ezo
Hero
Ok, I'll do this once with you, and then I'm done with it.Then your concept was never realized if it was something that involved becoming the best archer in the world. Let's say you didn't want ranger abilities and wanted to be a fighter.
In BECMI, 1e and 2e, you were ask good at 1st level with a bow as any other level 1 fighter in the world with your dex. At 20th level you weren't any better than any other 20th level fighter, nor were you better with a bow than a dagger(assuming you had dagger proficiency). You never got better with a bow.
I could easily play such a concept. How? By making my character a "fighter", maxing out Dex, using a bow, and playing my character that way. If you want mechanical support, then in AD&D you had it. You took specialization in a bow... and you still played your character that way. You want more, splat books in 2E gave you more.
But... the problem is, anyone else could make the exact same type of PC taking the same feats, blah blah blah and guess what: you are not the best archer in the world anymore.In 3e there were tons of archery related feats to take, that took a bunch of levels to gather together. You improved over time. Then I could move into Order of the Bow Initiate and gain even more bow improvements for the next 10 levels.
I could realize my version of that concept. You had to pretend you got any better at all then all the other fighters out there. Mechanical support allows you to actually realize the concept, not just pretend that you did.
This is why mechanical benefits never cut it. It is how you play your PC that matters IMO. YMMV, of course.
Anyway, I'm done with this line of discussion. Cheers.