Dancer Archive
Thread: The empty cantina issue and AFKers..
Melodious, your example is one reason I favor a 0 XP solution for AFK macroing. If they want to AFK Macro for hours, go for it, let others heal off you, but you don't get any XP. If you're (general you) truly sincere about being helpful, the XP won't matter.
The issue with AFKers all along was less the fact that they were botting the game than that they were gaining skills without doing anything to earn it. That's what created the resentment among non-entertainers as well as those of us who actually stayed at our keyboard. Take away the XP reward and we have a whole new ballgame, and the selfless among us can still macro in Lok or Yavin.
If the people on Dathomir and Endor want some mind/BF healing, all they have to do is contact a dancer and offer to pay her way and give her nice tips. Most dancers would take up such an offer in a heartbeat.
The problem is these people who brag they can make 250,000 cr an hour (I've seen it said, on the general forum) on Dantooine or Endor or Lok, don't want to pay a few thou to have a dancer there to heal them in between missions. Well, then, if there are no dancers, it's their own fault.
I am a firm believer in letting people be hoisted on their own petards. Let them lie in the bed they made for a few days or weeks. Eventually they will realize what the solution is, and the problem will be solved.
It's REALLY easy to solve:
1. Buy Ticket to naboo...
2. Find dancer in Theed...
3. Hire dancer...
4. Buy 2 tickets to back Endor (one for self, one for dancer)
5. Run missions on Endor.
6. Return to cantina in between missions to heal
7. TIP WELL
8. Be nice to the dancer and don't call her names like "carebear"
9. Lather, rinse, repeat.
C
People don't go to entertain out there because they often don't even get back the price of their flight.
They don't make enough money because most people, even on advanced worlds, do not tip.
People do not tip in this game because they can get away with it, and because they don't respect entertainers.
One big reason people don't respect us is because of the AFK entertainers, who can gain mastery without every playing the game.
Your solution, while it sounds rational, encourages the very bahavior that helped cause the problem in the first place.
- J
The othr reason remote cantinas are empty.. Is people who visit have no respect for the entertainers they do get. I used to try to go to remote places and just have fun with friends, and heal anyone who went by. I didn't care about tips - we all had decent money. I didn't care about people even being there to watch us. We had each other and had fun. But, when people downright disrespected us, that was the line. I stopped going to those far away places.
This will sound callous, cold, elitist maybe cynical I don't know. I'm probably the opposite of Beery regarding the dance profession as a whole. I don't regard the healing aspect of entertainers as important for why I dance, how I dance or how I validate my own profession. I don't believe we need to be a support class for combat or gain additional skills that could be used in combat moreso than we already have. If I expect thanks or appreciation its because I'm an entertaining person not because I healed someone accidentally.
My view of letting the fighters suffer is just that. Let them suffer. Why do they need to have instant gratifications and healing to advance? What's their rush in this game?
If you're on at 2AM on a world far away from civilization and there is no one there...well you're just out of luck aren't you? Its realistic. They COULD try to find a dancer and offer to pay their way and pay for thedance service. They could make some friends or group with people and actually be social in an online game.They as a class do not encourage or support entertainers that are live to go out there and entertain or support the venues where entertainers are, or seek to take time out of their amazing flurry of death to help participate in the rest of the world, I see no reason why we should support them in theirs.
If they came to cantinas to appreciate us as entertainers,to interact at nominal levels, to take time from making a million credits and stop, talk and enjoy the game, perhaps I'd be more inclined to support them in theirs. But at this point I'm not. I say let them go to bed, get some sleep, wake up the next day and spend half an hour finding a cantina where someone is there and heal. Maybe they'll start to be more grateful. I don't get instant gratification for my needs I don't see why I should pander to theirs.
The whole talk of patriotic duty and supporting the town is an utter load of bantha poodoo to me. Those people who genuinely like and support you aren't generally the problem or the ones who don't know how to track down an entertainer. The game makes you searchable by profession. I have been telled out of the blue by someone I never knew, wounded and asked to come and heal them for a tip, just running errands in town. I did, the money wasn't good but the audience reached out to me for it and that's all I need.
I say end AFK. There's no reason to hurry to the top of any profession. Find other entertainers and friends to help your journey, learn about techniques and /changedance and flourishes. And that goes not just for entertainers but every profession. The game is a lot more fun when you focus for only a time then do something else. Explore, look at the cool interior designs, look at faction and the GCW, roleplay, meet new people, travel, visit other cantinas and dancers and see how they do it. Don't worry about those in need of healing. They'll come looking for you when they really need it. And maybe they'll be more greatful.
Just today I was AFK for a bit, making some food. So I set my AFK flag and stopped where I was, standing just outside a cantina. When I got back, two people were swearing up and down about the cantina being empty, ignoring me standing there, right outside the cantina, wearing an entertainer's title. Admittedly Image Designer doesn't spring to people's mind right away as healing. So I put up Master Dancer and ran right in front of them. They turned and looked at me, still with mind wounds, and then ignored me as I walked into the cantina.
Empty cantinas aren't a problem. People who are afraid to actually do something social and say "Hi, would you please heal me?" are the problem.
Ok, so you can't find an entertainer on Planet X. So what? Hire an entertainer, or wait for healing. Why must combat types always have instant gratification? Why must entertainer be the only profession that provides instant gratification?
What happens when your favorite weaponsmith isn't online and their vendor is empty? Do you stand there complaining about it? No, you go elsewhere *gasp* or you suck it up and wait, coming back another time. Oh look, your armor just broke while you're on Planet X, I guess there's a need for AFK armorsmiths there too. While we're at it, I have a hard time getting my other wounds healed in out of the way places, there should be some way to AFK macro a medic so I don't have to wait for healing. I want some Chef food too, but I ran out...let's get some AFK chefs so I don't have to wait! Dang, I ran out of the spice I need. I'd have to travel off planet to get that, we need some AFK smugglers there...make sure they can slice too so I can get that new gun I got off of the AFK weaponsmith sliced with no waiting! I *was* going to buy a house, but I can't find an architect *RIGHT NOW* so there should be some way for them to AFK or they should add in architect NPCs so I don't have to waste time looking for one. After all, that would take time away from my precious slaughter of random beasts for no apparent purpose!
That was an extreme example but going by the logic, 'AFK on remote planets should be ok because otherwise there's no way to heal there', every single profession that provides a service should be placed as NPCs on those remote planets. You might have to travel to get that healing if you need it badly. So what? You'll have to travel to get your next gun, your newest piece of armor, that nice piece of furniture you've had your eye on, a good slice...etc. Why should the entertainer profession be the only one that 'allows' what are essentially Player Character Non-Player Characters?
Disclaimer: the word 'you' has been used throughout this post in a general, not specific, sense of the word.
I can see the logic in trying to get rid of all the AFKers from crowded cantinas to help the active entertainers but the empty cantina situation in the remote planets will just get worse if you don't let them macro AFK.
Having an entertainer on Dathomir, Dantooine, Endor, what have you is a privledged favor, not a right.
Someone doing so, and willing to face the possibility ofexperiencing the empitome of boredom, dancing for an empty cantina, is doing anyone on that planet with mind wounds/BF a huge favor.
I think that to solve the empty cantina problem people should gradually heal BF and mind wounds simply by being in a cantina, just like you gradually heal action and health wounds in a med center.
This might not be an extremely popular view with many entertainers, but it would solve the problem of empty cantinas, and it just makes sense. Why would sitting in the med center any more healing than relaxing in a cantina? And remember, if someone wants to get healed quickly, they are going to need an entertainer, just like they need medics.
I think this would solve the empty cantina problem, and certain people couldn't claim that their hometown is suffering if they aren't AFK dancing. Sure people could still macro and AFK entertain, but they would only be doing it for themselves. Those ideas about 0 XP for AFKers and something to stop constant marcoing are good and would probably help the situation in general.
Just my opinion.
Velvet-dancer wrote:Oh look, your armor just broke while you're on Planet X, I guess there's a need for AFK armorsmiths there too. While we're at it, I have a hard time getting my other wounds healed in out of the way places, there should be some way to AFK macro a medic so I don't have to wait for healing. I want some Chef food too, but I ran out...let's get some AFK chefs so I don't have to wait! Dang, I ran out of the spice I need. I'd have to travel off planet to get that, we need some AFK smugglers there...make sure they can slice too so I can get that new gun I got off of the AFK weaponsmith sliced with no waiting!
LOL!
Velvet, I just love your posts.
As usual, stated so much better than I could have stated it. And, as usual, I agree with you 100%.
C
Thats a great idea Sinda, the 0 xp while afk would solve most of the issues. Its better then my idea 
This debate is pointless.. No one is interested in fixing this problem. We complained all through beta and they didn't listen then so don't expect them to listen now. The system works as intended. Entertainers are the backend of this game. Look at the faction recruiters.. See any entertainer skills on the training menu? Of course not. We are fluff. We are the leftovers.
Lets just say in the future they put in an anti-macro system for AFKers that macro music or dance, what will happen to cantinas such as in Dathomir or Endor? All I see in there usually is a kind AFK entertainer there in that small cramped cantina doing a sefless act of healing people. There are usually no live entertainers on the remote cantinas except AFKers. If you put in an anti-macro system a big part of the non-entertainer community will cry for NPC entertainers. I have already seen posts like this around. Do you really want to limit the entertainers even more?
I can see the logic in trying to get rid of all the AFKers from crowded cantinas to help the active entertainers but the empty cantina situation in the remote planets will just get worse if you don't let them macro AFK.
A solution I can think of but would probably be hard to code is put in the pop-up box to prevent AFKers just like surveying BUT let it randomly pop up according to the amount of people in the cantina. If there are less then 3 listeners it shouldn't pop up but in a crowded cantina it should check for AFKers with alot of pop up boxes. Thoughts? Suggestions? Discuss! 