Entertainer Archive

"I hate it why cant we charge 10K! For instance yesterday in bestine I was offering buffs for 5k (low I know but thats whats considered "acceptable")...

Now I understand a Doctor has to spend all that money to get the buffs but if it werent for buffs we wouldn't make any money anyway, not that we do now with buffbots etc...."

Firstly, what a doctor pays out to get his buffs has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with the price he charges. Selling prices are based on supply and demand, not on cost of raw materials. If raw materials and cost of living was what prices were based on no one could justify making a profit, and our economy would be communist in nature.

Secondly, what's 'acceptable' is no way to price your service either. You can't just keep lowering your price so that everyone is happy with it. If we all did that, in no time at allwe'd be giving away buffs for free. You must charge what the market will bear. If that means turning away the occasional person who is outraged at the price, so be it. Routinely underpricing the market (as you are doing) does us all a disservice. All it does is help to distribute wealth unevenly by allowing the Krayt Dragon slayers to hold on to their millions while the poorer professions scrape out a living by the skin of their teeth. Just think what you could do with the extra money. It's not just you who relies on you making a nice profit - it's all the tailors and crafters who make stuff for our professions. If you're trying to get by on 5K a buff, it means that all the industries that offer you goods are tightening their belts too. You have a responsibility to all of us, and toyourself, tocharge the fair market price.

Since I became a Master Musician a week agoI routinely charge 10K per buff, 15K for a group buff (substantial discount for repeat customers, but the first buff of the day is always 10K, or 15K for a group). Only one person has said anything negative about my rates, and only three people have turned away and gone somewhere else. If anything, that tells me that my rates are a littletoo low. Too few people are turning away. What we don't realise is that one buff can get someone through a major dungeon, and they can make hundreds of thousands of credits from it. 10K is nothing to these people.

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Since June 2004, running one of the game's first completely nonviolent characters. Testing the limits of non-combat MMORPG play and trying to have fun into the bargain (although the developers make it difficult).

Combat is no longer compulsory.

My server has buffbots. It's just that we entertainers on Starsiderare gregarious to a fault. We invite them into our groups, and they oblige by /joining. Clearly they don't really want to buff, because we don't invite non-musicians in, lol.

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Since June 2004, running one of the game's first completely nonviolent characters. Testing the limits of non-combat MMORPG play and trying to have fun into the bargain (although the developers make it difficult).

Combat is no longer compulsory.

Tempest server, here.

I refuse to charge for Enhanced Music Buffs. Why? I get MORE in tips than when i charge.

Yes, I still get a few cheapskates who /stoplisten and run. But I've made a name for myself, with what i'll put up with in a cantina I'm performing in, and the availability of my buffs. I run a civil cantina. No buffbots, no cyber prostitutes, no animals, no combat, no tip/heal begging. I greet people as they come in, I offer small talk, I encourage other ents to do the samePeople know this, and seek me out.

The average tip I get now for running this 'tight ass' show, and providing my 'free' buffs, is 20k. I've made more with a professional show, than I ever did with charging a set price.

Not all servers are the same, nor are all cantinas. People on Tempest know where to go for the things I don't put up with, and those looking for a good show know where to find me. Tips are great if you know how to put on a show.

Mo'Ste Elosk
Mo'Set Elosk
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May the Force grant us
the Wisdom to discover the Right,
the Will to choose it,
and the Strength to make it endure.

ok you tell make sure to shout "you can only look at me dance if you pay a lot of credits"

now it doing buffs were somehow degrating or morally wrong then i'd agree, but it's a simple matter of button clicking and inviting

like jedis? play kotor

I don't charge anything. I don't advertise, I don't even ask if they want a buff. If I notice somebody watching me, they get a /setperf. If somebody asks for a buff they get next in line. I don't charge for stat migrations either. If anybody asks what I charge I just say "whatever". Tips for buffs range from 0 to 50k depending. Normally do dance buffs but do music too on request. You're only a whore if you charge, if you charge more, you're an expensive whore. If you do it for free you're a **edit**. Me, I do it for fun If they want to throw money at me, super. Yeah I wish I could make more money off of tips, and yeah I have a combat alt I use to make money when I need it, but generally the only thing I need money for are ridiculously expensive things that, in all honesty, I don't NEED, I just want Honestly a lot of entertainers seem to want to make loads of cash without really doing much at all. Is it possible for combat types to go out and make 500k+ an hour on dantooine? Sure. Is that what all of them do? No, some go out hunting with friends, some go hunting at POI's, some go wandering around the wilderness looking to see what's out there, some go PvPing, and not all of these other time wasters for combat types are all that lucarative, esp PvP.

So yes its possible for somebody to go out and make a million credits while on our buffs but not all do that. As a matter of fact I would say a majority of the cash grinders use accarragm/ahrisa/canape over our buffs any day just do to convinence and being able to maintain the buff the full duration of cash grinding. Most of the patrons for our buffs are likely PvPers where fast regen and big bars are king, and our buffs give them the advantage they need. So to them our buffs are part of the money they "throw away" to participate in battles (other money thats thrown away is in the form of doc buffs, and wear and tear on guns and armor).

I'm not going to lie to you and say its possible to make millions a day dancing/playing, but I know for a fact it is possible to make several hundred thousand a day doing it. The key is to make thier time there enjoyable. Your patrons don't want to listen to the spam bots any more than you do, so get rid of them. If somebody spams ask them to stop, if they're afk remove them from group and send them an e-mail informing them that spam isn't appreciated, and explain why they don't need it. Wave, blow kisses, bow, do something to make them feel welcome when they walk in the room. Do /setperf even if they don't ask for it. I've NEVER had somebody get mad cause I buffed them, I've had many keep coming back because I started buffing without asking first tho. Girls, try flirting with the other dancers, not only do the guys like to watch, other dancers tend to be much more experiencedat flirting back

The more you get yourself known at wherever you frequent the more money you'll be able to make. Thats another thing, when you're on, try to stick to one location. That way your patrons will know where to find you.

"You're only a whore if you charge, if you charge more, you're an expensive whore."

Then I guess everyone who requires a steady paycheck is a whore to you. The only non-whores would be those who are lucky enough to be independently wealthy. I wonder if you give away the spoils of your hunts in the same cavalier way you offer your buffs for free. I didn't think so.

I charge because I'm giving a needed service. There's absolutely nothing wrong with that, unlessIaman anarchist living in an anarchist commune. The game's economy is not anarchist, nor is it communist, socialist, or any of those "-isms" that attempt toplace thesocial good above monetary gain- it isbuilt on a capitalist model. Players are expected to pay for services rendered, and if they fail to do so - as they often do - we are expected to charge. If you undercut the market by offering free service in a market where players are all too willing to steal heals and buffs, you're undermining the game's economic system and in effectyou're stealing from other entertainers. If you choose to undercut the market in one profession (musician)while charging a proper amount for your wares in another (i.e. combat loots and creature harvesting), then you're not only spoiling the chances of other workingentertainers to make money, but you're a hypocrite too.

Some of us choosenot to engage in combatin this game. If we perform a service or offer goods, we have a right to charge for theservice.Speaking for myself, Ihaven't the luxury of making money elsewhere, by fighting or hunting. I didn't choose those professions. I chose a set of professions that should pay a living wage, just like any other profession does. So please don't call me a whore for putting a price on the service I provide.

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Since June 2004, running one of the game's first completely nonviolent characters. Testing the limits of non-combat MMORPG play and trying to have fun into the bargain (although the developers make it difficult).

Combat is no longer compulsory.

My strategy will be to just say that i do buffs for tips but i will remind them that i will be very unlikely to buff them in the future if they don't tip anything.

Lodo Ektatu - Bloodfin
Co-Leader of the Entertainers (ENTS)
Proprietor of the Drunken Jawa in Gardens of Heaven, Lok
Master Musician, Dancer, Image Designer, and Entertainer

Jherek (Imperial) - Bloodfin
Captain of the Gardens of Heaven Militia
Master Carbineer and Smuggler