The Ranger is one of my favorite classes. In 3rd Edition is was far too easy to crank their damage up to 11 by picking a few select feats and making sure to have a nice attack bonus. What made them really wonderful was part of what made the Paladin wonderful. They were a class that could physically attack their target but had more options because of their access to spells. A lot of people love these guys because of some classic characters in literature that were Rangers, guys like Aragorn or Drizzt.