Doctor Archive
Thread: question for the Docs (long post)
I'm not meaning this as an attack on docs. Buffing is an easy way to make credits, and beats relying on tips at med centers. Grinding brings in easy XP. Note: when I say "grinding" I mean those who either spend hours at the cantina healing dancers, or find a quiet place and have a friend tumble for them. So what I mean is, that it's easier to grind XP than to sit at a med center and wait for prospective patients to come in.
The reason I ask this is that I'm becoming more and more irritated at going to the med center, and seeing several people waiting around hoping a doc comes in to heal their wounds, and a doc never coming in at all.
Two incidents that have happened to me lately have brought on this irritation. The other night I was hunting with friends on Endor. At one point we got diseased. It was getting late and our buffs were close to wearing off, so we decided to camp and log out. And of course, when I logged in, I had one big black health bar. I figured that surely there would be a doc in the Theed med center that could patch me up, so I headed there. When I arrived, I found 3 others waiting there as well, with varying degrees of wounds. No medic in sight, and nobody healing. I wanted to get some more hunting in, so I decided to hit the bazaar and ended up buying every health wound pack available. I went back to the med center and started the healing process. Quick note: up until last night, I was 3-0-2-0 Medic. The packs kinda sucked, so it took me about an hour to get myself healed up. During that time, more walking wounded came in, looked for medics, found none, and left. One doc came in soliciting offers for training, but never offered to patch up any of those waiting. After getting patched up, I hit the cantina to get rid of some BF. What did I find? At least 3 docs in there healing entertainers. After that, I ran to the spaceport and found 4 more docs buffing (including the one who was offering training earlier). I wasn't a happy camper.
Last night essentially the same thing happened. After getting diseased on Dathomir, I headed to Coronet for more healing. I found a doc and asked if he could cure my disease; he couldn't (didn't have a cure pack, nor the materials to make one). I ran to the med center and actually found a few docs willing to heal me, but they couldn't cure. So I ended up running about 2k out of town to commit suicide to get rid of the blasted disease. Cloned in Coronet, ran to the healers, and got patched up (and tipped the lady pretty well; I definitely reward acts of kindness).
Take what you will from these stories. I'm sure I'm just one of many who've had them. And I'm not attacking docs, just trying to figure out (A) is something broken in the system, and (B) if so, how to fix it?
confession time: I'm a former Master Doctor. I grinded it for my 2nd holo. So by no means am I going to attack those who are essentially doing the same thing I did just a few weeks ago. To those "true" docs, those ones who actually hang around med centers and heal us non-docs up, I offer a heartfelt "Thank you", and I wish there were more of you.
To me, there are some underlying problems with the system that can be derived from these experiences.
1. Disease. If you get it, you're closed to screwed. Cure packs seem to be non-existant; I couldn't find any on the bazaar last night, and now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing any on the vendors I buy Stim B's from. Docs often don't carry cure packs, it seems, or the materials to make them. Why that is, I don't know. For MD's I'm assuming that every cure pack (or materials) carried is one less available slot in the backpack to carry profitable buff packs. The best cure for disease is DYING. How backwards is that? My solution: make disease a temporary affect, like poison. An addition possibility is putting a cap on the max amount of wounds a single disease "infection" can inflict.
2. The holo system has made Doc (among other profs) a temporary profession for most players. Again, I'm guilty of this. Not sure what to do about this one. Buffing is more profitable for Master Docs than relying on tips. Those that are grinding are probably like me: they're self-financed, and have enough credits from other professions to buy their way up the trees. They don't need tips; they're just looking to get thru it ASAP and move on to the next holo.
3. Well, I had a 3rd point, but I've forgotten it. Curse my old age!
Anybody have any other thoughts? Is is possible this is not as big of a problem as I'm making it out to be? I can usually find a doc to patch up health wounds on those occasions when I don't mind zipping from city to city, planet to planet, and waiting forever at the shuttleports. But the disease aspect of it, I think, is something that needs to be looked at.
I agree, however, that grinding docs is annoying. There should be a place they can go for tumblers outside the med center. I'll admit, I've done my share of tumbling, and healing tumblers, but normally I'll heal people in the med center (hence why I shot through Medic, and am moving at a mediocre pace up doctor).
Thats all I have to say, I don't have the ability to cure disease yet so i can't comment on that. And your right, the fact that Master Docs don't need the xp, and they do need money makes them less likely to rely on tips. After all, if a tumbler can make more money than you in an hour, then its just disgraceful...
I agree, however, that grinding docs is annoying. There should be a place they can go for tumblers outside the med center. I'll admit, I've done my share of tumbling, and healing tumblers, but normally I'll heal people in the med center (hence why I shot through Medic, and am moving at a mediocre pace up doctor).
Thats all I have to say, I don't have the ability to cure disease yet so i can't comment on that. And your right, the fact that Master Docs don't need the xp, and they do need money makes them less likely to rely on tips. After all, if a tumbler can make more money than you in an hour, then its just disgraceful...
Well i'd like to know how long you kept MD?
anyway, i've had it for a while, and i cure wounds when i see em and have packs, but i cant heal every bozo who needs to be healed.... I used to and never got tips, and lost money off making the packs which as you all know require (1 SDS, 1 CRDM, and 1 BEC) as well as org and inorg, after healing about 100 players wounds (varying in numbers) i got tipped ONCE and people expect it, yes healing is good xp if you're using decent packs, but the only thing i get tipped for is buffing (and i always end up /denyservice to at least 1 person per day because they dont pay) and with disease, i ALWAYS carry packs, but it doesnt mean im gonna cure every guy because he wont tip me (it takes money and resources as said before)
resources and materials dont come cheap, and people expect us to be a robot surgical droid healing every single person, and you can wait in the med center, and when i go in there (with a combat tag on) i almost always get wound heal instatntlyso i dont know what you're going through, and an hour to cure wounds, heh, maybe if you used /tendwound all day, but most pvp people buff up their mind because that's the most common "incap" bar. As for dieing to cure disease, that is a good idea if there are no doc aroiund, just tell them that you'll give them 15 flora, 15 gas, 1 BEC, and 1 LS and they should make it, tell em you'll pay em and they might have stuff, as for the people in the cantina, i go everyday (because i survey radioactive...no comment) to heal bf and mind wounds, and maybe the novice medic is there, but little xp is there, if people want to waste their stimpacks let them, jsut dont expect it, and i'm not pummeling on you because i respect the fact that you tip, that's very nice
but then again, as a doc i got tipped once out of a LOT of times, and it was 50k because she had wounds to every attribute...but at least it wasa tip no matter the amount, as long as i get tipped i'll heal your wounds, but for docs it's the money, and most docs either have to pay 60cpu to some idiot who is selling avian, or buy their own buffpacks at like 20k per go...and i think they will go with the person who is tipping more, now with xp, the way i got to MD with med xp was rezzing, plain rezzing, i payed a guy 150k to die about well 180 times.....
and since rez pakcs arent hard to make at all, it was fun 
now with grinding, doc isnt the only profession either, there is artisan (crafting/survey macroes anyone...), and all the crafting professions, so dont get mad, because doc takes a lot of skill points and really isnt all that fun either, but i do respect you tip, but dont EXPECT anyone to cure you.... and yes tip
thanks
that's my say.
ashief wrote:
Yup tip me a lot with out asking is the easiest way to make me a very happy Doc to heal all those wounds and at a nice quick pace. Read: using the wound/heal/ disease packs I only use in group. Otherwise you get the crappy ones
lol
Interesting post, I like it a lot. If you have any questions/counterpooints to my explanation, please let me know. I will follow this thread, both to see what you think and what the other Docs have to say on the matter.
PadawanSlappy wrote:
I have a question for all the doctors around here. Why is it that 95% of all docs are either grinders or buffers?
This is probably not the case. I don't know about all the other Docs, but as for myself, I don't wear my Doc tag, because other players become quite insitant on receiving buff and/or healing for little or no payment. Unfortunately, I have found it easier to play without anybody knowing I am a doc than arguing about my prices, why you should tip, or what I should charge for buffs.
I'm not meaning this as an attack on docs. Buffing is an easy way to make credits, and beats relying on tips at med centers. Grinding brings in easy XP. Note: when I say "grinding" I mean those who either spend hours at the cantina healing dancers, or find a quiet place and have a friend tumble for them. So what I mean is, that it's easier to grind XP than to sit at a med center and wait for prospective patients to come in.
The reason I ask this is that I'm becoming more and more irritated at going to the med center, and seeing several people waiting around hoping a doc comes in to heal their wounds, and a doc never coming in at all.
I usually make a trip to the medical center after I get healed at the cantina. If there are medics around I tip them VERY well for healing me, then I ask if they need any training (which I offer for free).
If not, I wait off the wounds or heal myself, depending on how many I have. The only time I heal others in the medical center is when there are no other medics around that are at the keyboard. Then I will heal people ther unless I am in a hurry. After each person I heal, I have a pad of paper next to me. I record what they tip, not saying anything about it. I just keep it for my won information, along with how experienced they appera (weapons and armor they are wearing, badges that they have) and use it for my own information. Especially good tippers or obnoxious people get added to my friends list and why. If I end up healing a well off looking player more than twice without a tip in line with the amount of wounds healed, then I pass them by next time.
Two incidents that have happened to me lately have brought on this irritation. The other night I was hunting with friends on Endor. At one point we got diseased. It was getting late and our buffs were close to wearing off, so we decided to camp and log out. And of course, when I logged in, I had one big black health bar. I figured that surely there would be a doc in the Theed med center that could patch me up, so I headed there. When I arrived, I found 3 others waiting there as well, with varying degrees of wounds. No medic in sight, and nobody healing. I wanted to get some more hunting in, so I decided to hit the bazaar and ended up buying every health wound pack available. I went back to the med center and started the healing process. Quick note: up until last night, I was 3-0-2-0 Medic. The packs kinda sucked, so it took me about an hour to get myself healed up. During that time, more walking wounded came in, looked for medics, found none, and left. One doc came in soliciting offers for training, but never offered to patch up any of those waiting. After getting patched up, I hit the cantina to get rid of some BF. What did I find? At least 3 docs in there healing entertainers. After that, I ran to the spaceport and found 4 more docs buffing (including the one who was offering training earlier). I wasn't a happy camper.
Last night essentially the same thing happened. After getting diseased on Dathomir, I headed to Coronet for more healing. I found a doc and asked if he could cure my disease; he couldn't (didn't have a cure pack, nor the materials to make one). I ran to the med center and actually found a few docs willing to heal me, but they couldn't cure. So I ended up running about 2k out of town to commit suicide to get rid of the blasted disease. Cloned in Coronet, ran to the healers, and got patched up (and tipped the lady pretty well; I definitely reward acts of kindness).
Take what you will from these stories. I'm sure I'm just one of many who've had them. And I'm not attacking docs, just trying to figure out (A) is something broken in the system, and (B) if so, how to fix it?
A. I don't like arguing about payment or worring about tips. In reality, i don't need that much money -wise anymore, but I was VERY poor when Pip was a Doc/CM getting healing exp (this was before you got healing exp for applying poisons). As such I kinda have a dark place in my soul for people who don't tip. Because it is a tip, I don't ask for it ahead of time. If the players says that they would tip if they could, but are in a bind, I remember my Doc/CM days here too. I ask that they tip the next young medic or entertainer that does them a good service to help them out, and these type of players are OK in my book. The point I am trying to get at is this...The reason I do not wear a tag anymore is because people ask for healing at starports and such, then don't tip.
B. My suggestion is offer up front to pay for cures.healing, if you are willing to do so. Hell, even if you only offer 250 credits, at least you recognize that my services are worth something and I would usually heal you unless I was in an extreme hurry. Some times though, you will have to make a trip to coronet to find docs or medics that are at the keyboard.
confession time: I'm a former Master Doctor. I grinded it for my 2nd holo. So by no means am I going to attack those who are essentially doing the same thing I did just a few weeks ago. To those "true" docs, those ones who actually hang around med centers and heal us non-docs up, I offer a heartfelt "Thank you", and I wish there were more of you.
To me, there are some underlying problems with the system that can be derived from these experiences.
1. Disease. If you get it, you're closed to screwed. Cure packs seem to be non-existant; I couldn't find any on the bazaar last night, and now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing any on the vendors I buy Stim B's from. Docs often don't carry cure packs, it seems, or the materials to make them. Why that is, I don't know. For MD's I'm assuming that every cure pack (or materials) carried is one less available slot in the backpack to carry profitable buff packs. The best cure for disease is DYING. How backwards is that? My solution: make disease a temporary affect, like poison. An addition possibility is putting a cap on the max amount of wounds a single disease "infection" can inflict.
Couple of problems here...first is you have to be a 4/x/x/x doc to heal disease, and a 2/x/x/x doc to heal poison. You also have to be a novice doc to cure states. I don't know about other docs, but they are probably grinding exp. I always have at least one pack of each wound/state and cure, followed by a crate stored in my droid along with spare batteries because my abilities are worthless if I don't have the meds on me.
As an aside, disease is temporary, just has a very long duration ( long enough to make your bar go completely black)
2. The holo system has made Doc (among other profs) a temporary profession for most players. Again, I'm guilty of this. Not sure what to do about this one. Buffing is more profitable for Master Docs than relying on tips. Those that are grinding are probably like me: they're self-financed, and have enough credits from other professions to buy their way up the trees. They don't need tips; they're just looking to get thru it ASAP and move on to the next holo.
3. Well, I had a 3rd point, but I've forgotten it. Curse my old age!
Anybody have any other thoughts? Is is possible this is not as big of a problem as I'm making it out to be? I can usually find a doc to patch up health wounds on those occasions when I don't mind zipping from city to city, planet to planet, and waiting forever at the shuttleports. But the disease aspect of it, I think, is something that needs to be looked at.
I was a doctor from the moment I got into SWG (1 month after release) and by that I mean I knew it's what I wanted to do. I tried matching it with Pistoleer and now Teras Kasi Artist (enjoying the latter) but I was a doctor first. In all the grinding (pre-tumbling) I did, I think I got tipped for my efforts maybe 5 times, mostly from people that came back a lot. I got disgusted with it. I was asked to put down a hospital in my player city, but I didn't see a point in it. I register on the planetary map every time I walk into a medical center, and it's not till I turn on the MD tag that I get any tells, and it's always for buffs.
So I'm in the Medical Center in Coronet this morning, just hit TK Master and I'm relaxing here. There's no one on duty so I register, no lower level grinders, and this guy in bright red, full composite walks in and sits down. "You look a little banged up there, friend," I say, "let me have a look at you..." I pop Diagnose and he's got a little over 100 wounds to Health and Action. "Yes, you've got quite a few lacerations across your torso and legs there, let me get you an estimate... the bill should be about 2000 credits--unless you have your proof of insurance on you."
He cusses me with lots of !? in the spam, and I'm laughing. The reason I'm laughing is that the guy must have terrible memory, because I buffed him on Dantooine for 10000 credits four hours ago, at the same time I buffed him. Now I'M nearly 100000 credits richer for my missions, and this guy is giving me a hard time for wanting 2000 to heal 200+ wounds. To put the icing on the cake, a Novice Doctor walks in, and heals his wounds for him, and the guy leaves, without tipping according to the doctor. "Because you get XP for it." I'm sure was his reasoning.
Well getting your wounds healed allows you to get XP again. Lowbies I'll cure wounds on no problem. When I look at a guy with 14 profession badges... if you would like to resume the holo-grind you can share the wealth. I can meditate to cure my wounds so I really don't care if your bar stays black.
This long story is why you'll never find me registered at the Medical Center. If I'm passing by I'll stop in... but I'm rarely passing by. If you're a person who does tip, then just /tell a doctor and ask if you can hire him to tend your wounds.
I have been repeatedly conditioned *not* to go into med centers anymore. From the "you're a doc it's your job to heal me" to coming in and seeing a half dozen people tumbling spamming "tumbling for tips" I just don't want that. I used to stop in the med center everytime I was near to see if anyone needed healing/training. I even still kept doing it when someone complained that I only healed their 90some quickness wound and not all their others which were under 50 count. That person kept spouting how I suxxored and that I'm supposed to heal all their wounds and I shouldn't expect compensation. (I was a master Doc way back then already and had no use for xp. Incidentally 2 months later I see the same guy with the MD tag and in his profile was "I'm a master and don't need med xp so I only heal wounds for $$$.")
I've played buff-bot once, and that was when I was under 100k after I recouped from when my factories decayed (only received a structure warning when it was at 10%...and I didn't log in for 2 days) and they were holding 6k Adv Med Components. In one hour of buff-botting I netted over 400k. That's not bad credit/time ratio.
With all that being said, the first thing I do upon entering a Player Town known for RP is visit the Med Center.
I also chat with and offer assistance to new people to the server/game and twice in the past week I buffed 2 new people who were way out in the desert of tatooine by the Krayt Graveyard (one even walked!)
Frankly I feel too much like a medical droid when I'm wearing the tag and inside an NPC city. That's not what I took this profession for.