Dancer Archive
Thread: Do you like the new buffs?
MTVGeneration wrote:
Just curious how you all feel about these new buffs. As a top end crafter I dislike them for various reasons which I won't go into but I am happy that you guys have gotten some attention.
Only thing is I am now making myself a dancer char with an unsued alt to try and buff myself and save myself time and i can see many others doing the same which actually means you guys aren't really benfiting. I actually know of at least 4-5 top end crafters in my profession are doing the same.
People will always do this. We don't like it but if someone wants to pay to buff themselves instead there's not a whole lot we can do. The good news is someone won't leave their dancer up and running 24/7 offering elite inspirations to everyone in the galaxy so those without alt accounts avoid us. That is what hurt the most about the buffbots during mind buff fiasco. That robot could do everything I could all while afk and people preferred them due to "convenience". You need to be actively manning the entertainer this time around (either that or you're doing a big no-no) which is a blessing. I pray things won't deteriorate to mind buff days.
Goldy_Lhim wrote:
MTVGeneration wrote:
Just curious how you all feel about these new buffs. As a top end crafter I dislike them for various reasons which I won't go into but I am happy that you guys have gotten some attention.
Only thing is I am now making myself a dancer char with an unsued alt to try and buff myself and save myself time and i can see many others doing the same which actually means you guys aren't really benfiting. I actually know of at least 4-5 top end crafters in my profession are doing the same.
People will always do this. We don't like it but if someone wants to pay to buff themselves instead there's not a whole lot we can do. The good news is someone won't leave their dancer up and running 24/7 offering elite inspirations to everyone in the galaxy so those without alt accounts avoid us. That is what hurt the most about the buffbots during mind buff fiasco. That robot could do everything I could all while afk and people preferred them due to "convenience". You need to be actively manning the entertainer this time around (either that or you're doing a big no-no) which is a blessing. I pray things won't deteriorate to mind buff days.
As a non dancer I can see both sides. Of course I would be annoyed if a afk robot chef did everything i could so I really don't blame you for beign the least bit unhappy. On the other hand i disliked being so dependent on any one and that doesn't just include Dancers/ents (Chef is heavily dependent on BE's for chef tissues) and havign to drop what i'm doing go find a atk dancer (which lets be honest is not that easy) just didn't appeal.
As it happens I had a spare alt and i didn't do much with it anyway so i am not really paying extra for it (2 jedi so 2 extra alts).
You pay for an account train up the skills and use them for thier intended purpose without in any being disruptive to other players (possibly not even in contact with other players)....why would anyone be upset over that?
TheSillyOne wrote:
You pay for an account train up the skills and use them for thier intended purpose without in any being disruptive to other players (possibly not even in contact with other players)....why would anyone be upset over that?
TheSillyOne wrote:
You pay for an account train up the skills and use them for thier intended purpose without in any being disruptive to other players (possibly not even in contact with other players)....why would anyone be upset over that?
Exactly. Even though I despised the AFK buffbots as much as anyone else here, I never ever had any issues with anybody that had a 2nd account for personal use. If you pay your $15/month, that entitlesyou to use that character to buff your main char, that's completely understood. As others stated, the problems only arose when someone parked their buffbot in a public area and provided a free "service" to any and all passersby, inevitably crowding out Live entertainers.
MTVGeneration wrote:
Thanks for the replies. Nice to see a rather adult discussion. I just thought that me having an alt to buff myself was still taking away business from atk ents/dancers etc.
The actual buffs themselves i don't like and think they could have been better for the hardcore crafters but thats besides the point. Was just curious as to how you felt with people still taking business away from you all.
Unless you're somehow supporting the entire entertainment industry single-handedly, I don't think your buff-alt will make that big an impact. 
It's true that many crafters have secondary accounts for the extra lots and supplemental skills. It's also true that some of those players will now use those alts as personal buff-alts.
Is ita problem? Are these "amateur" entertainers stealing business from the "professionals"? I'd have to say "no". How many crafters are there on an average server? What percentage of them use multiple accounts? What percentage of those will choose convenience of buffs over other benefits to make a buff-alt?
I'm guessing that the total number of buff-alts will be a reasonably small number in comparison to the total population of crafters that will desire the buffs, particularly once it becomes easier to find a "professional" entertainer. (I'm making an assumption that the number of professional entertainers will increase again once there's a demonstrable need for their services.)
In any case, it's your business what you do with your alt. If you're playing at the keyboard, as you must be to do the buffs, then it's your decision who you give the buffs to. Parking AFK in a cantina with a "Tip Me!" macro running IS stealing from the live entertainers and will get you sneered at.
Now, if 90% of the crafters in the game purchase second accounts to create buff-alts, then SoE will have to say "Back to the drawing board..." (or else say "Ha ha, it worked, look at all those new subscriptions we got!") and try to come up with a new way to work around human nature.
Landlubber wrote:
And above all, they listened to what was easily our most pressing concern, far more important than anything else: the new buffs cannot be applied AFK, and they are not passive. We have control over them. That in itself is sufficient for me to applaud SOE just this once
These buffs are still passive, just passive in a very clunky way.
I do not feel like I have control. Yes, I control who I /inspire. But that does not make me feel any more "in control" of my own enjoyment. If anything, it makes me feel even more powerless.
Its true that I can not accept a patron's request to buff them. But that doesn't hurt them. It hurts me. Because I have no content as an entertainer of any substance, outside of granting /inspire. That is my only substantial contribution to the galaxy, and to the system.
But with the command /inspire, I now have to take responsibility for something that cannot be my responsibility, and never can be.
If it were active, like a doctor, I could give it instantly, and exactly how they want it,for patrons. But here? All a patron need do is /listen to a musician, and it screws up the thing the very /inspire I have the responsibility to give.
But if the experience is a bad one for the patron--even if its their fault--I get blamed for the bad experience. And if its one thing I have learned in this profession, is that the other players will use any excuse to prove we are scum to their friends, and server mates.
But who am I to argue with them over a stupid procedure gone wrong? If it was up to me, they could just let me dance, and put total responsibility on them to make it a "buffing /watch." But I can't give them that ability. Instead, I have to do the needless extra work to "/inspire them," which gives them as patrons all theleverage they need to say its my fault for not telling them they shouldn't be listening to a musician,
Or /watching another dancer,
Or running out early before the buff is done,
Orgetting mad when I say I have to go, and they don't want me to activate the buff by leaving,
Or getting mad when they go AFK on me, and I have to somehow guess when they can "let me off the hook,"
Or getting mad at me, because another patron wants the stupid garbage /inspire command, and they don't want to let me go.
All that garbage happened to me the last time we had something like this. I had no control over any of them. But it nevertheless became my fault in many of my patrons' eyes,for "wasting their time."
After all, it is not me, who tips them. Its they who tip me. And they do not tip me to "give the opportunity for a buff." They tip me to get the buff. How can the get something I am powerless to give?
It gives us unclear roles, expectations, and has a HUGE potential for grief. What if a player says, "can u buff me," tips me credits, and then goes AFK? What if the player doesn't come back in five minutes, or ten minutes, or even a half an hour later? If I leave, what if he gets upset that I "activated his buff" before he wanted it? Do I keep the tip, or give it back? This is far from a foolproof system. Far from.
And it is problematic, because buffing is to dependent on factors outside of my control, for me to feel good about giving it. And it is also too "opaque," and "contrived" to give anyone the impression that we are to suspend our disbelief, and enjoy entertainment.
I don't want this garbage. I want to entertain. Why can't this game give me that, instead of loading me up with all this garbage I never wanted, and must do, simply because I have no other game to play, but click /inspire?
Our patrons want the buff. They don't want to see a show. Moreover, they are too concerned with getting through the "virtual tap dance" between two characters, to sit back, and enjoy things.
The problem is not that we have control.
The problem is that control is divided.
Message Edited by PoetDancer on 09-02-2005 04:39 PM
Message Edited by PoetDancer on 09-02-2005 04:38 PM