Dancer Archive
Thread: Focus: Inspiration Buffs
This sounds very "PoetDanceresque," and it frightens me. I know you want positive comments but there are few positive things to say about a poorly implemented system. So instead I will give constructive criticism that you, as a correspondant should take to heart and relay to the development team as our voice.
Inspirational Buffs: A very nice idea, in fact, its what we can do already as entertainers with the new exception that we can assist crafters now. There, something positive... You know what's bad about it? The only thing that distinguishes my buff as a master dancer, as opposed to a fresh novice, is time. That's right, time. Now I'm not about alienating the novices from the community, but I was there to myself once. It used to be my driving goal to be a master was to get that next cool dance and heal better. But with buffs, my goals, like the game, have changed. Subsequently changed to the point where if I am a master, I should perform better in all areas than a novice, which include buffs. A novice should not be able to grant the same buff as a master, I am sorry but that is ludicrous, and will lead to not only more bots, but more multi-purpose bots. It will lead to live dancers being exploited more, novice dancers without a clue of the service they provide and so dearly deserve payment as a reward. All the personality in the world will not stop the people who could care less about our "social" game, watch us for free, and leave without a thank you. For every nice respectful tipper out there, there are at least 4 or 5 pre-teen 1337 d00D$ who just jeer and exploit our services.
Solution: A pop-up window that cannot be macroed to "accept" payment. In this window not only should there be an "acceptance" to perform, but a field to type in a required payment for services rendered. I am a Master ID, and with the implementation of our payment window our profession became 100% better tenfold. A fair and decent solution that will kill buff-bots and eliminate exploitation for our services is a payment/accept/deny service window that pops up when we are being watched. I'll say it again and use bold letters to reinforce my message: a payment/accept/deny service window that pops up when we are being watched...
You also make mention that our inspirational buffs "will not affect combat performance..." Now I will not have myself believe that you bought this line from development. If our buffs do not affect combat performance, why would we even get a buff in the first place? You say they will be an expendible bonus rather than necessity. Guess what? So are doctor buffs. You don't need buffs of any sort to go out and fight rancors in a decent group, but you know what? Those "expendible necessities," actually become valuable "must haves" to experience high level content without dying/having excessive amounts of downtime. So where does that leave us? Back to being a valuable commodity, trust me. With that in mind, we need a solution... answer... a payment/accept/deny service window that pops up when we are being watched... Do not let the profession become exploited by a army of new buff-bots.
Now there is the idea of having novices grant the same bonus as a master. Great idea, in a world of instant gratification. Do you know what? I worked hard for my title, and so should a novice. So we come to the question, "Why would someone watch a novice then?" If our buffs are truely "expendible," should it matter if a novice buff lasts 15 minutes with less power if it can indeed be recharged? Let a master have a longer duration, more powerful buff for those who see the need for a better "necessity," as opposed to a short term "expendable." This way if you need a short buff, just enough to get you through a mission or a short craft session, ala casual player, you would see a novice, longer sessions would require you to see a master for your buff. Do not make master buffs "rechargable." Let them run their course. This will encourage more "novice buff." services over all.
Future of Inspirational buffs:
From Novice Dancer to Master there should be a different kind of inspirational buff, 6 unique buffs, soem ideas for example:
1.) Better aim/melee focus 2.) Damage mitigation 3.) Cure/Prevent long term mental affects (add long term mental affects in game like fear, insanity, shock and mindwipes) 4.) Force Power buffs 5.) Speed/Action delay buffs 6.) Force of Will buff (if incapped, the buff would make a check and bring you to your feet) 7.) Buff Mind 8.) Buff Focus 9.) Buff Will Power
You can spread out the buffs as such:
Entertainer: Buff Focus: Music 3, Buff Will Power: Dance 3, Buff Mind: MasterEntertainer
Dancer: Speed/Action Delay Buff: Novice Dancer, Force ofWill Buff: Dance Wound Healing 3, Force Power Buff: Master Dancer
Musician: Better Aim/Melee Focus Buff: Novice Musician, Cure/Prevent LongTerm Mental Affects BuffBuff: Music Wound Healing 3,Damage Mitigation Buff: MasterMusician
In this kind of set up, you spread teh buffs out evenly and Novices contribute as much as masters in thier field withouta false sense of accomplishment amongst masters or a lack of usefulness for novice professions. It also encourages Entertainers to master the profession to get a very decent buff and continue in an advanced Entertainer performingcareer of their choice.
In summary, the inpirational buffs, while a great idea, were very poorly implemented and do not address theconcerns of the community. While new content is welcome, it should reflect the desires of the communityas a whole, not just a vocal minority.Better solutions should be implemented before this monstrosity goes live.
Message Edited by Nouva on 04-07-2005 02:48 PM
Message Edited by Nouva on 04-07-2005 02:51 PM
Schardour wrote:
Nouva wrote:
I know you want positive comments but there are few positive things to say about a poorly implemented system.
....
Better solutions should be implemented before this monstrosity goes live.
A few things....
- This is a Novice Entertainer ability, and not the bulk of our future skills. Devs have stated that more than this is "In Development."
- The movement from a pre-combat prep profession to a multi-functional Inspirational profession is most certainly a "positive" thing that can be commented on.
- WE HAVE THE DEVELOPERS IN A FREAKIN' DIALOGUE WITH US, NOW ACT LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE AND SPEAK TO THEM, INSTEAD OF SCREAMING, LIKE I'M DOING NOW!!! DO YOU LIKE IT!? DO YOU LIKE THE FACT THAT I'M TELLING YOU TO S.T.F.U., THAT YOU'RE COMPLETELY WRONG IN YOUR APPROACH? NO YOU DON'T!
Maybe you can see how they feel now?
Einhinder wrote:did you go post that in the in concept thread
No, I haven't posted it in the "In Concept" thread. The system I described isn't really about buffs, but entertainer payment (and non-payment, in the case of bots). Of course, patrons are still able to add any /tip they wish.
I'm glad that people like my suggestion. By the way, I'm finally a novice entertainer.
= Andrew
Chilastra.Palacek
It's about time Pal
Jagii wrote:
By the way, I'm finally a novice entertainer.
= Andrew
Chilastra.Palacek
Jagii wrote:
No, I haven't posted it in the "In Concept" thread. The system I described isn't really about buffs, but entertainer payment (and non-payment, in the case of bots). Of course, patrons are still able to add any /tip they wish.
Einhinder wrote:
did you go post that in the in concept thread
I'm glad that people like my suggestion. By the way, I'm finally a novice entertainer.
= Andrew
Chilastra.Palacek
I got entertainment healing 1 long before I got dancing 1. Seems that answers some of our questions. Given the fact that groups are smaller and tighter now a dancer will have to work to get peoples attention when they want a buff however if they aren't actually part of the combatant group like I was. The speed at which I gained the XP was much higher than at which I gained my one-handed XP, however.
Personaly I don't have a problem with this though. How those who are pure entertainers will earn their bucks is relatively unclear to me by now, I can only hope that the fact that these buffs are provideable by any entertainer will discourage buffbots, since there is not much point in wasting an account for something that people can have easily anywhere and anytime.
Rabenschwinge wrote:
Yesterday I tried out "inspiration buffs" for the first time... I didn't actually now what they are I just wanted to dance a little while my hunting group was camping. I was real great. Not only can I buff myself now and all of us had a slight advantage in this race for XP (since we are supposed to test mid-level combat now but we are hardly mid-level ourselves by now) and a little party by the campfire, I found that the XP output quite OK.
I got entertainment healing 1 long before I got dancing 1. Seems that answers some of our questions. Given the fact that groups are smaller and tighter now a dancer will have to work to get peoples attention when they want a buff however if they aren't actually part of the combatant group like I was. The speed at which I gained the XP was much higher than at which I gained my one-handed XP, however.
Personaly I don't have a problem with this though. How those who are pure entertainers will earn their bucks is relatively unclear to me by now, I can only hope that the fact that these buffs are provideable by any entertainer will discourage buffbots, since there is not much point in wasting an account for something that people can have easily anywhere and anytime.
The problem with your analogy between EH xp and 1h XP is that as you advance in fencer, and XP requirements increase, so does the XP you get per kill (to a point). With the EHxp from insp buffs, as you advance in the EH lines and XP requirements increase, the amount of XP you get per buff DECREASES. So yeah, it starts out fast, then takes you 2 months to get the last box.
XP will come slower. I can live with that. By the time people will find out what inspiration is and even if they possibly won't look as actively for it as they do now for mind buffs, the fewest will reject one when they get the chance. Since ones buff can be refreshed before it ends there is no need to ever be without for those who want.
All one has to attract people, entertain people. Even someone who already has two hours might want a third when you meet her or him. I believe that the face of cantinas will change that's true. And it might not be enough to spend all the time in the cantina waiting for people to ask for buffs.
I never was a friend of blackmailing people to watch us. The secret to dancer is to make people want to watch you, not some kind of unlikely Force we wield. I am not saying that we're done yet, our time will come. But I wouldn't be upset if it wasn't any game functions we get but working theaters, props, flourishes for exotic, new methods of synchronising and predefining shows, such as marks for on the floor and maybe ways to make the mood of characters influence the actual appearance of flourishes slightly and so on...