Dancer Archive

Check out the October issue of PC Gamer Magazine. One of the big reviews of the game is SWG, but they've given the game the double treatment. The main review, on page 146, is mediocre in its praise but overall pretty fair (better than being a fanboy mag, anyway) -- giving the game a 77%, marking it down for bugs and lack of content.

But on page 90, we have a different writer, one who doesn't even have the balls to put his name on the article. Called "A Galaxy of NERDS", here's what he says:

"A frightening number of people shelled out the $50 for Galaxies and are paying $15/month just to stand around in bars and play musical instruments. Even then they're not playing anything - they click the "Play Instrument" button and their character starts to make a bleating noise. That'sit. The rest is just hanging around the bar, begging people to give them tips."

"You may wonder, as we did, just what kind of person considers this activity a great way to spend his/her recreational time and dollars. The answer, we suspect, is simple: they're nerds. Nerds. Nerds. As in, cue Ogre screaming "Nerrrrrrrds!"

"There, we said it. And we don't care if you think it's the pot calling the kettle black. We may have collectively gotten our asses kicked in high school, but the musicians of Galaxies are the kids we beat up - the sub-geek strata of social existence, the Dawn Weiners of the gaming world, reviled even by losers like ourselves."

"I mean, I may spend my evenings playing as a Wookiee named Chewbacco, but at least I'm exchanging blaster fire with nomad kooks or upgrading from bone armor to Armorweave - y'know, cool stuff. No one would call that nerdy. Would they? Hey ... guys? That's not nerdy, is it? Guys? Hello?"

Under the tongue-in-cheek flavor and the ultra-weak attempt at self-effacing humor, I detect a certain arrogance, which is pretty remarkable considering that most of these game magazine writers are Unreal refugees who can't get a real job. The whole aspect of online games as social communities seems to have escaped their pistol-length attention spans and they've let their sub-pubescent machismo (you're only as studly as the size of your gun) creep into their common sense.

The article singled out musicians, but I consider musicians my brethern and would never consider staging a dance performance without some good ones behind me. And if some pencild!ck game reviewer who's still trying to pass his SATs thinks that's nerdy, let him. He'll grow up one day, too.

I'm going to fire off an email to PC Gamer while I'm this steamed (I do my best work in this state). If any of you want to chime in, send them to [email protected]. They need to know just how wrong they are.

I agree - I don't read those things anymore because they seemed to be filled with your stereotypical insecure writers and editors who for some bizzare reason think they're 'cool' now because they get to make fun of people in a magazine. Even worse most of those people can't even write for squat! Their sense of journalism is laughable.

Well - sorry they spent their childhood as rejected outcasts and now must lash out, but they need to get over it. All kinds of people play this game. I for one don't fit into their ridiculous stereotype in any fashion. I don't know why they're calling us 'nerds' when everyone else I know (most of whom don't play this game) think THEY are the "nerds".

And they'll probably go "oh but we were just trying to be funny" GAH I hate that excuse! I'm sorry if they have no social skills and have no clue how to tease in a written medium but they need to freaking LEARN how to do it beforethey attempt it.

Ah...ok. Rant over

This article is just not true. I never beg for tips.

Bener

I'm not a nerd in the least, I like my blaster fire and questing as much as the next guy, but **edit** I got some good dance moves sometimes. hehe

All the author is really doing is demonstrating that he, like so many others out there (but thankfully less of us dancer types than most other professions) has no concept of what a role playing game is. He clearly thinks that the arcade-esque stuff (killing things, grinding XP, etc) is "where it's at." So just ignore him... his opinion is really pretty much irrelevent, since he does not understand what an RPG is all about.

Any real RPer would say, "Finally, after all these years, the roleplayers have something useful and fun they can do on one of these MMORPGs."

C

You would be surprised how many people, out there, think like this guy does.
They want the fast paced console game action that a single-player game gets them in a ONLINE RPG!

No wonder they balk at Entertainers!
As for calling those of us who entertain "nerds", YES, we CAN call the kettle black, because for all we know it was people like this that got picked on, in school, and now don't even have the confidence to feel comfortable being a musician because they have no self-esteem.

We, however, have the confidence to dance or play in front of anyone who walks into the cantina and know that not only do we have fun, but people pay us to do what we do.

Anyone can put a gun in their hand and pull the trigger, but only a few have the moxy to put themselves on a stage!

Hmmm, I actually have seen a wookie named chewbacco running around on my server...

I was going to say something like, "Well that just lowered my opinion of PC Gamer", but then I would be generalizing like the poor soul that wrote the article. Something I don't want to do.

I'm in the wrong forum here, but oh well. Lol. I'm the type that does the "cool" things, like gunning down Banthas with my shiny rifle. Musicians and Dancers (not sure if the author targeted them in that article or not) are a neccessity, I don't see how this guy can call them nerds when they help out literally every fighting character in the game.

To paraphrase this guy, "A frightening number of people shelled out the $50 for Galaxies and are paying $15/month to run around aimlessly and shoot things when they could've bought Counter Strike for $30 without the monthly payment." WHO exactly is the nerd here. He can say he doesn't care who calls the kettle black all he wants, but every dancer/musician out there knows the real truth.

Not that any of you guys would actually listen to this guy's words, but keep up the good work. I enjoy laying back every now and again in the cantina, and chatting it up with the people there.

/spit 'Author'

This is the response I just sent PC Gamer:

As one of the "frightening number" of people I just have to shake my head at the poor, ignorant fool that wrote this drivel. I understand completely that the gaming world is dominated by games where killing is the only way to advance (or, like first person shooters, the point of the whole game) and I commend Sony Online Entertainment and Lucas Arts for finally producing a game where you can have long-term, enjoyable game play doing something beside bashing things on the head with a stick. The market of gamers is limited if you only produce games aimed at the battle-oriented but by reaching out to those of us that get bored by combat, Sony/Lucas have expanded their potential market immensely. A lot of people in the entertainer class are parents and enjoy playing a class that doesn't have to be a constant grind or can be safely stopped at any moment when the little ones start crying. Some of us have spouses that play the game so we pick up an entertainer to be involved in something they really love and which we can enjoy (even if we don't like combat). Other of us play them as support characters for friends in other classes. The entertainers are the only ones that can heal wounds to the mind and ease the fatigue of battle so if the little ub3r l33t d00d that wrote this doesn't want to spend 2 hours sitting in a cantina by himself healing the wounds from the decay mite that kicked his ass I suggest he show a little more appreciation for what we do.

Min'Tora

Mivora:

What a fantastic response.

/applaud; /pause 5; /cheer; /pause 5; /grin

C

(chuckles) I read that same article a day or two ago. I sort of found it funny. The guy is obviously pretty ignorant about what we do and what the Cantina life is like so I just take it with a grain of salt. Seems like a fairly stereotypical perspective of our profession tho, but stereotypes are typically poorly formed generalizations anyway.. too bad this writer doesn't have a problem with writing his opinions based on such a lack of knowledge. Ignorance and Journalist/writers... who would of ever thought they went so hand in hand? hehehe.

Heh, they actually wrote that in PC Gamer? How lame! I like adventuring as much as the next person, but I also just love performing with a band of good musicians and a troupe of good dancers. I see a lot of roleplaying in the cantina (and now in hotels). Role-playing in an online role-playing game. Who'd have thunk it?

Lol too funny. I'm a dancer, but i've played in rl bands for years, and have even played at the famed CBGB's. That puts me in the same category as such "nerds" as Blondie, The Sex Pistols, The Talking Heads, the Ramones, just to name a couple of the bands who have come up throught that establishment. I'll proudly admit tothat kind of "nerd" status any day. Id suggest that author bite me, but if he got that close to a woman his head would most likely explode.

Mau'ren Tripodi

Master Dancer

Tarq.