Musician Archive
Thread: Flame Me Now Opinion on Speed Buffs
The "stutter" 30 Second buff is similar to the old "area of effect" attack where you used to do 10,000 points of damage in a single hit. Is it efficient? Yes. Does it make everything go more smoothly for the attacker and the buyer of the loot that is gained? Of course. So why not keep the AOE attack active? After all, it allows players the flexibility to destroy an opponent in an efficient manner. Everybody seems to appreciate having the ability to use it.
The problem is that it turns the game into a farce. Just as a novice shouldn't be able to destroy a Kryat using the above method, so too was the music and dancing meant to be visually and auditorily pleasing. The fact that its more efficient to do it this way, just as it is more efficient to repeat AOE attacks, turns the game into something it is not:a farce where the bad music is "better" than the good music that is "worse."
PoetDancer wrote:
The "stutter" 30 Second buff is similar to the old "area of effect" attack where you used to do 10,000 points of damage in a single hit. Is it efficient? Yes. Does it make everything go more smoothly for the attacker and the buyer of the loot that is gained? Of course. So why not keep the AOE attack active? After all, it allows players the flexibility to destroy an opponent in an efficient manner. Everybody seems to appreciate having the ability to use it.
The problem is that it turns the game into a farce. Just as a novice shouldn't be able to destroy a Kryat using the above method, so too was the music and dancing meant to be visually and auditorily pleasing. The fact that its more efficient to do it this way, just as it is more efficient to repeat AOE attacks, turns the game into something it is not:a farce where the bad music is "better" than the good music that is "worse."
I think you hit the nail on the head here. Believe it or not, there are a whole lot of people, myself included, who actually want to play the game with full immersion. It's most enjoyable to me that way. This means, that when I'm playing and I'm in a Cantina dancing, I want to listen to the ingame music, I want to enjoy it, and I want to dance along with it. This means I customize my dance according to what's being played. If slower ballads are being played I'll do exotic, if the more up tempo songs are being played, I'll do popular, etc. I completely understand the argument that I should never force anybody else to play the game the way that I want to play it. But, at the same time, there comes a point where a line is crossed, and the way that other people are playing makes the game a whole lot less enjoyable for me. So, yes, I'm going to complain about it and fight against it. If the afk'ing, macro'ing, and speedbuffing didn't affect my gameplay, I honestly could care less if anybody did it.
Now, considering what I said above, meaning I enjoy playing with the immersion, and I want to play the way I think the devs intended for us to play these professions, I have no innate problem with macro and afk. The devs set it up so we could do that. However, what I do have a problem with goes right to the core of what PoetDancer said--music and dancing are meant to be visually and auditorily pleasing. I enjoy going into the Cantinas and socializing and dancing. But, it's gotten to the point where I can't stand to go into the Coronet and Theed cantina's because of what's going on there. The main group, which everybody seems to be in, is playing three different songs, for one thing. I can't dance to that. And, just today in the Coronet cantina, and this has been going on for about 48 hours, the ENTIRE group is doing the speedbuff macro because it supposedly gives experience faster. That means, not only am I subject to 3 different songs, but I am also subject to constant /stop /start spam. Sure, I could choose to take my system messages off of spatial. But, I don't want to because when I am buffing I like to see the "ticks" as they go by because I want to experience and do buffing with full immersion to make it visually pleasing and make sense according to the music being played. Obviously, when 3 songs are being played, and I've got constant spam scrolling my screen, I cannot possibly buff, or even enjoy myself dancing under those conditions. I have to leave, and thereby deprive those looking for a master dancer buff. This annoyance and type of gameplay affects not only me, but those whomight want my services. It's common courtesy not to play 3 different songs or spam while in a group situation. The sad part is, this "common courtesy" seems to only extend to a minority of people in the Cantinas. And, most people want to be in the group and want to gain experience so they just deal with it. Well, I can tell you, if/when I'm group leader in these situations, every single one of the 3 song players and scroll spammers get kicked. No ifs, ands, or buts. As Poet said, we are supposed to be providing a pleasing environment. It's no wonder most people can't stand to get out of there as soon as possible. And, it's no wonder people don't get tips. I'm a dancer, and I can't even stand to be there anymore. And, I refuse to believe that is acceptable. The Cantinas, in my opinion, belong to the entertainers, not to the people trying to get their jedi slot as fast as possible, or the people who just want to grind out buffs. I have no sympathy for you. By all means, you are welcome to use our Cantinas for whatever purposes you want. You can have fights in there. You can go afk and you can macro. I don't care. But, the second that you begin your scroll /stop /start spam, or make my ears bleed from playing more than one song at the same time, is the second either I kick you (if I'm leader), or I leave the group, thereby giving you less experience, both dancing and healing. Because I gaurantee you, that coveted healer experience? The second I flash that master title, people are going to be watching me, and you're losing out. Think about it.
P.S. I would be all for a macro or special type of flourish that allowed us to give a mindbuff in 1 minute that is both visually and/or auditorily (sp?) pleasing. But, since that is not the case, I think it's nothing but rudeness and a total disregard for those who want to play with immersion to play 3 different songs while afk and to spam the speedbuff macro for days on end.
Message Edited by Drygo on 04-24-2004 11:54 PM
Message Edited by Drygo on 04-25-2004 12:08 AM