Why Are Ranger/Archer-esque Classes Always Paired Up With Nature Themes?

I mean, can't there be an archer who DOESN'T involve themselves with the environment? I see this in a lot of RPGS that don't have a separation between archers and druids or shamans. It would be nice in GW2 if we see a ranged class completely different from an environmental based class.

The simplest explanation I can conjure is this: Bows are hunting weapons, and good hunters should know their prey and their territory.

Shayne nailed it right there



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I guess so but Hunters also used spears (Para) and Swords (Warrior) to hunt with. And its kind of boring to have nature-y armor all the time for my ranger. :/ It should be more like Diablo and the Amazon.

Those would work......though they would still have a Nature theme, Amazons were jungle hunters :/

But fear not! I heard that ANET was considering not making armor class specific in GW2!! Wish I knew where

In my opinion, The class name "Ranger" itself implies a relation to nature.

You see bows a lot in nomad-type people too, mounted archers, but even that still has some aspect of wilderness with the whole taming animals type thing.

I guess so but why bows? Nomads use swords, axes, and spears... and traps could easily be put with any other class.

I want a fancy, clean archer for once. Not a dirty, messy one. D:

No one but Rambo has ever hunted with a sword. You'd have a hell of a time getting that close to an animal.

Swords are for killing people.

A ranger also has to be able to observe the wind movement when preparing to hit a target with a bow (deviation, varying distance of shot, etc.)

And it takes skillful planning to hide traps well enough to not make them visible.

I GUESS so but I'm still hoping for a more fancy archer. People also hunted with spears, throwing axes, etc. =/

Diablo 1 actually featured "rogues" as their bow class, which had zero connection to nature.

Anyway I think the problem is that there aren't any iconic pure archer heroes. Everyone's always impressed by the knights in shining armor or the great strength of barbarians, while archers are reduced to either thieves, nature guys (legolas), or both (robin hood).

Actually there were a lot of famous archers like Genghis Khan and English longbowmen and many samurai and none of them had to do with nature. :/ Knights = defense, barbarians = strength, archers = dexterity, mage = intelligence, cleric/mesmer = mind/knowledge/wisdom, etc.

How about a bomber? I mean, special-ops can work.

genghis khan was a warrior first and foremost. it was just so happens that mogolian warriors were required to be expert marksmen also.

a bow is first and foremost a hunting weapon. even for the types of people whom you've just rattled off, the bow was primarily used for hunting. it wasn't afterwards that the military use was utilized.

after all, hunting people is about the same as hunting animals. easier, from what i've gathered.

Hunting with swords... wow, bunnybashing

A lot of Bow = Wilderness conceptions could also be blamed on cinematic representations of bow users... ie Blame Hollywood (Robinhood and his ilk).

Also, if the Ranger type classes didn't have pet/nature skill lines, they'd be a pretty empty profession aimed at only one thing ranged damage... kinda boring.

I suppose the bow wielder archetype could be linked to attributes based on mobility/speed and stealth... the Ranger in Guild Wars DID have a stealth attribute after all.

Robin Hood was in Sherwood Forest, forest is nature, etc...

Its just SO ugly... I really hope they change it in GW2 and make a druid or shaman class.

Well don't forget about Vampire Hunters as well.

Instead of the woodsy look, they sported the gothic dark style. Weilding crossbows and such. Don't see why all Hunters/Rangers have to be associated with nature. They weren't.

But yeah it is basically a stereotype. Anything that has a bow, is always associated with nature. Elves were always the number one when it came to Hunters/Rangers just cause of their love for animals and nature. Just the way life has made them out to be.

But I would like to see a Vampire Hunter style Ranger. Long dark Trenchcoat with a wide brim hat. Either using a crossbow or a modified longbow.

I think the ranger profession is fine the way it is. As for Druids, they were first and foremost law givers (judges) and magi, which does not fit in the mytos of Guild Wars.