Bio Engineer Archive
Thread: Getting to know you and your profession!
Petronela
Tue Oct 26, 2004 6:24 am
#989
Hello Tiggs,
Basically the majority of problems for Entertainers are same as those for Dancers and Musicians.
Afk-Zombies are making it impossible to have any fun in public cantinas.
No means of predictable income, someone really should take a second look at the Entertainers mission terminals because they are (I’m sorry to say) a joke and not a good one at that.
No content and no real usefulness.
As it stand right now I only have Master Entertainer title because of Mandovion and Ceremonial.
There is absolutely no reason for having it as a dancer or image designer and I find that not only very sad but also very wrong.
My idea of Master Entertainer is that they really should be The Masters of Entertaining.
They should be given a unique ability of their own. Musician and Dancers have buffing, Entertainers should have something also.
Why not making Masters Entertainers the once who truly make a group performance unique?
Maybe by having the ability to call group special effects, similar to /bandflourishing but when they use it everyone in the group would perform the special effect or even ability to call holo emotes for the whole group.
How about Master Entertainers being able to change between dance and music fluidly without disturbing overall group performance.
Basically what I’m trying to say is, they should be the once who bring the whole show together rather then just being a stepping-stone to other professions.
Deli'ah
Basically the majority of problems for Entertainers are same as those for Dancers and Musicians.
Afk-Zombies are making it impossible to have any fun in public cantinas.
No means of predictable income, someone really should take a second look at the Entertainers mission terminals because they are (I’m sorry to say) a joke and not a good one at that.
No content and no real usefulness.
As it stand right now I only have Master Entertainer title because of Mandovion and Ceremonial.
There is absolutely no reason for having it as a dancer or image designer and I find that not only very sad but also very wrong.
My idea of Master Entertainer is that they really should be The Masters of Entertaining.
They should be given a unique ability of their own. Musician and Dancers have buffing, Entertainers should have something also.
Why not making Masters Entertainers the once who truly make a group performance unique?
Maybe by having the ability to call group special effects, similar to /bandflourishing but when they use it everyone in the group would perform the special effect or even ability to call holo emotes for the whole group.
How about Master Entertainers being able to change between dance and music fluidly without disturbing overall group performance.
Basically what I’m trying to say is, they should be the once who bring the whole show together rather then just being a stepping-stone to other professions.
Deli'ah
picklesSW
Tue Oct 26, 2004 6:33 am
#990
AFKing/buffbots. Until you (the devs, not you personally) follow through on the promise you made to solve that issue, you won't be getting any different responses from me.
Tengue
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:07 am
#991
Hello Tiggs;
I have been MCH since day one. My desires for ch are:
1). remove all call/store delays ... big hassle, not needed. 99% of the time I am solo in the wild.
2). fix auto store.
3). increase pet command range to 256.
4). increase non ch pets level to 15 again. ... big income area for CH.
5). make pvp same as a wild pet attack recived damage/applied damage.
6). storing of pets. More than 22 needed.
7). raise max CL of pet use ... 1). single pet 70. 2). multi pets 100.
8). allow any number of pets out restricted by max cl out. say I want 10 vir-vir out lol.
or 4 grand wrix (max 100) or 2 rancor (max 100) or my lvl 41 merek and lvl 50 gurrek.
In other words base pets out only on max pet level out.
9). remove hunt tree requirements, auto add these skills at novice ch. this lowers point cost 13.
10). instead of storing captured pets in data pad make them a deed at capture (same as a BE pet)
This fixes storage and and would allow vendoring.
11). add a pet color tool. cool blue cu-pa lol. ch can make these with generic. adds content and income.
12). make train window pesistant until done training. pop pop pop pain in rear.
13). allow pet stats to improve with age in data pad. Slowy get better with age. Every 30 day bump
bump stats a bit. My 6 month old rancor now has 60% resist instead of 50 and cl is now 52 instead
of 50 etc. etc.
14). Last but not least increase mask at novice ch, I am sick of durmi killing my mask.
I have been MCH since day one. My desires for ch are:
1). remove all call/store delays ... big hassle, not needed. 99% of the time I am solo in the wild.
2). fix auto store.
3). increase pet command range to 256.
4). increase non ch pets level to 15 again. ... big income area for CH.
5). make pvp same as a wild pet attack recived damage/applied damage.
6). storing of pets. More than 22 needed.
7). raise max CL of pet use ... 1). single pet 70. 2). multi pets 100.
8). allow any number of pets out restricted by max cl out. say I want 10 vir-vir out lol.
or 4 grand wrix (max 100) or 2 rancor (max 100) or my lvl 41 merek and lvl 50 gurrek.
In other words base pets out only on max pet level out.
9). remove hunt tree requirements, auto add these skills at novice ch. this lowers point cost 13.
10). instead of storing captured pets in data pad make them a deed at capture (same as a BE pet)
This fixes storage and and would allow vendoring.
11). add a pet color tool. cool blue cu-pa lol. ch can make these with generic. adds content and income.
12). make train window pesistant until done training. pop pop pop pain in rear.
13). allow pet stats to improve with age in data pad. Slowy get better with age. Every 30 day bump
bump stats a bit. My 6 month old rancor now has 60% resist instead of 50 and cl is now 52 instead
of 50 etc. etc.
14). Last but not least increase mask at novice ch, I am sick of durmi killing my mask.
DraconianOne
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:10 am
#992
Elwyn, good post. And good points well, if assertively, made.
The tricky part is that I am entirely in agreement with you about some things and would disagree about others. I don't play SWG to grind to some plateau and don't play that way. But I have afk macroed a sampling session before now for game reasons I won't explain here (far too long winded and dull). And I would have loved to have taken some friends and I did talk to people i knew via tells and chat for as long as they were online. But when they weren't and while I still wanted to play to get the resources I needed. If people were around then I'd have stayed at my PC for 3 hours talking to them. I'd still been AFK macroing from one point of view - because I would have been in the game but not paying attention to what my char was doing, despite being focussed entirely on the game window.
This isn't me trying to justify Buffbots - I don't want to. I've lost out to a buffbot before now in cantinas and would like to see something done to address the issue. I just don't think policy changes are going to be the answer.
The tricky part is that I am entirely in agreement with you about some things and would disagree about others. I don't play SWG to grind to some plateau and don't play that way. But I have afk macroed a sampling session before now for game reasons I won't explain here (far too long winded and dull). And I would have loved to have taken some friends and I did talk to people i knew via tells and chat for as long as they were online. But when they weren't and while I still wanted to play to get the resources I needed. If people were around then I'd have stayed at my PC for 3 hours talking to them. I'd still been AFK macroing from one point of view - because I would have been in the game but not paying attention to what my char was doing, despite being focussed entirely on the game window.
This isn't me trying to justify Buffbots - I don't want to. I've lost out to a buffbot before now in cantinas and would like to see something done to address the issue. I just don't think policy changes are going to be the answer.
PoppaBear
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:10 am
#993
Thanks for coming, Tiggs. This'll be one of my first posts here in a while.
Well, my issues.
1) We need more viable weapons for us. As stated since I first joined the Fencer boards, we have a serious lack of weapon variety. I've been using a max damage gaffi stick for a long time, and that's all we have. Swordsman and a few other combat classes have gotten new weapons, with no love for us. I just hope when the devs release the "Raphayl Blade", it's a good weapon that will do her, and fencers, justice.
2) Make our toughness on par with TKM or Swordsman. I've always seen us as tanks because of our defenses...the ones who get the "crap" while the others get the "glory". 
We shouldn't have to stack defenses to prevent ourselves from getting the crap kicked out of us, either.
We shouldn't have to stack defenses to prevent ourselves from getting the crap kicked out of us, either.I'm happy with Fencer, dispite my few complaints. We're perhaps the most balanced profession out there, and I love mixing it up in PvP/PvE to test how far our profession can go (and it can get pushed pretty far!).
I'll add more as I think of stuff. 
Message Edited by PoppaBear on 10-26-2004 07:11 AM
jedimaster1141
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:16 am
#994
Carbineer at the moment fares pretty well in PVP and low end PVE. However, it is fairly useless to play as a carbineer without BH carbines, because the speed given at master carbineer is so ridiculously low. The specials seem to be working well, with the exception of leg shot 3. It just doesn't seem to be as strong as some of the other pool shots that other professions have, and it could use some beefing up. I personally don't think its right that I have to buy +25 tapes to be effective as a carbineer.
Asmoc
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:25 am
#995
After reading this thread, I felt the need to express "My" opinion and views on the whole AFKmacroing issue. I am not an Entertainer, Dancer or Musician and have never been, but have had BF healsand Mind Buffs from AFK toons and players actually playing. I cannot speak for everyone playing this game, but for me I enjoy having both as a choice. When I am grinding away for some XP and do not feel the desire to socialize or I'm just in a hurry, I can utilize an AFK Entertainer (always in a PACantina)to heal or buff and be on my way (and I always tip no matter who I visit). If I want to socialize and or actively interact with entertainers, I will visit the NPC Cantinas.
Ka_ren
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:37 am
#996
TyePilot wrote:
I play a master musician named Ibis on Europe-Infinity.
In the coronet cantina there are two buffbots... ZEEZZ and ZAAZZ or whatever.
We quickly figured out that stopping the band while the music buffbot was playing shuts
his macro off entirely. Most buffbots do not have /startmusic so if you feel
oppressed by buffbots.. you can shut off some poorly written musician bots. We are pretty
sure that dance buffbots are unbreakable.
just a report from the front lines of restoring the cantinas to the social players...
p.s...
I used AFK macros to dance while afk, but I did so in a corner as not to absorb tips
from players who thought I might be there... Compared to when I was actively healing
people while not afk.. the tips dropped off quite alot in the corner...
So, as a compromise.. if you are AFK exping.. try not to ask for tips... you arent spending
your time to help others, so dont expect others to help you.
just my .02 CAN
/stopband only works if you are grouped with them. And I have seen plenty of afk'ers who have startmusic or startdance in their macro as well. Not much you can do about it.
jphillips1868
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:44 am
#997
The problem with CH is is that it was balanced (i.e. nerfed) in late 2003. The balancing was to be the first part of Combat Revamp and so CHs were told you can't view the changes in light of the current combat system, but it will make sense once the revamp is done. The problem is the devs never balanced the rest of the system. However, the subsequent introduction powerful buffs and 80% amrour that you could then wear because of the buffs made CH even less powerful versus the other combat professions.
Karquile
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:45 am
#998
I'm really glad to hear that there are itinerant entertainers out there who will come and set up and heal people on commission, and I'm also glad to see the Ent channel exists (although at first I thought that there were large slow-thinking tree creatures in the game).
As an experiment I used the Ent channel on two different galaxies last night, to test out how this works. I asked where I could get some BF healing, and I'm happy to say that in each case someone answered me promptly. I was sent to a few different locations where they knew there were entertainers working. I went to those locations and indeed, there they were - AFK ENTERTAINERS.
Don't get me wrong, these AFK entertainers weren't moonlighting commandos frugging away with a particle beam cannon in one hand, or fresh-rolled generic 'bots with randonames and slitherhorns. No, these were the real deal, tarted up Twi'leks with icky cutesy names and high level skill titles and costumes by Frederick's of Moenia. The pillars of the profession, doing what they came here to do. And doing it AFK.
But of course that's all right, because they're our crowd. And that's why I joke about the fleshwrap Cosa Nostra. Because I've long observed in this game that what socializer Ents really hate is seeing competition - AFK or otherwise - from someone they don't know. It's cliques, it's human nature. And these Forums being what they are, it's inevitable that they would try to get the game mechanics to enforce their clique dynamic.
But here's dirty little nonsecret #1: Your average rank and file SWG player considers BF/Mind healing/buffing to be a necessary evil at best, a major nuisance at worst; and they would rather be dentist-drilled thanbe forced to shlep to Fleshwrap City or Theed and spend twenty minutes listening to Hug'gee Bun'nee make coo-coo hairdresser chat with "her" friends, just to fix the fricken blue bar.
Which is why they pick up that Novice themselves and spend extra time in camp or a house doing autorepair, or they make sure someone in their group or guild has a few skill boxes (or a mule) for the purpose. And I would be willing to bet that the overwhelming majority of blue points healed in game, per day, is done that way and not in the Tinkerbell Lounge. (I would also bet that most mind buffs are done in-house from Ent mules.)
Which brings us to dirty little nonsecret #2: The reason the devs put powerful macro'ing in the game was so that the ability to do labor saving stuff would not SOLELY belong to a gifted hacker fringe, as it does in other games. They knew, as I and many others reading this know, that the technical means exist to run bots and do many other things in the game, without detection and without relying on the macro facility. They also knew that by making those technical means less necessary for effective gameplay, they would make them less prevalent. And it has worked. And God willing it will continue to work. But every time you get one of these player driven campaigns of the form "Ooooh they're doing something I don't like, take their macros away" and the Devs knuckle under and do it, it's one more excuse for hacker authors to turn their gaze SWG-ward and say, Hmm, we can fix that. And they will fix it. And you'll find yourself in a 'bot arms race.
I love being aDancer, I loved working it up to Master in the days before the dreaded Holocrons appeared and made professions meaningless. I like the feeling of welcome when you start performing in a room full of banged-up Bounty Hunters and scorched Swordsmen. But I have never been so arrogant as to presume that I was entitled to a stranglehold on healing and gameplay for an entire Galaxy because of my skill title. I live and I let live. I do not need Big Brother to step in and make a bunch of rules changes to outlaw the Wookiee across the room. And I know that there are a lot of other game players (whether or not they hang out on this particular board) who agree with me. Our voice deserves to be heard, whether or not it's popular with the Golgafrinchan establishment. And that is why I spent a few points of star average to post here.
bn-ny
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:47 am
#999
Tiggs wrote:
Just popping in to let you guys know I didn't forget about you. I sent out an email questioning the policy and I am still waiting on a response. Everyone is very busy with JtL going from beta to launch so it may take a few days.
Tiggs,
I apologize for my previous post a few pages back.I was a bit upset that day. you coming back and actually taking the time to post and check in means alot to me. I think some on this forum not all are very delicate at this time. The lack of communication in the past has left some of us a bit leery that we are just given a bone and then left on our own again.
Thank you for spending the time in your busy schedule to post again giving me and I'm sure others a glimmer of hope and reassurance that we aren't left on own again.
picklesSW
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:48 am
#1000
Just as an aside, if you're not a dancer, you've no reason to be posting in this thread. Tiggs asked for the opinions of dancers on their #1 issue. We have a right to express what we think that is. If you're only here to debate the AFK issue, we have a thread stickied exactly for that purpose...take it there.
DarkY0da
Tue Oct 26, 2004 7:52 am
#1001
Asmoc wrote:
After reading this thread, I felt the need to express "My" opinion and views on the whole AFKmacroing issue. I am not an Entertainer, Dancer or Musician and have never been, but have had BF healsand Mind Buffs from AFK toons and players actually playing. I cannot speak for everyone playing this game, but for me I enjoy having both as a choice. When I am grinding away for some XP and do not feel the desire to socialize or I'm just in a hurry, I can utilize an AFK Entertainer (always in a PACantina)to heal or buff and be on my way (and I always tip no matter who I visit). If I want to socialize and or actively interact with entertainers, I will visit the NPC Cantinas.
Most of us won't demand that you "socialize and or actively interact" with us. You don't need to do any of that to get healed from us. Most of us will say hi or greet you and if you don't "interact" back then we tend to just leave ya alone. And is it that hard to ask someone for a buff ? just a "Are you buffing ?" and "Could I get a buff ?" Wooo way too much interaction there eh.