Dancer Archive
Thread: Confessions of an optimist
Akaara wrote:
Drygo wrote:
basically I'm using this game as an MMORPG "filler" until something else comes out that strikes my fancy...like Star Trek Online, or Middle Earth Online...or basically anything else remotely creative, since SWG no longer is.
That is the same witrh me. I will probably continue to play SWG until D&D, Middle Earth or Star Trek comes out. The animation in SWG is so nice though, it's hard to play other games that look more cartoonish (to me anyways).
I agree. I unsubscribed once before when I got sick of the buffbots...like, I dunno, 8 months ago or something. LOL. And, so I was actively searching for some other game to fill my time. And, everything just looked so awful compared to SWG. I got used to the high standard of graphics in SWG and I had a hardtime getting over that in other games, even if the game itselfwas good.
On a side note: That time I quit, the only reason Iresubscribed is because the devs finally came out and said "AFK will end. Recursive macros will end." (paraphrased). Hehe...silly, naive little me, they got me to spend another...oh $100 + game between those 8 months and JTL. Hence, another reason why I no longer believe a word that comes out of the devs mouths. Too many empty and broken promises. Telling me to keep up hope is just dumb at this point. I have no reason to have hope or believe anything. I mean, there's only so many times that you run up against a brick wall. Eventually, you learn not to do that anymore. And, anybody expecting me to do so...well, let's just say that I find that notion to be rather offensive, no matter who it comes from.
During that time that I was looking for another game 8 months ago, I did actually like Eve. The graphics were good, and I found it to have a steep learning curve that made you think and strategize. I like that in a game, and for what it was, there were a lot of options of gameplay. But, the downside to Eve is that you have no avatar, there is no place to get out and stretch your legs, and to be quite frank, you get this sense of feeling "lonely" out there in your ship...alone, even though you can chat with people. You kinda feel disconnected. But, beyond that I think it's a great game that I may go back to. But, I'm kinda holding out for something that is a bit more social. But, Eve, out of all the games I tried, is the only one that had graphics that could compete with SWG.
Message Edited by Drygo on 04-14-2005 07:55 PM
picklesSW wrote:
I was an optimist going into the combat upgrade thing.
Me, too. That was throughly dashed apart by the Devs, though.
I would like to look at the changes, as they would suggest, with an eye on the future. A future that contains new buffs we can apply, a future where botting will be minimized and entertainers will have a place, a purpose, and a way of making money. But the realist in me then pulls me back down from the clouds and says, "HEY! Get back down here, and take a look at what we now HAVE, because everything else is a promise that may or may not come to pass." And here is what I see.
The AFK and bot situation will probably go on unabated, the bots will simply deliver 10% XP buffs that everyone wants. On top of that, they've now pulled a 180 and stated that, despite everything they've said for the past year or so, AFKing will continue to be a valid method of playing in this game. They're never going to get rid of it. This is a crushing blow to me.
To me, as well. It has literally caused me to significantly decrease my play time as an Entertainer. A crushing blow can't describe how horribly this revelation has hurt me as a player in this game. It is the single greatest contributor to my consideration of cancelling. I've been having some serious issues with paying money to any game company who does this to their players. I've been subjected to months of this crap, and I've no idea how many more I can take. Sad, but true. This is no way to feel when playing a "game."
Group size is being reduced to 8. I completely understand this from a combat point of view. To entertainers, it's terrible. To someone who runs large scale events where 100 entertainers gather and perform, it's a logistical nightmare and a disaster.
The group thing is bullsh*t, plain and simple. I can't state that more emphatically. Talk about getting stabbed in the back, NEVER saw THAT one coming! Have they even screwed with Entertainer healing xp gain, or Entertainer xp gain now that groups have less than 1/2 the members they used to? I've gotten close to fed up with levelling on TC. The trickle of xp and the cybernetic arm from blowing myself up in my yacht pretty much infuriated me. And we haven't heard a **edit** thing. Unacceptable.
We will not be able to wear armor and utilize weapons for dance routines. To some, this is a positive, as people who earn the ability to wear certain armors don't want everyone else getting that ability and that "cool look" for free. To pure entertainers, however, this cannot be looked at as anything but an ability taken away. We could wear and use certain items, may even own said items, and now we cannot. No way to spin that positively, it's removal of an ability.
Yep, again - unacceptable.
To balance those negatives, I can find no positives. To be fair, I didn't really expect any positives in the combat upgrade...but I also didn't really expect any negatives and there they are. So this "upgrade" goes live in a few weeks and, barring any significant changes, I can see nothing but negatives for us.
I doubt much will change, as well. Be prepared for it. I will do no griping. I've had enough. But be prepared for getting the shaft thoroughly. I have no reason to expect otherwise.
I don't want to look at this whole thing negatively. I realize combat has long needed an upgrade. But so have entertainers, and tossing a new dance or two at us isn't it. I believe the devs are trying to tell us they will adjust things and make our professions better with more buffs and all in the future, but I'm sorry, there's no faith left in this dancer that they will ever fulfill on a promise like that. I believe the devs have good intentions where we are concerned, I don't think they are "out to get us". But I also believe we are at the bottom of the priority ladder and will always be there, and as such, I don't believe we will be getting any improvements anytime soon, despite their promises.
I would agree. Bottom of the priority ladder is definitely an accurate statement.
This is not a quitting post. I am actively playing EQ2 and SWG at the same time and I see no reason to cancel SWG when it's only costing me $7 over my EQ2 subscription, and does provide social fun at times. I'm just stating, I gues, that I am profoundly disappointed and depressed at what is happening here. I'm hoping that someone out there can lift my spirits by saying it's not as bad as what I see.
I can say it, but I don't even know if I believe it myself. It's not as bad as what you see. *sigh* Then again, maybe it is. The point is, we'velittle reason to believe the Devs given their track record with us. We also could be pleasantly surprised. But personally, I doubt it. WHY, you ask? Simple - just when I thought they couldn't make things worse for us, they did. They found a way. So fine. How the hell else am I supposed to react?
All I know is that I've had less and less fun playing an Entertainer in this game, the longer I've played it. I'm tired of getting cheated out of content, I'm tired of my role being stolen by macrobot jokes of supposed "players."
I've mostly shelved my Entertainer lately. I have a Jedi and I've been levelling them up. I am erroring on the side of the proven winners, Jedi, with whom the Devs seem to have a development fetish (can't get enough of tweaking those BH's and Jedi). Not only are they a combat profession, they're an endgame for SWG, so they'll get some kind of attention - the kind of attention that should afforded to every single profession in this game.
I'm not as huge of a fan of combat, it's nowhere near as fun as the way Entertainer used to be before the dark times. I do combat mostly with the perspective that eventually I'll be a high enough level to get in a group with my friends and have some fun together.
The Devs are our only hope, and honestly - they've donelittleto instillfaith in them in the last year of my subscription. They've only given me more frustrations. And I've had enough with being frustrated, I want to have fun playing this game again. I want to help others the way I used to. If I can't heal them as an Entertainer since I get no respect, then I'll heal them as a Jedi and have fun with my combat friends.
It's not like the buffbot hasn't already stolen my place in the game months and months ago. Maybe 2 filled my spot, I don't know. I never set foot in Coronet cantina anymore. It's absolutely disgusting. And I would like to see each and every Dev locked into Coronet cantina with only Novice Entertainer to level up in. And they can't do it together - no, no - they can't have fun together. They need to be subjected to it like me - the lone voice in a sea of macro spam, the only live person in a group, the Entertainer who is consistently passed up so that a horde of players group around some half-naked AFK'er, pleading to get into their group.
The deserve that, and much more. Because I've had enough of it.
Petronela wrote:
If I were a uber-combat-dude I would probably go BH after CU, because it looks like they will get the best combination of defense and offence, I would get me a pet zombieto AFK autofollow me everywhere and lots of "perfectly legal" macroswith template of doctor to heal and buff me, little of scout to pitch a tent, little of entertaining to dance in it,the rest of the points the zombie would have incombat to help out and have some cert for armor and weapons.
But... I'm not a uber-combat-dude and this is not my idea of fun.
Oh well... I guess we will see soon how it all comes together.
Deli'ah
Petronela wrote:
At this point I really don't know what to think.
On one hand there is the feeling of "there has to be something they aren't telling us, coz there is no way they can be this stupid....."
While on the other hand there is this strange feeling of wondering if actually forcing the "old-timers" out is the part of the plan to get in some "new blood" more receptive to the game's new direction.
If they're smart, when the Episode 3 movie comes out, they will have a game trailer mixed in with the other previous.
All they have to do is have few Jedi playing with their glow-sticks and scantily dressed female Twi doing Exotic around themand I'm willing to bet they will get lot more new accounts then those which get canceled in May.
After allin the end it's all about money, as in any other business.
Me? I ain't going anywhere, well at least my money aren't. I play both SWG and EQ2 with all access pass, so really see no point of canceling.
I will definitely play after CU, how much will I playstill remains to be seen.
Basically after the "AFK is good... we love our spamming Zombies..." statement I only expect the worst and therefore anything, even marginally positive will be a pleasant and welcomed surprise to me.
I think *hides so she don't get bonked* that CU will actually be good for the pure combat professions, only sad thing is the disregard it will have on the rest.
If I were a uber-combat-dude I would probably go BH after CU, because it looks like they will get the best combination of defense and offence, I would get me a pet zombieto AFK autofollow me everywhere and lots of "perfectly legal" macroswith template of doctor to heal and buff me, little of scout to pitch a tent, little of entertaining to dance in it,the rest of the points the zombie would have incombat to help out and have some cert for armor and weapons.
But... I'm not a uber-combat-dude and this is not my idea of fun.
Oh well... I guess we will see soon how it all comes together.
Deli'ah
If they put a game preview at the beginning of the movie, I'd go every day for a week to 2 shows per day, and when that preview for the game popped up, I'd scream at the top of my lungs, "Don't waste your money on that - especially if you want to be an Entertainer."
Fair is fair.
Kinda like how I steered people away from JTL in Best Buy. I asked if they played SWG, if they said no, I gave 'em an earful about Entertainers. I told them what server I was on, and that I'd help them if they needed some cash/guidance for the first couple of days. It was fun. And only 1 person didn't put the game back on the shelf, thank me, and walk away. I guess I didn't do much, but hey - it made a trip to the store for some DVD's a lot more interesting. The key was not to come off as an embittered and obsessed nutball but rather someone who's spent the money and wants to help others make the right decision. What a blast, might do that again sometime soon...maybe around May 5th. We'll see if things shape up before then. I really hope they do.
Message Edited by PoetDancer on 04-15-2005 11:11 AM
SpinningCloud wrote:
Panthu,
While I agree the Entertainment profession has had to put up with a lot I think you need some perspective...
Petronela wrote:At this point I really don't know what to think.On one hand there is the feeling of "there has to be something they aren't telling us, coz there is no way they can be this stupid....."While on the other hand there is this strange feeling of wondering if actually forcing the "old-timers" out is the part of the plan to get in some "new blood" more receptive to the game's new direction.If they're smart, when the Episode 3 movie comes out, they will have a game trailer mixed in with the other previous.All they have to do is have few Jedi playing with their glow-sticks and scantily dressed female Twi doing Exotic around them and I'm willing to bet they will get lot more new accounts then those which get canceled in May.After all in the end it's all about money, as in any other business.Me? I ain't going anywhere, well at least my money aren't. I play both SWG and EQ2 with all access pass, so really see no point of canceling.I will definitely play after CU, how much will I play still remains to be seen.Basically after the "AFK is good... we love our spamming Zombies..." statement I only expect the worst and therefore anything, even marginally positive will be a pleasant and welcomed surprise to me.I think *hides so she don't get bonked* that CU will actually be good for the pure combat professions, only sad thing is the disregard it will have on the rest.If I were a uber-combat-dude I would probably go BH after CU, because it looks like they will get the best combination of defense and offence, I would get me a pet zombie to AFK autofollow me everywhere and lots of "perfectly legal" macros with template of doctor to heal and buff me, little of scout to pitch a tent, little of entertaining to dance in it, the rest of the points the zombie would have in combat to help out and have some cert for armor and weapons.But... I'm not a uber-combat-dude and this is not my idea of fun.Oh well... I guess we will see soon how it all comes together.Deli'ah
Deli'ah I'll personally find you and saberwhap you if you go FOTM lol. /hug deli'ah
As for myself after seeing the CURB and playing for a bit..I hat what the changes are meaning for Entertainers. I started this game as one and I am aghast at how little valued we still are even now. Its one of the many many reasons I quit performing in public and have myself unsearchable. I won't even be able to go survey with Sariana anymore because of the changes. So phooey..the CURB might jsut be what pushes me to hit that tempting cancel button.
Message Edited by CandiDance on 04-15-2005 04:01 PM
Renea wrote:
Deli'ah I'll personally find you and saberwhap you if you go FOTM lol. /hug deli'ah
