CUEmu - Thread Posts

NJ62

Mon Feb 02, 2004 1:02 am

My basic concern is to try to nail down the timeframe - otherwise we'll get the vague"it's coming down the pipes."

1. When will we get new songs, instruments, and instrument sounds? Can we expect a large patch on this, with many new songs/instruments at once, or a trickle of new content over time?

2. What are the devs planning to do to address unattended gameplay -- i.e., AFK macroing? When is this scheduled to be addressed?

3. What new content (including post-Master content) do the devs have planned for Musicians?Again, when can we expect to see this new content implemented?

4. When will we get the ability to buff ourselves?

5. How and when do the devs plan to make Entertainer missions more interesting, rewarding, and worthwhile?

6. When do the devs plan to fix the theater so that one can heal and buff onstage, or even play the ommni box or nalargon on stage? [Question for Musicians: I haven't tried an ommni or nala onstage recently; do they work yet? -NJ]

7. What plans do the devs have to integrate Musicians into the GCW and game story -- e.g., with a Cries of Alderaan for noncombatants, or factional missions geared to entertainers?

8. Will instrument quality (i.e., Musician crafting experimentation) ever matter? Why can't it affectour buff, or the quality of our healing, or something?

9.Why don't the devs ever post in the Musician forum, and what plans do the devs have for better communication with Musicians?

10. We Musiciansfeel like we haven't got much attention at all since launch. Is there a "big picture" plan for our profession? If so, what is it? When are we going to see a "profession revamp" similar to the one that has just been patched in for chef, and the upcoming changes to all combat professions?

n'Jessi
former correspondent, former player
All your hawtpants are belong to me.
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Echinacea

Mon Feb 02, 2004 8:19 am

#15

NewJedi wrote:

OK, folks, I've reviewed sweatyclimber's thread inviting folks to post their top-ten questions and I've tallied how often I read each question. I also went through my current January top-five-issue poll, and as one might expect I found the same concerns touched on with about the same frequency there. I've tried to compile my ten questions so that they don't "overlap" too much.

TH didn't ask me to prioritize these questions. Nonetheless, I've tried to put them in descending order of frequency with which the questions were posed; i.e., the top two questions (on new songs and AFKing) were posed the most often. The one exception is my number 10 "big picture" question, which was also cited quite frequently; I put this at the end becomes, well, it seemed like a good way to cap the list.

1. When will we get new songs, instruments, and instrument sounds?

Please don't include this. The answer (such as it was) was given to the Entertainers for their 10 wis...uh, questions.

2. What are the devs planning to do to address unattended gameplay -- i.e., AFK macroing?

Please don't include this. The answer (such as it was) was given to the Entertainers for their 10 wis...uh, questions.

3. What new content (including post-Master content) do the devs have planned for Musicians?

4. When will we get the ability to buff ourselves?

5. How do the devs plan to make Entertainer missions more interesting, rewarding, and worthwhile?

6. When do the devs plan to fix the theater so that one can heal and buff onstage, or even play the ommni box or nalargon on stage?

Tried it just now, still doesn't work. I even targetted the onebackstage and went out on stage in the hopes that I could pull it out and use itthat way...no joy.

7. What plans do the devs have to integrate Musicians into the GCW and game story -- e.g., with a Cries of Alderaan for noncombatants, or factional missions geared to entertainers?

8. Will instrument quality (i.e., Musician crafting experimentation) ever matter? Why can't it affectour buff, or the quality of our healing, or something?

9.Why don't the devs ever post in the Musician forum, and what plans do the devs have for better communication with Musicians?

10. We Musiciansfeel like we haven't got much attention at all since launch. Is there a "big picture" plan for our profession? If so, what is it?

I can't say we've gotten no attention. The Mind Enhancement thing has actually given me the impetus to master Musician, as versus just being a Composer for the different songs.

Considering ThunderHeart's and Shug Nix's comments in the Entertainer forum...we're one of The Girlfriend Professions™. We're not meant to do anything but stand there and chat...which we can do in AIM, or in a zillion other places on the Internet.

I'm so depressed.

Col. Tarot v Starsider
Elder Master Entertainer and AXIS M.I.L.F.
Mathom © Starsider
Entertainer

Blackrock

Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:32 am

#16

"I think I speak for us all when I say lick my crack."

I've told you kids time and time again not to leave the back door open....now look what snuck in!!!!!!

Torean Greysong
Master Musician, Master Entertainer

"It's a savage Garden.... May as well Dance".

LeBob

Mon Feb 02, 2004 2:50 pm

#17

ok, I went back today to retest... I 'used' both an omni box and a nalargon on the stage of the theater and neither one of them appeared -on the stage-
upon further inspection I figured out that they were falling through the floor of the stage down to the ground... I 'used' both of them at different places in the theater and every time (except inside) they both dropped all the way down to the ground... you can see what I'm talking about here:

http://www.geocities.com/swg_screenshots/screenShot0142.jpg

however even if the floor of the theater is fixed it will notbe nearly enough... the theater needs to allow 'dropping' everywhere on/in it... how can we be expected to have plays if we can have no props?
thanks
and for what it's worth I think the theater deserves two of the ten questions, since we can see that generalized questions are being answered with jibberish

LeBob wrote:

6. When do the devs plan to fix the theater so that one can heal and buff onstage, or even play the ommni box or nalargon on stage? [Question for Musicians: I haven't tried an ommni or nala onstage recently; do they work yet? -NJ]

you can 'use' an omni and a nalargon anywhere in the game as far as I know BUT the issue with the theater is that the stage and indeed the audience section is considered by the game engine as 'outside' so that the game engine does not know who has access (drop rights) to that area... this is the same problem PAs are having with PA hall exterior top floors and everyone else has with their large house exterior porches

similarly the stage and audience section does not allow ent healing because it is not 'inside'

other problems with the theater are that it has no sign on the outside

the access fee only aplies to the backstage (performers can be charged via the access fee but patrons cannot) this is the same reason as the first two [the stage is not considered inside]

people cannot be banned from the audience section of the theater

pleaes integrate these issues into your question but you might want to shorten it a bit

great job NJ!

SWGEntertainer.com
Emperor Palpatine (from "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"):
"Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic. Do what must be done. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy."
-I support ATK people and playstyles.
Account cancelled as of June 23, 2005

NewJedi

Mon Feb 02, 2004 4:13 pm

#18

Yeah, the nala and ommni may appear somewhere in the game world when you perform onstage, but since you can't see them, that's no help. Doesn't the same problem occur on the roofs of houses and guildhalls? It's been a while since I tried placing an ommni on a roof, but I've never gotten it to work.

OK, I'll incorporate as many of your suggestions as I can. I'm willing to take out one or two duplicate questions, but I feel funny not asking about AFK'ing or new songs, since almost everyone who posted wanted me to ask about those two. Maybe, as sweatyclimber suggests, I can reword them to try to get TH to give us a more "meaty" answer. I'll fuss with them once I get home from work tonight. TH wants my questions pretty quick, but maybe I'll have time to post one more draft here first.

Also, FWIW, Shug_Ninx just posted a follow-up response to the entertainer questions. He suggested that the Jedi revamp would help fix AFKtaining, and he offered a bit more detail on the delay in new songs. See http://forums.station.sony.com/swg/board/message?board.id=entertainer&message.id=7551#M7551. I and others have already replied to his reply; in my case, I asked for more info on why songs are taking so long, and I tried to point out that the Jedi revamp won't cure AFK-taining. Anyway, here's the full text of Shug's post:

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'd like to quickly elaborate on a few answers:

1. When the entertainer class was created, what was the vision for role that entertainers would play in the grand scheme of things? Do you see entertainers now as filling that role?

Along with everything that TH cited, the Entertainer was, at its heart, meant to appeal to the socializers in the game. Our goal was to provide a profession that allowed them to enjoy their preferredgameplay style while still providing a valuable role to the other players. Basically, we wanted to make them feel like they were contributing to the online community even while just hanging out and chatting. To that end, we made them part of the healing cycle. I do think we achieved our goal here; most of the EntertainersI know were drawn to the profession because of its verysocial nature and they enjoymeeting all the other players who must come to them forBF healing.

We also hoped that, by driving other players to the Entertainers in cantinas, cantinas would become social hubs where players enjoy some downtime, swapping stories and meeting one another. Although we do realize that the Holocron-grinding has led to quite a few AFK Entertainers (something we're hoping to remedy with the revision to the Jedi system), Ialso believe that the cantinas have become the social hubs that we had hoped for.

4. We have heard that there is new music and dances in the works. Is it possible to get an ETA on when we will expect this? Are there any other non-specific details you can give us, such as how many new music and dances are coming, or whether they will go to the entertainer or the elite skill trees?

The Good News: Creating new music isn't very difficult. We use a contractor who did fantastic pieces for the original suite of songs, and she is already working on additional music (and has completed a few songs) for us. The Bad News: Actually integrating the music into the game requires substantial effort on the part of the Development team, so no current ETA on when the new music will appear.I'll double-check the current priorityand see where it falls.

Haden Blackman

LucasArts Producer

NewJedi

Mon Feb 02, 2004 5:08 pm

#19

OK, here's another draft. I really don't feel comfortable removing questions about AFK'ing and new songs; those two questions were raised more often than any others, and I feel Musicians are owed the dignity of a response. As Correspondent, I also feel bound by the wishes of the majority of my constituents, and I hear about these two issues far more than anything else. I have, however, tried to respond to concerns about overlap by making each question more pointed -- in essence, making them "followups" to the responses to the Entertainer questions.

As for overlap among questions, again most Musicians seem to see "gig missions" as distinct from "AFKing," and "post-Master content" as yet another separate category.I don't feel it's my role to second-guess their judgment. Again, though, I've tried to make more clear why they're separate issues. I've also inserted some of sweatyclimber's suggestions on beefing up questions. Here goes:

1. We've read your reply to the Entertainer Correspondent, and we understand that integrating new songs is not easy. But can you at least give us some general timeframe for the arrival of new songs? 3 months, 6 months, a year, 18 months, an expansion pack, or (shudder) not until the Space Expansion?

2. Likewise, we've read your reply on AFK'ing, as well as Shug's further input, and we appreciate that the Jedi revamp might reduce the problem a bit. But AFK'ing will still be a problem because it's by far the quickest way to master Musician.What concrete steps do you plan to add fun content that is specifically designed to promote at-the-keyboard play? What timetable do you havein mind?

3. What new post-Master content do the devs have planned for Musicians? E.g.,will we get an epic quest like the RIS armor quest, orsome use for post-Master XP, such as the ability to "purchase" a band "pet" with surplus XP?Again, what timetable?

4. When will we get the ability to buff ourselves? Can you give us a timetable?

5. How and when do the devs plan to make Entertainer missions more interesting, rewarding, and worthwhile?

6. When do the devs plan to fix the theater so that one can heal and buff onstage, play the ommni box or nalargon on stage,and properly charge access (via fees and banning) to the "stage" portion of the theater?

7. What plans do the devs have to integrate Musicians into the GCW and game story -- e.g., with a Cries of Alderaan for noncombatants, or factional missions geared to entertainers?

8. Will instrument quality (i.e., Musician crafting experimentation) ever matter? Why can't it affectour buff, or the quality of our healing, or something?

9.Why don't the devs ever post in the Musician forum, and what plans do the devs have for better communication with Musicians? We recognize that our community is not the largest one in the game, but we feel like we get less attention than other professions of similar size.

10. We Musiciansfeel like our profession has received few gameplay additions since launch. We've gotten a buff and /denyservice and some bug fixes, but nothing more.Many "live" Musicians are quitting our profession, and those of us who remain feel like the AFK plague has cost our profession a lot of respect. Is there a "big picture" plan to rehabilitate our profession? If so, what is it?

Message Edited by NewJedi on 02-02-2004 04:17 PM

LeBob

Mon Feb 02, 2004 5:25 pm

#20

looks great NJ!

some of your questions are in fact multiple questions but to heck with em hehehe...

SWGEntertainer.com
Emperor Palpatine (from "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith"):
"Every single Jedi is now an enemy of the Republic. Do what must be done. Do not hesitate. Show no mercy."
-I support ATK people and playstyles.
Account cancelled as of June 23, 2005

Gknee

Mon Feb 02, 2004 11:26 pm

#21

Hmm...Nothing about fixing the cantina's registration issues. I think that needs to be addressed

Nosmina Osoga
Proprietor of The Dew Drop Inn
Mesric Sanctuary, Tatoonine
(mmmm.....Cake.....)
Minty freshness!!

Blackrock

Tue Feb 03, 2004 6:16 am

#22

This looks really good...

Some great work by Jedi and my fellow performers......

While some of the replies on AFK are not what I'd term ideal, I'd happily go back to the occasional afk performer over our present state.

I also feel that keeping songs and afk issue in this, shows focus.

I wouldnt be concerned if your issue doesnt make it in the top ten.

Sadly if after 8 months what I gather from this is, their contracted composer hasnt even finished all the new tunes. They go on to say composing is the easy part, implementing is the hard part.....

That kinda tells me that the one issue/request that we have been calling for "most of all" in allll this time.....isnt even near completion.........8 months and this is all you got?

Plus hopefully issues like not being able to drop a nalg on PA hall stairs etc will fall under bug fixes.

Funny after reading TH's replies to Ent I got a sense that Devs are content with performers.

Shame the actual performers are not content.........

I truly hope that they lose some of their contentment and realize we are one of the backbones to player content. We have been performing for 8 months. We need new tools, we need better group dynamics,and we dam sure need much more diversity.

All in all very heartening that their asking etc, some killer ideas from my fellow performers,but .........extremely disappointing that to date they have nothing done, and they appearcontent with the profession afk and all.....

I look forward to reading replies to ours tho. Maybe we got some new instruments done

Hopefully by the time we get new songs there will be players to play them to!!

PS: I'd still like to see Mandi and Cere moved over to MM. I neeeed Appr points!.. LOL am I the only one left who see's this?

If songs are so dam hard to place in game, lets at least give Musicians this one which is already there.

Why the hell do I have to maintain 2 masterships to play all the songs!!!!

Ceremonial is a celebratory song. It sounds wonderful in a full band.

Oh and Mandiviol is wasted on a ME give that to MM too. Just as DE's want to use the droids they make MM's should be able to play an instrument they craft!!!!!

Ahhh I feel better now

Torean Greysong
Master Musician, Master Entertainer

"It's a savage Garden.... May as well Dance".

maharao

Tue Feb 03, 2004 7:03 am

#23

Frankly, I found this non-response to the single greatest problem facing musicians (and other entertainers) -- ongoing AFK abuse -- as something indicating the studied ignorance which the devs enjoy toward our profession. Do they not listen or do they not care? Both? Makes me wonder about the wisdom of continuing. Are they truly just unable to understand the nature and scope of the problem? If so, that explains a lot.

Blackrock

Tue Feb 03, 2004 8:57 am

#24

Maharoa

I kinda feel the same way.....but I will say this...

To even go back to the way it was pre Holo's is a step in the right direction.

But yes any veteran player of MMO's are fairly used to afk play being strongly frowned upon.

And yet here(SWG) I could swear TH says this is as intended which boggles me mind

Last few days I been visiting some cantinas to get my game back on. All I see is full entertainer groups with very few actually chatting and goofin around.

Our cantinas are more crowded then ever before and quieter then when these were Musician stomping grounds....

Everyones in a rush to train and most of the chatting revolves around that...rush rush rush gogogo.

Will be nice to get these places back

Torean Greysong
Master Musician, Master Entertainer

"It's a savage Garden.... May as well Dance".

NewJedi

Tue Feb 03, 2004 6:43 pm

#25

OK, I've submitted the questions to TH. I look forward to his response.

sweatyclimber

Tue Feb 03, 2004 10:05 pm

#26

i just hope we get something out of these.... although since they never came back to the entertainer thread, I feel its pointless. My guess is that we all wasted a lot of our time

Cheers,

famousFATWOOKIE
Master musician, Master entertainer of Mos Oasis
-I support ATK people and playstyles.
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Thread: Draft of our top 10 questions for TH: please comment