Dancer Archive

Screw the tips, I can handle being poor, I never expected to get rich dancing. (Besides, having 20k in my bank account gets me everything I could need and supports my clothes addiction easily.) On most days, I'm able to blow off the insulting propositions and endure the unsolicited groping of my body by accepting it as a hazard of the job. I'm used to the AFKers who have no personality yet steal my floorspace. I've even found that I don't expect acknowledgement and appreciation for my services anymore. (I used to at least want a smile or a thanks - now I've just become cold and distant.)

I guess what is pushing me away from this profession is my inability to be taken seriously in the Galaxy or respected for doing my job and mastering my abilities. I am a Master Dancer, but I don't feel like I'm any better off than when I'd finished becoming a Choreographer. What do I really bring to the table now, besides silly lights and magic tricks with smoke? Sure, I heal your BF and mind wounds a little faster and can do a couple more exotic flourishes, but it hardly feels significant compared to some of the other professions I could choose to master. Maybe someday I'll have better mind buffs or stop falling constantly, but this is now. I want something to show for my work and better ways to spend my time. I crave unique abilities and more to aspire to than just a text title.

I'm bored and miserable, with nothing to show for my hard work except a collection of lame pick-up lines and a list of players I refuse to dance for. Fragging meanies on Lok sounds fun, at least it challenges my mind, so maybe its time to move on.

Anyone else running into this? No job is perfect, but I'm really looking for a compelling reason to stick with it or an argument against leaving the profession.

I can't say I am feeling this...

While I agree with you that as a master, the game grants me nothing impressive beyond choreographer.. Through the journey I as a player have gained much skill. I am now part of a regularly performing entertainment troupe, and the knowledge and skills I've gained have allowed me to direct the dancers and work with the musicians. It has been some of the most fun I've had in a MMORPG.

Oh, something I guess I should add...

Perhaps it is your attitude of not caring that is causing you this grief. Being a guy I don't get much respect as a dancer to begin with, but as part of the dancing troupe, we get lots of respect through our ability to put on a good show. I've even had one of the venue owners ask that I not return because he had a thing for one of the other dancers and was jealous. That tells me I was doing a good job. (That jealousy bit was IC of course)

Well, I am not a master dancer yet, and maybe that is why I am not tired of it.

And the reason I am not a master dancer yet is that I have been a "Jill of All Trades." So all along I have been doing a lot of different things, not just dancing all the time. Maybe some day I will get tired of dancing, but I hope not.

I'm with Kharissa on this one. I dance because I love it, and my profession is really just a backdrop to the fun I'm having, anyway!

Dara makes it fun for others too

i totally agree with you. being a master dancers means nothing! you can do the same things as a novice. as it stands now, it is a waste of time and skill points to master dancer. that's the reason i surrendered all my skill points once i mastered dancing and went CH. but hey everyone is going Ch!

today is your lucky day then. go to anchorhead with the 'master dancer' tag over your head. you'll feel appriciated soon enough.

Noreenf, I hear two things coming from your post and I'd like to take the shotgunapproach and address both of them. If either (or both) is off base, feel free to tell me to fly a kite

First, it's not unusual to get burned out on playing. We each have our tolerance limits, and when we endure the sorts of things you listed (most all of us have), it tends to make the situation worse. When I got to that point, I took up TKA. I figured out that I could be a master TK and a Master Dancer as well, as long as I didn't do anything else. Of course, then I found out how much fun Creature Handling was so I dablled in it as well. When I hit the bottom on skill points, I started a new scout instead. I tend to play her as much or more than my Master Dancer these days, simply because she's new and exciting and still has most of her skill points to spend.

That at least kept me in the game longer. Had I only tried to play the one character and no other, I might have quit long ago. Which brings me to my next observation ...

Yes, there are MANY parts of this game that are unfinished yet. Ironically, Dancer may be one of the most-finished, even though we don't have half our flourishes. But the ideas that have been thrown out here, and from the things the devs say, it seems to me that in another few months Dancers are going to once again have a great deal to offer and will probably be fun for meto play again. Until then I have my regular band and I have my scout -- and I play other games besides SWG.

Until then, I'm hanging onto my account and to my Dancer skills. I'm waiting to see. Frankly, we're not the only short-sheeted class in the game (I think most all of them are), and it's up to SOE to get things fixed. When they do this will definitely be a game worth playing. If they don't - I expect most of us to vote with our wallets. This isn't EQ. The competition out there is ferocious and getting tougher. SOE knows that.