Dancer Archive
Thread: Do customers understand how dancing works?
I've been playing this game for a couple of weeks now, and Iget the distinct impression that customers just don't understand how to play the game when they enter a cantina. I see customers just looking at any entertainer for heal points. They don't seem to understand that the better dancers/musicians give the fastest heals. Has anyone else noticed this? Could this be part of the reason why advancing in the entertainment field has no measurable rewards?
How do we makegamers know that there's a tactical aspect to cantina-going? If it's because patrons don't care - that they think they get healed quickly enough by any dancer, how can we make it important to getadvancement inthe entertainer profession?
I got a great email from a regular who was off-planet the other day, telling me about sitting watching a low-level musician blatt away on his horn with very few flourishes and watching his BF go sloooooowly down. The gist of his email to me was that he hadn't realized how much he'd counted on being able to stop into a cantina with massive BF and leave "cured" within a minute.
But something I have definately noticed is that some people don't seem to understand /watch or /listen. I was on Rori the other day and decided to do a quick spot of dancing. I got roundly praised for my skill and this one patron took those praising me to task because "it doesn't make one whit of difference in the end, it's all just pixels". Sure enough, he'd played his way half-way up his comabt tree if not more never noticing that if you /watch or /listen at all, it makes a difference, let alone /watch or /listen to a more skilled entertainer.
"well first of all if you see them going to other less experienced entertainers dont worry there working there way to get up to where you are, just like you were when you first started. and second you have to appeal to the customers. flirt with them make them feel welcome, and they will start to come to you."
I think you may be missing the point. My point is not how dancers act, or how important it is for newbies to get training. These are important issues, but I think they're irrelevant to the point I'm trying to make. The point I'm makingis that for dancers to get any respect, clients must know WHY they are going to the cantinas, and more importantly, they must know HOW to use a cantina to get healed fastest. If they go in and just watch anyone, they are not playing the game as efficiently as they should, and it's no wonder, if they don'tunderstand what they're supposed to do there, that they basically view dancers as an inconvenience.
I try to educate them if the topic is about dancing. I let them know that titles are a handy way to gauge one's skills. An enthraller or captivater [sic] is guaranteed good healing in at least one category. Now, a choreographer has mastered a skill not related to healing, but odds are very likely that if a dancer got that high, she's got some healing. At the very least, she has Entertainment Healing IV, just like any Novice Dancer. Also, a Novice Dancer may have three boxes of both healing, which is better than an Enthraller with 0 Wound boxes.Lastly, I explain that anyone who can give pretty lights is able to give a mind buff.
Of course, the Master Dancer heals the fastest, and I have to point that out even though I'll never be a Master Dancer.
It's part of education. On a slow night, when I can actually pay more attention to people's mind bars, I may notice that someone is not improving (or that I'm not getting any Ent Heal xp). I'll ask if he's watching. The patron will say yes, but I know he's not improving. So I have to explain that having me on the screen isn't enough.
And I try to work in the mind buff info. I may remind patrons, "Remember to /stopwatching in order to benefit from the mind buff." This may prompt a rifleman or medic to ask, "Mind buff?"
Jennith wrote:
I have also heard complaints from master dancers on this very boardabout people not tipping more just because they are masters, well, they are right!!! They heal you better, so should get a bigger tip, but think when you are a newbie player with only 60 cr. in your pocket, well, I really can't afford to watch ANY dancer, much less a master by that criteria. I didn't realize this at first, and would only tip what I could afford, not realizing it offended some people (sorry if you were one of those, I know better now) Once I figured that out I would not watch the master just because I knew I couldn't afford what they were worth.
I think it's a fairly sad commentary on the entertainment professions when any entertainer professes to be insulted by a"small" tip. I give the same thanks to a 25cr tip that I give to a 250cr tip. People who think their status as master makes them socially superior in some way are people who I can happily learn to play/dance without.
Give what you can afford. Smile when you give it. The vast majority will be grateful, not offended.
I don't know, sometimes I have a reason for not watching the master dancer.
Being basically a chef with my main character, I don't do much heavy combat, but do get beat up somewhat when I am gathering hides for cooking. When I run into the Theatre to heal BF. I often choose the lower level dancer/musician, if I can tell, not because I don't like the master dancer,but because I'm thinking that the lower level dancer may like the XP from healing me. Granted,I have never had massive amounts of BF so It never takes long no matter who I watch, but I have an ALT who is a dancer and the few times I can't get in a group, I find she just can't get any Ent. Healing XP because no one wants to give her a chance and watch her.
I realize this is just how the game is that most people will watch those who will get them out of there fastest, but since I have the time, I like to support the underdog!!!
I have also heard complaints from master dancers on this very boardabout people not tipping more just because they are masters, well, they are right!!! They heal you better, so should get a bigger tip, but think when you are a newbie player with only 60 cr. in your pocket, well, I really can't afford to watch ANY dancer, much less a master by that criteria. I didn't realize this at first, and would only tip what I could afford, not realizing it offended some people (sorry if you were one of those, I know better now) Once I figured that out I would not watch the master just because I knew I couldn't afford what they were worth.
Just my two credits, Does anyone else think of these things, or am I just the wierd one? Hope I didn't offend anyone, that wasn't my intent, just wanted to give a different POV.
This also means if they are /watching someone else, you get a few healing XPs but not a lot. The person being /watched gets more, I think.
As to whether they watch a master dancer or not... well, from what I can tell, players seem in general to know that the more experienced, advanced dancers will heal them faster. I had a player once say to my character (who is at level 1 or 2 in the dancing tree in healing), "Wow, you healed me up really quickly." I was in a not-very-active cantina and I guess he was used to novices. So they do recognize it.
On the other hand people usually don't know what "rank" my dancer is because I usually select "no title". I think it ruins RP to magically "know" what profession and rank someone is just by looking at them. I'd rather not have people know when I walk into a room wearing a backpack and outdoor gear, and carrying a tusken rifle, "Hey, you're a dance,r heal us!" But I am a roleplayer by nature so that's probably just me.
C