Entertainer Archive
Thread: Acting! A suggested entertainer addition.
I like the idea 
Currently i am doing a little 'acting' using my own emotes and choreographing songs etc... dreams of putting on a musical
But if this were implemented officially it would certainly add more diversity to an already diverse game
Nice idea. I really like it.
My only concern is whether we could get other players to watch these shows. Too many characters are only interested in watching entertainers long enough to cure their battle fatigue.
I've noticed that too, that most players only watch to get points back. I try my best when entertaining to engage them in "entertainer speak" like "Welcome! Take a seat and enjoy!"... then directing their attention to a dancer or a musician just to engage the audience a little. The music is great, and the dancing is great, particularly at the higher levels. But you have to admit, listening to SW1 can be a drag for more than 15 mins... and you all know what I'm talking about if you had to slog though SW1 for several hours just to advance!
OK... I digress a little.
I'm thinking that perhaps new emotes are gained by watching actors perform? Or, perhaps the only place to get new emotes is through an actor's guild or a hotel? Trust me, people WILL want these. Plus it might be fun just to watch a Wookiee and a Rodian in a slapstick sequence.
I thought about the painting thing too. What I would like to see is portraits made available of your characters, or of your friend's characters. You can carry wallet size ones around, or you can put a portrait in your house. A portrait could be hung on the outside of the house as an identifier too! Or, it could be like photography where the artist goes searching for great shots to send as jpegs (like the cool shots currently seen on this board) that can be used on your home computer or posted in the homes and shops of people buying them! And holocrons that show stuff! (They might already, but I haven't been able to figure that part out yet.)
SWG has shown a willingness to go the extra mile to have non-fighting fun stuff in the gaming environment. Let's hope they pick up on some more fun professions like these!
Zefross
Flurry, Tatooine
A follow up on photography:
What I like about that aspect (or painting) is that it can REALLY BE a player designed item... the player takes the screen shot, and the demand for the image will be based upon how good the screen shot is! how dramatic is it, etc...
It will force some entertainers out into the wilds, but isn't that something all entertainers want to be able to do? Get out of the cantina, even for just a little bit?
I've been thinking of ways to enlarge the scope of the entertainer. And here are a couple notions:
-People LOVE emotes! There are a number of emotes that only have text messages, but we've all seen sessions where PC's are trying out their various stomping and preening. I think it would be great to have a class with access to more emotes, and what better a trade than acting?!? One of the skill trees could even be emote crafting, and emotes can be taught to others. Flailing about and generally acting like a clown, or being showy and flamboyant, I'm sure people would want these add ons. They're visible, and they're fun to do in game... even if they have little in-game purpose.
- For entertainment similar to musician or dancer I think the primary skill would be simply "acting." Start with miming and juggling, advance to slapstick, skits, and finish with drama. Entertainment healing would be earned the same way.
- Use the hotels for stages... and providea STAGE in the hotel. The hotels are underused, compared to the cantina. Give people a reason to go to the hotels! In fact, you could make people pay to see the show, perhaps the healing is a little faster, or some sort of mod to make certain that the tipping problem that bothers everyone so is ironed out.
-Use the mind skill rather than the action skill for acting. It opens up another avenue for the Mon Cals, perhaps, who get shorted (like me!) on their other stats. Twi'leks would do pretty well still.
-It could open up opportunities for tailors to provide costumes, and artisans to make props. You might be able to have your own circus, with dancing trained animals! You could own your own building, and stock it with your full assortment of entertainers!
-Acting in troupes could be a hoot. Provide some props, and make sure they're all doing the same routine, and you could have much fun watching pratfalls of your comrades. Solo routines could be like stand-up... or again the dreaded Mime!
-This could be an elite class, perhaps stemming from the Image design tree... or maybe from the entertaining healing tree. OR, it could be another branch of the entertainer ladder, if SWG decides to expand all the base level skills.
I posted this on the Image design site, and got a tepid response. What do y'all think? Crazy good? Crazy bad? Just another idea to expand the non-fighting side of the SWG universe.
FYI, the hotels I've seen already have stages. They have lounges setup off of the main lobby. Dunno if it's that way everywhere, but seeing as all the cantinas look exactly the same...
Sounds like an awesome idea! Would love to see some of those ideas come out and some sound like they'd compete with the musicians and dancers rather than meld. Would give image designers some work to change the actors' appearances with the costumes, dunno why they didn't jump at the idea.
And yes, hotels already have stages like Roji said. I work in a hotel instead of a cantinasince we have no cantinas, probably because Rori is a moon of Naboo so it doesn't get much traffic.
I do hope the Dev's drop by and read this thread. I'm all for positive posts, rather than the litany of complaints seen throughout the board. Maybe if this thread stays alive JUST a little longer, it'll get noticed.
Zefross, the P.T. Barnum of Tatooine
(Hey, maybe a freak show! Contortionists! Oooo, perhaps that's another level.)
As far as the ticket droid, why not get your group to save for a large house? That way you could have a play there and charge for admission to your house.
Still without some game mechanics, or a "reason" you've got a tough sell on your hands.
In EQ you could add "say" to a built-in emote and write your own text to go with the emote animation. I wonder if SWG has a similar function. If not, that simple change would give an actor all kinds of emotes to play with while "acting" out the motions that would accompany the dialog.