Creature Handler Archive
Thread: upcoming changes
Electro wrote:
I think we all know the state of entertaining is grim. There are very few dedicated, full time entertainers left. I'd wager almost none, even our correspondents have combat "alts" as do our vocal community leaders. And I think that says a very great deal about how viable and fun to play the professions are. I don't see these announced changes doing anything to change that. And that is the problem that needs to be addressed in any changes made to entertainers.
Just to set the record straight, because someone else brought this up recently and seemed rather confused and distraught about it. I currently have 4 accounts. My combat alt's acct was opened in August 2003. Bless her little trandoshan head, I haven't played her in 3 weeks. One could more appropriately refer to her as my rp alt, as that is the reason for the account. Since 1999 I have consistently played 2 characters in all MMOs I've visited, Esharra who is always my main and "teh leezard" (name not disclosed for rp reasons, only 4 people on the server know she is me) who is a rp personality based on the character of my 28 year old African Grey parrot. She is a combattant because that fits her personality (I am horrible at combat but my friends keep me around for comic relief). I love playing "teh leezard" but she usually only comes out to play during rp events, occasional base raids and when I need to escape from Esharra's constant tells. She has received the Interesting Personage accolade badge.
I have 2 crafting alts. One has just respec'd from BE/Chef to BE/CH. The other is Tailor/Armorsmith. I used them to support the town where Esharra was mayor for 14 months. Now that I'm no longer mayor, I'm packing up the 7 storage houses and 11 factories and closing these two accounts. I don't like crafting.
Then there is the Esharra account, opened July 4th, 2003. This is the account that I log on daily. Six of the 7 characters on this account are master Dancers. Of them, 4 are also master Musician and 1 is master Fencer. Four of them are in guilds. It is also the account that I use on TC (2 chars there, both dancers, neither of them are masters today, for testing reasons, but that changes). Of my 3 FS characters, 2 are dancers on this account. I am not actively persuing Jedi and never actively persued FS..it just turned out that way. So yeah..Dancer is my profession of choice and what I do probably 90% of the time that I'm in game (outside of answer tells and e-mails).
I'm getting a lot of very positive feedback from non-ents about Inspirations. Saturday night after the crawl Esharra (no combat)was escorted to the far reaches of the Ryyatt (sp?) trail so I could see one of my best friends weild a light saber. One of the guys dropped a camp so that Esh would have a chair to sit in, of courseI started dancing instead. They all jumped in to get an Inspiration and welaughed about how we hadn't even thought about it beforehand.
Drygo wrote:
Am I the only one here who finds inspirations very useful? I keep reading post after post about how worthless they are. But, I gaurantee you, I wouldn't have achieved some of the skill boxes I've achieved the past month without them.
Electro wrote:
I think we all know the state of entertaining is grim. There are very few dedicated, full time entertainers left. I'd wager almost none, even our correspondents have combat "alts" as do our vocal community leaders. And I think that says a very great deal about how viable and fun to play the professions are. I don't see these announced changes doing anything to change that. And that is the problem that needs to be addressed in any changes made to entertainers.
I have 2 combat alts (one a Jedi, one a Rifleman/Doc).
The Rifleman/Doc was a pure Entertainer before respec'ing, so that Warryyr can have Master Musician/Master Entertainer/Master Creature Handler. Warryyr was the Rifleman/Doc for awhile, so I could support my Jedi (which I've worked for, for over 8 months) and so Warr could wield a Bowcaster effectively for awhile. He still can, with CH (combat level 54)- plus my pets will be worked into my performances now.
My Jedi alt is a crafter - Master Artisan/Architect/Droid Engineer.
Now, the very reason I have characters that represent almost all the various playstyles in this game is because I like variety. Somedays I want to party in the cantina, somedays I want to go out and kill stuff. Sometimes I want to make people some droids to help them out. I am a firm believer that someone who helps others would benefit from understanding their perspective of the game as well as their own.
I started as a Master Musician with Warryyr, and finally he's back to playing Music and he now has Master Entertainer to boot. I played a pure Entertainer for quite awhile, and I'll miss ID and Master Dancer a lot. I've seen the difficulties of pure Entertainers firsthand, and it's done nothing but bolster my commitment to those who have those skills as their only skills, because as you said - the Entertainer situation is kinda grim right now. I've seen it, but because I have other characters, I could do other things. Please do not assume that because I had other roles to fill in the game that I don't understand the problems that face pure Entertainers. I do.
The fact that I have other characters with other skills doesn't necessarily reflect how poorly Entertainer is doing, because I've ALWAYS had other characters to experience the game from different perspectives. I didn't get these other characters because Entertainer sucks or anything, I got them because I wanted to do combat stuff, I wanted to be a Jedi, and I loved crafting. But sometimes those lose out to me playing my Entertainer for awhile.
I'm in full agreement that the changes coming to Entertainer need to add some serious fun to this game, for us and our patrons of cantinas. I will be pushing for these positive changes from the perspective of an Entertainer player, a combat player, and a crafter. I think it adds to my ability to judge the positives and negatives of any changes made to this game, for any playstyle.
Again, I don't have alts because I got bored with Entertainer, or because of the issues Entertainers have. I got alts because with 250 skill points, there's only so much of a playstyle to experience - and I wanted to experience all the game had to offer.
Drygo wrote:
Am I the only one here who finds inspirations very useful? I keep reading post after post about how worthless they are. But, I gaurantee you, I wouldn't have achieved some of the skill boxes I've achieved the past month without them.
I think they are useful, I mostly play a non entertainer now and if in a town and have a few minutes I will go andlisten to someone (most are AFK and I prefer not to help them gain XP ) . I will not go out of my way to travel to a cantina for a buff, they are nice if you wish to take the time, not something my friendsor I really go looking for.
Drygo wrote:
Am I the only one here who finds inspirations very useful? I keep reading post after post about how worthless they are. But, I gaurantee you, I wouldn't have achieved some of the skill boxes I've achieved the past month without them.
in my mind this is the ultimate way to get rid of AFK'ers, there is no reason to come see them. there is the inspiration buff which really does little for me.
Esharra wrote:
Upcoming Changes
The following contains information that has been approved for me to release to you.
Timeframe:
These items are currently "In Development". However, there are a lot of variables to account for between "In Development" and release to Live so please keep in mind that this is subject to change.
New Dance:
Dancers will receive abasic and advanced version ofa new danceto their repertoire. These dances will be granted to all dancers at the Dance Knowledge I and Dance Knowledge II skill boxes respectively.
New Song:
Musicians will receive a new song. This song will be granted to all musicians at the Music Knowledge I skill box.
Remove Battle Fatigue:
Battle Fatigue will no longer be acquired from combat, and entertainers will no longer be able to heal battle fatigue. Any player that logs in after this change will have all battle fatigue cleared instantly.
Remove Entertainer Healing Experience:
Since mind wound and battle fatigue healing are no longer the responsibilities of the entertainer, Entertainer Healing experience will be removed and replaced with dancer or musician experience as appropriate.
New Props and Particle Effects:
New particle effects will be granted for use by dancers and musicians. Dancers will also have the ability to hold and use dance props. Some types of props might include swords, staves, batons, sparklers, glow sticks, swoosh sticks, etc.
Skill Tree:
The Techniques, Wound Healing and Fatigue Healing skill tree branches will be modified to reflect their new attributes. Techniques will contain particle effects. Inspiration Buffs will replace Wound Healing. Props will replace Fatigue Healing. Other than adding the new dances, there will be no changes to the Knowledge branch at this time.
Other:
There will be an increase in Dancer Experience gain, the value of which is under discussion. Issues related to Cover Charge will be addressed.
This is all the info that I have right now. Again, keep in mind that this is all subject to change.
Message Edited by Esharra on 06-19-2005 12:15 PM
But removing BF is just plain stupid! Why don't SWG just get rid of the entertainer profs completely then?
I mean if ANYTHING you should make BF more of a factor in combat, say you lose a bit speed and accuracy when fighting if you have high BF. I mean really....... geesh..
Something just occurred to me, and I am not sure if the devs have considered it or not.
Right now, healing can only be done, and heal XP therefore only gained, in cantinas or suitable other locations. The point of this was to keep the cantina the focus of attention. If they take heal XP away, will knoweldge XP be limited to such locations, or can we still gain knowledge anywhere? And if so, what does that mean for 'venues' and whether they are needed at all?
C
Dancer and Musician XP gain will not be limited to theNPC and player-owned buildings which wereformerly associated with Entertainer Healing XP. Inspirations will only be available in these locations (so far this has not changed & I don't expect it will). Venues are always needed. We are just becoming a little more independent of some of them.
Chessack wrote:
Eshie --
Something just occurred to me, and I am not sure if the devs have considered it or not.
Right now, healing can only be done, and heal XP therefore only gained, in cantinas or suitable other locations. The point of this was to keep the cantina the focus of attention. If they take heal XP away, will knoweldge XP be limited to such locations, or can we still gain knowledge anywhere? And if so, what does that mean for 'venues' and whether they are needed at all?
C
Esharra wrote:
What I have suggested before is that we be able to "craft" prop weapons and armor out of existing items via a radial menu option available only to players of a skill set within the entertainer profs.
My suggestion is to use both methods. Items converted to props from existing items can be used by anyone.Props created by the dancer can only be used by dancers.
- There will be a marked for disabled weapons, armor, etc. as well as armorsmith and weaponsmith grind products.
Cons:
- Will any of the armorsmiths, weaponsmiths, combat players know or even care that dancer could use their disabled items?
- If this is the only option, what if there are no cheap items that the dancer can convert?
Normal Crafting:
Pros:
- Independance to some degree on aquiring the props
- Custom made
Cons:
- Dependance of materials
Chessack wrote:
I think the idea that people "used to be full time entertainers" is probably mistaken. I don't know anyone who was a "full time" entertainer -- as a player, anyway. Or, for that matter, a full time anything. There is a reason they used to give us enough skill points to fully master 3 profs...
C
For a long while I played, exclusively, an Entertainer (Master ID/Master Dancer/Master Entertainer/rest in Musician.) I knew others who did as well. Obviously our experiences within the game varied.
I think it is also fair to say there are and have always been a fair number of people who, exclusively, play Combat characters (even though many were forced to try crafting and entertaining in the hologrind, we all know how well that went over.) They may vary which combat profession they are playing from time to time, and they might throw on a little medic or scout for some utility, but they are combat characters to the exclusion of other playstyles.My point, which was not perhaps made very well, since I have been told I am a fool, stupid, a dummy head and mistaken trying to make it
... is that there isn't enough game play in the purely social professions to make it fun enough that many people choose to play them to the exclusion of the other play styles, whereas the converse does not appear to be the case. And that I think is a problem. I think we all think it is a problem, since we've all been asking for content for entertainers for two years now.