Entertainer Archive

Hehe, I'm capped for apprenticeship points. 1240 is the max, boys and girls. I can't get anymore.

You have to remember that. Sometimes, a person has trained so much that the points don't matter anymore. They would probably appreciate the tip more than the points.

And I have rethought my position on my earlier post a bit. I may charge for an elite profession skill if I have paid quite a bit to learn it. If I pay full price, then definitely. But for anything under master entertainer, I will never charge. Tips are appreciated, but not required.

Hijo is exactly right. The apprenticeship points are way more valuable than the credits. Especially in large groups where everyone is trying to master a profession. If I qualify for a skill before everyone else, I might say at that point, "Hey I'm going to get a new skill, anyone want to go in on it?" If I don't get any responses, I'll go run a few missions. Sure this delays getting the skill, but it's a great way to see the sights and enjoy the game.

I started on release day, and as such, if you were someone who leveled a bit more quickly, there was no one to offer trains. For quite a while, I was behind as many as 3 and 4 trains for lack of funds. More entertainers, more training, more people, more tips all improved this over time.

Now, I try very much to help train anyone I can. As Master Entertainer, I can help low level musicians, and being halfway to Master Dance, I can help most dancers. I do not ask for a specific charge, and have never actually requested a tip. A few times, I've offered for Dancers close to me in level to join with a few friends and I in splitting the costs of trains and training eachother - because then we're sure to keep in touch when we get something new.

Today, I was grouped with some fairly new people, and someone asked for training in Dance 3. I trained her, and then she asked in GC if it is proper etiquette to tip. I answered honestly, to my knowledge, and said that yes, many people do tip, since they are getting a service that would otherwise cost a lot for free. That it's far less of a deal if you're training something like Dance 3, which is 3k versus things like DK3 that I just trained for 8.

Someone else in the group chimed in and said "But you get Apprenticeship points", and I explained that I'd maxxed those long ago, at which point she said "So?" and chided me slightly before saying "You have to do what you want, I guess, train her or not is your choice". I explained I'd trained before the question was ever asked, and moved on.

I have always tried to tip when I get training - generally half of what the train would cost, unless I'm trading trains with someone. If it's a very high level, I may only have say, 2 or 3K to tip against an 7 or 8K train, but I do what I can.

Just interested to know what everyone else thinks. Do you tip when you get trained by someone else? Is it wrong to have answered in the way I did, that it's common, even though I didn't request such?

Adara Nomi ~ Starsider

Entertainers tend to group up a lot and travel in packs; they tend to be more communal, and so training is more often taken for granted. I train for free, as I would want to be treated myself. However, I have offered to split the cost of training when a mentor could not be found; I have also offered to help pay for the cost of training for our most advanced dancer; hoping she in turn would pass that knowledge on to us. I generally refuse tips for low-level training.

Yes, I agree. It was given to me for free, so I give it back for free. I would not say tipping for training is improper, just not necessarily expected. Giving training away free is the biggest help between professions who survive on patron tips alone.

I tip people who train me, usually 1/4 - 1/2 of what it would cost to go to the trainer. I've done this for people who have trained me in dance, marksmanship, and medic . . . like you said, it's still a lot cheaper than seeing the NPC player.

I don't think there was anything wrong with your response, especially because I actually find it to be the truth. I don't think that I tipped the first time I got trained because I didn't know it was done. And, it's good to let newbies know that it's never required, but always appreciated. Ever since my first time, I have always tipped a trainer. As an entertainer, I usually can't even afford to tip half of the training cost, but I try to give as much as I can, even if it's only a couple hundred credits. And, when I train somebody, I never ask for a tip. But, at the same time I will never refuse someone who wants to tip and will always be very gracious about it. And, I'd say 9 times out of 10 I do get atraining tip. And, even if it'sonly around 30 credits, I always say thank you and am quite happy about it. It's better than no credits. I also think there's a danger by creating a mindset where every player to player service should be expected to be free. I come from another game where that is the case. And, the lack of a player to player economy is one of the biggest drawbacks of that game because everybody now expects everything to be free. I would definitely caution against creating that atmosphere. Besides that, you're completely free to play however you want to play and the person who criticized you for giving your opinion had no right to do so. The fact of the matter is, you cannot advance and get things that you need or want by experience alone. You need to make money as well. Yes, you can run missions, and there are dance and musician missions that give you money. But, if someone is willing and able to tip you for training, then by all means, there's no reason to not accept that. There are ways to show your appreciation for tipping without making it sound like you expect it.

Aye, I do not disagree - I have been trained for free, and train anyone who asks me. I also offer within the group for others to do it if they have the skill.

I was just curious, as it seemed to truly offend the other person that I would even suggest that anyone tip - as I said, I do not ask for or expect it, but I know it is a common practice.

I would also agree with those who have spoken of people they 'always' dance with - there are a constant group of entertainers in every Cantina, and I will be brutally honest and say that I have far less issue with training those people, who are a good part of my game enjoyment, and my leveling IC, than with those whom I have never seen before, who pop in, join the group, get trained, and pop out. While I can see travelling to other cantinas for training when mentors are not available, I have never done so without tipping.

Tipping clearly is not compulsory and I do not think very many people train others expecting to get tips. At least, people seem kind of shocked when I do tip them. I happen to believe in tipping, especially for people who are training you in an advanced profession like dancer. I suspect that a lot of people who are well into an advanced profession have plenty of apprentice experience and get no more benefit from training thanwhatthey get from sharing knowledge with others. So, I think tipping is the sincerest way you can express appreciation for what they are doing. Plus, itis a nice way to encouragethem to keepsharing knowledge with others.

There is one particular dancer from whom I've gotten a fair amount of my training so far, and I always tip her a very generous amount. She's a bit ahead of the curve, and from what I understand is splitting training costs with 1 or 2 other dancers who are also advancing quickly. The way I see it, my large tip is funding her training, and therefore benefiting me, when I seek her out for training later. If she had just a few regular 'students' like me she would probably never have to worry about scraping together funds for training. She's made it clear to me that she appreciates the tip but it's absolutely unnecessary -- but because I feel the way I do, I'm happy to pay her.

I've trained many many many folks, and I never ask for payment in return, but I would accept a tip if it were offered. I do think it's common courtesy to do so, even if it's just a token amount. Even if someone is inclined to disagree about tips for training(although they probably haven'tpaid an NPC trainer ever... cough) I don't think you can really argue that an exchange of credits for training is unacceptable. The fact is that apprenticeship points are cheap but performing clothes are not...

I have dancers that I always dance with. So whenever one of them trains in an area where I have not. I usually give them 2k to 4k. In essence this ensures that I will have someone to train me.

I do not need anymore apprentice points either. I usually offer for someone else in my group to train someone, since I do not need apprentice points. If know one else chimes in then I will train. A simple thank you is all I need.

I was a dancer in beta and was fortunate enough to be trained. I started a dancer at launch, aswell. So there was no one to train me. So we all pitched in and got one person trained. I don't see a point in someone tipping me for training them.

Yes, I have spent ALOT of money on training. Gathering money for training wasn't bad. Simple delivery missions. Which is a nice break from the constant surrounding of the cantina.

~Etivi Detchi

I always train for free, if someone tips me I don't turn it down, but I don't ask for it. When being given training, I generally did not tip a lot (if at all) at the low levels (but also training being given by friends) but with the skills past novice I give about 3k as they don't come cheap from the trainer directly. I also give money to friends who are forced to go to a trainer if noone has the skill to train them. Kind of a look after me look after you thing. Seems to work for us

I always tip for training.. they are doing me a favor and I know money is hard to come by. But I will not be trained by anyone that demands payment. I've been on many planets on Lowca and I've seen people ask the usual "can anyone train blah" and too often I see responses of "yes, I'll do it for x credits". When I see that I make sure to never go to the person for training and will generally tip the one that trains for free at least what the other person was asking. Spitefull? Probably.

Min'Tora, Naboo, Lowca