How exactly is that cheesy? That's what most people wind up doing with the druid (pick a form, stay in it all the time), but it's considered "normal" for them...
So picking a humanoid form is more cheesy than running around as a tiger for pounce + rake, on top of your super casting and uber companion?
I suppose I'm having a grognard knee-jerk reaction then. Because not only is the WS variant outside the 'typical' concept of being a ranger, but the PrC takes it a step further and simply transform-ifies you magically into a 'near-druid!'. So I guess I see it as cheesy because it doesn't really empower the RANGER it turns the ranger into another class using one of the other class's slices o'cheese. Why not just turn the ranger into a were-something-or-other by that point? Or better yet, just roll a druid? Because by that point you've given up almost everything that has ranger-flavor to it.
Man, now I want some Doritos... or nachos. Or pizza.
I agree that the Wildshape Ranger is not a core concept Ranger. That seems obvious to me. Others have good suggestions how to deal with that. Hell, I can see a Mystic Ranger with Sword of the Arcane Order being a pretty solid gish lite, and depending on how you fluff things it would be all due to his speed, skills, and trailcraft.
But, I really like the Wildshape Ranger entry into MoMF. It allows you to focus on the core element of the Master of Many Forms -- the shapechanging -- without loading up the character with all the ancillary things a Druid comes with (puppy, SPELLS). It's just a cleaner character.
