Dancer Archive
Thread: Another Reason to Dump Master Dancer =(
I really am considering surrendering all my dancing/entertainer skills after what I have witnessed over the past couple of weeks. It kind of came to a head last night in my local cantina.
I entered the cantina as usual to see a musician I've been grouping with a lot in the cantina. After the usual greetings I have to wait around as the group leader is AFK. She comes back and invites me and then goes AFK again. Eventually a little queue formed of entertainers wanting in the group. So my friend and I disbanded and invited all the new folks. The old group gradually disbanded and were absorbed into our new group (the ex-leader too). All well and good so far.
Then aproximately 3 minutes after all the entertainers are together, the AFK label starts popping up. Out of a group of 9 entertainers 3 are left at the keyboard. My friend (who's almost Master Musician) is having to play SW1 to accommodate the low musicians (I'm sure he must hate that tune by now) while they leach XP off him. I'm doing Exotic 3 so all those low dancers doing basic can leach XP off my flourishes.
So I kicked the lot of 'em.
My friend and I moved ourselves away from the clutch of AFK'ers (asking a nearby commando to lob a grenade at them) and started forming a new group with entertainers who we knew weren't going to AFK macro leach. So, the bands playing higher music (not often heard in cantinas) and a fellow dancer and I dress in matching outfits and alternate between two dancers with her /bandflo'ing me (I've capped all dance/ent heal XP) so we looked more impressive and she got the dance XP.
But still folks just walked in - saw the clutch of LAMErs - targetted one and sat until healed, despite a group that were obviously interacting and chatting with others being just to the right of the Bots. So I started shouting that I'll do Mind Buffs for free (bit cheaty really, as not many people realise/know of entertainer mind buffs). This get's peoples attention and they start drifting over. Eventually the real entertainers have the majority of the audience with them while the LAMEr's continued to macro solo.
Now hears the *really* annoying part. Upon explaining to more than one player how to get a Mind Buff off me (I was the only Master Dancer there) I was mostly scoffed at, as the time it takes to get the buff and it's duration is ridiculous compared to buffs they could get off a doctor. I didn't take the scoffing personally, as it is a stupidly short buff which takes too long to effect a watcher. What did frustrate me is that the only way I could compete with a bot is offering a buff which I dispense freely to anyone who watches, and then that buff is so patheticly weak (in comparison to Doctors), that's it has worn off by time the watcher get's anywhere it could be useful.
Master Dancer Vs AFK Bot. I am now beginning to wonder which one of us is more lame - the one who's paying to play a game they're not actually playing, or the one who's spent hours at the keyboard to get the master title only to have little more to offer than the Bot.
I think its more of a community issue really. Point is most people in there AFK arent "dancers". They are in it for a short amount of time to get the skill and do combat. I have seen this on a weekly basis as most people can get to Master in a week if the are online a lot. So for people watching the afk people other than you, who cares who they are watching? I am a Master as well and personally I would rather the healing xp go to the people who need it because I sure dont. If this is in regards to them tipping other people, I dont have a problem with that either. If you talk to people when they come into the cantina they get to know you better and come to chat with you as they heal. SWG can be a lonely place and sometimes they just want someone to notice them when they come in. They may have been offended if you sounded like you were after their credits or xp instead of their company. I dont know for sure, Im not them.
People stand in the cantinas and expect people to watch them and talk to them without any effort into it. As a dancer you have to become heavily involved in the community if you want the benefits. You get regular customers, and become well known as a helper among the dancers.
Point is, so what if they are watching AFK people? You are a Master, you dont need the xp. Plus, as everyone know, there are just really rude people in the community as well, and you cant let a few of those put you off.
Sorry, but if your reason to keep Master is so you get 100% attention.... just seems kinda selfish and maybe you should dump it because thats nota goodreason for being a dancer.
1 rarely tip, sorry entertainer types. i am usually broke when i go in so i can't, 2 if i go into a cantina and see masters i usually stay for awhile, watch them and strike up a convo or something. if theres only novices i just get a quick heal and leave.
My point, Ezavella, is not to gain 100% attention. But the fact I have worked hard at my chosen profession, I have worked at the local cantina for a long time, I do know a lot of people - - and yet an AFK bot can do exactly the same as I (barring the near useless mind buff). Can a Novice Artisan do the same job as a Master Architect? Could a Novice Marksman compete with a Master Pistoleer? I have found as time goes by, most other players don't really care about the skills entertainers have, quickly pop into the cantina, hit /watch, go get a drink/bio/eat come back to a healed character and off they go. It's not about tips, it's not about community. It's about skills. I may be a Master dressed in an 18k-worth outfit dancing Exotic 4, but I may well just be in Desert crawlers doing Basic 1.
Zerine, I resonate with your experience completely. However, please PLEASE don't let it push you into surrendering your Dancer skills. You sound like one of those conscientious players (as opposed to mindless bots) we desperately need in the profession.
I don't generally dance in public cantinas anymore for the very reasons you name. Now, granted, I'm doing exactly what I preach against - surrendering the cantinas to the LAMERs - but I also dance as part of an organized band now with weekly gigs around the galaxy. That alone has helped assuage my anger and disappointment over the cantina situation. At one point, weeks ago, I was so close to surrendering my Master Dancer I nearly did it... then I realized that, the moment I did, the LAMERs had won and I had given up the one thing in SWG that I've really come to love. I think I would cancel my account the day I surrender Dancer.
But really, you and I can only do so much to change things. I think you got a good start by splitting away from the AFKers and interacting with the customers. I think if I had been you, when/if the AFKers returned from their movie or nap I'd have asked them to kindly move to the back of the cantina to AFK so those who are really playing can greet the customers. If it made them mad, I do carry my Vibro Knuckles around and would not hesitate to /duel 
What I'm hoping - campaigning for - are some changes that will make us more important in the game and make it harder for AFKers to compete with us. If we could target a player and /buffmind, I wouldn't even care if it took the 10-15 minutes it does now. It is currently a +50% mind pool buff, which is not small potatoes, and the timer doesn't start until they /stopwatch or you stop dancing, then it's 30 minutes. Ok, it could be longer -- it has to be longer if it's going to be useful. But we've asked for that. (See Ravenmist's "#1 Issue" thread).
When/if that change goes in, I'm planning to gather some of my dancer friends and raid the cantinas - starting in Mos Eisley and moving to Coronet then Naboo. We're going to tout the new buffs and explain how they work so this change doesn't get stealthed like other things have. We want players to know that it's important to find a dancer or musician who is actually at their keyboard if they want the buff, and that the +50% mind pool will make them tougher in PvP.
Last night my scout died without cloning near Tyrena. I managed to take care of most of the health and action wounds myself (no doctors in the med center, either - hmm!), and went to the cantina to unload a HUGE bunch of BF and mind wounds. Typically - a nice group of 6 or so dancers and musicians, most of them not even at their keyboard and only ONE of them honest enough to use the "AFK" flag. One dancer, who was close enough to Master to be "Enthraller", had on a nice bright red outfit that was more modest than most I've seen. I complimented her on the outfit, and she "smiled" to no one in particular. I asked her a question. No answer. She soon stopped and sat down. I healed her action bar. No response. Soon she stood up again and every few moments would "smile" at no one in particular as her macro ran.
She could have healed my BF in record time, I'm sure. But that sort of crap angers me so much, I /watched a novice instead, chatting with her and finding out she was a nice person. She didn't feel too good dancing with a bunch of NPC bots, but shrugged as if to say "what can we do about it?" I tipped her 1000cr and said out loud in spatial, "What can we do about AFKers? We can not tip them, that's what. Here, this is for being there and actually playing." I healed her action bar and left, thinking we HAVE to get those changes implemented as soon as possible. The situation is already out of control.
Ravenmist wrote:
All I can say right now is just hang in there. Can't say more right now but Ithink you'll be glad you did. More info to come soon as I can tho I promise!
Ravenmist, you TEASE!
What'd they do, take your firstborn as insurance that you wouldn't spill the beans?
I kinda feel like Sinda. Maybe we should begin to actively shun the AFK macro bots, removing them from our bands and such. It may sound mean, but I feel what they are doing to us is mean too, even if some of them don't realize it.
Isn't AFK macroing even against the Terms of Service? Now this might sound a bit extreme... but... what if people would simply start reporting them? I mean, you feel unhappy about them and what they do is actually against the game rules. Shouldn't you let the gamemasters know about it? I don't think any AFK macroer would be sanctioned, but if many people report this the developers might change the code so that AFK macroing stops working... :-)
Or do you think this would be too extreme? I don't want to ruin anybody's gameplay, but I kinda feel we might be too nice to people who actually exploit the game against the ToS and at our expense...
Just to make this plight more depressing.. the bots can mind buff with even 1 level of dancer technique. Just not as much nor as long. As you increase in dancer technique the mind buff increases. So there's really nothing I can do that can't be replaced by someone who is sleeping. Haven't logged in for a week and a half because of this. Can't think of a way to make myself useful.
Min
Mivora wrote:
Just to make this plight more depressing.. the bots can mind buff with even 1 level of dancer technique. Just not as much nor as long. As you increase in dancer technique the mind buff increases. So there's really nothing I can do that can't be replaced by someone who is sleeping. Haven't logged in for a week and a half because of this. Can't think of a way to make myself useful.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong -- it was my understanding that Mind Buffs were reserved for Master only. Therefore, someone with only 1 level of Dance Tech can't buff.