff and run (sometimes pulling, but in XIV there really isn't much "pulling"). In order to remain relevant, these classes have to take part in battle to a more complex degree.

Most importantly, in FFXIV, where every class should be able to hold its own solo; at the very least, either the starter class, or the job it evolves into, need to be combat capable. Support-to-Support class-to-job evolution would leave the player helpless to do anything alone.

The solution here, as far as SE is concerned, was to combine the responsibilities of these two jobs, ensuring their continued relevance in the modern MMO age. I think it's a brilliant idea; the job sounds fast-paced, multi-faceted, fun as hell, and their concept art is BEYOND GORGEOUS.

I don't see what all the hubbub is about. Archers in this game, even now, rush into battle, do damage willynilly until the dot goes red, and then just stand there until it goes away. When someone runs off without paying attention and gets aggro? it's usually an archer. When someone's not paying attention and takes hate? It's usually an archer. A little more responsibility, ironically, isn't going to get them (or me) killed.

Wow WONDERFULLY written. i must say i was one of those who lvled up ARC then heard about bard and was a little sad. But in thinking about it it could become a fun job as long as i can still do goos DPS and then buff to help the party. It would be like Corsair (which was crazy fun as hell the job did crazy DPS and buffed the hell out of the team lol)

Im excited

[syntaxlies]

i think they are doing it because of the lack of mage style jobs/classes the game as of now. they needed to add more and this was easier then putting in a whole new class. this is all speculative of course but its the only thing i could come up with.

[Arya]

Wow WONDERFULLY written. i must say i was one of those who lvled up ARC then heard about bard and was a little sad. But in thinking about it it could become a fun job as long as i can still do goos DPS and then buff to help the party. It would be like Corsair (which was crazy fun as hell the job did crazy DPS and buffed the hell out of the team lol)

Im excited

It might be fun, I agree. Unfortunately, it's not what I wanted to get out of a ranged class. I expected a damage dealing class that specialised in ranged attacks. If the damage is being dropped and ARC's are being pushed towards more of a support role with BRD, I'm not sure whether I would stay with ARC.....Maybe I'd need to take a break from game or just concentrate on my crafting until Musketeer comes out because while I don't mind playing the other classes from time to time, none of them interests me as a long term main. It's sad really.

[Nakiamiie]

Remember "Good DD" doesn't mean "In Demand Job." Sure, BRDs were highly sought jobs... but stick one alone in a room with a Gigas and ... well... a few notes won't be the only thing that end up flat.

That was part of my point above; BRD can't survive in XIV on its own merits.

Aren't jobs supposed to be specialty for party play, not solo?

EDIT: Also, what is the difference between archer and ranger? How do people envision it?

[DNO]

It might be fun, I agree. Unfortunately, it's not what I wanted to get out of a ranged class. I expected a damage dealing class that specialised in ranged attacks. If the damage is being dropped and ARC's are being pushed towards more of a support role with BRD, I'm not sure whether I would stay with ARC.....Maybe I'd need to take a break from game or just concentrate on my crafting until Musketeer comes out because while I don't mind playing the other classes from time to time, none of them interests me as a long term main. It's sad really.

if none of the classes interests you why are u playing? should of been quit

[grandm]

any1 complaining there is not ranged DPS. just stick an M in front of it and go a blackmage

[pantaz]

Just give them an opportunity to explain before you bash it. It might have a really cool reason for being the archer job. I've read that some jobs will require multiple classes leveled to unlock. Maybe if they do plan on having a ranger in the future, it will be a archer / musketeer hybrid. Or maybe with the current system, they just couldnt do ranger the way they wanted it to be and are waiting for 2.0...

[Corrderio]

Aren't jobs supposed to be specialty for party play, not solo?

EDIT: Also, what is the difference between archer and ranger? How do people envision it?

If bowharps are exclusive to Bard they can make crossbows and make them exclusive to Ranger. Assuming they add Ranger.