Dancer Archive
Thread: The Customer in a World of Dedicated Unattended Buffers.
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CatFleaX
Thu Jul 08, 2004 6:37 pm
#53
No, i mean i dont think my computer will be able to survive, it lags enough in Coronet Cantina on Infinity and that has about 30-40 people in - about 25 ents and then the extra people getting healed or buffed so i dont know if my comp would lag out or what if i go to the Cantina Crawl lol, lotsa live ents talking and stuff, and then there is the whole Coronet thing, and then ouch...... i can hear my computer crying already lol
Drygo
Thu Jul 08, 2004 10:29 pm
#54
CatFleaX wrote:
No, i mean i dont think my computer will be able to survive, it lags enough in Coronet Cantina on Infinity and that has about 30-40 people in - about 25 ents and then the extra people getting healed or buffed so i dont know if my comp would lag out or what if i go to the Cantina Crawl lol, lotsa live ents talking and stuff, and then there is the whole Coronet thing, and then ouch...... i can hear my computer crying already lol
Having been to one Cantina crawl already, it's been my experience that we probably won't spend much time in Coronet. We usually go to a lot of the player cities, which solves the lag problem. I plan on being there...I need to officially request some attire.
Eedai, for being only a Cantina Crawler, with only 250 credits is going to end up with a smashing wardrobe without making any money whatsoever. 
Kyorlana
Fri Jul 09, 2004 11:27 am
#55
Just finished reading the thread and I want to particularly applaud Sirii and Paks for their excellent posts.
It's great to see that a difference can be made... one buffbot at a time
/cheer
It's great to see that a difference can be made... one buffbot at a time
/cheer
DancinGrl
Fri Jul 09, 2004 6:31 pm
#56
PoetDancer wrote:
And at this point, I have to ask you players a very serious question: Do you really, really want to put something as essential as BF healing in the exclusive hands of another character's alt?
This is not a flame or a justification for the on-going battle of Live vs AFK Entertainers. These arejust some facts as I see them behind the real mechanics of the issue. This is not an all-inclusive solution, but one I see being a Combat Prof and the effect that buffbots has on us as well.
Fact: Combat Profs requireMind Buffs and BF Healing
Fact: Combat Profs mainly need this help on Planets other than Naboo, Corellia and Tat.
Discussion: This isn't much of an issue PROVIDED I can find a Master Dancer or Musician on Dathomir, Yavin 4, Lok or Dantoooine. In all honesty it is almost impossible to find these professions on any of the aforementioned planets who is actually Live in a cantina performing. It is hardto find Mastersthere period. Try doing a search for an Entertainer to buff you on any of these planets, it isnt happening. This problem DOUBLES if you are looking for a Master Dancer and Musician. In most cases the Combat Profs are not going to go to Coronet to get buffed, especially when we know there is a chance that no one there can or will do it. Its easier forus to find a buffbot on one of these planets out of simple ease and necessity, nothing more. And please believe me these locations are sprouting up on every adventure planet.
Solution: Live Dancers and Musicians will have to make the effort to go where the action is, pure and simple. If you wonder why some of usare in a surly mood, its because our Doctor Buffs will only be as good as the Entertainer buffs we get. You would be upset too if you had to break off from gaining your XP, and spend the last hour of your buffs (as well as another expensive set of roundtrip shuttle tickets) trying to find another set of Mind Buffs or to get your BF healed. I realize that this isn't the fault of the Players. I think the Devs should make mind buffs an hour longer or take an hour from the Docs, so that it is equal, but until they do, active ATK Entertainers must make the treks to these out of the way Planets to support the Combat Profs, who in turn support them through Tips and XP. If the Entertainers wan't to be heard, don't do it through chat protests. Venture out from the safe and pretty Cantinas and take the business away from the buffbots.
The Combat Profs will almost always choose a Live entertainer over an AFK, provided we can find one.
For me, I have almost given up on this concept. I am currently grinding an alt character to Master Dancer/Musician to buff myself and my friends. It pains me because this is not my chosen profession, but I feel that if I want the experience Im paying for, I cannot rely on the Entertainers for Support.
I hope that more Ents choose to go out to the sticks, but until they do I'll still be looking for convenience vs a player conversation.
PoetDancer
Fri Jul 09, 2004 9:14 pm
#57
As Drygo said, your solution is rather hard for us right now. On the one hand, you want us to go to the deathworlds to allieviate you from needing buffbots. On the other hand, buffbots on the deathworlds make it very difficult to justify going there. Because one buffbot can do double what I can do (Dancer+Musician), often has enhancement skilltapes that are too expensive for me to purchase singly, and in order to do its work, does not group with me. I may attempt to go to the deathworlds one of these days, but quite frankly, I'm afraid I'll be disappointed if I do.
You have to remember that there are very VERY few of us who play these professions on any given server. I'd say the ratio of unattendees versus live players at any given time is something like 20 to 1. More like 30 to 1 at off hours.
And I can see why you are trying to fix the situation concerning the availability of entertainment mechanics on the deathworlds by creating a buffbot. But this is at best a quick and temporary solution to your problem. In the long run, as I show, buffbots will not make entertainment services on the deathworlds any more accessable. In fact, buffbots will make entertainment services less available on the deathworlds. Because you are but one bot. But you need many bots to make sure your guild is taken care of on all the deathworlds. In fact, you need at least five (Dathomir, Dantooine, Yavin IV, Lok, Endor). If you want to include the two hermit moons (Talus, Rori), you need two more. That's SEVEN buffbots total, and that's assuming you just want to base your operations around one starport per world. Do you and your friends really want to purchase seven more accounts so you can have the convinience of unattended buffing? Indeed, do you want to purchase TEN accounts to make sure you have readily accessable entertainment services on every world?
Because that's what it is going to take to guarantee you have services on every world in agalaxy of unattended buffers. Your use of unattended buffers that are not under your control is contingent on becoming amicable to the buffbot owner. And that is rather shaky ground to be on, considering how heated inter-PA rivalries can be. Just like you, other buffbot owners bring forth a bot to buff themselves and their friends. And as long as these players are buffed, the buffbot's whole point of being is satisfied. It doesn't exist because it likes to do what it does for as many people as possible. It exists to assert some control and predictability in an otherwise unpredictable set of circumstances for a select group of players.
But by the same token, a buffbot owner really is not served very much by allowing the buffbot to be used to service one's enemies, or anyone else for that matter. And it doesn't really matter if you yourself are willing to buff other players you do not know. I think it would be naiive to think that other players and PAs will behave the same way as you. I personally would not take that chance if I were in your shoes.
Because the one assumption that is always made by buffbots and buffbot owners is that there will always be us who do these things because we intrinsically enjoy them, which means that there will always be an entertainer that has the intrinsic desire to service someone for the sheer love of the profession. That those of us who enjoy these professions will always exist, no matter what kind of variables that are placed in the game world.
But the truth of the matter is, DancinGrl, that unless something happens very VERY soon to encourage and motivate us to do the things we do for you all, there may not be any one of us left to want to service you and your PA. And then after Publish 10, all you will have are the bots. Bots like you. Bots that only exist to be of some use to a prime, city or guild. You say that you wish you didn't have to make this account. But in a world where nobody is healing BF and buffing minds but buffbots, you'll be lucky if you can get by with only one alt buffbot account.
A lone buffbot is king or queen of its domain. It has TOTAL control of who can get healed and buffed in the cantina. And it has no intrinsic motivation to be more or less useful than whatthe primary playerneeds to be. So let's say the buffbot owner creates a selective /join list. Or better yet, creates a selective /deny list of Imperial players the owner knows. Or let us take it one step further and have the buffbot owner /deny players from rebel guilds who he knows use it and does not tip it. At this point, the only way for a /denied Imperial or Rebel player to change the dynamics in that cantina is to get another buffbot and park it there too. And so another player has to start an account they'd rather not create simply to overcome the difficulty of finding services on a world.
And yet, a lone buffbot is powerless outside of its domain. A buffbot on Yavin IV cannot influence the situation on Tatooine, or Dathomir. Which requires more accounts players would rather not create to ensure services on the deathworlds. Which in turn creates an even greater need for more buffbots, while not actually improving the distribution of these goods whatsoever. Because if somebody is willing to pay $15 a month extra to get an advantage over somebody who doesn't do it, they will naturally take advantage of this situation to the fullest extent possible for their own benefit.
Where will your guild go then, DancinGrl? Back to where you parked this buffbot you are creating? Isn't that what you wanted toavoid in the first place? Because you have to remember, DancinGrl, the more buffbots are around, the less incentive we have to be around.And we'll log in less and less often the more buffbots are around to do the things we used to do. And we'll quit these professions. We will leave the game. We will be obscure at best, and gone at worst. And we won't be coming back.
And if you want it this way, so be it. But be prepared to deal with many new challenges.
Message Edited by PoetDancer on 07-09-2004 11:33 PM
DancinGrl
Fri Jul 09, 2004 11:27 pm
#58
I know what you mean Poet...I wish there was a very easy answer that would benefit us all. I will be the first to admit that I have always respected and admired the Entertainers for what they do, sometimes spending countless hours in an empty cantina to help those who come in from the cold. I always tip and I always appreciate the Player who goes the extra mile, which Im sad to say sometimes just constitutes being ATK.
As far as my new alt goes, this has become something that I have worked on to benefit myself. I belong to no PA and do go on hunts with lots of friends, but this isa way for me to heal and buff my primary character on whichever planet I am on, whenever I need it. I have no interest in making a profit or taking away from others. I am still performing a service I just have one exclusive client. Thats not to say I dont enjoy working my way through. I have yet to AFK through a dancing/music session and do not plan on it. In fact I have been enjoying trying to mix flourishes and make it fun for everyone who is watching.
I do this because I agree with you that the adventure (or death) planets are very ruggedand dangerous places, especially if you do not posess some type of elite combat skills.
On Dantooine, on the Bloodfin Server, your warning has already become a horrible reality. At the Mining Outpost there are at least 2 AFK Doctor buffbots running 24/7 right in front of the starport. Sometimes there are actually Live Doctors buffing and they always have the longer lines, but when there are 40 Players waiting for buffs theATK players have to try extra hard to keep up.The same goes for the cantina. It's usually filled with at least 20 constantly AFK entertainers, some of which are buffbots, but this changes day to day. You would be very hard pressed to find an ATK player Entertainer there.
One of my best friends was a Master Dancer, but she has since quit the game altogether. It saddes me, not because I can't get buffs or heals, but because She went on hunts with me on a regular basis. She loved the help she got being able to complete quests and get badges and trophies that she normally would not have gotten. I miss my friend, not the Dancer, but she left for the same reason so many others did. Lack of content and lack of Dev support.
I truly wish the Devs would help more in these professions, because even though this is an alt character for me, I have just as much fun learning the Entertainer skills and getting better at it as I do hunting Kimos.
The future is coming, and while you have written a well thought out, very comprehensive view of the state of the profession, with all my heart I hope that your predictions are wrong and that the Entertainer profession gets the help it deserves instead of spiraling towards the depths.
Until then, I Dance on.
Hamadarling
Tue Jul 13, 2004 8:54 pm
#59
Everyday when I dance in the theed cantina,I get the same reactions. Lively conversations, generous tips, and adament thanks for being ATK. I never really thought about the disservice buff-bots do but after reading this post I see your point. I dont understand why people will do a profession they do not love. If the monotony of entertaining is not for them find something else. Its not boring to those of us that love talking to people and making sure they know that their partonization is appreciated. I have had people ask me if i get bored just dancing all day. So I explain to them that im not just dancing im meeting people and helping them, explaining things to them. Welcoming them to the server or the game. I went all the way across the galaxy one night to buff a guild of PVPers that were getting ready for a raid and they knew i would be ATK to answer their /tell. And they knewI would say yes becauseI love to help. Its not about getting all the attention or making money(i dont charge people most of the time anymore anyway). Its about enjoying the company of players I like and playing with movement had making people smile. That just fits my personality and all the players that really know me tell me this profession was made just for folk me lol
So if you find yourself not loving every minute in that cantina please get out and find anothercantina and talk to the people there. Encourage them to be there and participate.Or get novice brawler and kill some chubbas Just remember to enjoy yourself or why are you here?
Just remember to enjoy yourself or why are you here?Message Edited by Hamadarling on 07-13-2004 10:56 PM
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