Bio Engineer Archive

Hmm..you know maybe the idea was to get us dancers into places that we normal wont go so that the poor people there can get healed, and because we can make sometimes up to 1000 of tips in 10 mintues?

I'm sorry I can make more with tips, than I can a rebel faction mission.

It's not the tips. Heck I made 50,000 in my last 8 hours of play - I can do without the tips. What bothers me is the thanklessness. While a small minority tip well and thank me for the service, the vast majority don't even say 'thanks for the heal'. That bothers me.

Well the AFK bots are about the only ones left after the real dancers figure out what a pointless and thankless career dancing is. No one thanks us, so we get discouraged; no one tips us and missions are badly paid, so we spend most of our time making money in other ways - and not dancing - leaving the AFKers and newbies to populate the cantinas. After we reach Master, the situation doesn't improve AND we still fall over like an amateur. The only ones stupid enough to carry on are those who are new,and/or those who know so little about dancingbecause they'reAFKing their way, thinking that dancing is going to bea worth-while career.

Since I reached Master about 3 weeks ago, I've spent onlya few hoursdancing. During that time I've really found outthe 'rewards'that dancing gives - most people couldn't care less that we're healing them, and many resent the fact that they're forced to come to cantinas. Sure I make the occasional tips from the 5% of players that do value the dancer's art, but the rest don't care a penny dam whether I'm there or not. I doubt if many of them even know that a Master heals any better than a novice, and I'm surea large proportion of them don't know that they have to actively 'watch' a dancer to get a faster heal.

I totally agree with your points, Berry. My Master Dancer title is almost penny worthless now, I even turn it off when I enter a Cantina...wearing Master above your head is an empty title. At least it is these days...

Victoria-

I'd just like to state for the record and so you all know that the Entertainer missions are a huge priority on my list and will be the next thing I try to get changed. I almost put it as our number 1 issue this time. I should have a chance to speak with a dev about this issue very soon tho and I will do everything I can to have these missions made worth doing. I'm just as disgusted with them as you all are I promise.

While I share the point of view that the entertainment missions should get an upgrade, I got into dancing knowing full well what was coming, and I still enjoy doing it.

I dance for me now, and for the entertainers I am with. I enjoy performing. I enjoy the comments that we DO get. I'd like to be rich, who wouldn't, but not being independantly wealthy isn't spoiling my fun. If one person out of every ten shows appreciation, then it's enough to make me feel it is worth it.

90% of all entertainers in real life are destitute and scrambling to make ends meet, but they love what they are doing. I'm not saying we should be poor. I'm saying if you do not love what you are doing, increasing mission payouts isn't the solution to your problem.

On a side note, I am 1000% against increasing mission payouts at all until they fix AFK dancing. The last thing I want to see is the number of AFKers multiplied simply because now they can grind up and then see serious money for their lack of effort.

- J

"90% of all entertainers in real life are destitute and scrambling to make ends meet, but they love what they are doing. I'm not saying we should be poor. I'm saying if you do not love what you are doing, increasing mission payouts isn't the solution to your problem."

I love dancing, but don't you think that a Master Dancer should get paid more than a newbie??? Most real lifeMaster Dancers I've heard of are raking in the cash - do you seriously think that the 'Riverdance' guy is destitute? Sure, a newbie dancer should get a pittance, but let's get real - a Master Dancer should command a master-classpayment for a performance.

At the moment there's little point (for a person who just loves to dance)in gaining any attributes other than those that give thenew dances, and there's no point in even picking up an entertainer mission - I may as well go out and kill a few Womp Ratsand 10 times the money I make on a dance mission in half the time. Do you really think that 'love of dance' is enough to keep anyone dancing when dancers are so poorly-regarded and whenthere are so many other avenues of gaining money and respect? There are many more professions in the game that give back a lot more than dancing does. It wouldn't be that way if the audience showed a bit more appreciation for the service we provide, or if we had a gradual increase inmissionpay based on skill level.

If nothing changes, I will soon be forced to give up most of my dancing attributes. Even though I love to dance, and even though I love the cantina atmosphere, I'm soon gfoing to be trapped because Master Dancer is keeping me from enjoying the fullness of the game, and keeping me from any sense of respect afforded by the vast majority ofother players. Heck, a newbie Scout gets more respect than a Master Dancer. Everyone assumes I AFKed my way to the top.

"I love dancing, but don't you think that a Master Dancer should get paid more than a newbie??? Most real life Master Dancers I've heard of are raking in the cash - do you seriously think that the 'Riverdance' guy is destitute? Sure, a newbie dancer should get a pittance, but let's get real - a Master Dancer should command a master-class payment for a performance."

Yes, the riverdance guy is raking it in. But take a pin and stick it anywhere into the map of the US. Wherever you stick it, there will be many aspiring musicians and dancers who are very good at their craft, but will never succeed.

In game, I'm sure there are people who do very well as entertainers and others who do not. It's based on the people we play to, the actual audience in the game. I think that's where it should remain, rather than making EVERY master dancer and musician rich through some false game mechanic like missions. I agree there is a perception problem where many people don't appreciate us, but in my mind increasing mission payouts isn't really going to solve that fundamental issue. If anything, it'll bring in more AFK bots since they can now also rake in cash.


"Do you really think that 'love of dance' is enough to keep anyone dancing when dancers are so poorly-regarded and when there are so many other avenues of gaining money and respect?"

Yes. I am one such person. I am a master level male dancer who makes precious few tips, but you can see me dancing most every night. It's not all I do, I've picked up other professions to help get me by, but I dance now because I love to perform and for no other reason. I was never in it for the money. I might be unique in that, but I don't believe I am.


"Even though I love to dance, and even though I love the cantina atmosphere, I'm soon gfoing to be trapped because Master Dancer is keeping me from enjoying the fullness of the game, and keeping me from any sense of respect afforded by the vast majority of other players"

I simply don't understand this. You have enough skill points to take up 2.5 professions, maybe 2 if you choose a hybrid with a lot of requirements. What is stopping you from learning a second trade and enjoying those aspects of the game?

- J

(out of character)

I think part of the problem is that many people who play an entertainer are too nice and selfless while the other professions have absolutely no problem to push for buffs. If even some players of our own profession post that it is ok to be poor, that we shouldn't earn that much and so on, then we shouldn't be surprised that the other professions get the love and we get the scraps.

Our quest and mission system is broken and needs to be fixed. The AFK macroers hurt our reputation because nobody respects a title you can achieve by macroing. Entertainers are also disrespected by many people because they can't contribute to the GCW. We should make this very clear to everybody and push for a solution.

Like everybody else we should want:

o Rewarding and fun missions and quests
o A title that reflects gameplay and can't be obtained through AFK macroing
o A service we can offer that can't be offered for free by a robot
o A role in the GCW

If we get those I am sure everybody will be a lot happier :-)

"Yes, the riverdance guy is raking it in. But take a pin and stick it anywhere into the map of the US. Wherever you stick it, there will be many aspiring musicians and dancers who are very good at their craft, but will never succeed."

'Aspiring' is not the same as 'accomplished'. Accomplished musicians get paid well, aspiring musiciansd rarely get paid well. You seem to believe that a Master Dancer is no more than an aspiring entertainer - that is false. An aspiring entertainer is someone who plays in a garage band, most likely quite poorly - i.e. a novice or worse, but possibly quite well. However, a Master Dancer is recognised as such - he/she is not hiding his/her talent in a garage. An accomplished entertainer is someone who has reached a masterful level, who is recognised by his/her peers, and who performs flawlessly - these people (and I'm talking about anyone who has reached the Master level - or near to it) should get paid big bucks. Master dancers aren't 'aspiring' anymore.

Ok, change the word aspiring since you do not like it. There are professional level performers all over the place who never make it big. They are technically as accomplished as the "masters", but because they lack connections or due to other factors, they do not succeed.

It's similar in this game. I'm sure there is a reason why some people rake it in (wasn't someone recently saying they got 50K in one night?) and others do not. It's not always fair or predictable. The public is fickle. Getting that "Master" title over your head should not be a 100% guarantee of easy success and riches. It's not that way for any of the other professions, either.

Getting back on topic, I'm not against upping the mission rewards, never have been, provided they fix the AFK problem first. All I was trying to say is that I don't care how destitute I am, I'm going to dance because I love doing it. Others may not find it so, and to them I would advise finding something they find more rewarding until the devs find the time to enhance the dancing profession.

- J

"Getting that "Master" title over your head should not be a 100% guarantee of easy success and riches. It's not that way for any of the other professions, either."

Oh but it is. As a Master Scout, I will get much better paying missions than a newbie. Right now, as a novice pistoleer and scout, I can get over 2000 credits for a mission sortie, whereas a beginner gets something like 500. As a Master Dancer, I get under 400 credits per mission sortie plus tips, and a complete newbie gets... you guessed it - exactly the same. If you don't see a fundamental difference there, I don't know how to make it any plainer.

I'll agree that the missions should scale, but I'll also maintain that our primary source of income should be our patrons. NOT the mission terminal, which is where the scout's primary source of income is. It's a bit different.

- J