Dancer Archive
Thread: Levelers' Guide to Dance
Well I too show masters the proper respect. I used to call each on Intrepid "Madame," and gave them the proper reverence due. I remember when I did this to Sultrina recently, and all she said was, "Don't be giving me a reputation now." Back in those days (August, September), master dancers, unlike musicians, used to stake out their "turf." It was rare to find more than one master dancer in each cantina, simply because it was better not to divy the tips between the two. I remember my teacher, Madame Xedra Trehof out of Kor Vella, the one who I waited three days to grant me my Master's degree above and beyond when I received wound healing IV. Most of what I know about the decorum of dancing, I learned from her.
But those were also the days when all Master dancers were great performers as well as highly skilled dancers. Today, we have some Master Dancers who simply have no idea how to work a crowd, how to use their effects, and how to make their dances and such look nice. They have little appreciation for the craft, and simply look at the profession as a "BF healing dispenser." THESE are the Masters I take to school.
Because really the only difference between two dancers is the rate one may heal BF. Indeed, in a group situation, even a rank novice can be an effective healer, as it is the group as a whole that has an effect. If a character wants to get healing and leave, they'll watch the Master, and I'll let them do exactly that, but they aren't going to go in and out of a cantina without me saying hello, using every manner of wit and charm I have available to get them to tip me. After all, they really have nothing better to do than to let the dancer or musician do their work, be it music or dance. So sure, I'll let them watch the more experienced members of the group...but if the one who they are watching makes no effort to engage the patrons, guess who will end up with the tip that would normally go to the one they watched? YOU GUESSED IT! Now you know why I tell you all not to compare tips?
This class can be played from day ONE. You can earn a living from day ONE, and you'd be suprised how much a raw novice canearn if they attempt to make the cantina experience even vaugely more amusing than what patrons are used to. Just like in life, however, you have to play it by ear and understand the dynamics of the situation you are in. For example, on Bria,I know that Sultrina is in charge when she's in Tyrena. I'll let her direct me. Why? Because Sultrina's friends list is so long, her craft is so polished, and her demeanor is so refined that she could destroy me if I got in her way. I'm better off learning from her than competing with her. Kirah, Doasa, and the "TF Crew" are some others that I will work with, rather than against. Some master who ground in the Coronet Cantina in five days who thinks that now she's ready to play live? Well dears, she'll get, howdo theysay, "owned?" Because it really is the effort you put in to make these things entertaining that will get you the respect, tips, and admiration of the patrons, and just like an improvisational actor, you have to practice your characteristic emotes and dialouge. Skill levels? We'll all get those in due time. But the ability to make these things look and sound interesting is something no skill box may grant. Its why I LOVE these professions. Because ultimately, the skill boxes do not make one better at it. Wound healing, BF healing, and buffs are the reasons they come to us, but not the reasons they tip us or admire us.
Pappi wrote:
*snip*The circumstance that prompted you to write this guide was unfortunate and prehaps a mixed blessing. *snip*
), I realized that in the absence of many of our old style Master’s Teachings, many new dancers have no one to teach them these things. My trying to explain things while grouped tended to inflame the situation, so I thought it would be better for all of us to have a real guide posted. 
I do however hope that we can all get along no matter what level or playstyle we are. I hope this guide can help that along. Edit: *cough* For the public, I was not the one bandfloing, I was accepting them and briefly training a new Dancer to use them.
And nooooo! I did not know /b 1 worked, that's awesome... now I can be really lazy. Message Edited by Panthu on 04-26-2004 12:19 AM
Drygo wrote:
It almost sounds a little pompous, with all the honoring and stuff, though. LOL.
almost? :rolleyes:
eh, not dead yet
pretty red though, didn't know there's a red option for twi'lek skin
First, I wish to say that this post would be better served if it was titled “A Dancer’s Etiquette Guide” or, better yet, “An Entertainer’s Etiquette Guide”. Second, I wish to state that I am offended by the “flavor” of this post and I am sorry to see that this was posted by the Dancer Correspondent (DC).
“If a Master Dancer should walk into your cantina and offer to group with you, bow down. You are lucky to have come across someone kind enough to allow you a little XP.”
Master Dancers (MD) are not the end-all, be-all of the class and the audience that seeks out an AFK-macrotaining MD is really short-changing the class. We have seriously damaged our reputation if our customers will not visit a cantina until they have >600 bf points. Being a leveler and realizing my poor healing potential, I had always tried extra hard to put on a good show to make up for it. I have even apologized to the poor souls who wandered into a rarely used cantina because they were walking into one of my practice sessions. I only had one person ever complain about the healing rates of entertainers and novice dancer/musician and that was after I had mastered my skill boxes. All the time that I was leveling, I got comments of “wow, you’re a good dancer” and “you don’t dance like all the other girls, its nice”. Perhaps it was because I never saw learning my skill tree as “grinding” but as the opportunity to learn dancing and exploring new ways of presenting my dance.
MD’s ARE NOT TO BE RESPECTED BECAUSE THEY HAVE ACHIEVED A TITLE OF MASTER DANCER. I am even going to push that further by saying that you don’t even have to be respectful to a MD. I am appalled that the DC had the gaul to say the above referenced statement. <read explicit language here> Should I have respected the Master Dancer who told me to give it up and go home because I was never going to get a customer while she was in the cantina? Or, the Master Dancer who was offended when I didn’t group with her because I was going to be playing Star Wars 1 for an hour or so and didn’t feel it was appropriate to subject her to that when she was obviously interested in doing exotic dancing, only to be derided by her and told that she played with her sound off anyway?? Respect is a two-way street. Show me a MD that deserves my respect, they will get it. Enough said.
Master dancers are not any better dancers than the rest of us (oops! Or should I say “them” since I am a master dancer too), they just have a different tool set. The exceptions to thisare the mind buff and healing rates, but I think we can all agree that these are treatsfor the ones who stick it out and complete the tree.
Politeness never goes out of style, and I thank the DC for bringing this once again to our attention; however, this post leads one to believe that masters are above such things. This guide may have been written with good intentions, DC, but I would suggest that you approach your other postings with a little bit more objectivity.
Zeepitha, Master Dancer
Radient
morphemet wrote:
MD’s ARE NOT TO BE RESPECTED BECAUSE THEY HAVE ACHIEVED A TITLE OF MASTER DANCER. I am even going to push that further by saying that you don’t even have to be respectful to a MD. I am appalled that the DC had the gaul to say the above referenced statement.
Hmm, it seems like I'm being partially quoted here.
I think maybe you are confused on my target audience. You seem to have some very strong opinions on how a Dancer be should played. You also seem to be very RP savvy. You were certainly not who I had in mind to guide... I'm guessing you are doing just fine on your own.
This was my target audience:
1. Non-Role Players who really just want a Master Dancer for some end goal, but don't really want to make any Dancer enemies or step on anyone's toes
2. People coming in from another game where "Max Leveled" chars are the thing to have
3. New people who are curious about roleplay, but aren't understanding why they are being "snubbed" by Role Playing Dancers
I am quite aware that there are a good many Role Playing Dancers who feel like they are the Superior Dancer at Dancing I Basic over a less "talented" Master Dancer. I don't think anyone should ever be rude no matter their level and no matter their playstyle. If I go to another server and make a big to do over Newer Master Dancers, it usually tickles them and makes them a little braver about RP.
I think that's nice. *shrug* Sure, I might actually know more about dancing in the game than they do... but if me being quiet and playing the student like my tag suggests shows this to be a fun and friendly class, I think that's worth it. Anything that can help inspire people to be at the keys and having fun with their Dancer is good in my book.
It wasn't intended to be a "Masters' Guide to Snubbing" or I would have called it that, lol. If you are RPing your way slowly through Dancer, I don't imagine you are very concerned with things like "XP" and "group bonuses"... you are most likely more concerned with "honing your craft", "seeking fame", and "catering to your patrons' needs." While you may not be a Master, you aren't really what I'd think of as a leveler either.
If you read the purple text, you'll see that I didn't include myself among "the great Dancers"... I merely tried to pass along a little bit of what I found so fun about the Great Dancers that taught me. It just so happens that my teachers were in Master only Dancer guilds. Extremely differently played guilds, one was a slave guild and the other was an Academy of Arts. I wasn't in either of the guilds (I was not yet even a Master), so I can only pass on their teachings as I understood them at the time.
The RP appreciating side of me was, is, and most likely will always be in awe of these Great Dancers... the pure leveler in me sees them for their worth in helping speed along XP and leveling. Again, I didn't kowtow to these Great Dancers because they snubbed me... I did it because they were nice to me, they taught me, and people treated them like they were something special.
We are a fun class for many different playstyles. I don't feel capable of writing a guide for PvP Dancers, Guild Only Dancers, Hunt Dancers, Role Playing Dancers, Events Dancers, Full Time Cantina Dancers, or Master Dancers... even though I am all of those things at least a little.
The levelers I do know, of that I am pretty confident. I'm not here to tell anyone how to play their game, but if it's something I know I've found fun and can share with others... I would just feel awful not doing that. I hope we one day have guides for those other Dancers I mentioned... I'm currently trying to figure out a way to coax Silly from SS into writing a guide on PvP Dancing... I do hope that when anyone else should have the intention of helping other players like themselves, we can all be open minded to it.
Thank you so much for sharing your ideas.
I've only been playing for a month now and am a "leveler", Dancer 2/1/2/1 . (The term leveler always makes me giggle having read the Honor Harrington series *G*)
I have not been fortunate enough to run across a Master Dancer who is also a TEACHER who will pass along the "tricks of the trade". Being a noob...I sort of expected Masters to be teachers and mentors, but have not found that to be the case. I personally learn best from example and I'm not getting that from the Masters that I've encountered. What I've learned about dancing has come from reading the boards here and it's been invaluable.
Please understand that I'm not asking a Master to drop everything they're doing to teach me how to dance.
Taking style of play into consideration, (not everyone is a teacher) here is what I'd like to see more of.
As you point out...Masters don't NEED to flourish, but geez....how are the levelers gonna learn? I've read some really great info here on the board about how to tie flourishes together from different styles, but have yet to see anyone do this in game. The Masters that I meet generally are doing Exotic Dance 34 ( or whatever the highest level dance is.....) standing in place and waveing their arms. Go ahead and DO some of the fancy moves that you've developed! Let the rest of us be awed by what being a Master really means!!!
I suppose what I'm getting at is that people would show a great deal more respect and deference to Masters ifthey saw in game examples of whythey should.
I know that I have a great deal of repect for the people who post here, and sincerely hope to one day meet some of them in game..... and be awed!!!!!
Cha
ChaBuDwo wrote:
Thank you so much for sharing your ideas.
Aaaaw! *hugs* You are my people Cha!
What server are you on? We will find you a great teacher!
Panthu, I do hope your thick-skinned armor is in good working order . .. I don't envy you your position as DC.
I would never take it upon myself to reword your ideas, Panthu - this was something you gave a lot of thought to. Personally, I both agree and disagree with your suggestions, but that's to be expected.
I came up the ranks under masters like Javier and Shianse. I even learned a lot from Leivi! These are different times than back then (lol . . . although that was just the end of last year). The hologrind craze (which forceda profusion of players to grudgingly play professions that they disliked doing) hasdiseased the game community and only one of the symptoms of it is the disrespect given to one another. Weneed to find ways to sooth and heal that disease.
Message Edited by kirah_ashlin on 05-14-2004 07:54 AM
kirah_ashlin wrote:
I would never take it upon myself to reword your ideas, Panthu - this was something you gave a lot of thought to. Personally, I both agree and disagree with your suggestions, but that's to be expected.
Oh Kirah, don't be silly. You know I'm a laid backnutty Dancer! I know you are a really fun Dancer that a lot of people love... so if you wanted to make a "Training Guide" that covered these same topics from your view, I think that's just as important as people with my view.
I want us to talk about what was fun and teach other people how to restart that. We can have a whole link thread full of these guides! I think that would rock!
The holos are dying! We've lost a lotof great teachers, so we've all got to pick up the line while they are away!
We're supposed to be Social, let's show our stuff!
ChaBuDwo wrote:
I'm on Starsider.
Ok, Starsider is great! I have a list of Master Dancers I love an arm long there! Unfortunately, a lot of them have gotten spooky about posting in this forum. From Theed, you should be able to get to Bestine again fairly easily... from there you can shuttle or bike 4k to Sandstorm City. The Unchained Cantina is an easy walk from the shuttle and still a great place to meet teachers.
Current Starsider Master's on our List
Rhysati Ynr
Irys
Audessa
It'co Drodu
(and I think there are a few more that have signed up since I last updated)
They should all be fine to contact in game for some lessons. *Pretends like Rhysati didn't just look at her with panic two days ago at the Sci OP and scream "This is my last buff!"* ... heh, that cracked me up
Of course you can put me on your list... P-A-N-T-H-U (though really, I don't claim to be a great teacher, just a super fun spazzy one )... Tarot is not a Master right now, I can't remember what she currently has trained, but she is a wild woman and a lot of fun. She's been entertaining forever and she could teach you all sorts of things... but there are literally tons of great Dancers left on Starsider.
They're all just off playing at other things or hiding out in PC Cantinas... try Unchained first and don't be shy when you get there! Everyone is super nice. Put those four Masters on your list and me too... we'll get you going!
I'm off to check the corr boards then head out for a while... but I should be around later! Give me a shout then and we can go boogy.