Musician Archive
Thread: Entertainer Missions ... still a joke.
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Ubergamer
Tue Jan 25, 2005 10:29 pm
#1
Ok, I'm a Master Musician and Entertainer and what do I get out of my formidable title?1200 credits and change per Entertainer mission?! For 10 min game time?That'sridiculous and here is why:
As a master TKA (you can apply this to any other mastermelee / ranged profession), I can make 9000-20000 credits in 10 minutes or lessif I have two missions that happen to be nearby each other ona hostile planet like Lok or Dantooine. If my missions are spread out (say 1km difference), I stillmake 9000-12000 credits in 10 minutes or less.
1000 credits vs. 10000 credits. That's a large imbalance. Are you (the devs) purposefully making SWG a slugfest? Is that all MMOGs are? C'mon. Think game design guys, rat-killing isn't going to float this game. Just look at what Jedi did to the game .... sigh. I mean, theTheater Quest was a great addition to the game.What happened? Did you let the guy that thoughtof that good idea goand then made this "addition"? Sigh. Adding an insignificant zero to the end of an already abysmal payment for Entertainer mission system isn't going to solve anything. In fact, it's insult to injury. Really makes me wonder if anyone at SOE has any clue how this game really plays.
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Ok, enough critiques. Here are some solutions:
Option 1: Like Mission Terminals, make Entertainer Missions difficulty / skill based. Why should a Master be getting the same pay as a Novice? Seriously. The instrument you carry is all the proof you need to differentiate between the two. It's like equipping your strongest weapon to get a harder mission essentially. Same technique. Either that or have the terminal actually determine the entertainer's current skill levelas opposed to instrument.
Option 2: If you have to make it a 10 min show, then how about really giving us an npc crowd like it says in the mission description for pete's sake.In fact, let the crowd be the same as in the Theater Quest, where they have favorite flourishes and songs based on mission difficulty. Use the Theater Quest as a model -- now that was innovative. Give the guy a raise who thought of that. Anddemote whoever thought of this "compensation".
Option 3: Have the missions song specific. This is an alternative method to Option 1. If the mission is calling for Western, then it should pay substantially more than a mission calling for Starwars1 because Western requires the Theater Quest to attain.
Option 4: Vary the missions ... all the missions are the same in the description essentially. Play music for 10 minutes at X location. Boring. See my post on Cantina issues for ideas. Or hire me and I can give you more than you can probably implement anytime soon...
Feedback welcome.
sweatyclimber
Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:33 am
#2
while its not a lot, it is a step in the right direction, and unlike the hunters on lok, you could have ton's of people tipping you while getting that mission if its in the right cantina. I realize thats not likely to happen but that is the DEVS thought i belive as to the low payouts... we are supposed to suck the hunters money from them not add to the money in the economy via missions.
MStarfire
Wed Jan 26, 2005 12:35 am
#3
Interesting, we get an increase to income for something we do all the for free and you still complain. I am not understanding. Personally I feel 1.5k is way better than 150. Honestly, I think you should look at this for what it is, a step in the right direction and a temporary fix. We still got a revamp coming at somepoint.
I do admit, you have pointed out some good ideas, but those take code and time to implement. Making the mission rewards pay out 10x more is a good start.
Ubergamer
Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:41 am
#4
Here's a question, why are people satisfied with half measures andbaby steps? I don't know about you, but I prefer more bang for my buck. No one I've talked to ingame thinks 1000 credits is worth 10 minutes of game time.But you see, that's not even accurate.It's more like 15-20 minutes gametime if you consider travel time. And if you dotwo missions, make that 30-40 minutes of your time. For 2000 measely credits. I get that amount as a Novice in ANYcombat profession. From the start even!
I think that's insulting based on the fact that Entertainer Mission Terminals have been ingame for months! How many of you have used the terminals when they were at 100 credits? Be honest. They may as well have not existed at all. I'm viewing this from a macro perspective. Nevermind what I think, think about the Entertainer profession as a whole. We've been neglected for quite a while. There has been combat patches, addition ofJedi -- all combat oriented professions. Only now we're starting to see Entertainer changes.
I'm sorry, but for the time we've waited, this is laughable. I've only been a Master Musician / Entertainer for abouta week and I think it's ridiculous because I know how much I can make in 10 minutes as my TKA. This is about SOE telling you how to play their game. They may as well tell you to be a pistoleer because there's no way you can make decent time-vs-credits gain as a straight Entertainer. That's what they're saying with this tiny increase.
I don't know about you, but I think we deserve more. I play my Musician to create memorable music. Yes, I actually sit there ingame (not AFK believe it or not) to entertain folks with conversation and music. Why can't I be allowed to not have a combat-oriented profession to support my character?
But here's the funny part. If the devs had some sort of reason for the pay being so small, I'd be fine with that. Maybe the Empire is stiffling Musicians and Entertainers. Lame excuse but it's something. The point is, in this case, there is no reason I can think of why our missions are paying peanuts compared to the combat-oriented professions.
Just because there are nodev teams(well, maybe WoW devs are an exception) where patches are treated with a little more tact and attention to their impact to the Online World, doesn't meanwe bend over to obvioushalf-bakedattempts to appease the masses.
Message Edited by Ubergamer on 01-26-2005 01:49 AM
Ubergamer
Wed Jan 26, 2005 2:55 am
#5
sweatyclimber wrote:
while its not a lot, it is a step in the right direction, and unlike the hunters on lok, you could have ton's of people tipping you while getting that mission if its in the right cantina. I realize thats not likely to happen but that is the DEVS thought i belive as to the low payouts... we are supposed to suck the hunters money from them not add to the money in the economy via missions.
That's a good point.Do themissions always waypoint cantinas that have players in them? Or even a certain number (sincethe mission description alwaysmentions the generic "large crowd"?Because if that's the case, then I can see the logic behind it.
Message Edited by Ubergamer on 01-26-2005 01:56 AM
Krogg
Wed Jan 26, 2005 3:09 am
#6
being a combat musician I must point out that a combat mission paying the amount you give as an example requires you to be buffed, armored, and have a fair/good weapon. These things are not always free. The entertainer missions can, in theory, be compleated with the instrument/clothes (shudder) you started the game with. I think we should just be happy in the fact that this minor change implies that there are a few devs listening to us.
just my 3.14 cents
just my 3.14 cents
Vorpaks
Wed Jan 26, 2005 4:58 am
#7
When I played with this on TC I could get 2 missions for the player city I was standing right next to at about 1200 each. The missions ran and completed at the same time. So that is about 2400 credits for 10 minutes of game time. Can you make as much as an advanced combat player in an hour - no, definitely not. But now a Novice Entertainer starting up can make as much as a novice combat player starting up and that in my opinion is a very good thing. Less frustrated novices meen more future entertainers.
Hopefully they will implement the skill-based consideration you mentioned. Movement is begining to happen - good things seem to be on the way.
Hopefully they will implement the skill-based consideration you mentioned. Movement is begining to happen - good things seem to be on the way.
Esharra
Wed Jan 26, 2005 6:48 am
#8
This is how I'm looking at it too. I frequently start characters on new servers to attend events and visit friends. It is not unusual for me to get to novice musician or dancer before ever receiving a tip. Now I have a means of getting enough credits to buy clothes, train the novice box and cover my own transportation expenses while still playing the game I want to play instead of taking up a combat prof.
Vorpaks wrote:
But now a Novice Entertainer starting up can make as much as a novice combat player starting up and that in my opinion is a very good thing.
Warryyr
Wed Jan 26, 2005 8:13 am
#9
First off, I'm in full agreement that the mission payouts are still not what they should be.
But, they are at least not at downright insulting as they used to be - 1200 credits now instead of 200 or 400.
The missions scaling still does not work right, so mastery in any Entertainer profession doesn't net you more money from missions. That sucks. But, it's something that will probably take awhile to get right. The increase isn't the best solution in the world, but it's a heck of a lot less insulting than 200 credits for 10 minutes of your time.
The key with Entertainer missions is getting a couple in the city you're in - look for the distance to the mission. No sense in travelling all over to do them, just refresh the missions until you get one that's 150m from you or something. Travel expenses aren't a huge deal.
I guess I see it from the perspective of any other Novice profession player starting out - as a Novice Artisan, I would run Crafting missions to the South of D'eeja Peak into Moenia at about 1200 credits a pop. That's 2400 credits in the time it takes to get to Moenia. Which used to be about 5 to 10 minutes by Speederbike. So, for 10 minutes time, it's roughly equivalent to what I could do as an Artisan (by the way, this used to be the technique i'd use on new servers to get some start up cash, now maybe I can actually use my Entertainer to run *gasp* Entertainer missions and make some dough right off the bat).
So, in conclusion, your frustration is well understood by me. This is not a cure to our mission problems, though - this is a band aid. We can't do what combat folks can do in regards to missions, and we won't for awhile, if ever. We're stuck in tip-land, and that's where we'll continue to see the majority of our income come from.
We'll have to hold out for the non-combat profession revamp, after the Combat Upgrade. Then we can deluge the Devs with all the stuff that needs overhauling for our profession. Keep a list going and be prepared to bust it out when the opportunity presents itself!
Fragpuppie
Wed Jan 26, 2005 9:56 am
#10
I guess I see it from the perspective of any other Novice profession player starting out - as a Novice Artisan, I would run Crafting missions to the South of D'eeja Peak into Moenia at about 1200 credits a pop. That's 2400 credits in the time it takes to get to Moenia. Which used to be about 5 to 10 minutes by Speederbike. So, for 10 minutes time, it's roughly equivalent to what I could do as an Artisan (by the way, this used to be the technique i'd use on new servers to get some start up cash, now maybe I can actually use my Entertainer to run *gasp* Entertainer missions and make some dough right off the bat).
Lol
I used to do Tyrenna/Vreni Island crafting runs at about 1400 per mission. If you were careful you could choose missions that delivered close to the shuttle and could get back to Tyrenna and get back to Vreni with 2 more before the shuttle went away and you had wait another 10 minutes.
Then again this was back before speederbikes.
Fragpuppie Uber
Master Musician/Master Entertainer
Mariki
Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:09 am
#11
I wouldn't do a Ent mission for credits, if they want to make it interesting to do ent missions they are gonna have to come up with unique items to make it worth while. How about clothing attachments, unique clothing, dancing props, etc.
Now that would get people interested in doing Ent missions! Everyone would do them then.
Vorpaks
Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:14 am
#12
Just another small note - there are other professions who suffer from the non-scaling mission terminals as well. I've recently been hunting with a Combat Medic/Doctor and he counts as having 0 combat skills. Yellow mobs turn red when he is in the group, and it is impossible for him to get high level missions while solo. Never mind that he can do the most damage out of all of us!
Question for the crafters - do artisan missions scale with the level of the crafter? For example, can a master architect pick up a higher level mission than a novice artisan? I suspect not, that the whole mission scaling aspect is based solely in the combat professions. Maybe a revamp of that whole system is in order, not just the entertainer part.
Question for the crafters - do artisan missions scale with the level of the crafter? For example, can a master architect pick up a higher level mission than a novice artisan? I suspect not, that the whole mission scaling aspect is based solely in the combat professions. Maybe a revamp of that whole system is in order, not just the entertainer part.
Cendatinea
Wed Jan 26, 2005 10:22 am
#13
Vorpaks wrote:
Question for the crafters - do artisan missions scale with the level of the crafter? For example, can a master architect pick up a higher level mission than a novice artisan?
Not that I have noticed. Pirgam is a master artisan, Derianadai is 4-0-0-4, they pull the same missions.
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