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Having spent alot of time playing final fantasy 11 i got used to the "rangers cost too much to level because they need ammo" line. but these rangers could also survive many levels without major gear upgrades. Within the realm of ffxi rangers were strickly ranged attackers, wore leather armor, and had to carry their own ammo around. the effectiveness of the ranger was based on his distance from target, stats of the char, type of bow and type of arrow. with all that being said my main made most his money from rangers cause i was a woodworker and consumable arrows/bolts were profitable (some more then others).
Within this discussion if a fair balance could be made between costs and effectiveness of melee vs. ranged attacks i think consumable ammo of varying damage or magical enchants is acceptable. but it's in finding that balance that the major issue falls.

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Hey guys
Again, have not read the whole thread, so I'm just going to wade into the middle of this.
First off, some background. I do archery. I have a congenital heart defect, so I am limited in the types of sports I can participate in. At a relatively young age I got into archery. In my high school years I was one of the best in Georgia in Olympic style archery, I spent several summers teaching archery at summer camps, I am a certified National Archery Association instructor, I've done combat archery and larps and such, and read many books about archery around the world while also trying to learn different archery styles (just this week I learned there is a Kyudo archery club in Bellevue!). So I love archery, and want it to be awesome.
We are looking at a system where ranged attacks consume ammunition, and ammunition is stored in a container that is effectively your off-hand when using that ranged weapon. For example, if you equip a long bow, you equip a quiver in your off hand. It has so many arrows in it, and better quivers hold more arrows. If your quiver runs out of arrows you have to refill it from your inventory, but doing so mid battle is difficult. Some special abilities can be learned to reload ammunition holders, or you can get off the field, take cover, and refill your ammunition holder. In a way it is a parallel to a wizard or cleric using spells: if they run out they can try and use a refresh to get more, but doing so mid battle is tough.
Ammunition does cost money, and better ammunition costs more money, but not so much to be debilitating. Getting money to keep yourself in arrows is not difficult.
Melee combatants will also have to spend money on oils, runes, enchantments, etc for their weapons. Wizards will have to refill their wands and staves. Everyone gets some manner of money drain.

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Lee Hammock wrote:Oh Snap! Lead Developer is an archer. *Savvy players everywhere immediately begin plotting archery based iWIN strategies* :)Hey guys
I do archery.
I have a congenital heart defect, so I am limited in the types of sports I can participate in.
Lead Dev is a glass cannon IRL.
:)
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Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel ~ is a good book! A friend did a 'similar' thing with Aikido: "Angry White Pyjamas".
Those ideas are very good to hear about ammunition and vulnerability of using a bow during a combat situation. Stoked to hear that.