Dancer Archive

In the thread started by Apus it has come to my attention that more of you than maybe I had previously seen are in search forLIVE entertainment, it just seems that many do not know how to go about findingLIVE entertainers, or necessarily how to treat them. As I have been an entertainer since week 3, and part of 2 entertainer guilds, I would like to give you an idea of what to expect when trying to deal with this unique segment of the SWG population.

This is not a live vs bot thread, if you don't likeLIVE entertainers thats fine, this thread isn't about the usefulness or value ofLIVE entertainers, its simply a guide to those that want to get to know us better. This is also about LIVE entertainers, not entertainers in general, I'm not talking about the mindless drones that spam away in coronet, I'm talking about the ones that greet and wave to you when you walk into the room.

First thing you need to remember when dealing with an entertainer is for all intents and purposes, we're playing a different game than you are. Most of us don't want that legendary full composit suit with 90% resist to all with 0 HAM cost or that exceptional T21 with 5000-10000 damage and a 2000 damage 5000 sec mind fire DOT, why? Because all that uber stuff looks just like everybody else's common stuff. We're probably more after the astetics in the game than the mechanics. We're far more interested in expanding our wardrobe than "pwning teh nub". Most want 2 houses, one to store cloths, the other to decorate nicely. Some want someday to own thier own cantina. We're more interested in Social "PvP" than combat, and believe me, in social PvP, mind is a MUCH more determining factor than even in combat PvP We're more focused on the players interactions with each other than the characters. It's hard to describe the differences between the ent game and combat game, the only thing I can say is if you're currious try it for yourself, all I know is the few I've met that have given it a try all have told me that its completely different than what they normally do.

Contrary to popular belief we're not all beggars. Yes we want you to leave some of your bank account behind when you leave, but we don't want it for nothing. Back in the old TSE days we had a saying TSE: You work hard for your money. We work hard for your money too. And thats just it. Real entertainers want to earn your money. We want you to leave the cantina not only with your toon healed up, but you, the real person, more relaxed, having had a better time than maybe you were planning to. Heck I've seen people come in and just not leave for hours they started having such a good time, and I don't honestly remember if they tipped or not, and honestly it didn't matter, which brings me to my next point...

Mostly we just want to be your friend. If we can't be your friend then we'd like you to at least respect our place in the game. Lack of respect as another player is the most common gripe I hear from my friends in the cantina, esp among the ones who just give up. More money may have kept them around longer, since they could afford to try to do other things, but ultimatelythe bad treatment just wears on you and you just say its not worth it any more. Anyway, with all this in mind, I will now give you my advice on how to deal with LIVE entertainers:

Remember we are people too, and treat us with the same respect and courtesy you would wish to be treated with yourself. Since we are LIVE, and actually sitting there and watching, chances are if you are rude or disrespectful to us, you'll find our cooperation in any future healing or buffing needs you may have somewhat lacking. Also remember that we hang around with other entertainers, and we talk, so you may find our friends declining to help you as well. As one unfortunate individual found out today, we do infact NOT have to give our services freely, he had angered me at one point in the past, and today he was the only member of his DWB group to go down without a dance buff, he was fortunate that a musician was there, otherwise he would have been attempting the DWB with no buffs. Just as it was his right, his $15/mo to treat me the way he did, it is my right, my $15/mo to deny him any further services. As was stated in an earlier thread, /deny macros are entirely ineffective, as the target of the deny has to be within visible range (100m) for the deny to work, and any bot running an auto deny macro will just end up toggling deny on and off for thier intended targets, but a LIVE entertainer can deny at will and whim, and thiers are effective. This is the one major drawback of dealing with live entertainers, but chances are if you're reading this thread looking for advice, this is an area you wouldn't need concern yourself with.

As has been previously mentioned, we are a service profession, our primary game function is indeed to heal your mind wounds and BF, and provide you with mind enhancments. And while our funtion here is to serve your needs, we are NOT slaves*. Demanding we dance/play for you, demanding we invite you to a group, demanding anything from us will likely result in you being in the situation the genteman mentioned in the above paragraph found himself. Would you like a mind buff? Then by all means, ask for one. "Is there somebody here who could mind buff me?" is much more likely to get you a positive response in a live cantina than "Invite plz, invite plz, invite plz" will, As a matter of fact, the later will likely get you added to numerous ignore lists. To further increase your chances at successfully finding a live buff try "Paying 10k for a mind buff", this lets the entertainers in the room know that you're not only seeking thier services, but its a service you find to be of some value. If you do not wish to talk while being buffed tell us if we start bothering you, or just lie and say you need to go afk, then when the buff is done, say you're back and thanks and bye.

Much like combat professions, you should check our bio's when looking for a potential buffer. Not all masters wear thier master titles at all times. We actually have a number of ones other than Master Dancer/Musician/Entertainer that many of us prefer. Captivator and Mesmerizer are two of my favories, we also have Dazzler, Enthraller, Choreographer, Composer, and Virtuoso that we may chose over our mastery titles. Also entertainers tend to try to write interesting bio's, some are run of the mill or down right lame, but many are quite creative, give them a look. Also remember that while we may be LIVE, we do sometimes need to step away from the KB for RL interuptions. Phone call, potty emergency, or sometimes we just want some PIE, or other inferior food (rumor has it some punish themselves with cake *beurk*)

We like to hang out in crowded social areas, accordingly we're going to be less willing to travel to some remote destination to heal or buff you. The easiest way to get us to overcome our hesitation is to offer us large sums of money. Bear in mind large is relative here. 100-250k is a tremendous amount of money to most entertainers. For an offer like that most will gladly leave the safety and comfort of thier cantina of choice and travel deep into the wilderness of distant planets to buff and heal you and your group at whatever camp you have setup. Also remember this is a service most bots can't/won't provide, since it would require moving.

Would you like an entertainer who would maybe join you and your group routinely to heal and buff? Or better yet a list of entertainers you can chose from, if some of the others aren't online? Don't go around looking for an established master to team up with. Lets face it most of us old masters are way to jaded and bitter Your best bet would be to go to a crowded live cantina, such as Theed or sometimes Mos Eisley, and find a budding new LIVE entertainer, one who is actually there, trying to flourish her little heart out to get enough xp for dance 2. If they haven't been taught yet, try and explain the macro system a bit, show them how to make a flourish macro to let them focus more on chatting and less on making sure they flourish in time to get xp. Don't encourage unattended play, don't show them how to add spam or auto joins to thier macros, just simple flourishes and pauses to make thier LIVE play time more enjoyable. Tell them you appreciate them being LIVE, tell them the sea of AFK bots bothers you and you wish more were like them. Make them feel like thier something special to you, and give them a little tip to show that it has more value to you than just words. Don't do this with the intention to use them, do it because thats how you really feel (I assume thats why you're still reading). These novice entertainers will some day be masters, and if they feel needed and respected in the comunity, chances are they'll stick around to offer thier LIVE services. If you were one of the ones who showed them kindness and respect as a newb, they WILL remember it as a master, and be more than willing to help you out should you call on them.

Remember your entertainer friends as you loot. You know that big back of crystals you got sitting around your loot house, the one with more color crystals in it than a jedi could ever possibly go thru in 10 lifetimes? Grab a few out of that and give it to them, chances are they've never seen one and would love to use it to decorate thier house. Find some entertainer skill tapes off some NPC? Do NOT give them to them yet. If you want them to heal your wounds faster I highly recommend you speak with your favorite tailor and inquire about Wound Healing (music and dance) bonus clothing for them, you can get the full +25 bonus in one article of clothing (even exotic leotards!!!). Any Fatigue healing or Mind Enhancing tapes you find hold on to, tell them you have a present to give them when they achieve master. Lets be honest, before then they won't really need them, and its a sad fact but many young ents never make it to master. No sense giving that +5 dancing mind enhancment tape to somebody who quits at dance knowledge 2. Also this lets them know you're thinking about them and have an interest in thier advancment. Also if you do give them tapes make SURE you discuss how they work, how in order to stack it has to go on different pieces, you can't put 2 +3's onone article and get +6, you get +3 and a lost +3. Remember they've probably never even seen these before and have no idea how they work.Lootkit items are another cool thing to give away. Keep in mind most of the people you give this stuff two will have little idea its actuall value in game. Don't be too disappointed if you give them a multi million cred item like a skill tape or lootkit item and the response you get is somewhat less than if you had tipped them the value of the item credit wise, like I said, most have no clue and go into shock when they find out that cool little innocent thing they want costs 1000x more than they have ever had in thier bank.

LIVE entertainers don't want to be the richest in the galaxy, mostly we just wanna have fun and meet a lof of interesting people. We don't necessarily want to see you "pwn teh nub" but chances are we wouldn't mind hearing about it after the fact as we work off the wounds you accumulate doings so. The new ones are probably gonna be shy, may or may not greet you as you walk in, even if they're not afk, if you see somebody doing basic or rhythmic dances wearing red shoes, without an AFK tag, send them a tell. Also remember they may be VERY new to the game, if they don't respond right away, or respond in spatial, send them a tell explaining how to use tells. I'm not joking, I've met some that didn't even know how to reply. While you're in Mos Eisley grab a newb marksman and brawler and give them a hand too, make some new friends, new potential hunting buddies or guild mates, who knows you may have fun not grinding FS xp, like I said, its a different game