Wayfarers of Veeshan

Inspired by our troubles with tracking in the 3-dimensional Crypt of Dalnir, I ask the following. If anyone knows FOR SURE the answer, please
post it. If you're not sure, but have some evidentiary field experiements, I'd be glad to hear them too. Anyway, here goes....


For a creature to show up on a Ranger, Druid or Bard's tracking (heck, I suppose this is true for Corpse tracking and other esoteric forms), it needs to be "in range".

First off, is the above statement correct?

Secondly, if it IS correct, how is the range determined -- Specifically, is it a horizontal range with absolutely NO dependence on vertical displacement (i.e. the mob lies within a cylinder around you) or is it an actual 3-dimensional range (i.e. the mob lies within a sphere around you)?
Re-phrased for math inclined people:
Is "range" = Sqrt (x^2 + y^2)
or
"range" = Sqrt (x^2 + y^2 + z^2)?

Drex

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Drexxell , 71st GNecrOMancEr -- Wielder of ()
Druul , 60th Troll Shaman () + Wielder of and
Driss, 51st Dwarf Priestess of Brell Serilis
Dralia, 36th Erudite Enchantress

I'd say the answer to your question is: Yes.
Anything more would make my head hurt.

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Master Artisan Kahmon Feelthenoize
- Fabled 100 Shadow Knight of Cestus Dei Atherius
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Vektor - 95 Ranger, Scout Extraordinaire
Kahzbot - 97 Enchanter, Master Spell Researcher & Tinkerer
Kroger - 98 Rogue, Poison Maker, Tome Researcher, and Illusion Collector
Shazbon - 96 Shaman, Master Alchemist
Vendding - 94 Magician

In my druid experience of tracking, the mob being tracked is within a certain radius or circumference and is all directional. That being said, the trackability of the class whom is doing the tracking and their range is the difference in who and what can be tracked. I really hate to admit this, but the Ranger has the superior trackability. Druids are second in their trackabilities and the bards has the least tracking radius. The ideal thing to know is where the mobs should be spawned so that one can be familiar with how to track them. In a place such as Dalnir, this can be confusing. Best advice down there is to use the blind man method and know who you are looking for and learn their respective spawn place and only use tracking to see if the needed spawn is alive and well. Additionally in a small crypt as Dalnir, the Druid's trackability should be fairly sufficient for the cause.

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Keepers of the Elements

"Should be", and we fully expected it to be. But we found that as we moved around, the mob went in and out of tracking range, and what I'm trying to nail down is whether that was a true "out of range" issue (in which case, knowing how range is computed becomes very important) or a "spawn/de-spawn" issue. As far as we know, the Kly Imprecator's do NOT wander, so we begin by ruling that out as the cause.

This would really be solved if anyone knew an EQ coder and could confirm what equation is used for tracking range...sigh...then again, so many other things would be solved if we knew how the game was coded.

Drex

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Drexxell , 71st GNecrOMancEr -- Wielder of ()
Druul , 60th Troll Shaman () + Wielder of and
Driss, 51st Dwarf Priestess of Brell Serilis
Dralia, 36th Erudite Enchantress

Let me clear things up.. Crystal clear..

No, yes.. to everything said here.

I've been using my tracking for a long time..and very often. What have I learned about it? Very little.

In a wide open zone like western wastes, I can hit my tracking button and get a list of creatures to show up.. I can stand in place turn around facing the other way and get a different list. I can turn back the way I was facing and get the same list I got with my back turned but different than the first list. I can start tracking a mob at the top of my list and run about 20 miles and finally find it in some obscure corner of the zone. I can pick a mob on the bottom of the list and find that it is in facting nipping at my heals and I better run !

That being said.. It seems that usually a static spawn will show up almost every time if tracking from the same spot repeatedly.

Crystal clear now?

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70 Bard, at your service
Elder, Wayfarer of Veeshan

Also, , , Irodanise (52 Pal), Irodanes (31 Rog), Iroardanis (19 BL), Sinadori (25 SK), Dreminal (32 Dru)

Clear as mud.

Now then, having wasted an hour looking around, here are things I've seen claimed on the net about tracking, that seem to be repeated a few times.

1) Range goes up as tracking skill increases. One guy with a ranger, tracking skill 200, claims to have tested in WK with a few friends, and gotten mobs up to 6000-7000 feet away.

2) The normal order, for rangers at least (not sure if this holds for Bards and Druids) in which mobs appear is by "how long has the monster been in the zone". As such, if we can assume that this order holds for Druids, then the location of the Kly Imrecator on Tali's tracking list should tell us if it is spawning and de-spawning.

3) (Just as a sake of curiosity) There sometimes appear "blanks" on the tracking list which are actual NPCs in the zone which are kinda special, maybe not supposed to be interacted with (apparantly there's a lot of them in Cazic Thule and Acrylia Caverns, but the other example was a guy who "tracked" a blank spot and found something called "pain and suffering" in LavaStorm mountains.

Take this for what it's worth.

Drex

P.S. What I find disconcerting is that turning in place would have any significant impact on the track list. Iro, can you expound on that a little more?

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Drexxell , 71st GNecrOMancEr -- Wielder of ()
Druul , 60th Troll Shaman () + Wielder of and
Driss, 51st Dwarf Priestess of Brell Serilis
Dralia, 36th Erudite Enchantress

*pulls up a chair to intently listen*

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Keepers of the Elements

Perhaps bards have built in uncertainty because of our low skill cap. My thoughts on the subject have ranged broadly and I'm still quite unsure. I have guessed recently that it's possible the mobs show up on My tracking by their spawn point. In other words.. if they spawned in my range I may see them on tracking even if they are Miles away as I sometimes find.. either that or there is some serious randomness in my tracking ability that kinda 'tries' to track mobs close to me but sometimes picks up mobs far away and in a different direction than tracking initially sends me running.

Short of it..
I don't know.

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70 Bard, at your service
Elder, Wayfarer of Veeshan

Also, , , Irodanise (52 Pal), Irodanes (31 Rog), Iroardanis (19 BL), Sinadori (25 SK), Dreminal (32 Dru)

Assuming I'm stationary, new pops appear at the top of my list. And I can confirm that turning 90 degrees totally changes the track list. When I was hunting for coldain missionaries in EW, I would go around the perimeter of the zone, hitting track every time I changed direction, and that would frequently give me blank space at the top of the list.

I don't know what this means, and apparently my only reason for posting is to muddy the waters further.

The only thing I know for sure about tracking is that the order that they appear on the list. When you pull up the tracking window the newest mobs that are in range are on the top of the list. The order has nuthing to do with range it is based on the amount of time the creature has been in the zone. This part is the same for druids and Bards, Rangers may have some kind of filter to select different orders for the list. I have no idea on the ranger filters maybe one the sacrificial rangers could comment on that.

My comment doesnt seem to fit your question drexxell but I'd like to add anyway for those that may be reading for general info... My point is this, if you are tracking a mob on the move, the point to which you are tracking to is not his current position but where he was when you initiated track. For this reason I have found it helpful to refresh the track window as often as I can when running something down. Also like to confirm that yes rangers can filter the sort order of targets in the track window (in more ways than I can remember off the top of my head as I only play a ranger on Sunday evenings)

Durezil Coppahtahp, sometimes known as Lleed Thaweigh

Ayup.. we sacrifices may adjust our filters and see what ever we will, and within whatever order we wish.. I can filter OUT PCs and green cons etc. We can change the list order for distance as well as other ways.

Also on the empty space in the tracking. There are some PC which run around invisible. They take a space in teh list but you do not get their name. This is different from when a player has Invis up. They will not even appear on teh list when you hit track.

All personal preference. And as far as tracking while the critter is noving. No I do not have to refresh my track. When it moves I get the %t is ahead and right.... %t is ahead etc etc. My tracking refreshes when it moves. The only time i have to refresh is to seeif some thing new has been added. If something dies while track is open, it just drops off the screen.

AND I do not track to the initiation point on a moving target. I can follow the MOB all around the zone when it is moving.

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Xandamir - 57th level Templar (Ranger Rezzor)
Perisai Troublemaker - 56th level Sacrificial OUTRIDER
Pulkaria - 54th level Beastlord (Furry Ranger)
Nealyn Prae - 43rd level Druid (Ranger Wannabe)
Calithe - 47th level bardling (Never wanted to be a ranger)
Nessah - 37th Level Ranger Mezzer

Let me calrify something about tracking , for Bards and Druids the tracking list is in order of most recent spawn at top of the list, Rangerts not only have the greatest range but can also filter their tracking list in a number of ways ..such as by con color, range etc.

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Master Kraznir Izkarazzy the Krazy Gnome 62 Arch Mage
Tylara Silvertree 55 Woodelf Preserver(non-guild)
Krazitoes Spirithopper 35 Froglok Shaman
Zwerg Grobschmied 34 Dwarf Cleric
Zirrik 30 Iksar Beastlord
Gragax Gatorlord 23 Troll Beastlord
Kraznar Izkarazzy , Kraznir's evil twin the 22 Shadow Knight
Thurgar 10 Barbarian Rogue