Dancer Archive
Thread: AFK Dancers.
Whats the deal with this? It seems every dancer has a dance > sit > dance > sit macro. The Cantinas are like ghost towns all the time. Nobody is talking, nobody is using flourishes. More than a few times, I've seen dancers who've danced their way into wall corners. I come back a couple hours later with a fresh batch of battle fatigue and the same dancers, and maybe a few more are still in the corner. I can understand leaving for a little while every now and then to get some fresh air or something, but this is rediculous. A little life now and then would be nice.
/end rant
I would hope that you simply need to travel elsewhere to find the decent entertainers on your server. Good luck!
When I can be online then I'll be in the cantina talking and having fun. But if a macro can helpe me get xp when I can be at the keyboard, so be it. I don't believe in the whole concept of the long painful level grind. The sooner I can be master dancer, the better. And then I'll only be dancing when I want to, and when I am at the keyboard playing the game for fun. I don't consider just trying to get the next 50,000 xp for the next level to be fun -- that is simply the obstacle in my way of getting to the fun.
So, basically I'm saying I'm going to do whatever it is I have to do to make master dancer, than means dancing all the time, both when I am at the keyboard and when I am not and I make no apology for that. If you have a problem with this, you're beef lies with SoE who allows macroing.
Now, having that said, many, many, many times the cantinas are hopping - so much so that I plan to go afk, but end up staying around.
Sel
I would definitely have to agree with the folks who say find a new cantina... The best way to discourage bad behavior is not to reward it (in this case by giving entertain healing exp and/or tips to folks who aren't even going to be troubled to be at their keyboard)
Dance exp comes so fast I hardly see any need to macro. Besides the fact that making connections as an entertainer is important, and the only reputation you make for yourself as an AFK macro-er is... asbraindead AFK macro-er.
Eljer wrote:
Well I guess the question is...are you really there for ent or to get your BF healed? If it's just BF then who cares if they are afk, you are still being provided a service. If you are actually there for entertainment then go somewhere else.
I come to get the BF healed, but I stay for the entertainment. I usually stay a good 10-20 minutes talking with peopleafter my wounds are healed.I used to enjoy talking with all the entertainers, until the macro problem started spreading.
I'm happy to say that I finally found a decent cantina. The Coronet City cantina is great... 20-35 people there all the time, lots of master musicians and dancers, and not a huge amount of macro addicts.
I want to know why those dancers who use macroes constantly are dropping $15 per month to be AFK in a dead room for there time in the game...
Minus the fact that it does many things.
1) gives other entertainers a bad name
2) possibly decreases tips earned by entertainers that ARE there, because some people truly *don't* realize when someone is afk
Ultimately, you're right, the tool is there, so one can say that they should be in use. But your argument that there is 'no fun' until Master Dance is sad, in my opinion. If the only way you can 'have fun' being an entertainer is in making master at any cost - even without working for it- then perhaps you're there for the wrong reasons.
I play a Dancer and entertain as I would like to be entertained when visiting the cantina for some R&R. This means chatting to the folks who come by, having fun with the rest of the band, helping others with questions and such.
I do have a macro I use of 10 flourishes, but this is allow me to continue to dance while enabling me to chat. I make pretty **edit** good tips and am greeted by most patrons of the cantina I use (Kaadara, Naboo) because I do spend time to 'entertain' the visitors and they get to know me.
My 'day job' is an architect, which can be pretty lonesome in an MMPORG, but my Dancing skills allow me to delve into the games community. To me, going afk with some huge macro for hours on end defeats the purpose of the profession and earns you no respect or tips from the visitors to the cantina.
I do not findhaving dancers who havemacros running while afk all that troubling. Unless you are in a group that does not wantafk dancers, it is hard to see what harm it does (unless someone foolishly makes them group leader).And a group can always kick an afk dancer ifthat is what the group wants. I can understand why someone might want to macro sometimes. I could see wanting todanceyourtheir way through a level whereyou justhated the dance. But I do think that somone macroing does lose out on a lot of the fun of dancing. Talking to other entertainers and the cantina customers is really what this profession is all about as far as I can see. I guess if you wanted to macro, there are lots of out of the way towns where not much of anyone is dancing. Macroing there might even be a serviceto givepeople in the area who want a way to restore mind and get rid of battle fatigue. And there are plenty of players who do not want musicians and dancers for any more than that, and would be just as happy to have an afk dancer.
I just want to point out that there is a huge difference between using macros and doing the AFK exp thing. Please please please I beg everyone to stop lumping us together. I use my macros to allow me to put together some pretty kickin' routines where I have to have the timing on the flourishes down pat. I just cannot do that by hand. Some of my macros have the timing tweeked to a quarter of a second to get as seemless of a transition as possible. It also allows me to chat up the customers while doing something besides a basic step. If people continue to referred to the AFKers was macroers you just know the dev will eventually take away macros and that would be very detrimental to any true entertaining. Using macros != lazy AFK.
Min'Tora Ehi, Lowca
When I join a group, if I think I may be afk for an extended period of time, I tell the group, and has their permission. If they are not comfortable with that, I'll leave the group, or stay, or whatever I need to do to respect their wishes. Moreover, as I said, then I am truly afk for an extrended period of time, I usually excuse myself from the entertianment floor and do not join a group. That's pretty accomodating I would say.
The biggest hilarity I find is people who point to afk people as ruining the profession or giving entertainers a bad name. Afk people aren't even close to giving entertainers a bad name -- not like many of the entertainers that ARE there. The behavior and attitudes of many entertainers is so bad, or so childish, that you actually wish they would just go afk. I behavior of entertainers not-afk has a bigger negative affect on the reputation of entertainers in general than any afk entertainer will ever have. So let's start talking about that a little bit.
The bottom line is, there is a right way and a wrong way to go afk. If done the right way, then it is possible to use one of the game features that Sony Online Entertainment choose to include in the game in such a way that it is not a detraction to others. But you'll have to trust individuals to make that determination. If you have a person in your group who was being obnoxious, joined the group and didn't tell anyone he/she was going afk, then goes afk for large ammounts of time, then remove him/her and don't invite him back. But get used to the fact that macroing is a feature of this game -- it can be misused, yes, but it is also a tool. Used properly, it can make the game more fun. However the definition of "proper" is only in a way that shows the right ammount of respect for the playstyle of others, like letting groups know what your intensions are, etc.
Again, like I said, the ammount of time I am there outweighs the time I am not, and when I am not, I'll go off by myself and not detract from everyone else. If that is still a problem for some people, I guess they are just going to have to deal with it. I will say that out of all the professions I've tried so far (which has been a lot, I have two accounts), the people on this profession forum are some of the most uptight people I've ever met -- its very ironic. I'm wondering if many people chose performers because they're so uptight in real life they were looking for a way to express themselves. Loosen up folks, and know that afk people, or tipping issues, or kiddie dancers, or roudy patrons are not going to ruin the game or be the end of the world. It's a game, its for fun, its not for stress.
I personally find the cantinas to be a rip roaring blast of a time, but then again I don't stress about every little thing either...
Sel