Dancer Archive

/contraversial

Apologies if this has been brought up before (I don't remember it being mentioned so here goes...)

I've been thinking about the entertainer skill tree and in particular that someone who 'buys' the novice entertainer box can heal BF and mind wounds just as well as a Master Dancer..it just takes them longer.

This means that anyone who can spare 15 skill points can do all their own healing. [I realise its the same for medics, but without wanting to sound selfish, let's concentrate on our own problems for now].

The effect of this is at least three-fold.

One, because the combat players often don't care if it takes longer to heal up (they just use the time to make a sandwich) it means that from the point of view of many non-entertainers we don't actually gain any value as we level up.

Two, it means that many combat types have no need of entertainers whatsoever.

Three, it contributes to the 'AFK problem' because players only need to get that one skill box to be able to use their char as a dance-bot.

All these things devalue the entertainer profession both in practice and as perceived by other players.

So I'm wondering whether it might be an advantage to the entertainment professions if some of the healing abilities were omitted until higher up the skill tree. Healing of battle fatigue, for example, could be given in the Master Entertainer box and also the Novice Dancer and Novice Musician boxes. This would still allow lower entertainers to heal mind wounds in a camp, as they do now. But it would mean that combateers would need to seek out a 'proper' entertainer when they get back to town.

Admittedly this would be a bit of a nerf for the lower skilled entertainers, and that's a shame. But I would guess that the vast majority of lowbies are either

a) intending to become dancers or musicians (in which case, they can look forward to being able to heal BF when they level up a bit...and let's face it, it doesn't take very long to get to Novice, it's the bit after that that's the long slog )

b) dancing/playing for a laugh and don't really care about the healing side of things

or

c) doing it to avoid using 'proper' entertainers.

Taking away the 'anyone can do it' aspect of the profession seems to me to be a good idea from our point of view. It ought to dissuade the DIYers and dance-bot suppliers - because they would need to spend a considerable amount of their skill points to be fully functional. [Second account dance-bots could just level up, I know...]. Of course, the many of the combat types wouldn't like it, because it would mean that they *need* us -- but surely that's our intended function in the game?

Just a thought...

hmm.. don't agree with you sorry, by your srandards a medic shouldn't be able to heal othen then standard health action wounds till there master then, it's the same thing. Any medic can heal wounds it just takes longer for low lvl ones.

erm ???

I was hoping I'd made it clear that I was referring only to our profession, not to medics. The medical professions have different issues, and I wouldn't presume to know what they are. I was also hoping I'd made it clear that if any skill changes were made they should be included in skill boxes that are easily accessible by anyone seriously pursuing the profession.

That's what I intended anyway

I know you weren't refering to medics

but the issue you are complaining about is the exate same "problem" that medics have ( I used to be one )

alot of ppl take novice Medic.. they can then heal there own wounds ( slowly since they can only use wounds pack A's...maby B's can't remember ).

there is one thing that you must realise.. the entertainer ect. is not just about healing it's about the entertainement.

Musicians: any and all entertainers can pick up a horn and play but only a few can acualy make it sound good. ( especialy in groups )

Dancers: This one is tougher since you don't have tunes for the customer to listen to. what you have is your mouth and your personality, you have to make the customer want to stay longer then needed because he/she enjoys your dancing and compeney.

all the support proffs will have some kind of loss from ppl that won't pay ect. but there are also alot out there that acualy are looking for the entertainment, not the healing

I completely agree with you about the 'entertainment' side of things Mortiar. It's the entertainment side that makes the profession fun to play, and I do know that there are many non-entertainers out there that do enjoy socialising with us.

I was simply airing idea that might make our professions more 'valuable' throughout the game.
No doubt the idea would be unpopular with the combateers who like their self-sufficiency. I'm not even sure that the entertainer professions would like it (which is why I brought it up for discussion).

But it does seem to me to introduce some kind of balance. After all, where would (say) the weaponsmiths be if I could pick up Novice Artisan and make almost all of the weapons in the game, albeit taking more time or using more resources? Surely a lot of people would fill that Novice box and then never bother to use the services of a weaponsmith. If anyone with those 15 points spare could do it, what would happen to the weapon trade?

In the case of a weaponsmith, I imagine that the biggest problem would be that they'd be unable to charge a fair price for their goods. But I am not particularly talking about credits when suggesting this change for our own class. This is not a 'do this so we can get more tips' suggestion. I am more interested in our level of involvement in the game, the likelihood of us being invited to dance for people for example, and the satisfaction of knowing thatwe are making an unique, essential and tangible contribution to the game. ....Oh and doing something to cure the plague of AFKMing.

Oh yes

That's something that can be really annoying, I get really irritated when i see it actually. There is me, I am dancing in a group or alone in a cantina. And in come someone that put 15 skillpoints into novice entertainer and does an AFK dance for 10 minutes, in full battlegear.. And then leaves, fully healed, without even noticing the entertainers that have put alot of time and effort into being able to heal well, fast and being entertaining.

If there is anyway to stop that happening, I'd be happy happy

I'm not sure why this is an issue. Players have always been able to spend that 15 points and get novice entertainer. Heck, even my non-dancing scout has it.

The facts, however, are these:

1) I cannot stand to listen to SW1 for long, and I'm not going to be playing it in public

2) I'm going to be running out of skill points before long. Entertainer is the first thing to go. I've kept my Master Dancer and that should be plenty of entertainment when I want to play that side of the game.

This may have been more of a problem in the first month or so after release, when everyone had more skill points. Now, more and more players are cannibalizing unused skills to push themselves to master in their chosen profession. The "dabblers" are falling to the wayside.

I'm afraid pushing entertainment healing farther up the tree will only make it harder for new entertainers to feel worthwhile. And to borrow one of the main justifications that AFKers use, what happens in remote cantinas where the only entertainer has 1 box of heal skill and 10 customers with wounds?