Dancer Archive
Thread: Are you not getting the tips that you deserve?
IMHO, asking for tips, especially macroed, is a two-edged sword at best, and usually counter-productive. Many people consider it spam, and will not tip you. Besides, if you ask for tips you also often sound like you need them badly - which could lead to the impression that you are bad at your job or you would have gotten tips. OTOH, thanking for tips is a must. If you don't thank people, you will be considered rude, arrogant, or afk - I don't know which is worst among those.
Chatting with customers, being friendly, witty, and cheery will lead to tips as well (and often friendships). It will also lead to recognition and get you a reputation. If you stay at the same place or places, you will also get regular customers, which will help with tips.
Choose your working place carefully, and act accordingly. IME, there are generally 3 kind of cantinas: Medical cantinas, outpost cantinas and social cantinas.
Medical cantinas are located on or near a GCW hotspot, and generally serve to get rid of mind wounds fast and efficiently, with a lot of mind buffs in demand. During slow hours people may want to chat, and they often like to brag, but usually, especially if a raid is going on, they just want to get back into action as fast as possible. It does not matter much what you wear or say in those places if you get them up and ready fast. Tips vary greatly, and the competition is usually big as well. Customers usually know about buffs, since PvPers are generally well-informed - or dead meat.
Outpost Cantinas are located on adventure planets, where people go to grind exp and money. Mind Buffs and healing are in demand, with the occasional player starved for some social interaction after hours of hunting. Chatting is appreciated, since those people are less under pressure to get back into the fight (although some are hurried), and nice clothes help but are no neccessity. Tips are generally very good there, but there are also dry periods, and a part of those hunters are antisocial types who feel no one not hunting deserves any money. Competition is not a big factor, although some /afk bots may cut into your business. If you can buff mind you may get more than you can handle though, especially if you wear your tag. Group buffs are rather common. You may need to advertise a bit though - many of the hunters are loner, and not everyone knows what dancers can do.
Social Cantinas are the trickiest. Here people do not come only to heal mind wounds and get rid of BF or get a buff, but also to chat, mingle, meet people, and roleplay in many forms. The customers are a mixed bunch - newbies just starting out are among them, hunters or PvPers passing through, people waiting for a shuttle, and regulars. How well you are tipped depends on what you wear, how you act and interact, and on the customer. Don't expect to please everyone, and don't try it. Choose your target audience, and stick with it. Don't expect, however, the chosen audience to like your performance just because you like it. Some people hate afker, others hate to chat and get uneasy when flirted with and prefer a bot. Coordinate your mannerisms, style, clothes and dances, and hope for the best.
It has to be said, though, that exotic dancers will pull in tips where other dancers, no matter how chatty and classy, will not. There are several reasons for this. Some people simply like seeing scantly-clad dancers more than dancers wearing ball gowns, and could not care less about the social interaction or coodination of dances and special effects. Nothing wrong with that stance either - tastes vary.
Then there is the roleplaying/immersion. Many people will probably not like it, but in some cantinas "covered" dancers are as inappropriate as a stripper would be in an opera house. In a hive of scum and villainy, f.e., dancers are not wearing royal outfits, at least not in the star wars movies I saw. As a roleplayer, I do not support such notions, and will rather tip the fleshwrapped dancer. On the other hand, in a theatre - unless it is a red light district type - I will usually not tip exotic dancers.
Finally, there is the interaction people want - some people want to get licked, and heavily flirt with dancers. If you don't do this, don't expect them to tip you if others cater to their tastes. If I want a red dress I will buy a red dress - and not a green jacket even if you made the jacket very high-quality. The only problem I have with /lick etc. is that sometimes the people who use it get too graphic and crude for me, but the kind of people who want such attention usually are not part of my target audience anyway, so it is no matter of tips lost.
In conclusion, get to know your audience, what they like and dislike, and cater to them. Don't expect them to cater to you. If you present a service to people who want it you will get tips. If you want a secure income, though, sell your mind buffs.
Don't complain about fleshwrapped dancers pulling in more tips than robed dancers - it is how peoiple work. Either don a leotard yourself, look for an audience that prefers non-scantly clad entertainers, or shut up and dance. You don't see me complaining about getting hit for more damage because I don't wear armor for style reasons.
Cielago,
You can spend your whole life learning to play guitar and practice untill your fingers bleed. That still doesn't mean your goign to be famous. Got that? You can deticate your whole life to guitar and still get booed off the stage because people dont like your music. Harsh? Yes it is thats the entertainment biz.
The guys from Riverdance have a hit show and Im shure they work very hard. Im still ntogoign to tip them if I see them playing on a street corner its just not my thing.
So I will repeat, Since tiping is Voluntaty every dancer is getign exactly the tips they deserve.
It's my opinion and I am entitled to it. As for what skills you had availible at novice other then firendly chat I have a whole thread full of lessons regarding this very thing.
As for me reminding you of some lap dancing customer licking pantie dancer I wont even dignify that with a response.
"But I think you'll find in the end that most people are overjoyed to find an entertainer who is actually there in real time and willing to talk with them some."
Yes, but not all of them tip.
Sultrina,
As for what skills you had availible at novice other then firendly chat I have a whole thread full of lessons regarding this very thing
I was talking about novice entertainer..you know..the starting profession ...the one which provide only basic flourishes and nothing else.
I have a great respect for your "school" but you are not the first to post " How to dance " thread and I have read or know by myself most of your "lessons" because I'm here since start and FlawlessDiamond ( check her threads in the first pages ) was providing great advices ( you do too ) but you bring nothing more than what I already know.
Please, realize that your experiences andtipping successare NOT the "norm" ..is that hard to understand ?
You can spend your whole life learning to play guitar and practice untill your fingers bleed. That still doesn't mean your goign to be famous. Got that? You can deticate your whole life to guitar and still get booed off the stage because people dont like your music. Harsh? Yes it is thats the entertainment biz.
Keep in mind that we are talking about an online game and that things that apply in real life doesn't necessary apply in game in may ways.
As for me reminding you of some lap dancing customer licking pantie dancer I wont even dignify that with a response.
It was an example , maybe not the best one I must confess.
I wanted to inlustrate the none sense of the " I make good tip so you people must suck or don't know your job"...
Anoula wrote:
I have had a master dancer for ages now, since the game came out, and I have had a master musician/entertainer on my second account for about a month.
First of all, if you have any experience in ANY entertainment profession, even at novice level, you should know that being an entertainer is not a lucrative profession. This is in general, by the way. There ARE ways to make a bit more money for yourself. You could spend a day on Dantooine or Dathomir at one of the outposts (where entertainers are no so common), but do NOT go AFK. Talk with people there! Mingle, comfort the poor people who just had their butt handed to them by a Voritor Dasher or a Nightsister. Be a real entertainer, not just someone who knows how to use flourish 1-8. Be unique, and most people will show their appreciation for it.
Haven't you felt in the back of your mind, extra appreciation for a person (regardless of their profession) when they do a great job? Even a happy trash collector or a cheerful janitor can brighten up your day.
If you are upset about the lack of tips in your profession, despite the amount of enthusiasm or effort you put into your job, then you can blame the scores of AFK-macroers who have given your professiona bad name. But I think you'll find in the end that most people are overjoyed to find an entertainer who is actually there in real time and willing to talk with them some.
Think of us as not only entertainers, but also psychologists - probably the best ones in the galaxy
I didnt care about the amount of credits per tip but by the tip gesture itself ( to quote myself ).. the gesture not the amount.
Kharrissa wrote:
"But I think you'll find in the end that most people are overjoyed to find an entertainer who is actually there in real time and willing to talk with them some."
Yes, but not all of them tip.
That is whatI try to explain.
< sarcasm on >
Kharrissa, if some of your customers don't tip you it's because you don't deserved to be tipped... you must doing something wrong.
It may have gotten under, since my formating was bugged, but:
Some of you offerhigh-qualityvegetarian food and complain that the people looking for meat will rather go to a McDonalds instead of buying your food. If you miss your target audience, you will not gain tips. Some people prefer to look at a fleshwrapped twi'lek doing basic 2 even while you are dancing lyrical 2 in a luxurious dress and specialeffecting your heart out. Accept it and either adapt, or suck it up.
Some people just will not tip - that is a fact. At least with the mind buff we can sell something people will pay for, but you may need to advertise, and still need to choose your location carefully.
It's this attitude that annoy me " I have success in thepath I choose, YOU other people don't know your job if you don't have the same success as I do in the same path ".
No. What I am saying is that if you get less tips as a flourishing, chatting entertaining masterdancer than the often mentioned /licking fleshwrapped novice entertainer in your chosen cantina then you have chosen the wrongcantina for your talents. It is like going up with a FWG5 against creatures immune to heat - you may have some success, but you chose the wrong target from the beginning, or the wrong weapon.
I listed some ideas and tips on how to get better tips - you may try them out and see if they work for you. I am not saying you suck, or don't know how to play, but I am saying you might try a change of location and/or playstyle.
I just wish people would stop complaining about others getting better tips when it is obvious why that is the case.
Leonae,
I wrote it : I danced from Wayfar ( Tatooine ) to Yavin 4 outposts, the only planet I didnt went by at this time was Correllia.
Like I said, all the ideas and tips that I read on the boardsnowdays have been posted months ago..check the first board pages.... search FlawlessDiamond posts.
I just wish people would stop complaining about others getting better tips when it is obvious why that is the case.
Dear...where did you wrote I was complaining about other people success...I complain about the " I earn good tip if you don't your skills mustsuck" attitude !