Doctor Archive

I've been a Master Doc for a couple weeks on Tempest. I collect all of my own resources and try very hard to make the best possible buffs I can. After many tries I got a complete set in crates with a base of 855/11407. I feel bad giving buffs that still dip as low as 1050 so I work for tips. Most people understand it seems and when I hit low I always refund part or all of their tips. Last night I'm buffing and someone comes up for buffs. I hit a few 3k's and the rest were all mid to high 2k buffs. I get a 5k tip which is lower than what most charge no matter the buff. I ask why and am responded to with I get better buffs for 5k all the time. At this point the person tips me 10k more and tells me to stop whining so I challenge them to a duel and refund the 10k. I told them to find their buffs elsewhere and add them to my /ignore/no service list. They keep asking if it will make me feel better to kill them....at that point I say yes and I would actually rather you just leave the city. I refunded them the 5k amount they also initially gave me as I felt their money to not be worth my time as well.

I work very hard for my meds and I try to give the best I can but to get insulted and say someone gets better for 5k all the time is what really got to me. Maybe I should start charging a set price no matter the buff. Am I wrong...what is everyone's opinion

dont worry about it bro, were all doing really crappy buffs lately for some reason, can anyone say "stealth nerf"? dont pay that dip**edit** any mind man

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EbooAmehe wrote:
I've been a Master Doc for a couple weeks on Tempest. I collect all of my own resources and try very hard to make the best possible buffs I can. After many tries I got a complete set in crates with a base of 855/11407. I feel bad giving buffs that still dip as low as 1050 so I work for tips. Most people understand it seems and when I hit low I always refund part or all of their tips. Last night I'm buffing and someone comes up for buffs. I hit a few 3k's and the rest were all mid to high 2k buffs. I get a 5k tip which is lower than what most charge no matter the buff. I ask why and am responded to with I get better buffs for 5k all the time. At this point the person tips me 10k more and tells me to stop whining so I challenge them to a duel and refund the 10k. I told them to find their buffs elsewhere and add them to my /ignore/no service list. They keep asking if it will make me feel better to kill them....at that point I say yes and I would actually rather you just leave the city. I refunded them the 5k amount they also initially gave me as I felt their money to not be worth my time as well.

I work very hard for my meds and I try to give the best I can but to get insulted and say someone gets better for 5k all the time is what really got to me. Maybe I should start charging a set price no matter the buff. Am I wrong...what is everyone's opinion

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I can understand how you feel. I was at the Tusken Fort selling buffs once, and I was told that I was ripping people off by charging 10K. The person said that she had a Master Doctor as her alternate character and she never charges over 3K for a full set. Most people don't understand how much time and money go into creating our buffs. I don't give refunds for low buffs anymore since I have created the best packs I can, and I have nothing to do with the outcome. If someone is unhappy about some low buffs they can submit a /bug report and SoE can ignore them.

- Travin

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I can understand how you feel. I was at the Tusken Fort selling buffs once, and I was told that I was ripping people off by charging 10K. The person said that she had a Master Doctor as her alternate character and she never charges over 3K for a full set. Most people don't understand how much time and money go into creating our buffs. I don't give refunds for low buffs anymore since I have created the best packs I can, and I have nothing to do with the outcome. If someone is unhappy about some low buffs they can submit a /bug report and SoE can ignore them.

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I know.

Paying 50cpu + for avian meat, it's just not possible to charge any less for buffs. It's just not practical to gather all your own resources, as the variety is just too wide. And good stuff can get really rare. When you buy from players, you need to pass that cost on. I'm not eating the cost of resources so my buffs can be cheap. Contrary to poular opinion, this isn't a charity.

Maybe someday UNICEF will get into the buffing business-- until then...

It's my opinion, but I believe there should be a payment scale set up prior to the buffing. If you simply tell the customer, "Pay me what you think it's worth," you're leaving it up to the customer to determine what your time is worth. Maybe your customer doesn't have much money or maybe your customer has no idea how much effort goes into your buffs or maybe your customer is a greedy rat or maybe your customer has more money than he/she knows what to do with. There are a ton of factors, outside of the buffs themselves, that will impact how much (or how little) you get tipped.

In my opinion, if you leave it open to the customer, there's a good chance that someone is going to feel bad afterwards. Perhaps the customer didn't tip you as much as you're used to. Perhaps the customer has no idea how much buffs are worth and tips you what he/she considers an appropriate amount only to find out later that he/she paid either way too much or way too little.

If you ask me, I'd say that you should always have a set pay scale. Obviously, because you set the scale, it properly compensates you for your time. Let the customer know what it is and it is then up to him/her to pay it or not. If you feel bad about low rolls once ina while, create a pay scale to handle that. One of my favorites is the sliding scale (although there are more versions of pay scales than you can poke a stick at). In the past, I have charges 1 credit for every two points buffed. Given the following rolls:

1. 2879


2. 1967


3. 3102


4. 2387


5. 1860


6. 2444

Total Cost: 7,320 Credits

If you get a subpar set of rolls, like this:

1. 1129


2. 1876


3. 1598


4. 2231


5. 1390


6. 1546

Total Cost: 4,885 Credits

You see, the pay scale handles the fact that there are times when you get bad rolls. It protects the customer from paying too much for bad buffs and it gives the doctor extra incentive to make the best packs he/she can.

Of course, there are a ton of different pay scales out there and you can take 'em or leave 'em as you please or create your own. But, to make such a long story short, I think it's best to have some sort of payment plan set up prior to offering someone a service.

I really like your take on this Mcglonec the payment scale makes sense and that would keep me happy even when the dice gods roll low.

Charge what you want. It's a game. . . have fun.

I always charge 10k for a complete set. I have seen some docs give refunds if any stat is less than 1500, but I chose not to do this since I still am spending the resources and time. Some buffs do come out real bad and if they are really bad then you can give some money back (I have had to do this a few times this week because the buffs were exactly at base value for most stats).

If you want to make any money at doc, you should charge at least 5% of what it costs you to make the buff. Never charge less then the cost or you will find yourself broke and without meds.

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EbooAmehe wrote:
I really like your take on this Mcglonec the payment scale makes sense and that would keep me happy even when the dice gods roll low.

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Of course, while I like that plan, others don't like the fact that you need to have a calculator handy when you're buffing. Some folks like the scale:

• 0 < Buff Value < 1000: FREE


• 1000 <= Buff Value < 2000: 1k Credits


• 2000 <= Buff Value < 3000: 2k Credits


• 3000 <= Buff Value: 3k Credits

Using that scale, the previous buff rolls I laid out would have been 11k Credits and 7k Credits respectively. It's easier to calculate but maybe a touch more difficult to explain to the customer. Keep in mind that most of your customers (unless you're in Coronet) have been looking for a doc to buff them fora while and, at this point, your customers just want to get buffed and get out there and have some fun. Simplicity is good.

I'm sorry, but I don't care what the buffs are. The sameamount of resources, time, and effort go into the buffs, REGARDLESS the outcome. A scale is not something I personally feel a Master Doctor should use. Tip backs is another thing I don't think we should use. It doesn't matter what the final buff is. If its a good pack, you most likely busted your balls to get it that way, and to sell yourself short is just not to bright on your part. A buff is a buff, and regardless WHAT the buffs are, that person can go run missions and make 5x-10x more then you just charged him. To give people money back is just stupid.

People make it a big deal when they get a 1000 buff, but I bet my toon that they are laughing their ass off, when you end upcharging 5k + tip backs,as they walk away to make 10k off 1 mission that takes all of 10 minutes to finish. Not only that, but I can also bet my toon that even with that 1k buff they just cried about, they are still gonna go hunting with it. Its as simple as that. People are taking doctors on a ride, to make you feel like **edit**, just so they can rip you off. Frankly I don't know why some master docs beat themselves up over a bad roll with a good pack; its simply not your fault, but the person that your buffingare gonna make you feel like that, because they want to get something for free or cheaper then the already cheap 10k standard, just so that they can run missions and make 5x-10x more then you just made.

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MyT_Chicken wrote:

I'm sorry, but I don't care what the buffs are. The sameamount of resources, time, and effort go into the buffs, REGARDLESS the outcome. A scale is not something I personally feel a Master Doctor should use.

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Yeah, I agree, fixed pricing is bad... especially cross-server fixed pricing.

I've been charging 1cr per point for a while now. The only problem I have with it is, people not paying. Gotta love /report.

-T