Entertainer Archive

Thread: Blair's Blog

SithLord2600
Mon Mar 28, 2005 8:31 pm
#1









Blair wrote:


Entertainers in the CU... Is the intent for entertainers to havean actual combat role?

  • Personally, I am not for this. I am of the belief that one of the gems of SWG is that we have social professions that have the ability to be successful without resorting to combat. There is no change to this philosophy from a CU point of view.




What do you think of this?

Message Edited by SithLord2600 on 03-28-2005 10:52 PM



Idoril Nerevar
"This galaxy doesn't need jedi arrogance or jedi hypocracy anymore" -Atton Rand
Only 2 people have been able to ruin Star Wars, Jar Jar Binks and SOE.

alligatorboogaloo
Mon Mar 28, 2005 9:11 pm
#2


I'm trying not to. so long as combat professions have nothing to do with socializing I'll be happy.


Skill Requirement: must have at least Novice Musician, Dancer or Image Designer to say more than 1 word per hour in any chat channel would solve this problem of socializing between combat and non-combat while at the same time killing the game.


I might be a little bitter about this whole thing though.



Neeno

Master Musician since Sept. 1, 2003



Neeno
Former Mite Manager & Bothan Beater
Master Musiciansince Sept. 1, 2003

Talusian Vagrant

Landlubber
Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:07 pm
#3






SithLord2600 wrote:









Blair wrote:


Entertainers in the CU... Is the intent for entertainers to havean actual combat role?

  • Personally, I am not for this. I am of the belief that one of the gems of SWG is that we have social professions that have the ability to be successful without resorting to combat. There is no change to this philosophy from a CU point of view.




What do you think of this?


Message Edited by SithLord2600 on 03-28-2005 10:52 PM





Now that's about what I would expect from a Developer when it comes to Entertainers. Although I'm a bit unclear as to what exactly he means... does he try to imply that in his opinion we already have the "ability to be successful without combat"?? In that case I'd really like some of what he's smoking... or does he express the intent to make us successful (however he defines success)?? Since his primary task right now is the CU, I can't really imagine that to be the case.

Basically, I think we've just been given the finger yet again...



______________________________________________________
The Ti'lya Brothers: Ailar (Entertainer/Chimaera, DG Trader/Bria),
Klofi (Smuggler/Chimaera) -- Cancelled,
"You have a right to be upset. Anyone who is attached to any profession that doesn't get a lot of new content has a right to be upset." -- HanseSOE
______________________________________________________
Raph Koster on: "SWG: What went wrong?"


Panthu
Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:10 pm
#4






alligatorboogaloo wrote:


I'm trying not to. so long as combat professions have nothing to do with socializing I'll be happy.


Skill Requirement: must have at least Novice Musician, Dancer or Image Designer to say more than 1 word per hour in any chat channel would solve this problem of socializing between combat and non-combat while at the same time killing the game.


I might be a little bitter about this whole thing though.



Ha!! You know, I've always had a hard time with that part of the Social Playstyle concept too. If it just equals chat, what does that mean? I mean, everybody can do that, right? Is it that we get paid to do it? Or that we have some other Social based benefits? Things like RP tools maybe? Things like the PEPs? If so though, why didn't those go to us instead of everyone?


I just think it's odd to have a prof that you invest in with normal skill points and the payout is getting something that everyone already has access to: chat.


I will always want something to make the Ent Profs real Professions as long as SP is required personally. To me that means access to: income, gameplay, content, and abilities that would not be available with out training these Ent Skill boxes. It can bePerformancebased (making songs/dances), RP Event Host based (like party favors you have to be an Ent to provide), mini game role based through some kind of totally new City Role in the Cantinas like a real casino environment game that is PvE/PvP but non-combat, it can be a lot of things for me to be happy! I'm not married to any one idea, but I personally need a lot more than "you invest SP to chat"... mainly just because that doesn't really make any sense to me.






P A N T H U Y GlitterUsagi
M i n d B o d y S p i r i t
Dancer ImageDesigner Doc

Panthu
Mon Mar 28, 2005 11:12 pm
#5




Landlubber wrote:



Now that's about what I would expect from a Developer when it comes to Entertainers. Although I'm a bit unclear as to what exactly he means... does he try to imply that in his opinion we already have the "ability to be successful without combat"?? In that case I'd really like some of what he's smoking... or does he express the intent to make us successful (however he defines success)?? Since his primary task right now is the CU, I can't really imagine that to be the case.


Clicky





P A N T H U Y GlitterUsagi
M i n d B o d y S p i r i t
Dancer ImageDesigner Doc

Landlubber
Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:41 am
#6






Panthu wrote:




Ha!! You know, I've always had a hard time with that part of the Social Playstyle concept too. If it just equals chat, what does that mean? I mean, everybody can do that, right? Is it that we get paid to do it? Or that we have some other Social based benefits? Things like RP tools maybe? Things like the PEPs? If so though, why didn't those go to us instead of everyone?


I just think it's odd to have a prof that you invest in with normal skill points and the payout is getting something that everyone already has access to: chat.


I will always want something to make the Ent Profs real Professions as long as SP is required personally. To me that means access to: income, gameplay, content, and abilities that would not be available with out training these Ent Skill boxes. It can bePerformancebased (making songs/dances), RP Event Host based (like party favors you have to be an Ent to provide), mini game role based through some kind of totally new City Role in the Cantinas like a real casino environment game that is PvE/PvP but non-combat, it can be a lot of things for me to be happy! I'm not married to any one idea, but I personally need a lot more than "you invest SP to chat"... mainly just because that doesn't really make any sense to me.








Which really is my whole point, and what I have tried to express in my rant on the related thread over in the Dancer forum. As long as we have to expend skill points to get Master Musician/Dancer, that means that we are prevented from using these skill points to get other professions which would put us on an even footing with everyone else. Therefore, being a Musician or Dancer should put us on an even footing with the rest of the playerbase in terms of (as you put it) income, content, gameplay and abilities.



______________________________________________________
The Ti'lya Brothers: Ailar (Entertainer/Chimaera, DG Trader/Bria),
Klofi (Smuggler/Chimaera) -- Cancelled,
"You have a right to be upset. Anyone who is attached to any profession that doesn't get a lot of new content has a right to be upset." -- HanseSOE
______________________________________________________
Raph Koster on: "SWG: What went wrong?"


Panthu
Tue Mar 29, 2005 2:58 am
#7

Yeah, I have those same concerns. That's why I became a Corr, that's why I tried to do a good job, that's why I tried to get us on the same page as a community, that's why I tried to communicate this well to the Devs... it's why I'm still posting.


Feedback threads are coming, they will be out in the Dev forums, we Ents need to be asking the right questions and ranting (while it might seem justified) sadly is not going to help... or it might, I don't know. I don't really think so. Whatever, I'm just sharing all I know here because I just want us to do whatever we can to help get this.


Be mad, be happy, whatever... let's just try to ask the right questions so we can get some real communication here. It's going to need to happen out there though in the main forums and not in here, the Dancer Forum, or any where else other than a Dev posted thread I think.


Everything said in here pretty much goes through Scip, and he's working that angle as hard as he can I'm sure. Every Ent Corr has tried and will continue to, I don't doubt that... we need to be ready to pounce on this as a full community out there though.


I could be totally wrong of course and this might be completely off, but that's my take on it... you can listen or not. I'll just go on raving anyway, lol... habit you know.




P A N T H U Y GlitterUsagi
M i n d B o d y S p i r i t
Dancer ImageDesigner Doc

Nifty
Tue Mar 29, 2005 7:19 am
#8

jeez people. All Blair is saying is "no, SWG Entertainers will not become Bards from medieval fantasy games." What he is saying is that we will not be performing on the battlefield to apply short term buffs like D&D Bards. Performingduring combat will not be an option. Performing before(if our buffs stay) and after (BF healing) will still be there, however.


Social means interacting with other players in variousways, not just sittingaround and chatting. A doctor who heals, cures, or buffs someone is another example of a social profession. Either in this thread or the dancer thread, someone said something about being a "performance" profession. That's still social. You're interacting with other players. In that case, you're performing and other players are watching.


Point is, don't get hung up on the semantics of the word "social." Entertainer profs are not combat profs, and hopefully never will be. That's not to say you can't master musician and entertainer and master an elite combat prof and go kill stuff. It's just saying your entertainer profs will be helping you very little (or not at all) during actual combat.


Right now, it's time for the Combat Upgrade. Non-combat profs are supposed to get a pass/upgrade after that. If that doesn't happen, then it's definitely time to get utterly ticked off.



Starsider: Abici Sselof, Master Entertainer, Musician and Pistoleer; Master Pilot
LeBob
Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:06 am
#9






On to the Questions of the Day:
Questions you asked over the weekend based on the document we published Friday.



  1. [etc.]

  2. [etc.]

  3. [etc.]

  4. Entertainers in the CU... Is the intent for entertainers to have an actual combat role?

    • Personally, I am not for this. I am of the belief that one of the gems of SWG is that we have social professions that have the ability to be successful without resorting to combat. There is no change to this philosophy from a CU point of view.

  5. [etc.]






Please post your feedback on the "Blair's Blog" series (and particulary the quoted portion above) in this thread.


Also, please answer two questions:


"Would you welcome an actual combat role for Entertainers in the CU and what professions do you currently have in the game?"

Message Edited by LeBob on 04-01-2005 06:34 PM



SWGEntertainer.com
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Fragpuppie
Tue Mar 29, 2005 10:33 am
#10



Nifty wrote:
jeez people. All Blair is saying is "no, SWG Entertainers will not become Bards from medieval fantasy games." What he is saying is that we will not be performing on the battlefield to apply short term buffs like D&D Bards. Performingduring combat will not be an option. Performing before(if our buffs stay) and after (BF healing) will still be there, however.
Social means interacting with other players in variousways, not just sittingaround and chatting. A doctor who heals, cures, or buffs someone is another example of a social profession. Either in this thread or the dancer thread, someone said something about being a "performance" profession. That's still social. You're interacting with other players. In that case, you're performing and other players are watching.
Point is, don't get hung up on the semantics of the word "social." Entertainer profs are not combat profs, and hopefully never will be. That's not to say you can't master musician and entertainer and master an elite combat prof and go kill stuff. It's just saying your entertainer profs will be helping you very little (or not at all) during actual combat.
Right now, it's time for the Combat Upgrade. Non-combat profs are supposed to get a pass/upgrade after that. If that doesn't happen, then it's definitely time to get utterly ticked off.





Let me just addess a couple of your points.

I like that they are not thinking of making us Bards. That would be a mistake on so many levels.
As to defining "social", I think that it is very important to look at how the devs and other people do define social. Your example of Doctors is not really a good one. Yes Docs can be automated and AFKed like ents are, but generally they are not. Docs are also not the most social of professions. Even ATK spamming in a starport and then targeting and hitting a buff macro once someone has sent the bank tip is not really social. I'm lucky to get a non-macroed "thank you" even though I always say something in thanks. Defining social IS very important especially because its all that will really be left for us. Yes there will still be battle fatigue, but 1) as long as it is passive any afk grinding entertainer heals it and 2) unless the healing branches of the entertainer trees are marjorly gutted, grinding entertainers will NEED every scrap of BF healing to level. We want to be sure that if the devs say we are "social", we want to know what they think that means and make sure that we can actually survive in that world. Also, its not my experience that "software developer" is a social profession.
Finally as to being involved in combat, I don't want to be able to have the ability to stun if I play a horn a specific way, but in removing buffs from us and changing the HAM system it makes it a liability to have an entertainer profession. Lets face it, the game has evolved to be ALL about combat. If not directly combat, then its about preparing someone for combat or fixing them after. With passive healing as our only comabt role, we have no point really. With the current system, however, I can get some buffs and go out and dabble in some combat. Sometimes its even a nice challenge. Getting some comabt and going out to kill stuff in the new system will be suicide. The fact that a pure combat professional will have 3X the HAM of us and enemies will be balanced to that.....well there will be no point really in us trying to fight in that system.

We have many concerns, and waiting for a long promised upgrade/revamp is not enough. The CU is removing more of our purpose and a vague promise of something later does not make us happy.


Fragpuppie Uber
Master Musician/Master Entertainer
Gknee
Tue Mar 29, 2005 11:16 am
#11

Sorry folks..there are no bards in Star Wars....Only George Lucas can change that. It's not in the canon..and I'm thankful for that!!



Nosmina Osoga
Proprietor of The Dew Drop Inn
Mesric Sanctuary, Tatoonine
(mmmm.....Cake.....)
Minty freshness!!
shadowdefender
Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:11 pm
#12

It's one thing that we don't have to resort to combat - but its another some of our functionality is changed by an upgrade without a thought. Our profession is being modified by this upgrade and with that being said - Entertaimment should be addressed during the CU. It should not be an afterthought. They are not looking at all of the pieces of the pie with this project.

Change of buffs = change of way we currently operate today - that should include specs and documentation that is released so that we know how to play with our new character sets.

I know they don't want to deal with entertainment issues with this upgrade - however - our profession is affected by it, and so they have to address some of the issues when this goes live and not after.

I would welcome a more active role for Entertainers in the CU and I think it is a "musthave" not a "if we can". I myself am Master Dancer, Master ID, Master Politician and some Brawler.

Message Edited by shadowdefender on 03-29-2005 11:12 AM



Desire Storm-Shadow'fyre-JuliaChilds
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Warryyr
Tue Mar 29, 2005 12:49 pm
#13

I think that in our current borked state that limiting the creative ideas floating around will only hurt us, not help us.


We do not have to be bards to take some part in combat.


I would have preferred the Devs to continue to have an open mind about Entertainers, but alas, no. Very much a shame.


Also, I'd be interesting to see ANYTHING resembling information for us from the CU. How we work, what we do, you know, HOW I WILL HAVE FUN AND WHY I SHOULD STILL PAY FOR THIS GAME.........


Instead, we get a generic and boring answer to a question we all pretty much knew the answer to anyways. It's been stated time and time again that Entertainers will not be Bards. Big freakin' whoop, thanks for reiterating that.


NOW TELL ME HOW I'LL WORK AFTER THE CU, Devs. I mean Jesus, I'm not asking for the password to George Lucas' email account, I just want to know why I should even be INTERESTED in the stupid CU at this point.


Will I still make credits?

How will my skills function?

Will the Mind Wound trees be a waste of time?

What buffs will we do?

How will buffs be applied?


And you answer a friggin question about whether Entertainers will take part in combat? What a copout and a waste of my effort to read it. You've said the exact same thing time and time again. Whoopity-freakin-doo.......


I don't know why I bother anymore, honestly...it's like yelling at a 3 year old who won't stop reaching for a hot stove. I guess it'll take getting burned for them to finally wake up and realize we've been trying to talk to them for the past 2 years.

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