Dancer Archive
Thread: How much of the 'social' is the gameplay for you?
- Is the term 'social playstyle' even accurate as adescriptor? Is being 'social' the gameplay for you?
This is a social playstyle only because SOE said it is. Because the bottom line is, as they are no doubt seeing, that one can be antisocial and still be part of a social playstyle. That being said, this is perhaps the only group of professions where someone can be paid credits for just being funny, or in-character, or talkative. The dynamics of the profession were set up to encourage that sort of activity in the things we do. What makes Novice Entertainer A walk away from the cantina with 5000 credits, and Novice Entertainer B earn only 50 credits when they have the same skills, the same physical makeup, and spend the same time doing cantina work? The difference had to have come from somewhere, but where? Its because one was able to strike a chord with the audience, and another was less able to do so.
- Is 'socializing' enough of a gameplay experience for you that it stands alone as something fun enough by itself?
Of course not. But there are many things that encompass a social playstyle other than socializing. Think of it less in terms of being gabby, and more in terms of being a game of applied social science. Venue choice, attire choice, and playing to those things that particular audience members may enjoy go beyond mere gabbing, yet are no less essential. Having contact lists, observing one's environs, and knowing how to use such information also require more than just gab, it requiresthe mind of a sociologist, a psychologist, or an anthropologist. These are social conditions, and it takes a controlled, detached, social scientist like approach to do it well.
- Is 'socializing' rewarding enough for youthat it can really be called a playstyle in and of itself, or is it more that there's a difference of approach to rewarding gameplay that isfound in the players that make up our community that has been so dubbed as 'social'? I think this class, when operating correctly (its not right now), is as good as the players are willing to modify their approches, draw up lists, and make active choices to maximize their desired outcome (tips, experience, etc.). It is difficult to really make this case now, since unattendence has undermined a lot of the basic fundamental assumptions that this class needs to maintain for it to work.
- What other thoughts do you have about the 'social' term, in how it relates to your gameplay experience?
I don't do this thing so I can socialize. Isocialize because that's part of my "work" as a dancerin this simulation. Other classes may be creative and talented, but by being a dancer, I am paid to be an "expert" or "professional" at being creative and talented. I'd rather do this than skin durnis, craft, obtain minerals, shoot NPCs, or loot. I'm better at this work, and I find it more enjoyable than those other types of work. I enjoy the fact that somebody like me can find a place in this simulation. I do not enjoy the fact that no steps are being taken to protect and foster this sort of role in the simulation.
Xyrdre wrote:
Questions for the community members:
- Is the term 'social playstyle' even accurate as adescriptor? Is being 'social' the gameplay for you?
Well, I don't think so. Being social isn't the gameplay for me. It's just part of the gameplay. And, it's something that I do whether I'm entertaining, flying in space, fighting on the ground, or anything else. A better descriptor for these professions is "Performer Playstyle." That's why I'm doing it, to perform, not to socialize.
- Is 'socializing' enough of a gameplay experience for you that it stands alone as something fun enough by itself?
Well, sometimes I can have fun on any given day doing nothing but socializing. However, only socializing is not a game to me. It does not satisfy me. I like doing a lot of different stuff. And, I think that's a huge part of why dancing is so frustrating to me sometimes. It's not because my socializing is gone, it's because I no longer feel interdependent with the rest of the game. It's eventually the real reason I stopped playing The Sims Online. There was nothing to do but socialize. Yeah, I'm social player as you can see by the choice of games (TSO) and professions (Dancer) that I play. But, I consider this kind of "extra" socialization to just be a perk which I greatly enjoy. But, believe me, I want much much more than that out of my gameplaying experience. I want to be part of something that makes a difference in the game world.
- Is 'socializing' rewarding enough for youthat it can really be called a playstyle in and of itself, or is it more that there's a difference of approach to rewarding gameplay that isfound in the players that make up our community that has been so dubbed as 'social'?
I think it's probably a difference of approach, at least for me. For example, socializing is great. But, one of my favorite things to do back in the old days was to be busy. I loved buffing, healing, leading a group, and trying to keep up with all the conversation at the same time! I definitely want to interact with people, which is why I prefer the "social" professions to the combat professions. However, I want that socialization to mean something in the greater game. I think if SWG had, for instance, bazaars in the middle of Coronet, where I could socialize all day, make sales, and interact, I would also consider something like that to be very fulfilling. It's definitely the approach for me. I want to make a difference just like combat and crafter players. But, I want to do it with more of a social emphasis.
- What other thoughts do you have about the 'social' term, in how it relates to your gameplay experience?
Nothing.
I mean, honestly, what I wrote above is what I want in my gameplay. And, it seems really simple. I want to make a difference and play a critical goal in shaping the game world. But, I want to do it socially.
Message Edited by Drygo on 03-11-2005 06:24 PM
C
Chessack wrote:
Just remember what the percentages mean. 86% social means, in 86% of questions where your choice was socializer or "something else", you picked socializer. A "Killer" of 40% means that in less than half of cases where you had a choice between acting like a killer and acting like one of the other types, you chose Killer. That means 60% of the time you chose "not act like a killer."
C
Chessack, I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to ruin my bad boy image. kthx
*swoons*
Drygo wrote:
I'd appreciate it if you didn't try to ruin my bad boy image. kthx
Socializer 73%
Explorer 53%
Killer 46%
Achiever 26%
Panthu wrote:
Drygo wrote:
Edited to say, I'm an SEK:
Socializer 86%
Explorer 60%
Killer 40%
Achiever 13%
Message Edited by Drygo on 03-11-2005 06:24 PM
Whoa, go Killer! Rawr! /wink
Uh, I like bad boys...
/concur
Bad boys are SOOOOOOOOOOOO sexy..../drool
Danny
Edited to toss in my Score
Explorer 86%
Socializer 80%
Killer 26%
Achiever 6%
Message Edited by DarkY0da on 03-12-2005 12:20 AM
It's not reasonable to expect someone whose primary goal is to interact with other players to want to spend 80% or more of his/her time NOT doing that. And yet pick almost any cantina other than the afk-bot ones, and you get almost no traffic. Nor is there any way I have been able to determine that will gain traffic once a cantina "dies." I tried to resurrect Kor Vella months ago by announcing daily that I would be in there healing/buffing, and going in every single night for about two weeks and /registering. I got a total of 1 person in probably 14 hours of game time. Luckily I had guild chat to keep me sane and occupied, but still...
A combatant type told me, "You didn't stick it out long enough. You needed to stay there longer and eventually people would've found you." In other words, a person whose goal is interacting should wait for a couple of months (his estimate) obtaining no social interaction, on the hope of one day getting it. Sorry... not gonna happen (at least not by me).
The entertainment professions clearly need something more. Something to help pull patrons into an active cantina. /Register sounds like a great idea unti you find out nobody other than entertainers even knows about it or bothers with it. Why? Because all player cantinas were marked for over a year as "perma-registered", so it was a totally useless feature -- since you could never tell which registered places were attented. After a year of it being useless, nobody even remembers those little cantina *'s are even there any more, much less remembers what they are for. Plus afk macro-bots can /register also, so there's no way to help players find at-keyboard entertainers. I know many players who would happily fly to another planet to get healed by someone actually playing the game -- but how do they find such a person? We need a galaxy-wide registry system, that you get taken OFF of when you go AFK for more than 10 minutes, so players anywhere can get a server-wide list of all active, non-AFK, currently performing entertainers (and WPs to their locations if they wish). That would help cut our down time, since players would then know where we are and be able to find us.
But they also need to give us stuff to do in between the patrons arriving. A group of entertainers can self-entertain in terms of the interaction to some extent, but eventually you get 'talked out' even if you are very sociable and so we need things to do, just like anyone else in any other profession. This is one of the main problems. Most other profs have several things to do. The only thing a dancer can do is dance -- with healing and buffing occurring without us having to do anything (other than type /setperform every once in a while). That's also why it is so easy to macro-master. Think about the other professions. A doctor has 3 things he can do -- heal, buff, and craft, and they are all different. He can also add a 4th thing -- merchantry to sell his crafted items. Sure a dancer could pick up Merchant too but... what the heck is she gonna sell? Or think about a typical artisan, who has to survey and mine resources, craft items, and run a business. Again, that's several things all part of one profession. Or how about a scout, who can harvest, trap, and camp? Heck even a TKA can do two things -- fight and meditate/heal/boost. And combat classes, although all they can do is fight, have a choice of a billion different venues in which to do it -- theme parks, missions, static content areas... NPCs or creatures... factioned or not, etc. Thus every class but the entertainer has an inherent ability to let the player vary his activity within the game. When the crafter gets bored of clicking on the craft UI, he can survey. When the fighter gets tired of shooting chubas he can fight Stormtroopers. When the medic gets tired of buffing people he can craft stimpacks. When the dancer gets tired of flourishing she can... log out.
This is the problem, I think. This lack of variety means there is nothing to do on our down time. If you've already mastered dance, you don't need XP. So what do you do when waiting for the next patron to come in? Sure you can keep dancing but... haven't you seen all those flourishes before? Most of us don't dance for the pretty motion-capped animations (though of course we do love those) -- we dance for the interaction. When that isn't there, we need something else, something other than the pretty animations, to prevent us from going out of our minds while we wait for what is, to us, the best 'content' in the game -- the interaction.
C
Xyrdre wrote:
Questions for the community members:
- Is the term 'social playstyle' even accurate as adescriptor? Is being 'social' the gameplay for you?
To some extent yes, I like playing in a group and meeting people and making new IG friends is an important part.
- Is 'socializing' enough of a gameplay experience for you that it stands alone as something fun enough by itself?
No, I would get very bored of being in a cantina for my entire gaming time. I have TKM, Ace pilot and some Scout skills and it's being able to get involved in most aspects of the game that is important to me.
- Is 'socializing' rewarding enough for youthat it can really be called a playstyle in and of itself, or is it more that there's a difference of approach to rewarding gameplay that isfound in the players that make up our community that has been so dubbed as 'social'?
Socialising is an important aspect and it can be a part of any group activity depending on the other members of the group and it does increase my enjoyment of the game. Wanting to get know more people in game is what drew me to dancing and it has certainly acheived that. But I would hate to have to choose between being purely social or purely combat. There are also many entertainers who don't socialise at all, master the profession and drop it rapidly or become AFK buffbots.
What other thoughts do you have about the 'social' term, in how it relates to your gameplay experience?
Personally I would like to see AFK entertaining removed from the game, this would increase social interacton greatly. The loneliness of dancing in a group when you are the only ATK ent, is very dull and was almost enough to have me drop entertainer at one point. Once people realised that more of us were ATK in Theed, Chimaera, we had a lot more coming by for healing and chatting. However it has been pointed out to me that people who play at unsocial hours wouldbe completely stuck for mindbuffs if it wasn't for buffbots. Perhaps there should be some provision for buffbots in player cantinas and houses, rather than the main centres.
