i can show you guys what playing end game as a ranger looks like:
I think its super fun and it does require skill, aiming and the skill cap can be quite high.
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e: Thank you for posting this, it highlights what this thread is talking about and no disrespect to you for doing it the best it can be done, but I’m sorry to say that looks ridiculous.
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That doesn’t look like you’re firing a bow at all. I doubt this is how the devs intended it to be played. 
I disagree. The learning curve for firing bows is being accurate while firing at a decent pace. Or are you saying 1 second = 1 shot is so slow that anyone can hit any target at any distance with that slow of a speed? Because we all know many people struggle with long distance shots even on pulls. And that’s the best rangers on the server missing regularly.
And no, you wouldn’t get max damage because faster shots = more procs. Slower shots = less procs. So spamming shots still has some advantage over slower shots, except there isn’t a impossible gap in damage. And if the devs wanted to, they could still make this balanced and fair by having both styles favor different kinds of damage output which I won’t go into here.
Lets not pretend that this eliminates any learning curve. Firing a bow in VR requires you to learn a lot about how it works regardless of how fast you can fire it. Endurance is a completely different factor however. There is less fun if you have to work 3 times as much just to do what is average. I say average here because there isn’t a single ranger who can’t spam.
Plus skill in firing it quickly at a huge target is a pretty low bar skill wise at all since you don’t have to be accurate. The only skill thing about this is firing at a medium-long distance so you gain orbs while spamming and the target is relatively small. But then you have to ask a big question, is this what the developers really intend for the ranger class to be at the highest level? Or was archery intended to be a long range class that involved carefully firing accurate shots and building up orbs so you don’t lose them on misses?
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Just putting it out there, Been playing a ranger for a few days doing world bosses/grinding. My arm hasn’t stopped aching since, i’m so glad theres a 5minute downtime between bosses just so i get that small break. I’m kinda hoping something does change with the constant spamming, at this rate my right arm is either gonna look like i ‘play with myself’ too much, or i end up stop playing the class once i get sick of the ache.
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Its a hard knock life for us.
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This post… have you guys seen what you look like playing any VR game? none of the classes look like you’re doing realistic combat. At least wait until we have full body haptic feedback suits before you complain about how unrealistic VR gameplay is. They can’t change the whole game now anyways so just learn the game mechanics and have fun. if not play a different class or don’t play 
These types of posts don’t help the game, let’s give advice that has an actual impact on the game or ideas for new content within context of we already have.
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Just don’t play the game? Are people not allowed to talk about the design of classes?
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At this point Riley has said that changes are coming “in the near future” with the implementation of the Talent system. One thing he specifically highlighted that the Talent tree would allow for was:
“changing up the class to better match your preferred play style, such as a Ranger who prefers fast-firing vs one who wants to fire more slowly and carefully.”
I think those of us who haven’t enjoyed the spam style as much have been heard and I am content to wait and see what they implement. The dev team has done a great job with the game so far, I’m confident that playstyle will be balanced, whether you spec your talent tree for fast or more measured shooting.
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As someone sitting at work with a sore right elbow area I need this to be changed ASAP.
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Going to type it here so hopefully the devs see it. I could see a Gears of War “active reload” type system. Where there is a sweet spot that you need to pull back to for the most damage.
I think we’ve seen from previous class changes that the developers want everyone to be happy. The ranger class seems to have a lot of varying opinions on what the ‘proper’ way to play the class is and honestly it’s good discussion. The talent tree should open up a lot more options so the various playstyles all get addressed. Even the class basics have been tweaked to account for incentives to back up and aim more carefully (orb system) and enemy encounters are starting to be tweaked to encourage the rangers to stand in different locations to mix up movement/attack speed/strategy (stay back to avoid aoe & be careful not to pull wandering mobs while getting the most out of the orb system, etc). Just yesterday I saw Shiki half way up a mountain side shooting down at an aberration pack. He looked totally badass peppering enemies from way up high.
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good rpg’s classes have fun rotations to maximize damage (imo) shooting arrows as fast as humaly possible and negating abilities seems rediculous and completely breaks the idea of following a rotaion of sorts… also w/e you decide please put iconns for the spell arrows next to the trap and charged shot icons on the bow, having to look down every few seconds to see if they are ready is really annoying… also it would be alot easier to balance if the best way to play was systemic rather than go as fast as you can… its a bow, you cant rapid fire arrows 3 times a second, its just silly.
Edit: if the talent tree will address this and present optional ways to create the same dps im all for that
and this game is awesome, just adding that lol
disagree class balancing, imo, has a huge effect on the state of the game.
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I don’t think the solution is to take away one play style by making the other far superior. I think the solution is to give hunters a very good reason to generally stick with the play style they like, and make each one feel unique.
I’d rather see it resolved like this:
A) Short Bow: Best at spamming arrows close. Gets a damage boost for doing it well. Hard to aim passed medium distance.
B) Medium bow: Jack of all trades, pretty much what we have now.
C) Long Bow: Extended distance. Easier to aim from farther away. Gets a damage boost if you pull the arrow from your quiver each time. Gets a damage reduction for use up close, but can still do meh damage in a pinch.
This would also be exciting because there would be more bows to collect, and rangers like myself would requip pretty often just for the fun of it.
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I love this suggestion.
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If I had to suggest a change to the ranger class, it would be to give the Ranger a way to slow enemies.
I would be also 100% on board with changing the trap to apply a slow rather than a hard stun.
I wholly disagree with the “behind the back” idea, because I play with Windows MR and sometimes I can’t even get my damn arrow out in the first place due to the “inside out” tracking.
I still don’t understand the 3 shots per second thing, unless I am doing that without realizing. I assume you do this because it loads the yellow bar faster?
TBH I like @Zachary_R 's idea the best. This would allow for compensating your playstyle based on your controllers.
With the Vive controllers I had no problem with the speed shooting, but the WMR tracking isn’t accurate enough to make it worth while.
Lots of good ideas in here but your post is my fav Pontifi - a direct quote resolving this issue TFN.
My 2 cents… and let me preface by saying I do not think having an archery background IRL should make anyone’s opinion more important when discussing Orbus gameplay…
As an avid competitor in 3d and target shoots using recurve and a successful bowhunter using a compound, I had serious reservations about playing as a Ranger. There is a -lot- that is cool about the class, and conceptually I love it, but I also know that it ain’t great for my body. Doing that sort of quick, repetitive motion for long periods of time with no resistance has negative effects on one’s joints. After playing ranger to level 7 I swapped to Warrior. This seems counter intuitive, but with Warrior accuracy is less important than positioning, and I can vary my stroke pattern.
As a ranger you are only reaching your potential if you are hitting 3 arrows per second - my other issue with this is that to maintain an anchor point at this speed it is simpler and more accurate(to me) to simply hold the arrow beneath my chin and “push” the bow towards my target with each shot. This feels nothing like archery to me, even shortbow… which is fine, but ruins it for me. I attribute the root of the problem to this staple of 3 per second.
Just a few comments since I am seeing Lars and Legolas posts popping up…
Take a look at some of the most successful forms of archery in history - Steppe horse archers, Longbowmen, and Lars’ own references to the Saracens. Nobody is pumping off 3 arrows a second expecting them to be accurate, and even Lars can’t shoot 3 arrows a second -every- second, especially with the method he uses to hold the arrows before shooting them. Additionally, the draw weight of that bow where he shoots 3 while in the air is very light - the minimum draw to hunt a deer where I live is 45 lbs because that’s a reasonable draw to get an ethical kill with a -well placed- shot. My compound is 75lb draw, btw the reason people hunt with a compound is because the pulleys create an effect referred to as let-off, which means past a certain draw distance you can hold full draw at 70%ish less than the total kinetic energy stored. This is because ambush hunting requires stealth, and drawing on a deer is a big movement. Archers of old would be expected to draw much heavier than 75lbs to do maximum damage to armoured opponents. Even in Saracen Archery, where an archer was expected to manage 3 arrows aloft at 60 yards accurate within roughly the broad side of an Orbus donkey, 3 arrows a second is really pushing it.
Again, my favourite post is the one above demonstrating these concerns are likely to be alleviated by plans already in place as mentioned by the devs. Just wanted to pitch in on an interesting discussion.
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Only 70% letoff? Time for an upgrade, my dude