Dancer Archive

Well, I agree with you that it's depressing and boring, but it's hardly the fault of the holocron.

There have been standoffish players since Day 1 of the game. Probably before. Some people never respect Entertainers. These same people continued to not respect Entertainers during the Holocron craze. On the other side, there are people who appreciate Entertainers. They continued to appreciate Entertainers during the Holocron craze.

While Holochasers may have damaged certain aspects of the game, I could not trace your situation to the Holocrons. It's simply people who don't want to talk. They could be jerks. They might just be terse in their conversations. Some are in a hurry and don't have time for chitchat.

*shrugs* Not everyone is interested in chatting up the dancer or musician. Some people only talk to folks in their guild, their real life friends and in response to a need (like buying a good or service) and only just to buy or haggle.

Even though a lot of folks think playing a dancer means starting a conversation with any character that walks through the doors of a cantina just remember there is a good portion of the players playing the game that do not and will not respond to you because they don't want your chat, they just need their mind healed.

Hehe, jfang. I totally hear what you are saying. When I get that response from a customer I usually say, "No, I'm just trying to be friendly." If that doesn't open the door for the customer to get involved in a conversation with me, I just carry on a one-sided conversation. Just because they don't want to role-play with me, doesn't mean I can't use them as a jump board for me to role-play.

Zee

I hope that this post is not misinterpreted, but I do agree completely that Holocrons have ruined much of the game, especially the social professions like entertainer. I can remember before the Holocron madness hit, most entertainers actually interacted with me when I went to them. I always tipped generously, and I met some nice people this way.

Then the Holocrons hit the scene and things haven't felt the same for mesince. I feel a bit guilty, because I actually contributed to some of the mess, afk-grinding through the entertainer professions myself as I tried to unlock (I finally unlocked this past Saturday on a non-entertainer profession). During my time grinding entertainer, which took about three weeks, my perspective on enterainers changed a lot, mostly in a negative sense. When I started the entertainer grind, I approached it thinking "Cool; I'll meet new people and be able to relax for a while." This didn't happen, though, because most of my fellow entertainers were afk. I eventually gave in and just treated the process as an afk matter, too.

Since then, my tipping behavior has changed a lot. Before, I would always tip my entertainer; now, I only tip if they interact with me. If I walk into a cantina and someone pays personal attention to me, I will watch/listen to them instead of whomever I had first selected. I also will tip them a much higher amount than I used to.

Before the Holocron mess, if I went to 10 entertainers, I would probably spend 10k to 15k total, averaging 1k to 1.5k apiece. Now, if I go to10 entertainers, I end up spending the same, but 9 of those 10 don't deserve any money, and the one entertainer who does pay attention and play the entertainer role now gets 10k or 15k, depending on how good the interaction is. For those of you whoare true entertainers, I encourage you to continue interacting with your patrons. Some will be antisocial, but many of us are now craving this experience that has been largely lost in the Holocron fog.

The Holocron system has been the most destructive game mechanic introduced to SWG, and I look forward to the days when the entertainers in cantinas are there because they want to be, rather than because it is a task foisted upon them by a ridiculous system.

Here's to hoping that things will feel like they used to in the "good old days".

Cere Sollisar, Flurry Galaxy

---

jfang wrote:

I'm a master dancer, and like to entertain in Coronet (I know, I know...). Of course, I always try to say hello to the visiting patrons, and be social. However, about 1/4 of the conversations go like this:

Me: Hello (Patron). How are you doing today?

Patron: Do I know you?

Me: No, you don't.

Patron: ...

(Conversation ends)

These are expert and masters of elite combat classes, and thus mush have spent a fair amount of time in cantinas in the past few weeks. It is really that surprising that an entertainers might actually try to socialize with visitors they haven't met before?

---

I get this too sometimes. It's no big deal. Sometimes they don't even answer the first question! I don't blame the holos. Sometimes people are too shy to respond back, sometimes just not in the mood (ie if they're cranky). On occasion, they've stepped away from their computer without putting up the afk tag.

It might be an idea to examine them. If they put in their bios that they're role-players, (or above their head) then run with it. Some play the perpetually cranky or stand-offish char and you just have to interract in a particular way with them. Sometimes they simply take us for granted.

Depending on the prof they may not need to go to the cantina that often and may just not think to interract with us.

Sometimes they're just jerks!

Try not to let it get to you. It can get depressing, but for every one that doesn't want to chat, I personally find there are another 3-5 that do. Even if its just a simple 'hello' and nothing else. Try a different location, if you want and see if being the 'new face' makes a difference.

Personally, I find that dancing in Cnet and Theed is where I met all the twits. I met awesome people too, but enough jerks to make me never dance in either place again. Now I dance in a smaller cantina and find lots of people who like to talk . Still some who don't but that's ok.

I hope it gets better for you! Always try to remember the ones who do appreciate us when you encounter one the 'quiet' ones.

---

jfang wrote:

Me: Hello (Patron). How are you doing today?

Patron: Do I know you?

Me: No, you don't.

Patron: ...

(Conversation ends)

---

I often have conversations similar to this. When I am in the cantina and feeling social, I try to greet each and every patron who walks in. When I get asked, "Do I know you?" I usually respond, "No, I am just greeting all the people coming in." This usually peaks their curiousity, "What a LIVE entertainer?!"

Actually a conversation, similar to the one above developed into one of the best RP experiences I have ever had in game. The patron, was a shy female and wondered why I welcomed her. I responded as usual and tried to get her to open up to little or no success. I wasn't given the silent treatment, but rather a "I have problems with strangers" isolationist ideology, which in turn led to an entire discussion, on how not everyone out there is out to get you.

Most patrons haven't seen a LIVE entertainer or talked to one in a long time. So you just have to nudge their memories and help them along the wonderful process, "I am just being friendly." Typically any statement of goodwill usually livens up my patrons considerably and oftens helps in lightening their purse. Dispite, what you may think, most of the "Do I know you type?" are just a little surprised, curious, and/or suspicious. "Do I know you?" is a rhetorical question. Hidden in it is the true question, "Why are you greeting me? Noone has ever greeted me before." You just have to give them a reason for your niceness, because in a game where many people will stoop low for a quick scam, and on a server where common curtesy is a rare sight, people are often cautious in response to the supposedlywell meaning greeting of a stranger. Not everyone is this way, mind you, but many are.

On the other hand, some peopleare just really aloof and very picky about their associations. Don't press your luck, but don't let the converstion end on a "..." No matter what the topic is of the conversation, the entertainer should always try to get in the last word. Don't leave a patron hanging. Keep in mind, that "..." could also symbolize "?" The patron is pausing so that you may explain yourself, before he/she jumps to any conclusions. If the person really didn't want to talk to you they wouldn't take the time to ask, "Do I know you?" let alone, then respond again with three periods. If someone doesn't want to talk, they will eventually state in outright, or won't respond at all, as in often the case with busy ones. Social hints don't work well in RL and are even less effective in game. In the end, all I can say is, don't twist words/characters into what they are not. If there is any vagueness, ask for clarification. People will get to the point eventually. What they don't often realize, is how you phrase your words may come off vastly different to someone else without the intonations of oral speech.

                        /  \/  \                           
                       /| 0 0 | \                          
+----------------.oooO--|  /  | --Oooo.-------------------+ 
| Doasa Arsim            \_-_/       Events Coordinator   | 
| Master Musician    .oooO   Oooo.   Master Entertainer   | 
| Fifth River Cantina(   )   (   )   Four Rivers, Correlia| 
+---------------------\ (-----) /-------------------------+ 
                       \_)   (_/    

---

Breestan wrote:

"Ahhh, one of those Lone Wolf types eh, R3? Probably has some deep dark past... lost a family...Nah, I don't think he's really much up for playing cards with a droid.... well, because you don't have arms, R3."

---

Ha!

My method is lame in comparison... I usually just talk about how the person looks. I notice things like hair and clothes, so that's easy for me. Asking about someone's armor or weapon can be a great conversation starter and let you know what kind of patron you are dealing with I've found... ok, and yes, I just like talking about people's toys.

I do play off of the zombies though... big time if they are drifting. I don't say anything that would be mean or offensive, but I do tend to make up little stories about them. Not terribly clever mind you, but extremely amusing to me, heh.