Entertainer Archive
Thread: Thoughts on AFk entertainers. A patrons perspective.
I posted this in the dancers forum and here now
First let me start by saying I believe im generous when it comes to taking care of all the entertainers. Anyone who plays Eclipse and has ever spent any amount of time in Bestine can vouch for me im sure.
When I walk into a cantina I immediately discount any afker there. If one of the entertainers greets me they immediately get a tip. If im wounded then thats who I watch ( sorry im partial to dancers 
. If no one greets me then I will tip a decent amount to all the ones not showing afk. If they thank me I then heal/watch and before I leave ill tip again. If your the only one at keyboard in a sea of afkers then your going to do well.
Afkers actually help the ones at keyboard. The afk tag makes me give my attention to those who are there. If I walked into a cantina and EVERYONE was at their keyboards well I would have to decide who got the tips. As it stands now I reward every non afker I see because they dont have to be there. Once they do have to be there ill just pick my favorites and watch/tip them. I used to be dead set against afk entertainers until I was stuck on an advanced planet with horrible mind wounds. I ran into a sweet musician who was afk and a life saver ( thanks Grandma !!! ) I even did something I said I would never do and tipped the afk person.
Bottom line is if someone is so cheap they will go watch an afker then there are too cheap to tip in the first place or will tip something like 10-50 credits ( a couple friends tell me they get these tips ). Now I dont like the afk tip/heal begging and make sure to write them a nice email letting them know that the general concensus is to never tip an afk beggar.
Basically im begging you to pull together and not let this tear you apart like so many other professions have been. Dont let petty jealousy or envy get to you. Trust me the afkers arent doing as well as those of you who are actually there. Pull together and handle this yourselves in game. Ive seen in some places they make afkers dance in the corner or kick them from groups. There are many things you can do on your own without having to change the game. I am against changes that force one to play anothers way.
Vladas- Master Cantina Lurker
Waho wrote:
Thanks for your post. One thing to note is that a lot of us aren't upset with AFKers out of envy or jealousy. It's about how things used to be (fun) compared to how they are now (would be fun if these zombies could talk to me).
Point is if they take afk away wont even be any zombies though and I wont feel compelled to richly reward those at keyboard like i do now
Tiaga wrote:
To be honest, a few people richly rewarding entertainers at the keyboard is still pocket change in the grand scheme of things. I would rather have a fun lively cantina (Which is more likely to get more people to give smaller rewards) than a boring one that I may get a few decent tips in.
People are gonna come there or they arent if you push away the afkers they arent going to sit there at keyboard they will either do something easier or will get 3rd party programs
Point is if they take afk away wont even be any zombies though and I wont feel compelled to richly reward those at keyboard like i do now
Honestly, I can live without riches if I had fun instead. No one chose entertainer to get stinking rich and as far as I know, no one got rich, despite the rich rewards. Suggesting that Entertainers get rewarded for what they do because of Macrotainersis ridiculus.
People are gonna come there or they arent if you push away the afkers they arent going to sit there at keyboard they will either do something easier or will get 3rd party programs
3rd party programs will get them banned for good. I hope they leave for something easier. I want to play with people who have fun doing what they do, not because the profession is the easiest to exploit. I don't like to play with cheaters.
Waho,
nailed it first few weeks in full groups everyone there mega chating going on in groups and in the cantina was a blast
now its a chore that is what we miss folks that had fun doing it while they were doing it and glad to be there
and not only the entertainers go afk but the patrons do as well now
1) 'Competition' for 'Compensation'
As you said, it is really minor at this point, and while it may make SOME individuals more likly to tip those who are there, it still typically dissuades the more 'casual' types from going to the Cantina and interacting.
2) 'AFK-Bot Expectation'
This is probably one of the most annoying and frustrating aspects of the AFK-Bot phenom to myself at least, and it's probably too late to really fix 'quickly' now. Alot of folks expect the Cantinas to be filled with just afk performers, and many expect/assume that the performers in the cantina are in fact AFK. This is what really hurts the Entertainer profession set as a group in that many folks tend to just dismiss us AS A GROUP as just a bunch of AFK-ers. You can see it on many of the threads here within our own profession. One of the most common statements made when people want to remove AFK-performers is that "Everyone has done it" or "There's no master performer who doesn't use AFK macros"...
3) Annoyances
Some AFK-bots have really annoying and frustrating emotes/language. Even so far as to autogreet folks (it's a bit sad that it you can cycle a semi-fake conversation now too). And they just end up making people doubt that there's anyone actually at any keyboard (See #2), and just ruin the environment.
One other observations though.
Don't base folks on being afk solely on the tag, it's possible to actually set your macro up to avoid ever getting afk flagged.
Hehe, and I begin to regret playing my character as someone who focuses on the rather strenous activity of dancing instead of interacting with everyone who comes into the cantina (on spatial
, group chat is a different matter, heh).
Reiella wrote:
Multifold problem.
1) 'Competition' for 'Compensation'
As you said, it is really minor at this point, and while it may make SOME individuals more likly to tip those who are there, it still typically dissuades the more 'casual' types from going to the Cantina and interacting.
2) 'AFK-Bot Expectation'
This is probably one of the most annoying and frustrating aspects of the AFK-Bot phenom to myself at least, and it's probably too late to really fix 'quickly' now. Alot of folks expect the Cantinas to be filled with just afk performers, and many expect/assume that the performers in the cantina are in fact AFK. This is what really hurts the Entertainer profession set as a group in that many folks tend to just dismiss us AS A GROUP as just a bunch of AFK-ers. You can see it on many of the threads here within our own profession. One of the most common statements made when people want to remove AFK-performers is that "Everyone has done it" or "There's no master performer who doesn't use AFK macros"...
3) Annoyances
Some AFK-bots have really annoying and frustrating emotes/language. Even so far as to autogreet folks (it's a bit sad that it you can cycle a semi-fake conversation now too). And they just end up making people doubt that there's anyone actually at any keyboard (See #2), and just ruin the environment.
One other observations though.
Don't base folks on being afk solely on the tag, it's possible to actually set your macro up to avoid ever getting afk flagged.
Hehe, and I begin to regret playing my character as someone who focuses on the rather strenous activity of dancing instead of interacting with everyone who comes into the cantina (on spatial
Actually it has had a reverse affect for me I now notice many who NEVER go afk and I always try to make the cantina a lively place for those who are there not only do I tip well but ill spend hours in the cantina talking sometimes
Yes the afk macros are annoying 
but a good group in a cantina could police their own there