Entertainer Archive
Thread: Why are there no tippers?
Just out of curiosity what does your profession say below your name? If you've set it tosay Master Marksman maybe people just think you are doing this for a lark and don't need the tips.
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It depends on if you like entertaining. You can probably make more money with your other skills. Being an entertainer doesn't bring in a lot of money, especially for musicians. You can increase your likelihood to get tips if you welcome people and generally talk to them, roleplay. However, if you really don't want to work socially, you probably won't see very much money. You might not even see much money if you do. I'd say keep the skill if you enjoy it, if you're only interested in money, you're in the wrong profession.
I always try to tip at least 1k, more if they are newbies so there are a few of us who tip. Sadly for the entertainer and medical professions, most folks just walk out when they are healed and you're lucky to even get a thank you.
It's funny how you always hear players complaining that there are no entertainers and medics around. Because of the fact thatI always take care of those who heal me, I have yet to walk into town, /shout entertainer and/or medic needed and not have someone come running.
Lesson: Take care of your entertainers and medics and they will take care of you.
My thanks (and tips) to those who have always come running at my call. Without you, I would be a corpse.
It's definitely feast or famine in this profession. Sometimes I'm making money like mad, other times it's pretty lean going. Where are you playing? Seems to me when I dance in the large venues like Coronet, I don't make very much. There's more of the cafeteria mindset in the big places--take what you want and go. But I don't really go there to work the crowd, I go to grind. If you're looking for tips, the way to maximize your odds would be to play the out of the way places and work the crowd intelligently.
Socializing with the patrons is the key to tips.
Sniper6345 wrote:
So I picked up Entertainer because I've been hearing about all these Entertainers who get huge tips. I walk into a cantina, I play music, and I dont get tipped.
You know, I actually, literally, laughed out loud when I read this post. I'm afraid you've been seriously misinformed, Sniper.
When someone puts up a thread titled "What's your biggest tip ever?" and people respond "10K", "20K", "50K"... you have to keep some perspective. You're talking a one-time event, not a daily occurence. It's normally a situational thing and it normally only happens because some person in the game was feeling extremely generous that day.
The number one issue for entertainers today is how to make decent money doing it. AFK macroing is a very close second, but when push comes to shove the money thing is still number one. If your goal is to make extra cash then you've chosen the wrong profession.
It comes down to this - Few people will tip you just because you happen to be there playing a slitherhorn. Good tipping depends on you being well known. It depends on you putting in time at the local venues on a regular basis. It depends on you "working the crowd", being a friendly face, helping with advice and with amusing people while their at the cantina. It depends on a whole slew of things that has little do with which dance or tune you happen to know.
If you want to make the "big bucks" as an entertainer then you have to BE an entertainer, not just a part-time slitherhorn player. For your needs, I'd recommend buying novice artisan instead and taking up mining. That's a profession that you can do part-time and make plenty of money at as long as you're savvy enough to learn the ins and outs of it.
This has probably been said before, but...
...what I've noticed is that the chance of getting a tip dramatically increases the more I interact with other players. This doesn't mean begging for tips, or anything like that. I say hello, I tell them to sit and listen (as a big wookiee, I can get away with that!), and I ask them how their hunt has been. This doesn't always result in a tip, but it does make my playing time more enjoyable, and seems to increase the chance I'll receive a little cash. This works even in very crowded Cantinas, since most performers are either AFK or aren't paying attention to the audience anyway.
That said, I know that I don't make NEARLY as much money as other professions. I'm okay with that, but if you are looking for a ton of cash, you might prepare yourself for disappointment...
Bachal, Starsider
As a sole musician all I need my money for is training and the occasional flair of clothing or instruments. I even had enough to buy a pet monkey to help entertain. Next is a droid : )
Obviously, if you are plugging points into combat skills,.you'll need more money than tips can provide for the most part,.but then again,..you'll be more geared to handle destroy missions than a sole entertainer. My 2 cents,.peace
Sniper6345 wrote:
So I picked up Entertainer because I've been hearing about all these Entertainers who get huge tips.
Blast you! I am at work. It is a good thing no one is in the office right now because I am laughing really hard...
SlickRiptide is right. You were seriously mislead. Entertainment is NOT a profession to pursue if you want ot get rich. If you're good at it you can get buy as an entertainer -- which means, have a small or medium house, fund the upkeep on it, and buy the occasional nice outfit. But if you want to make serious money, entertainer is usually not going to do that for you. Now, there ARE exceptions to that. I have a master dancer friend who claims she can make 27K in an afternoon by charging people for the 200% mind buff... but that's only AFTER you hit master. At your level you can't buff mind at all and even halfway to master you can only do it partially.
Much also depends on venue. The more entertainers in a spot, usually the more active it means that spot is with people needing healing, BUT the harder it is to stand out. Less entertainers often = less action, BUT, you will get more appreciation from a smaller audience if you are the only one there.
I actually think smaller/less active is the way to go. In Moenia my dancer was one of the crowd and always way beneath the 2 or 3 "enthrallers" and "choreographers" showing everyone else up with their lights and fancy dances. When I moved her to Keren often she was the ONLY entertainer there, or the only dancer with 2 musicians, or if there was another dancer there they usually weren't as high as she was, so she stood out more. Also there were less people so I could interact with them one-on-one and get to know them. When people start to think of you as a FRIEND, they tip, and tip BIG. They remember that night at 1 AM when no other cantina on the planet was manned but you were there waiting for them and healed them up. They remember that time they were out of cash for the shuttle outside and you loaned them a few credits. They remember that time they were bored while healing 575 BF and you entertained them with jokes and a song... And after a while they tip well because they like you and want you to be doing as well as they are.
But make no mistake, it is not a "get rich quick" profession, and MOST of the entertainers I know take up either a major crafting profession (tailor, architect, etc) or a combat profession (TKA, marksman, pistoleer, etc) to actually make money.
I'd guess that about 70% of my weekly income comes from running missions on weekends, and 30% comes from dancing during the week and on weekend evenings. I'd bet the time I put into it is reverse -- I probably spend 70% of the time entertaining, and 30% running destroy missions. So that should give you an idea of the relative payouts I have seen.
Sniper6345 wrote:
is it worth my time sitting in a cantina doing absolutely nothing at my keyboard, healing players' ravaged minds, for no pay? Should I drop the profession?
Ah Snipes, now you have seen how the other half lives, eh? This is a typical entertainer experience. We heal them. We help them. And in exchange we are often vilified, or ignored, or given a tip that amounts to little more than an empty gesture (50 cr from someone who has 50,000 to his name is just that, an empty gesture). Ask the medics... they will tell you they get the EXACT same treatment in the game as the entertainers do.
But if you are "doing absolutely nothing" at your keyboard that's part of the problem, maybe. That's not entertaining. You have to be present, at keyboard, flourishing well (not just hitting random keys -- certain flourishes in each song sound good together and others do not and you have to find and use the good ones), and interacting with customers. If you are just sitting there watching your toon animate on a macro and not touching the keyboard and not interacting with customers, then while you are healing them you are not entertaining them and as others have said before, entertaining people is how you get tips.
Entertainment is a profession to do because you LOVE it -- because it is fun, because it is enjoyable, etc. It is not going to get you rich, and it definitely will not get you any respect or appreciation from the majority of players, whose only metric of valuation is combat ability.
C
Sniper6345 wrote:
So I picked up Entertainer because I've been hearing about all these Entertainers who get huge tips.
You were mislead. If you want to make money, Entertainer is probably the profession you should keep your greatest distance to. There is no money in entertaining. If you are into money, run delivery missions, it's as tense and yields more money a quad mission ( two to target, two back ) than I make in a whole evening in a crowded cantina. Seriously, money and entertaining are two very different worlds.