Dancer Archive

Cross-posting this from the General Discussion board:

I just wanted to rate some of the ideas expressed here on a scale of 1-10 with explanations why I rate them that way.

Idea #1: "Entertainment Vending-Machine"

This is the idea, that when someone clicks /watch or /listen, a window pops up with the pre-set "rate" on that performer's services, which can be accepted or rejected.

I am passionately against this idea, because:

1. It cheapens the profession, reducing it to being all about the healing and the money, and nothing else.
   
2. Customers wouldn't tip much, if at all, because they'd feel that they're already paying for the service. Therefore, it doesn't reward positive social interaction and good roleplay, which is currently rewarded in the form of /tips.

Why not just let droid engineers make dancing/playing droids, installed with convenient coin-slots? I am not a wind up doll.

My rating: 1

Idea #2: Cover charge

Charging an upfront fee to enter the cantina which gets split among the entertainers.

Although this seems like a popular idea, it's not a very good one for several reasons:

1. Long-term AFK Macro Entertainers (LAMErs) don't deserve a cut.
   
2. You shouldn't restrict access to the cantina, in case people need to meet business clients, buy a Jawa beer, etc...
   
3. Difficult to program, especially in such a way as to make it fair.
   
4. People would be less inclined to /tip, feeling that they were already paying for the service.
   
5. It is an indirect extension of the Entertainment Vending Machine in #1 above.

Otherwise, it's a fine idea for private cantinas... along with the ability to "bounce" rude or troublesome clients.

But that already exists.

My rating: 3

Idea #3: Deny Service

The abilityof an entertainer not to heal someone's BF or mind wounds on a case by case basis.

Not a terrible idea, but it has its problems:

1. It's not realistic. If I can hear a musician, I can enjoy the music. If I can see a dancer, I can enjoy the show.
   
2. It creates the abilityforEntertainers to become Entertainment Vending Machines as in #1 above, which I am dead-set against.However, this is hopefully balanced by the large number of entertainers who would only use it to block out griefing customers. Still, enough entertainers would set up as "play for pay" that it would add resentment against the profession as a whole.
   
3. How would you implement it at a group level? Can anyone in the group choose to /denyservice on a customer, and thereby deny the services of the entire group? Or would it only be that portion of the healing provided by that one performer's actions? If the former, then that leads to group problems. If the latter, then will it really stop the griefing? I doubt it.

My rating: 4

Idea #4: Focus Performance

The opposite of Deny Service. Reduce the benefits of entertainment healing across the boardfor people who are /watch-ing or /listen-ing passively. Add a way to make it a two-way interaction for enhanced healing.

Two ways of doing this are:

1. Add a /focus type command for dancers. Those who are being /focus-ed will get a healing boost.
   
2. OR simply give the /flourish command a target.(i.e. /flourish 1 %TT) Those who are targeted by the flourish get a healing boost for the duration of that flourish OR until the performertargetssomeone else.

The reasons I like this:

1. It's realistic (for dancers at least). Tip a dancer, and she pays more attention to you. The more attention, the more "entertaining" it is for the customer.
   
2. Though it's not quite as realistic for musicians... it still approximates the idea of the "tip-jar" for musicians, who often take requests from tippers. (thinking of Billy Joel's Piano Man song)
   
3. It discouragesLAMErs. I don't think there isa way to macro changing the target is there? (without 3rd party utilities, which are verboten).
   
4. Griefers and non-tippers will still get their healing, but more slowly.

My rating: 8... but to make it a 10... add the following feature:

I just found out about the mind boosting abilities of performers. Make it so that mind-boost is impossible without this entertainer focus. Healing can be free, albeit slow... but mind boosting is a "premium service". Plus, since mind-boosting takes time to build up, it will take the long-term attentions of aperformer to max it out. This makes the dancer's time more valuable, and people will tip well for it.

This last idea is the best one yet, especially,IMHO, withmy additional feature. Anyone care to dispute it?

Lorilei Celestri
Apprentice Dancer
Chilastra

The focus DOES sound like an incredibly good idea. I don't mind the deny either, really, but the deny shouldn't be for the whole group, only that particular performer. Also, to add to the deny, if you're in a group and you deny that person, they can watch someone else in your group, but you shouldn't get healing xp from that particular person. I don't know if that's the way it'd be or not(I doubt it, due to the grouping boosting xp and such), but that's how it should be. ^.^

some are nice ideas but i dance and play music to entertain not to make money. it they tip i greatly appreciated, if not enjoy the preformance =)

How about renting your unused lots to Doctors in need of more resources

Or just setting up harvs on gringing ore for crafters, thats allways good for a few extra credits.

The only problem I have with idea#4 is if I am dancing for more than one customer at a time. It would be unfair, and detrimental to my tips if I had to focus on just one or the other. Allow for multiple focusable targets and you might have something.

-Spunk

Master Dancer - Radiant

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SpunkMuffn wrote:

The only problem I have with idea#4 is if I am dancing for more than one customer at a time. It would be unfair, and detrimental to my tips if I had to focus on just one or the other. Allow for multiple focusable targets and you might have something.

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What Spunk said. Great post, Lorilei, and I agree with about everything you said. Think of it this way: /denyservice is a negative enhancement. Do we want to "improve" our profession with more negative enhancements? Isn't forcing patrons to pay involuntarily a negative? It's quite different from cover charges in private cantinas, where a patron goes of their own free will.

On the other hand, Lorelei's idea of letting us buff better than we do has a lot to recommend itself. We will no longer be looked upon as eye candy or an unnecessary ball-and-chain around the fighters' feet. We will actually offer more value to the game.

Oh yes!

I really like # 4 and if we could have that, and make it possible to target multiple customers. That would be perfect in my opinion, the /deny option will only create more problems then it solves I think.

I've been at a loss recently on how entertainers can increase their 'marketability'. Your idea of having a /focus command certainly is a good one, and I hope the dev's consider it.

Great idea, Lorilei!

Zerine

Master Dancer

It should be shouted from the rooftops that /denyservicewas NOTmeant to be a way to improve the moneymaking of entertainers. It was put into the Test Center specifically because we dancers asked for it as a way to discourage griefing from our customers!

It felt terribly unfair to us that we would be required to heal someone who was treating us like dirt.

That's what /denyservice should be.

With my plan, /denyservice is still an option. My proposal was to reduce the default healing rates accross the board for "one-way" interaction (i.e. them watching us)... /denyservice would eliminate even this slow healing for those who don't deserve it. Call it a "/coldshoulder" command, if you will. If /focus is us smothering attention on a customer, /denyservice is a brush-off. And in a Role-Play sense, if a customer at a USO was getting the brush-off from a dancer, wouldn't that upset him? Wouldn't that prevent him from relaxing?

Thanks for the comments, people. Let's bring this to the Devs!

Lorilei

One more thing...

How about making the ability to /focus an Apprentice Level skill? Meaning you get it at Entertainment Healing IV in the Entertainer tree? That way, it's available to all 3 performing professions (Entertainer, Dancer, Musician), but not to newer entertainers. Newentertainers should be focused on their dancing or music. not on customers.

Then, add multiple focuses in the "Techniques" line of Dancer and Musican, and at Master Entertainer. Maybe something like this?

• Entertainment Healing IV: New ability - Entertainment Focus +1 (one individual)


• Master Entertainer: Entertainment Focus +3 (adds 3 individuals, for a total of 4 for them)


• Dancing/Music Techniques I: Entertainment Focus +1 (total 2)


• Dancing/Music Techniques II: Entertainment Focus +1 (total 3)


• Dancing/Music Techniques III: Entertainment Focus +1 (total 4)


• Dancing/Music Techniques IV: Entertainment Focus +1 (total 5)


• Master Dancer/Musician: Entertainment Focus +2 (total 7)

If a Master Dancer/Musician is ALSO a Master Entertainer, they'd have a max of 10 people.

Sound good?

Lorilei

Everyone should be able to hear and watch the show but the only ppl getting the added heal of the entertainer should be the one the entertainer has targeted.

As your skill goes up you can heal faster and heal more ppl in a given time, thats already built in. As it stands now, higher lvls just gets you more dances.

We should have complete control on our healing, this is how it works in the Med Center.

This solves a whole slew of problems including the AFK entertainers. I'm not so sure grouping should have any benefit other then co-ordinating musicians or dancers...

Keep in mind that when you walk into the Med Center and someone sees you and heals you, well I know I tip them for their services...

Nothing makes them tip you but they should be notified that DancerX or entertainerY is healing them. I shouldn't be their choice to just take the healing on their own.

I would love the /focus

1. Weed out afkers.

2. Would be more realistic.

I think that everyone should be able to heal off of you, just not as fast as when you are /focus ed on someone. Then you could sort of pick and choose.