Entertainer Archive
Thread: AFK Dancing Right Now
No the profession isn't mind numbing but using a macro and then sitting at the keyboard without saying anything is. I believe I said that but maybe not....
As far as others, I can speak for others but only in the general sense. Just because you do not do something does not mean a large portion of the entertainers I have met do not do it too. As I also said, the entertainers I have met use macros. I never claimed to speak for a whole community.
Also, I thought I asked for just simple answers to my questions not a critique of my post. Please, any *constructive* ideas to counter some of the points I made is what I'm looking for.
Fyorra wrote:
-I have entertained AFK (Yes I am admiting it) and so far it is the ONLY way I have found an entertainer can make any money.
This is the first claim I've seen where patrons tip AFK entertainers instead of at-keyboard entertainers. I am willing to postulate that you have either had some atypical tippers or just some strange patrons who hate active entertainers.
I agree that macros should not be limited. I use macros for dance routines, and I am going to coordinate a macro with other performers so we can put together a show with perfect timing (as /bandflourish doesn't help with most of my ideas). I don't think anyone is asking to limit the effectiveness of macros.
Fyorra wrote:
No the profession isn't mind numbing but using a macro and then sitting at the keyboard without saying anything is. I believe I said that but maybe not....
Then don't use amacro and sit at they keyboard. Either quit using the macro, or quit the profession. Nobody says you have to use a macro.
I think the reason I get tips when I'm AFK for long periods is just a matter of getting tipped small amounts for a long period of time. Naturally I end up making more money than if I were only dancing while I was at the keyboard and just got tipped one small amount. But I have gotten irregular tippers. Mostly because I think a lot of the community could care less if a dancer were AFK or not as long as they got healed. Its not right and I never expect tips when I'm AFK but sometimes it just happens.
As far as limiting the macros, I have heard some arguments for it. I was arguing that limiting them seems like the only solution besides pop-ups to stop AFK entertainers. My fear is thats the quick fix for this problem and if everybodycries to stop AFK entertainersit might lead to nerfing macros as a quick fix. Either way I think pop-ups and a nerf are both bad solutions for entertainers unless they are VERY creative with the pop-ups.
As far as don't use a macro or get out. I'm not even getting into that argument. You have missed my point on this post completely. Try going back and reading that entire paragraph again. Put all of what I say together and quit taking bits and pieces of it. I use macros to save my fingers but if I'm not very talkative I'm as good as AFK just without the title. So am I just as bad? That is my point and I do believe I actually say that in the paragraph. And when I say "I" that means it only applies to me. The only part I generalized is the fact that a LOT of entertainers I have met use macros.
Thanks for the advice though, keep it coming. Once again, not all of these are neccessarily my views, just things I thought of and had no answers to. I just want to know how you would view each situation mainly. And if its just as bad as AFK entertaining how would you stop it too without affecting more than its intended target? That sort of thing.
You are right: Entertainers don't make money if entertaining 1-2 hours a day. And combat classes only make money if they work their a$$ off. The only ones making real money are artisans. I know that suggesting to take up another class for money sucks, but then, this game was designed in a way that allows you to pick another class without harming your first or even second choice. Real money is made in mining and manufacturing resources.
Manufacturing is out of the question. You need to be master to make money. But mining ? That's easy, all you need is 100cr and 15 skillpoints. It's easier than fighting. All my characters have novice artisan, just to make money. That problem is not an entertainer-only problem( though our missions are gimped in addition ). Even my Rifleman makes his money selling copper, mission payout pales in comparison.
If someone is AFK for a short time, or not grouped in the backroom or even his own house... I could care less. If someone is AFK in the main group, he's wasting space that could be taken up by a real person. It's a nuisance to have a non-responsive person in the group.
I wish they would somehow magically make AFKBotting go away and restore the beta system of bandflourishes, where one would flourish and all get xp. People where away there, too.... but all neatly lined up doing group flourishes. At least that looked like a real show and was fun for the flourisher to command the whole troupe.
I hate even trying to post about this for the hundredth time. But I just wanted to pose a question to you guys. Some of it is not how I think and some of it is. Most of the questions I ask are more curiosities that I'd like an answer to:
-Right now, as I type, I am dancing in a cantina. Obviously I had to go AFK just so people know. I run macros while I entertain so naturally I just left my macro running. So since I'm away from the game but not away from SWG or my keyboard is that bad etiquette? So I'm talking on here and not in the cantina, what makes this that much different than being in the game right now?
-Most entertainers DO use macros while they are playing SWG. Who wants to sit for hours and press a button every second? Not me. I use them and every experienced entertainer I've met does the same. To me this isn't much better than being AFK. I'm not a talkative person at all. I rarely talk in the cantinas. So since I'm running a macro and not speaking I'm supposed to sit and watch my screen? That would be mind numbing at best. (This is a problem that could be solved with some creative Dev ideas to stop AFKers). So how am I any better than someone AFK? To me I only feel stupid for not being AFK.
-Please Please Please do not do pop-up boxes for Entertainers! I have had a few artisan characters and elite artisan profession chars and the pop-up boxes are one of the most annoying things imagineable. I can't imagine dealing with this as an entertainer when you are trying to get a flourish done every five seconds or so. How could you make that work at all without ruining entertaining?
-I have entertained AFK (Yes I am admiting it) and so far it is the ONLY way I have found an entertainer can make any money. Every entertainer knows the missions are a joke. They do not even cover travel expenses. The times I have AFK entertained all day I come back and see I got tipped. When I do not AFK entertain and log on/off I'm never around enough to make any money on tips at all.
-I have combat profession chars too. I can't make a macro to get xp with them at all. Why should I not want entertainer macros nerfed altogether? Entertainers say its not fair that AFK entertainers get xp for nothing but from a combat profession standpoint, I don't see why its fair that entertainers get xp for hitting one button and talking for hours. As a combat profession you have to work your a$$ off for hours (mostly alone) running mission after mission to get money and xp. So how are the entertainer professions (minus ID) even fair to them?
-I know its a violation of EULA to use a macro the way AFK entertainers do. But what every entertainer does and what AFK entertainers do seem to be almost one in the same. You can say that Entertainers have a job of being social but thats not one profession's job, thats everybody's or else this wouldn't be an online game. To me I think the EULA holds no weight against AFK macro users because almost everyone uses the same macro to get xp.
(The only idea that is really mine) I think if you cry nerf AFK entertainers you are crying for them to nerf macros. If they nerf macros all of us will be badly hurt because they won't give us anything interesting in return except a pop-up window. Imagine trying to MANUALLY hit a flourish every five to ten seconds only to be stopped by a pop-up window. I hate entertaining AFK but I don't mind others doing it because sometimes I have to go AFK while running a macro and I don't feel like stopping my char. But I think you should all be crying for more content adds to Entertainers instead of trying to nerf the profession. SWG has done way to much nerfing and way too little additions. Make them show us a little love instead of hurting us.
If you find entertainers mind numbingly boring and not a money maker, why do you play one?
And don't presume to speak for others. I have not used a macro except for the occasional prearranged routine since I learned formal. I'm a master dancer now.
nvoigt wrote:[...]
I wish they would somehow magically make AFKBotting go away and restore the beta system of bandflourishes, where one would flourish and all get xp. People where away there, too.... but all neatly lined up doing group flourishes. At least that looked like a real show and was fun for the flourisher to command the whole troupe.
I think it's somewhat funny that bandflourishes were nerfed in order to discourage players from AFK entertaining, at least that's how I remember it. But yes, I liked it better, too.
Back to the original issue: I don't know how much it depends on the galaxy and/or time of play, but I don't consider cantinas a lost cause. Of course many players don't like to heal BF/mind wounds in the first place and will go AFK the moment they clicked on some to watch or listen. But in my experience, there are always players who like to chat and who appreciate if the entertainers appear at least somewhat coordinated or if the band plays a higher-level song. And some people simply come to the cantina to ask for directions to some nearby POI, find a teacher, get some help or to kill time until their friends come online and they're bored with killing things. In short, cantinas can be (and sometimes are) social hubs
nvoigt wrote:You are right: Entertainers don't make money if entertaining 1-2 hours a day.
Excuse me hun ?
Sometimes I make more playing a out of the way and deserted cantina for 30 minutes giving 1 visitor all my attention, playing him songs then I do playing a busy cantina for 6 hours straight with some dancer friends putting on a show, but I can make 5k-10k credits entertaining for 2 hours if I want. Usually I just have fun on a weekday playing for 2 hours and I still make 5k credits without to much effort.
/shrug
You are doing something wrong sweety...
[...] but I can make 5k-10k credits entertaining for 2 hours if I want [...] You are doing something wrong sweety...
And how doesthat compare to the amount of money I can make taking novice artisan and checking my harvesters every otherday for an hour ? Meeting the right people in the right places I can make money entertaining. It's just not as much as most others can come up with, and that's the whole point. If you want easy money, don't rely on tips. Go grab a job.
It's a myth that Artisans make money.
I live that myth. On two totally different characters. Novice Artisan is making money just fine. Obviously, you need money to start with ( ~20K ) and in-game knowledge of how mining and the tools work.
