SAM/RNG would never take off here, given current mechanics, with or without distance patch. It's a fun toy for certain things, but with the 2007 2h mechanics in SAM/RNG is inherently inferior to polearm for exp (and penta seems pretty OP here anyway but even back in the day). SAM has higher polearm skill than archery, access to better melee gear than ranged gear (lack of rattk gear, even if you can stuff enough racc to help make up for lowly C+ archery), polearm benefits from ezmode dex/str calculations & hasso accuracy, and unlike ranged WS, penta stacks with Overwhelm. You could use Yoichi for enmity fun I guess... but yeah it's a pretty insurmountable difference in my opinion. It wouldn't really kill here unless you want to be the guy who demands nas rollback 2h buff (I am not that guy, even if my Kikoku and BLU wouldn't mind) gl with that, probably won't make friends that way though

I experienced exactly what Locke was talking about last night fighting darkspark for thf AF hands, two friends and I ran out there and we killed everything on the way to DS and i tested out my xbow and I was not hitting the mob in melee range, popped out to 4 yalms and I was able to hit mobs consistently. Now no big deal right? What about solo'ing? Let's face it Thief doesn't get many party invites so most of us go out and solo our xp, with this change to ranged that basically ends that for us.

The ranged accuracy penalty at point blank range should be minimal or non-existent, especially for crossbows and guns. If we're trying to make things semi-realistic, crossbows and guns should have no accuracy penalty at close range, and only a slight penalty at ranges over 15 yalms or so (remember that the guns in FFXI are more like a Blunderbuss or musket pistol than a modern 9mm or 45 .ACP with a rifled barrel). Throwing weapons should have a small accuracy penalty <5 yalms and >15 yalms and bows should have a small accuracy penalty at close ranges but be good all the way out to 25 yalms.

This would not only be the most realistic way to balance it but also give THF the ability to shoot at close range.

RNG was my first 75 in late '06 and from what I remember, you always had to be conscious of your rate of fire and the kind of hate you were pulling, or else you would disturb your party's efficiency and your own damage potential. No opening fights with Sidewinder/Slugshot; you had to wait until <50% or even <25% mob HP. If a mob was moving, but you'd begun firing while it was in range/optimal range, you'd land the hit, but the damage would not always be optimal. Constant repositioning for kited mobs. Has he changed something outside of those parameters?



Yeah, that's not right. Some rebalancing needed there obviously.