Image Designers Guide

Image Designers' FAQ by Kwee and n'Jessi   Image Designer Basics: Abilities   Q: What can an Image Designer do? A: All facial/cosmetic/physical modifications available at character creation as well as: Additional ID-only hair/frill/lekku/horn/ridge styles (Bald now available!) Expanded color palettes (a Master has access to 256 colors in each palette) Stat Migration Holo-Emotes   Q: When can I start image designing? A: A novice entertainer can image design immediately, but he or she will not have access to all the features a master does.   Q: How do I image design? A: Make sure your victim - I mean client - is in your group. Then target him or her and type /image, or use the radial menu and use the "image design" option. An interface will appear that is very similar to character creation.   Q: How do I image design myself? A: Type control-1 to target yourself (or /target self) and then type /image (or "/im"). You will then be able to change yourself using the interface. You can also image design yourself by clearing your current target (by pressing “escape”) and typing /image, but this method does not grant you a timer bonus in the tents (**Has this been fixed?). Note you get twice as much exp if you ID someone else.   Q: I can’t image design myself or my friend. It’s broken! A: Is your friend a Wookiee or a Mon Cal? If so, you’re out of luck for now. They have no features changeable until ID2 in the entertainer tree, when you get eye color.       Q: Can I give Wookiees a fro, or remove Zabrak horns? A: These cross species hairstyles were only available via an exploit that has since been disabled. Occasionally you still see people running around with hairstyles they should not have because those species who are not meant to have hair cannot be fixed.   Q: I've seen a certain hairstyle on an NPC of my species. Will I be able to do that? A: Not necessarily. Some NPC hairstyles are not available for players. In particular, zabrak females often have horn-and-hair hybrids that look like human hairstyles with horns added - most of these are unfortunately not available for players.   Timers   Q: What's this I hear about timers? A: ID sessions are now accompanied by a timer that must finish its countdown before a change can go through. Non Master ID's: For cosmetic changes (including holoemotes), the timer is 1 minute (or 30 seconds in an ID Tent - Tents are discussed in the next section) for body changes, the timer is 2 minutes (1 minute in an ID Tent) for stat migrations the timer is 4 minutes, and this can only be done in a tent Master ID's: For cosmetic changes, the timer is 30 seconds (or no timer in an ID Tent) for body changes, the timer is 1 minute (no timer in an ID Tent) for stat migrations the timer is 4 minutes, and this can only be done in a tent. COMING SOON: no timer for Cosmetic or body changes on self outside a tent Timers do not stack, but instead the highest timer is applied, so if you are getting a stat migration and lip color, the timer will be set at 4 minutes.   Tents (Salons)   Q: What are the ID Tents for? A: Most people are under the misconception that an ID must always be in a tent to do Image design. You must be in the tent to do certain things, and the tent carries bonuses for others. The ID Tents halve the cosmetic and body timers so that cosmetic changes take 30 seconds and body changes take 1 minute for non masters Tents eliminate the timers for master ID's doing body or cosmetic changes. You must be in a tent to do a stat migration, and there is no timer bonus for it.   Q: Where are the ID Salons (Tents) located? A: You can type “/find salon” in one of the following five cities to have a waypoint created for you. Theed -5130 4260 (next to the Cantina, visible from Starport area) Moenia 4790 -4730 (visible from the Starport and Cantina) Bestine -1440 -3700 (back behind the Cantina) Coronet -360 -4690 (near the Cantina and Shuttleport B) Vreni Island -5150 -6370 (next to the Cantina)   Q: Are the tents player city placeable/architect craftable? A: Not at this time, but we are told they will be one day.   Stat Migration   Q: How does Stat Migration work? A: The customer MUST set their stats themselves (ctrl-O). This may happen before or during the ID session, though some ID's have reported the stat migration not going through when stats are tweaked during the session. Their stats will not move unless they see an ID, and it must happen in an ID Salon (tent). Select the stat migration option and a 4 minute timer will begin counting down. The stats move instantly when the player accepts. For more details see Hollow1Neville's guide to which you can also refer your client. IMPORTANT: Tell your customer to get wounds healed before stat migration!! Whatever you do, do not migrate someone with significant wounds. If the change goes through and the wounds are more than the new stat bars, the customer will incap and cannot be revived (because wounds cannot be healed in the tent).   Q: Can I perform a stat migration on myself? A: No you can't.   Holo-Emotes   Q: How do Holo-Emotes work? A: There are 16 Holo-Emotes. They are tied to hairstyling skill. Roleplay reason for how they function as stated by our dev: tiny little generators weaved into your hair or placed sub-dermally (under your skin) that need to recharge (hence the having to wait betw each triggering). Whether you give “one” or “all” there will be 20 charges. Type “/holo help” in game for instructions on use. Holo-Emotes can be set off every 30 or 60 seconds, and were described by our dev as tiny generators implanted subdermally in the scalp or weaved into hair that need time to recharge between uses. Here is a list of holoemotes, with screenshots.   Skill progression and xp   Q: So I'm novice entertainer. How do I get to novice ID? A: You start off being able to image design right off the bat, but you only have certain abilities (and you may not be able to ID all species at that point). You get experience for making changes to yourself or a friend. Remember, it only gives you xp if you make a change and the person accepts. That is the way it works from novice entertainer to master image designer.   Q: When is everything granted? A: See Kwee's ID Guide for a chart of what cosmetic and body changes are granted when. As to the newer skills: Holo-emotes: Hair I gives you: Beehive, Brainstorm, Imperial, Rebel Hair II adds: Bubbles, Hologlitter, Holonotes, Sparky Hair III adds: Bullhorns, Champagne, Technokitty, Phonytail Hair IV adds: Blossom, Butterflies, Haunted, Hearts, and the All option Color palettes Novice Ent: old palettes Novice ID: all palettes have 16x6 colors Any Tier 1 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x8 colors Any Tier 2 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x10 colors Any Tier 3 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x12 colors Any Tier 4 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x14 colors Master ID: all palettes have 16x16 colors (=256 colors) Stat Migration Novice ID on up. There are no changes to the stat migration feature as you advance up the ID skill trees.   Q: What lines should I go up first? A: If you want to become “useful” quickly, do hair first, both because hairstyle requests are frequent and Holo-emotes are granted in that line. Any Tier 4 box, Hair or otherwise will grant you all of the colors in the various palettes, minus the Master Image Designer colors. After Hair, opinions differ on whether Face, Body or Markings are the most requested.   Q: Where are the trainers? A: In any theater, in the back room. Type /find guild:theater, they are typically in bigger NPC cities.   Q: How much exp should I expect to get? A: 100 exp for cosmetic changes, 300 for physical changes, 2000 for stat migration. Half of that if you ID yourself, except for stat migration which you cannot do on yourself. At least one change must be made to get exp. The exp does not stack, so one cosmetic plus one body change results in 300 exp.   Q: How can I maximize my xp? A: You should use the tents as they cut the timers in half. You should also practice on a friend, as ID'ing yourself is half xp. You should also do the highest level change that you can, which after novice is stat migration (which you cannot do on yourself anyway.) If you are actually dealing with clients, you might want to break up a session into mini-sessions to maximize xp as the client is making up his or her mind. For example, you might ask the client to accept after you finish his or her hair and then start a new session to do makeup.   Q: Is there any other way to speed up the exp progression? A: Ormacheck (the exp bonus food) works for ID. The bonus percentage to exp ranges from 3% to 6% so try to find high quality stuff    Q: What can Master ID’s do that non-Masters cannot? A: Not much actually. Chances are good that a skilled Novice ID will be able to help you with what you need. What is found exclusively in the MID skill box: skin color, head size, torso (women), age, 32 extra colors in each palette.   Q: What’s all this macro stuff I’m hearing about? I want to macro too!! A: Fortunately, there is no way to completely afk macro yourself through the profession. However, there are some methods to avoid the tedium associated with staring at a timer counting down. KeyTokikoMima's self-ID macro with alarm: /sit; /image self; /pause 27; /stand; /alarmAddin 0 2 Next ID ready!; /pause 125; /ui action defaultButton; /macro ImageSelfDesign; Syzygy's macros: There are issues with the macro on the image designer side—I tried it and it kept losing focus on the ID window, making the defaultButton not commit the change, but for the victim side I ran two macros: ----- Start Macro AcceptOffer ----- /ui action defaultButton; /pause 0.5; /macro AcceptOffer ----- End Macro AcceptOffer ----- ----- Start Macro AntiIdle ----- /sit; /pause 600; /stand; /macro AntiIdle ----- End Macro AntiIdle ----- I ran both of these on my alt account and only had to worry about keeping my ID account going while grinding. In theory, the following should work for the ID side, but you can't chat while using it as that shifts the focus from the ID window to the chat window, making the defaultbutton go to the wrong place: ----- Start Macro OfferDesign ----- /target [self|victim]; /image; /pause [63|153]; /ui action defaultButton; /stand; /pause 1; /sit; /macro OfferDesign ----- End Macro OfferDesign ----- Change the first line to be either /target self or /target Victim'sName depending on if you're self-grinding or have an accepter, and the third line to be either /pause 63 or /pause 153 depending on whether you're doing cosmetic or physical changes. Editor's note: Please tweak the pauses in these macros to conform with the new time limits, as these macros were written when the timers were (in the tent) 1 minute cosmetic, 2.5 mins body, 10 minutes stat migration. You whippersnappers have it so easy. Bugs and Issues   Q: What are the bugs? A: Here are a couple that have been documented, and are still not resolved: “You are already in the process of an ID action” bug - when one of you goes LD during a session, the ID may not be able to design you (or anyone else) until they relog. The UI does not always show the outfit the client is wearing, but instead something he was wearing earlier. A relog should fix this. When a zabrak does not have hair, and an ID gives him hair, the hair color may not be visible to the client in the preview window, but if you accept the change, the hair color will go to what the ID has selected. If a customer's wounds are greater than his "new" stat values, after the stats are migrated, the customer will incap and cannot be revived (because wounds cannot be healed in a tent). Please tell your customer to get wounds healed prior to stat migration.   Q: What are the other issues in the profession? A: Check the most recent "Top 5" stickied above to see what our top issues are at this time       Image Designing Clients   Q: How do I get clients? A: Generally clients will come to you if you are in one of the tents. I find it best to use one of the "main three" tents - Coronet, Theed, or Bestine. Tent populations will vary from server to server, but very few people will ever be on Vreni Island or Moenia. Those places might be good places if you are planning for a long overhaul with a client and do not wish to be disturbed.   Q: I'm a non-master and I'm concerned about messing up my client and not being able to put him or her back. A: As long as your client has not hit accept, you can ALWAYS undo a change. Simply hit revert and every change will be undone. You can then return to changing the feature which your client has requested. However, once the client accepts the changes, that's it, and you can only put him "back" if you have the skill to modify that feature in that way. Other than upper level colors or upper level hair styles, everything an ID can do, he or she can undo. If you are changing a color or a hairstyle, and you realize that you don't yet qualify for the "old" color or hairstyle, be sure to warn the client of this fact.   Q: What if someone is a smacktard to me? A: First of all, you can cancel an ID session at any time and are under no obligation to finish the service. Second, you can add him or her to your ignore list. Third, you can use the "report harassment" feature located in the holocron.   Pricing and Business Practices   Q: What should I charge? A: Some image designers set fixed prices, and others do not. Price systems might be set up based on complexity of the change (higher skill required = more expensive) or time spent on the ID session. A common approach is that sometimes ID's will charge a set fee for a stat migration, but use a tip system for aesthetic work. Here is an example of a pricing system.     Q: Should a master ID charge more? A: Some master ID's do charge more because they have access to additional colors and hairstyles. Even if the master ID is doing something a novice can do (such as a stat migration) he or she may charge more to encourage clients to seek out a novice ID for that same service, because the novice ID still needs xp.   Q: Is there an ID pricing "union"? A: Some servers have an ID union that may be well-organized or ad-hoc. Obviously you can price as you like. The danger to pricing outside the "going rate" is that you'll either get no business or get too much business and burn out. I find it beneficial to keep in contact with my fellow ID's for price-checks, and for "backup" when a particularly difficult customer challenges my prices. Some ID's have "do not serve" lists that go around the server, which are useful for avoiding problem clients.   Q: If my server has a union, how can I find it? Some servers have chat channels either for entertainers or for image designers only. You can also contact an image designer on your server and ask about it (see the list stickied on top of the forum). A third option is to post on your galaxy forum.   How to Migrate your Stats, a step by step guide. So, you want to migrate your stats? First things first, you need to change your own stats to where you want them. This is simple to do and you don't even need an image designer to do it. First go to your character sheet, or ctrl-c. On the lower right hand corner will be a button that says 'stat migrate'. Push the button to bring up your current stats. Now, to change your stats around, simple subtract stats from where you can spare them, then put them into which stats you want them to by sliding the bars on your stats. Note that there are racial and game maximums and minimums to all the stats. Also note that you must first subtract the points and then add them, you can't add points when you don't have any free ones. You can see how many free points you have to assign at the bottom of the screen. Then press 'ok' when you are done with making what changes you wish to make. Now for the hardest part, finding an image designer! The changes you made to your stats will not be applied unless you find an image designer to apply them for you. All levels of skill in the image designer profession can migrate your stats. If you are having trouble finding one, look on the current list of image designers in your galaxy on the image designer profession forum. Also, you might try searching under the separate image designer tags. These are: Novice Image Designer, Expert Hairstylist, Tattoo Artist, Personal Trainer, Plastic Surgeon and Master Image Designer. What should you expect for a stat migration session? Expect to wait at least four minutes for your stat migration to be complete. In some cases an image designer might be very busy, and you might have to wait longer. Also, a master image designer cannot migrate your stats any faster then any other skill level of image designer. You should also expect to have to travel to one of the salons in the NPC cities. No, an image designer cannot migrate your stats outside of a salon. Salons are at: Coronet and Vreni Island, Corellia; Bestine, Tatooine, Theed and Moenia, Naboo. In addition, be prepared to pay your image designer for their time and skill. Different image designers have different rates for a stat migrate. Please speak to your image designer about their prices and do not be surprised by it. Most image designers will migrate your stats for around 10-50k, but it is best to ask about their rates first. A walk through of the Image Design stat migration session. First of all, be sure you are not in a group, or if you are that you are the leader of the group. An image designer can image design you only if you are in the same group as him or her. In addition to this, be certain you do not have an excessive number of wounds which may bring any of your stat totals to below 0 after you are migrated, as it may cause a bug to occur. To be safe, just make sure your wounds are all healed up. Secondly, be prepared for the wait, which is not too long considering. How can you tell how much time is left? There is a little count down clock in your Image Designer Interface window which well tell you how much time you have remaining on your stat migration. It takes four minute to migrate your stats. In some cases, your image designer will input their price on their Image Designer Interface. You cannot receive your stat migration unless you enter in the same or greater amount into your window. You can tip your image designer, either with hard credits or through the bank. However, if you pay your image designer through her or his window, you won't be charged the 5% fee for bank tipping if you only have credits in the bank. If payment has been taken care of, when the timer runs out, your image designer will hit their commit button on their end. Then, your accept button will light up. Press it, and viola! Your new stats will be applied. Note: yes, you CAN change your stats DURING an ID session from the ctrl-c option. The only thing about this is, you MUST make your changes and hit the 'ok' button closing your stat migration window BEFORE your image designer commits and you accept your changes. But, I don't understand my stats! I'm migrating for a specific reason, can you help me out? Certainly! You have three 'primary' and six 'secondary' stats that make up your character. Your primary stats are you Health, Action and Mind, otherwise known as HAM. This is what you see on-screen. Health is the red bar, Action is the green bar and Mind is the blue bar. These are the points pools that you use when doing certain abilities, like surveying or dancing. Also, they are the pools you will see your enemies hit when you engage in combat and when you choose to use combat special abilities. What are your secondary stats and what do they do? Well, simply put, your secondary stat determine how much points it will cost you when using a special ability, such as playing an instrument or using a combat special move. Also your secondary stats determine how quickly your HAM stats regenerate when you have used points off of them, or lost them in combat. Which ones do which? Strength, Quickness and Focus all determine how much of your HAM pool you will use when you use your special abilities. Constitution, Stamina and Willpower all determine how quickly your HAM pools regenerate themselves. As there is a wide range of different professions and special abilities, it is really hard to say what stat set will work best for you. However, let's say that you are combat oriented. If this is case, you may want to put more points into your secondary stats of Strength, Quickness and Focus so your special moves cost you less if you use them a lot. Maybe you don't use your special abilities during combat but still do combat, then it would be useful to put more points into your stats which govern regeneration. Please note, it is very unwise to take all your stat points from all of your secondary stats and put them into your primary stats, due to armor encumbrance (which we will get to in a little bit) and the things that your secondary stat do for you. So, the best advice is: go with what you think you will need the most! Only you know your style of game play, and only you know what you're going to be doing with your new stat set! I'm migrating to fit into a new set of armor! How do I do that? In most cases it is your secondary stats which you must migrate in order to fit into your armor. There are a couple of ways of doing it, it is best if you get it right the first time to spare both you and your image designer the headache of having to sit through two or more stat migration sessions. It is a good suggestion to have a calculator and a piece of paper with a pen to do this right. This is a somewhat long process for you to determine where your stat set needs to be at. First you must determine how much total encumbrance your armor has. This means examining each piece of armor in your armor set. When you examine your armor, scroll down to the bottom. There will be three sets of stat encumbrance rates, one for Health, one for Action and one for Mind. For each piece of armor you are planning to wear, write down the number of encumbrance for each stat. Each totalled stat number represents how much encumbrance you will have for your 'secondary' stats. So say I examined all the pieces of my armor and the totals are 234 for Health, 250 for Action and 213 for Mind. I add one to all these totals, as my stat rating must be at least one more then the encumbrance. This means that I must have at least 235 points in both my Strength and Constitution, 251 points in both my Quickness and Stamina and 214 points in both my Focus and Willpower in order to wear the armor unbuffed. Now, go to ctrl-c to adjust your stats and set your secondary stats to match the totals you have written down for your encumbrance rates for your armor. Go find an image designer, wait the four minutes and you will be able to fit into your armor! You can also do this by putting on all the pieces of armor that you can wear from your set. Once you have reached the maximum number of pieces, examine each piece of armor you cannot wear and write down the totals of encumbrance for Health, Action and Mind. Add all these totals up. Again, these encumbrance totals represent how much encumbrance will be put onto your secondary stats. Secondary stats for Health are Constitution and Strength, for Action they are Quickness and Stamina, for Mind they are Focus and Willpower. Then go to ctrl-c. Write down how much encumbrance you already have by wearing the pieces of your armor that you can fit into. Now, add the totals of the encumbrance from the pieces you cannot wear to the appropriate secondary stats. Again, be certain that you add at least one point onto the total, as your stat rating must be at least one more then your encumbrance rate. You are all set up now for a stat migration to fit into your armor! Another way to migrate to fit into your armor is to go get a full set of buffs from a doctor. Also make sure, if you need to, to drink some vasarian brandy to buff your mind pool. Then, simply go to ctrl-c. The bars on the window will show you how much encumbrance your currently have! Write down the amount of encumbrance for all of your stats. Your character sheet will also show your original stat set before your buff. Write those down. Now, taking the numbers you have written down for you encumbrance, subtract your original stat set from them. If any of your subtractions turn out to be positive, that is the number which you must migrate your stats to fit into your armor unbuffed. That is, say I have a Quickness of 400, yet my encumbrance while wearing my new armor is 500. I subtract my original stat from what my encumbrance is and then add at least one point, which is 101. That means I must migrate 101 points to my Quickness in order to fit into the armor unbuffed. The problem with this method is that you will have to wait until your buffs wear off, and take all your armor off and put it on again to make sure the stat migrate was correct. Please note that you will not be able to migrate your stats to fit into all armor. Some armor simply has too much encumbrance versus how many points you have to spend on your stat set. If this is the case, you may need to find a smuggler to slice your armor for you, or only wear the armor while you are buffed. Also note that being buffed will not affect the stat migration at all, nor will the stat migration cancel your buffs. In addition to this, please be aware that certain species have species limitations on how high or low their secondary stats can go! This may mean that you cannot fit into your armor despite a stat migrate.     Image Designer Guide By Kwee Glitterwing 1. What exactly does an Image Designer do?   1.1 Official description 1.2 What can be modified? 1.3 Is there demand for this profession? 2. Skill progression   2.1 General overview 2.2 Costs & materials 2.3 What-you-can-do-when chart 3. Which species should I choose?   3.1 Things to consider 3.2 Mind, Focus, & Willpower 3.3 Species bonuses 4. Which profession should I choose?   4.1 Starting profession 4.2 Profession combos 5. Training 5.1 Paying an NPC to train you 5.2 Where are the trainers hiding? 5.3 Tipping a fellow player to train you 5.4 How am I ever going to get 620 apprenticeship points?!? 6. Practicalities   6.1 How-to FAQ 6.2 Commands & macros 6.3 User Interface 6.4 Efficient skilling 7. Building your business 7.1 How do I find victims ... err paying customers? 7.2 Advertising 7.3 Designing a price scheme 7.4 Professional etiquette 7.5 Opening your own beauty salon, spa, gym, or clinic 7.6 Roleplay events 8. Image Design Customer FAQ by NJ62 & Kwee 8. ID Customer FAQ Disclaimer and thanks: Version 2 of this guide is based on both Kwee’s experiences as a Master Image Designer on Starsider and all of the great information and tips shared by the great community on the official ID forum. I will continue to revise this guide as needed and hope that the Image Designer community will aid me in improving the information within. Please email any corrections, information, or suggestions to kwee@warcry.com. Big thanks to all of my fellow Image Designers for their insightful and helpful posts on the forum, to all who allowed Kwee to practice her skills on them, to Sabrehawk (Site Manager, SWG.Warcry.com) for doing all of the complex coding work, and the many models who have given so generously of their time so that Kwee could take their picture for the Image Design hairstyle gallery. A warm special thank you to NJ62 for allowing me to include her information-packed and entertaining Image Design Customer FAQ (revised by me to account for development changes). Much of the How-to FAQ is her work as well. And finally a big thank you to Plagvreugd for tracking down most of the ID trainers for section 5.2. 1. What exactly does an Image Designer do? 1.1 Official description "The Image Designer profession includes skills from the body customization and hairstyling disciplines. A player in this profession can modify various aspects of the way other players look." 1.2 What can be modified? All facial/cosmetic/physical modifications available at character creation (with the exception of gender and species) as well as: - Additional ID-only hair/frill/lekku/horn/ridge styles (Bald now available!) - Expanded color palettes (a Master has access to 256 colors in each palette) - Stat Migration - Holo-Emotes Some fan sites with ID modification images: Lightstrider Image Designs: Screenshots of ID mods, color palettes, pricing guide, & style ideas by Pani of Flurry Image Design Stylebook: Screenshots of all ID mods by Karis of Bria ID Hairstyles at SWG.Warcry.com: Screenshots of ID hairstyles by Kwee of Starsider Holo-Emotes: Screenshots & Info Here is a quick rundown of some of the options each species has available to them at character creation: Human Nine eyebrow patterns (females), 7 eyebrow patterns (males), 20 hair and eyebrow colors, 4 freckle patterns & a no freckle option, 97 eye shadow and lip colors (females) & a no eye shadow option, 32 eye colors, 48 skin colors, 17 facial hair patterns & a no facial hair option (males) Rodian Twenty-four skin colors, 24 frill tip colors (males), 9 frill designs & a no frill option (males), 8 hair designs & a no hair option (females), 20 hair colors (females), Sensor size (unique to species) Mon Calamari Twenty-eight skin colors, 28 marking colors, 20 eye colors, 25 patterns & a no pattern option (females), 27 patterns & a no pattern option (males), No chest option for females, Gullet (unique to species) Bothan Sixty-four fur colors, 35 eye colors, 64 hair colors (males), 48 hair colors, 64 hair trim colors (females), 8 hairstyles (males), 11 hairstyles (females) Wookiee Twenty fur colors (one half of fur), 20 marking colors (2nd half of fur), 28 eye colors, 25 fur patterns, Brow & head size (unique to species), No chest option for females Twi’lek Forty skin colors, 40 lekku marking colors, 28 eye colors, 21 lekku marking patterns, 4 lekku arrangements, 20 eyebrow colors, 10 eyebrow patterns, Same makeup and freckle options as Human (females) Trandoshan Twenty-five skin colors, 28 eye colors, 4 ridge patterns (females), 5 ridge patterns (males), No chest option for females Zabrak Forty-eight skin colors, 20 eye colors, 21 tattoo patterns, 64 tattoo colors, 5 horn colors, 11 horn patterns, 1 horn/hair combo (females), 10 horn patterns (males), Same makeup options as Human (females), No eyebrows 1.3 Is there demand for this profession? There has certainly been increased demand for the profession since minipublish 8.1, which brought a 256 color palette, a new user interface, a secure payment method, ID salons (tents), and stat migration to the profession. As far as cosmetic/body changes, hairstyles have always been the most popular request, probably due to the fact that most of them are available only through an Image Designer. Most customers will ask for more than one type of change, and the time spent waiting on any given ID timer can be a good time to suggest additional changes. Surprisingly to me, an equal number of males and females seem to seek out Image Designer services, with males being just as picky about small nuances in color, pattern, or style. Body tattoos are often requested but are unfortunately not available in the game. Several factors will affect the success of your business of course: The number of Image Designers on your planet, how zealous you are in your advertising, what time of the day you play, etc. ... ID can certainly be a viable money-making profession. 2. Skill progression 2.1 General overview To begin Image Designing, you have to be a Novice Entertainer. If you started with a different profession, you will have to find an Entertainer trainer (type /find trainer:entertainer) and give her a 100 credit training charge. Note that you cannot learn Novice skill boxes from your fellow players. Doing any of the abilities granted to Novice Entertainers (such as lip color), will give you Image Designing experience. This is the only type of experience you will ever deal with. If you are of a species that does not have any of the options available at Novice Entertainer, you will only be able to work on others until Image Design II, which grants you eye color. As you gain experience you purchase the Image Design (I - IV) tree skill boxes that lead to Novice Image Designer. Each skill box will require training, and eat up some skill points. At Image Design IV, you earn the title of "Hairstylist". Once you qualify for Novice Image Designer you will have to find an Image Designer trainer. From that point on, unless you are able to find a fellow player to train you, you will have to get all of your training from an Image Designer trainer. Once you are a Novice Image Designer, your Image Designing experience can be applied to any of these four trees: Hairstyling (I - IV), Facial Customizations (I - IV), Body Customizations (I - IV), and Markings Customizations (I - IV). At Body IV you earn the title of "Personal Trainer", at Facial IV "Plastic Surgeon", at Markings IV "Tattoo Artist", and at Hairstyling IV "Expert Hairstylist". When you have filled in all four skill boxes in all four of these trees AND gained 620 apprenticeship points you qualify for Master Image Designer (which a fellow player can train), and may proudly display the title over your head. 2.2 Costs & materials There are no materials needed to Image Design, however there are monetary, experience, and skill point costs involved just as in any other profession, and eventually apprenticeship points. If a fellow player trains you, it’s polite to tip them (see Training).     Skill box Experience points Credits to trainer Skill points Prerequisites Image Design I 1,000 1,000 2 Novice Entertainer Image Design II 5,000 2,000 3 Image Design I Image Design III 10,000 3,000 4 Image Design II Image Design IV 15,000 4,000 5 Image Design III Novice Image Designer 10,000 5,000 6 Image Design IV Hair/Body/Mark/Facial I 10,000 6,000 5 Novice Image Designer Hair/Body/Mark/Facial II 20,000 7,000 4 Previous skill box Hair/Body/Mark/Facial III 30,000 8,000 3 Previous skill box Hair/Body/Mark/Facial IV 40,000 9,000 2 Previous skill box Master Image Designer 620 apprenticeship points 10,000 1 ALL 2.3 What-you-can-do-when chart NOVICE ENTERTAINER   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Hair styles (incl. frills, lekkus, ridges, horns) 50 100 Head hair color 50 100 Eyebrow color 50 100 Lip color 50 100 Eye shadow on or off 50 100 Eye shadow color 50 100 Char creation color palettes n/a n/a IMAGE DESIGN I   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Facial hair color (Human male) 50 100 Hair trim color (Bothan female) 50 100 IMAGE DESIGN II   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Frill tip color (Rodian male) 50 100   Eye color 150 300 IMAGE DESIGN III   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Horn color (Zabrak) 50 100 Additional hair styles 50 100 IMAGE DESIGN IV   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Freckles 50 100 Rodian nose color 50 100 Eyebrow shape 50 100 Facial hair (Human males) 50 100 Additional hair styles 50 100 NOVICE IMAGE DESIGNER   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Stat Migration n/a 2000 Additional hair styles 50 100 Fur color (One half of Wookiee fur, Bothan) 50 100 Lip fullness 150 300 Cheeks 150 300 96 color palette n/a n/a HAIRSTYLING I   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Beehive, Brainstorm, Imperial, Rebel holo-emotes 50 100 Additional hair styles 50 100 128 color palette n/a n/a HAIRSTYLING II   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Bubbles, Hologlitter, Holonotes, Sparky holo-emotes 50 100 Additional hair styles 50 100 160 color palette n/a n/a HAIRSTYLING III   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Bullhorns, Champagne, Technokitty, Phonytail holo-emotes 50 100 Additional hair styles 50 100 192 color palette n/a n/a HAIRSTYLING IV   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Butterfly, Blossom, Haunted, Hearts, All holo-emotes 50 100 Additional hair styles 50 100 224 color palette n/a n/a FACIAL I   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Chin 150 300 Mouth width 150 300 128 color palette n/a n/a FACIAL II   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Nose width 150 300 Nose protrusion 150 300 Nose length 150 300 160 color palette n/a n/a FACIAL III   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Brow (Wookiee) 150 300 Sensors (Rodian) 150 300 Eye shape (does angle) 150 300 Eye size 150 300 192 color palette n/a n/a FACIAL IV   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Ears 150 300 Jaw 150 300 Gullet (Mon Calamari) 150 300 224 color palette n/a n/a BODY I   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Fur pattern (Wookiee) 50 100 128 color palette n/a n/a BODY II   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Muscle 150 300 160 color palette n/a n/a BODY III   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Height 150 300 192 color palette n/a n/a BODY IV   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Weight 150 300 224 color palette n/a n/a MARKINGS I   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Tattoo color (Zabrak) 50 100 128 color palette n/a n/a MARKINGS II   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Spot/stripe color (Mon Calamari) 50 100 160 color palette n/a n/a MARKINGS III   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Lekku pattern color (Twi’lek) 50 100 Spot/stripe style (Mon Calamari) 50 100 192 color palette n/a n/a MARKINGS IV   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Tattoo style (Zabrak) 50 100 Fur marking color (2nd half of Wookiee fur) 50 100 224 color palette n/a n/a MASTER IMAGE DESIGNER   Image Design Modification Experience ID'ing self Experience ID’ing other Torso (All females but Trandos, Wookies, & Mon Cals) 150 300 Skin color 150 300 Head size (Wookie) 150 300 Age 150 300 256 color palette n/a n/a 3. Which species should I choose? 3.1 Things to consider It is my firm belief that you should play the species that would be the most fun for you to roleplay. Or if you’re not a roleplayer, the one that seems to fit your style. That said, here are some thoughts to nibble on if you are undecided. You get experience for modifying yourself, and while the amount is half that for modifying others, it IS possible to skill up solely in that manner. Unfortunately species that do not wear makeup and/or have no hairstyle option (Mon Cals and Wookiees) will not be able to work on themselves but will be dependent on other players until they reach Image Design II at which point they can modify their own eye color. Of course more difficult doesn’t mean impossible. From a fun perspective, it is a good thing to have many modifiable traits. A Human may arguably be the most versatile race, while Trandoshans have the least that is modifiable. Stats are another thing to keep in mind. All species have bonuses to one or more of these stats. After minipublish 8.1, you no longer have to worry about running out of mind, so it will not be necessary to devote points to mind, focus, or willpower (unless you need them for something else of course). Nevertheless, I will be leaving the explanations about mind, focus, and willpower (section 3.2) in the guide should they help anyone explain how stats work to a new player. Note that the other two sets of stats interact among themselves in the same way as mind, focus, and willpower. In the tutorial you have the opportunity to "migrate" your stats instantly. To migrate your stats hit ctrl-C to bring up your character stats window and click on "Stat Migration" at the bottom. Roughly 1800 of your stat points will be migrate-able. Keep in mind that most professions or skills you will be picking up will have stats that are important to them and you don’t want to starve any particular one out. Once a player is in the game, their stats will not migrate unless they visit an Image Designer (more on this later). All this said, while species bonuses and traits are something to consider, they should only matter if you are having a tough time deciding between two species that are delicious to you. Species is a huge part of your character’s image, and can never be modified. 3.2 Mind, Focus, & Willpower "The Mind pool is a measure of your character's alertness, mental resilience and his or her ability to tackle mentally challenging tasks. This score helps determine what mental tasks or assaults a character can endure and how often." - Official site "Focus is a measure of your character's ability to concentrate. The better your character's Focus, the less likely they are to be distracted and the less mental activities tax them. Focus contributes to your character's Mind statistic." - Official site Having more or less focus will affect how much mind an action takes. For example, an action might take 58 mind at 0 focus, but only 18 mind at 1098 focus. Once your mind bar (the blue one) runs out, you will have to wait until it regenerates some before being able to do another action that takes mind. At 500 willpower, mind regenerates at a rate of 5 per tick. Geneslicer came up with the following formula for how Willpower affects how fast your Mind regenerates while sitting. Note that he also found that sitting provides a 75% faster regen than standing. Mind_Sitting_Regen (per second) = WILLPOWER * 13 / 1200 3.3 Species bonuses   Species Mind bonus Focus bonus Willpower bonus Human 100 100 100 Rodian 100 100 50 Mon Calamari 300 300 150 Bothan 100* 100 0 Wookie 100 150 100 Twi’lek 100 0 0 Trandoshan 0 0 100 Zabrak 0 0 400 * It has been reported that in game this is actually 0, may be a bug. 4. Which profession should I choose? 4.1 Starting profession While an obvious one is Novice Entertainer, you may prefer a profession that starts you out with a certain profession-specific object. Novice Artisans for example start out with a General Crafting Kit, a Mineral and Flora Surveying Tool, and the only decent female starter outfit. [Little side note: If your plan is to be a tailor you will have to make a Chemical surveying tool using your General Crafting Kit in order to get the fiberplast you need for make newbie clothes] Novice Entertainers are the only starting profession who start out with a slitherhorn. Whichever profession you pick up later will cost you 15 skill points and 100 credits at a starting profession trainer. Note that if you keep your trainer droid through the time you train in any other starter profession, you will be provided with the tools you need to get started. 4.2 Profession combos Many dancers and musicians are also Image Designers. Not only because they share the same starting profession, but also because of the benefit of being able to change their hairstyle and makeup for performances. Master Entertainers are required to pick up Image Design I - IV to qualify. In beta I played a Dancer-Image Designer which worked out well as I would image design while my action pool regenerated. Tailoring would be a good one to pick up from both a roleplay and business perspective. You would be able to change a person’s look from head to toe. This is the combination I now have on Kwee and it is great fun for both my customers and I. Another roleplay option might be to become a Medic or Doctor, and say that plastic surgery is your specialty (Facial IV gives you the Plastic Surgeon title). Nose job anyone? At one point Kwee had her salon in the basement of her home…she had no medical license so she had to do her plastic surgery secretly. 5. Training 5.1 Paying an npc to train you As discussed above, there will be times when you will have to be trained by an npc trainer. When you want to be trained in Novice Entertainer or Novice Image Designer, as well as anytime you are unable to find a fellow player who can train you. When you visit the trainer, bring up the radial and select "Converse". [A shortcut to bring up a radial on a targeted npc or player is to hit your "tilde" key followed by the number next to the option you want.] Once you qualify for a skill box, clicking on "What skills can I learn now" will show you what you have available for training. When you click on the skill you want to learn next, the trainer will tell you what the cost will be and ask you to confirm. Note that npc’s can take money out of your bank so it is not necessary to have cash on hand. Type /find to see a list of starter profession trainers in your area. 5.2 Where are the trainers hiding? While Entertainer trainers are easy to find, Image Designer trainers are much more wily creatures (there is no /find command for advanced trainers). They usually hide in the backstage area of theaters (always by the back side entrance), and not all cities have theaters (the large cities always do, as well as the occasional Arts haven). Type /find guild:theater to have a waypoint created for you to the nearest theater. Locs to the backstage doors of theaters containing Image Designer trainers (as well as locs to the three trainers not inside a theater) can be found below.   City Planet Location Kaadara Ireipi Lolooj 5379 6799 Deeja’s Peak Naboo - 4874 -1500 Keren Naboo 1718 2486 Theed Naboo -5825 4233 Kaadara Naboo 5379 6799 Mos Eisley Tatooine 3228 -4751 Mos Entha Tatooine 1479 3323 Coronet Corellia -178 -4202 Doaba Guerfell Corellia 3469 5542 Tyrena A Corellia -5642 -2656 Tyrena B* Corellia -5514 -2637 Dearic Talus 510 -3094 Nashal* Talus 4346 5054 Narmle Rori -5057 -2281 Restuss A Rori 5494 5560 Restuss B* Rori 5255 5850 *These trainers are standing outside, not inside a theater. 5.3 Tipping a fellow player to train you First you have to find someone raising Image Design skills. Cantinas (type /find cantina) are a good place to look as they are teeming with Entertainers, and of course Image Design Salons (type /find salon). One good resource is the thread stickied at the top of the official SWG ID Forum that lists several Image Designers by galaxy. Note that they signed up for the list to advertise their business so don’t assume they will be willing to train you. Another option is to hit "J" and do a search for Novice Image Designers in your area. As a last resort, running through the streets shouting for training might work (some ID’ers will not have their titles turned on), though don’t overdo it or you will make a nuisance of yourself. It is polite to /tip someone that trains you, especially if they purchased the skill themselves. I personally don’t charge for training partly because I did not buy any of my skill boxes, but also partly because the person that trained everyone in my area refused to let us compensate her for her NPC training expenses. To avoid any awkwardness it is probably best to ask your trainer what amount of tip would be appropriate. They may tell you that they didn’t pay for any of their skills and don’t expect you to either, but will nevertheless appreciate the thought. And if they DID pay for all of their skills, they will appreciate the tip. Don’t assume that apprenticeship points are payment enough, many people have maxxed out characters and don’t need any more apprenticeship points. How much to tip? I’ve heard recommendations anywhere from 200 credits to one half of the price of the skill box. 5.4 How am I ever going to get 620 apprenticeship points?!? Aside from the Novice skill boxes, you can train any fellow player that qualifies in a skill you have learned (whether you were trained by an npc or player). If you have a friend that is also Image Designing, you can take turns paying for training from an npc and teaching each other to both save costs and earn apprenticeship points. You receive a certain number of apprenticeship points every time you teach a fellow player a skill. Keep an eye out for people asking for someone to train them. A good strategy would be to learn a few highly marketable skill such as Surveying I, Dancing I, or Pistol I to have ready for the many times they will be requested by new players. Given the fact that Image Designers will probably be few and far between, you may not have all of the training opportunities you need within the profession. So basically anytime you see someone asking for training in something you can provide, jump on the opportunity. Note that training others in language skills does not provide apprenticeship points. 6. Practicalities 6.1 How-to FAQ Q: What's this I hear about timers? A: ID sessions are now accompanied by a timer that must finish its countdown before a change can go through. For cosmetic changes, the timer is 2 minutes (or 1 minute in an ID Tent); for body changes, the timer is 5 minutes (2 1/2 minutes in an ID Tent); for stat migrations the timer is 10 minutes. Master ID's have reduced cosmetic and body timers as a perk. A Master ID working inside an ID Tent has no timers at all, while one working outside of an ID Tent has a 1 minute timer for cosmetic changes and a 2 ½ minute timer for body changes. Master ID's still have a 10 minute timer for stat migrations. Note that timers do not stack, but instead the highest timer is applied, so if you are getting a stat migration and lip color, the timer will be set at 10 minutes. Q: What are the ID Salons (Tents) for? The ID Salons halve the cosmetic and body timers so that cosmetic changes take 1 minute and body changes take 2 1/2 minutes. Master ID's have no cosmetic/body timers in Salons, and have halved cosmetic/body timers outside of Salons. No timer bonus exists for Stat Migration, which is the only ID ability that must be done in an ID Salon. Q: How does Stat Migration work? A: The customer MUST set their stats themselves (ctrl-C). This may happen before or during the ID session. Their stats will not move unless they see an ID, and it must happen in an ID Salon (tent). Select the stat migration option and a 10 minute timer will begin counting down. The stats move instantly when the player accepts. Q: How do Holo-Emotes work? A: There are 16 Holo-Emotes. An Expert Hairstylist has access to all of them. Whether you give "one" or "all" there will be 20 charges. Type "/holo help" in game for instructions on use. Holo-Emotes can be set off every 30 or 60 seconds, and were described by our dev as tiny generators implanted subdermally in the scalp or weaved into hair that need time to recharge between uses. An informative site on Holo-Emotes (which includes screenshots) can be found here. Q: Where are the ID Salons (Tents) located? A: You can type "/find salon" in one of the following five cities to have a waypoint created for you. - Theed -5130 4260 (next to the Cantina, visible from Starport area) - Moenia 4790 -4730 (visible from the Starport and Cantina) - Bestine -1440 -3700 (back behind the Cantina) - Coronet -360 -4690 (near the Cantina and Shuttleport B) - Vreni Island -5150 -6370 (next to the Cantina) Q: Are the ID Salons (Tents) player city placeable/architect craftable? A: Not at this time, but we are told they will be one day. Q: What can Master ID’s do that non-Masters cannot? A: Not much actually. Chances are good that a skilled Novice ID will be able to help you with what you need. What is found exclusively in the MID skill box: skin color, head size, torso (women), age, 32 exclusive colors in each palette. Q: What are the bugs? A: Here are a couple that have been documented, and are still not resolved: 1. "You are already in the process of an ID action" bug - when one of you goes LD during a session, the ID may not be able to design you (or anyone else) until they relog. 2. The UI does not always show the outfit the person being ID'd is wearing, but instead something you were wearing earlier. This is especially problematic when it is a helmet and the player wants work done on their head. A relog should fix this, have the player /sit then /logout and come right back. Q: Can I give Wookiees a fro, or remove Zabrak horns? A: These cross species hairstyles were only doable via an exploit that has since been disabled. Occasionally you still see people running around with hairstyles they should not have because those species who are not meant to have hair cannot be fixed. Q: I can’t image design myself or my friend. It’s broken! A: Is your friend a Wookiee or a Mon Cal? If so, you’re out of luck for now. They have no features changeable until ID2 in the entertainer tree, when you get eye color. Q: I am getting the message "You are already in the process of an Image Design" A: The most common way to end up in this fix is for your customer to go linkdead in the middle of an ID session. Relogging should fix it. 6.2 Commands & macros To ID a fellow player, target them and type "/im". To ID yourself clear any target you might have by hitting "Escape" and then type "/im (or alternatively you can select yourself by hitting ctrl-1 or typing /target self). You can set /im (and /target self) up as a macro. I like to put my /im macro as hotkey 4 on my first hotkey bar so that I can hit it with my index finger. [Note that you can get twice as many hotkeys by dragging down on one of the little numbers under a hotkey. Shift-# accesses the second row.] First hit your semi colon to bring up the macro window. Then select "macro", followed by "new macro". Type in whatever you want to call your macro and pick a little picture that will depict it. I like the one that is a little face with punky hair sticking straight up. In the text part type "/im". Done. Now using your mouse drag the little macro icon up to the desired hotkey spot. There is a second way to ID a fellow player. Target them and bring up a radial, then select "Image Design". You’re ready to go! You can also use more advanced macros to make the learning process easier on your wrist, though note that recursive macros (those that loop) may be removed in the near future. Some examples shared by ID’s: KeyTokikoMima's Self-ID macro with alarm: /sit; /image self; /pause 27; /stand; /alarmAddin 0 2 Next ID ready!; /pause 125; /ui action defaultButton; /macro ImageSelfDesign; Syzygy_Gorath’s ID’ing-someone-else macros (used by a friend or second account you are ID’ing): There are issues with the macro on the image designer side—I tried it and it kept losing focus on the ID window, making the defaultButton not commit the change, but for the victim side I ran two macros: ----- Start Macro AcceptOffer ----- /ui action defaultButton; /pause 0.5; /macro AcceptOffer ----- End Macro AcceptOffer ----- ----- Start Macro AntiIdle ----- /sit; /pause 600; /stand; /macro AntiIdle ----- End Macro AntiIdle ----- I ran both of these on my alt account and only had to worry about keeping my ID account going while grinding. In theory, the following should work for the ID side, but you can't chat while using it as that shifts the focus from the ID window to the chat window, making the defaultbutton go to the wrong place: ----- Start Macro OfferDesign ----- /target [self|victim]; /image; /pause [63|153]; /ui action defaultButton; /stand; /pause 1; /sit; /macro OfferDesign ----- End Macro OfferDesign ----- Change the first line to be either /target self or /target Victim'sName depending on if you're self-grinding or have an accepter, and the third line to be either /pause 63 or /pause 153 depending on whether you're doing cosmetic or physical changes. 6.3 User Interface User Interface – Image Designer side Your User Interface has a large projection of the person being ID’d (who may be yourself) on the left hand side, the various modifications available to you on the right hand side (those not available yet are grayed out), and various options and displays at the bottom. A second tab (labeled "Advanced") allows you to access a second page for selecting Stat Migration or Holo-emotes (either one type or all of them). Clicking on the "Customizations" tab will bring you back to the main front page of the User Interface. When you select modifications where it would be useful to be zoomed in on the person’s face, the User Interface will automatically do so. There are three types of modifications on the front page: hairstyles, palettes, and sliders. Note that sliders do not have numbers as they did on the old User Interface, hopefully we will get them back one day. If you are working on a customer, they will see changes update on their User Interface almost instantly, so it is possible to scroll slowly through various options and have them let you know when they see something they might want to see again later. "Time Until Commitable" lets you know how much time is left on the timer before you can hit "Commit". If you know you are going to have a long timer (such as for a stat migration or body modification), you will want to select the modification triggering it as soon as possible so the timer can start its countdown. "Required payment" is where you type how much you’d like to be paid for your work. You can do this at any time before hitting accept. You can leave this blank if you want a tip. Customers will not be able to offer less than your required amount. Note that funds can be withdrawn automatically from their bank by the User Interface should they not have enough money on hand. Once you are happy with the amount in the "Offered Credits" box (and the timer has run through, it will say "Ready" instead of a time), hit "Accept". Of course if you are working on yourself, there is no need to mess with the payment boxes. Should you need them there are two other options available aside from "Accept". "Cancel" will end the entire session. "Revert" will undo any and all changes you have made. User Interface – Customer side The customer User Interface has two large pictures of the player displayed at the top as well as some information displays to the right and options at the bottom. Above the two pictures (which show before and after shots of the customer) is the name of the ID’er working on them. The display information includes: "Time Until Commitable" which shows the timer counting down and then "Ready" when the timer has run through (though the session may of course go past that time); "Accepted by Designer" which tells you via yes or no whether the ID has hit "Accept" on their side; "Required Payment" which shows what the ID has entered (or not entered) on their side; "Migrate Stats" which lets the customer know via a yes or no if the ID is providing the service; and "Purchased Holo-Emotes" which lets the customer know whether or not Holo-emotes are being sold to them, and if so which (either one or all). Options for the customer to tinker with include: "View Body" or "View Face" which allows them to zoom in or out; "Offered Credits" where they enter the amount they are paying for the ID work; and "Reject" or "Accept" once the ID has accepted the payment and changes on their side. 6.4 Efficient skilling If you want to become "useful" quickly, do hair first, both because hairstyle requests are frequent and Holo-emotes are granted in that line. Any Tier 4 box, Hair or otherwise will grant you all of the colors in the various palettes, minus the Master Image Designer colors. After Hair, opinions differ on whether Face, Body or Markings are the most requested. To skill the fastest you will want to work on eye color as soon as you hit Image Design II (for 150 or 300 exp pts) and then Stat Migration as soon as you hit Novice Image Designer (for 2000 exp pts). Ormacheck (the exp bonus food available from Chefs) works for ID. The bonus percentage to exp ranges from 3% to 6% so try to find high quality stuff. 7. Building your business 7.1 How do I find victims ... err paying customers? The best place to hook up with customers now is an ID Salon (Tent) as customers will often poke their heads in there to see if an ID is available. If things are slow you may want to do an occasional /shout (but don’t be annoying in your frequency) announcing that you are taking ID customers at the Salon and for players to type "/find salon" to get to you. If there are other Image Designers in the Salon, you should ask if they are ok with you doing this. Be sure to share customers as they arrive. Be particularly sensitive to those with less skill than you. Customers will often avoid less skilled Image Designers who are nevertheless capable of helping them. 7.2 Advertising The best form of advertising is to have the Novice/Master Image Designer tag over your head as soon as you qualify for it. People will then stop you as you run around doing your daily thing and ask for modifications. To get a title you qualify for over your head, hit "J" to bring up the character information window and select it from the scroll bar. Word of mouth is a great way to advertise. Ask people to put you on their friends list and recommend you to others. Join a Player Association with a big player base. Post on your galaxy forum. Ask to be added to the ID list on the official SWG ID Forum. Get your name out there. Have an artisan craft an item for you to be used for advertising purposes. Kwee is also a Tailor and in the past I have made two or three items labeled "Visit Kweestyle* Boutique" or "Looking for a makeover/haircut?" to put on the bazaar. In the description I explain that the item is an ad and have information about my ID prices, location, and modifications. Place your ads at 6000 credits to dissuade people from buying them. They will eventually probably get bought anyway but resist the temptation to use an ugly item, you want the item you use for your advertisement to scream style (the good kind). I have my ID info and prices typed up in a macro (and also as my biography in game, I can then ask potential customers to /examine me). I then copy the text out of the appropriate macro when needed and paste it into the ad item’s description. In order to use cut, copy, and paste in the game you have to assign keys to them. You can do this under Options – Miscellaneous – Keymap. You can also paste anything you copied or cut from a text editor (such as Notepad) on your computer (you can alt-tab out of the game if necessary). In the past I’ve occasionally used a vendor in my Tailor Boutique to advertise ID mods and prices (in the same way as on the bazaar, but with multiple items providing detail about the different types of modifications available). Look the part - buy classy clothes and flashy colors. Invest in a good collection of jewelry. Change your look often. If you have hair, switch between hairstyles available only to highly skilled Image Designers. You don’t have to change your face or body shape to show off what you can do, hairstyle, hair color, eyebrow style, tattoo patterns, eye colors, and makeup colors can make remarkable differences in your appearance. 7.3 Designing a price scheme Some image designers set fixed prices, and others do not. Price systems might be set up based on complexity of the change or time spent on the ID session. Pani’s Lighstrider Image Designs site has an excellent pricing guide. You can ID on the fly or you can make a salon environment in your home. You can take appointments in advance, or do it on a first-come first-served basis. There is no right way to do it, so find what makes you comfortable. Note that it is considered impolite to not charge for services while working in an ID Salon. If there are other ID’s in the Salon, they may find themselves with no customers as players form a line in front of you. Even if you are alone in the Salon, customers will not be happy about paying for ID services in the future when they visit an ID who expects payment or a tip. Remember that some players rely solely on ID to pay for their players’ expenses, and some have even had to deal with verbal harassment from players who have received services for free in the past. A common complaint from customers is that ID does not take resources and therefore we have no expenses associated with it. Remind them that time is the most precious resource and that your time is to be respected. 7.4 Professional etiquette Building a good reputation is important. Aside from being courteous and friendly in your interactions with others, it will be to your benefit to make sure that your customers have a thorough understanding of what the Image Design process will involve (assuming they are unfamiliar with it). First make sure that you can give them what they currently have back (you may not have their hairstyle or colors available to you). If you can’t, tell them upfront. They may still want a change, and will appreciate your honesty. Explain that they will be able to preview all changes, and that you will not be able to commit any changes without their hitting accept. Lastly assure them that you will stick with them until they get something they are happy with. Ooo and aah over their improved appearance. As an advertising bonus, explain what you are going to do and admire the changes in a roleplay fashion using says. That way those around may be drawn to watch the changes taking place, or be tempted to use your services as well. 7.5 Opening your own beauty salon, spa, gym, or clinic You could buy a small house and call it your beauty salon, or use a room in a larger house. If you learn the skill "Business I: Hiring" you can have a door charge for anyone that enters your business to help cover maintenance costs (currently 15 credits per real life hour for a small house). The Hiring tree of Novice Merchant allows you to hire more and more interesting types of vendors, and at Hiring IV you can dress your vendors up with clothes you drag onto them. Advertising II allows you to have your vendor bark a customizable message when someone approaches them, and at Advertising III you can register your vendor on the planetary and regional maps. Unfortunately the planetary map does not allow people to search for beauty salons so Kwee registers her ID vendor (when she has one) under "Clothing". It is a good idea to have your vendor’s name make it obvious what it sells/does. Noone knows what vendor Bob sells, but vendor "So and so’s Beauty Salon" or "Email so and so for Image Design" might lure customers your way. Another idea would be to turn your house into a player run "cantina" where people could come in to have their battle fatigue healed by dancers or musicians (who you could pay a salary to) or just to be entertained while modifications are done to them by you and other Image Designers. You could also set up in a player association hall, a side room in your local cantina, or in a scenic or oft-travelled outdoor location. With the title of "Personal Trainer", you could roleplay that your business is a gym. If you are also a medic, you could run a plastic surgery business. If you want people to know where to find you, consider keeping hours during your regular playtime, though I suspect this may begin to feel like work! Kwee operates her ID business as a catch-me-when-you-can. She has in the past had a vendor called "Kwee’s Beauty Salon Receptionist" standing in the salon with dress slippers for sale. The dress slippers are called "Read Me", "Hairstyling", "Tattooing", Body Makeovers", and "Face Makeovers" and list prices and customizations available. Kwee’s prices range from 5k-10k for cosmetic/body changes and 30k for stat migrations, with discounts for Entertainers and frequent customers. Her salon has three reclining chairs arranged in a row to give the place a hair salon look. White master architect furniture gives it a crisp, clinical feel. 7.6 Roleplay events Add to your community and advertise your business by hosting or co-hosting roleplay events. Team up with a tailor and put on a local fashion show, providing a different look for every outfit. Hire dancers to show off your latest hairstyles. Organize festivals where you will be behind the scenes fixing dancers and musicians up for their performances. The possibilities are endless, have fun!!! 8. ID Customer FAQ by NJ62 & Kwee Q: What can an Image Designer do? A: All facial/cosmetic/physical modifications available at character creation as well as: - Additional ID-only hair/frill/lekku/horn/ridge styles (Bald now available!) - Expanded color palettes (a Master has access to 256 colors in each palette) - Stat Migration - Holo-Emotes Q: How do I find an Image Designer? A: ID Salons (Tents) are good places to start (waypoints below). If you don't have any luck in the Bestine, Theed, or Coronet tents, a wise next step is to check out the thread stickied at the top of the official SWG ID forum called "Looking for an Image Designer?" or some such. Add the ID's in your galaxy to your friend's list. Q: What's this I hear about timers? A: ID sessions are now accompanied by a timer that must finish its countdown before a change can go through. For cosmetic changes, the timer is 2 minutes (or 1 minute in an ID Tent); for body changes, the timer is 5 minutes (2 1/2 minutes in an ID Tent); for stat migrations the timer is 10 minutes. Master ID's have reduced cosmetic and body timers as a perk. A Master ID working inside an ID Tent has no timers at all, while one working outside of an ID Tent has a 1 minute timer for cosmetic changes and a 2 ½ minute timer for body changes. Master ID's still have a 10 minute timer for stat migrations. Note that timers do not stack, but instead the highest timer is applied, so if you are getting a stat migration and lip color, the timer will be set at 10 minutes. Q: What are the ID Tents for? The ID Tents halve the cosmetic and body timers so that cosmetic changes take 1 minute and body changes take 2 1/2 minutes. No timer bonus exists for Stat Migration, which is the only ID ability that must be done in an ID Tent. As of Pub 9, Master ID's will have no timers in Tents (and halved timers outside of Tents). Q: How does Stat Migration work? A: You must set your stats yourself (ctrl-O), and you may do this before or during the ID session. Your stats will not move unless you see an ID. The ID will have to be grouped with you, and you must both be standing inside an ID Tent. The ID will select the stat migration option and a 10 minute timer will begin counting down. After 10 minutes (you will see the timer on your interface), and assuming you have paid for the service, the ID will offer the change to you and your stats will move instantly when you accept. Q: How do Holo-Emotes work? A: There are 16 Holo-Emotes. An Expert Hairstylist has access to all of them. Whether you are given "one" or "all" there will be 20 charges. Type "/holo help" in game for instructions on use. Holo-Emotes can be set off every 30 or 60 seconds, and were described by our dev as tiny generators implanted subdermally in the scalp or weaved into hair that need time to recharge between uses. An informative site on Holo-Emotes (which includes screenshots) can be found here. Q: Where are the ID Salons (Tents) located? A: You can type "/find salon" in one of the following five cities to have a waypoint created for you. - Theed -5130 4260 (next to the Cantina, visible from Starport area) - Moenia 4790 -4730 (visible from the Starport and Cantina) - Bestine -1440 -3700 (back behind the Cantina) - Coronet -360 -4690 (near the Cantina and Shuttleport B) - Vreni Island -5150 -6370 (next to the Cantina) Q: Can you change my gender or species? A: These changes have been vetoed by Lucas Arts. Do not expect them in the future.... ever. Q: Oo ooo, then can you make me superhumanly tall? What about an extremely large chest? A: We can do everything available at character creation within regular character creation species limits. This means that if you’ve maxed out your height, we can’t make you taller. Q: Can I have hair even though I’m a Twi’lek? Horns for my Human? Lekku for my Mon Cal? A: That was an exploit that is no longer possible. Q: What can Master ID’s do that non-Masters cannot? A: Not much actually. Chances are good that a skilled Novice ID will be able to help you with what you need. What is found exclusively in the MID skill box: skin color, head size, torso (women), age, 32 extra colors in each palette. Q: Where can I get more information about ID or find pictures of hairstyles, colors, holo-emotes, etc? A: You can find links to ID websites in section 1 of this guide. Q: Can I see changes before I accept? Can I be changed back if I don't like it? A: Yes, you will be able to see a Before and After image of yourself. The After image updates in real time as the ID shows you potential changes. You have an option to zoom in on your face. The new ID user interface allows for multiple changes to happen in one session (before only 1 change could be made at a time). What an ID can do, an ID can undo, with two exceptions. ID’s without Expert Hairstylist (Hair IV) do not have access to all of the hairstyles, so if you think there’s a chance you might change your mind after accepting a new do, be sure to ask if your ID has your hairstyle as an option. Also, some colors are only available at higher skill boxes or Master. Within an actual session the ID has a "revert all" button he/she can hit if you want to start the whole process from scratch (individual changes can only be reverted by hand) but consider the time you would both lose should you choose to do so.. Q: Why am I smiling like a dork? A: It’s mood – do /mood none. Either that or you're in the cantina listening to music/watching dancers. Do /stopwatch or /stoplisten and you'll get rid of the funny face (and will stop listening or watching). Q: How does ID xp work? A: A (non-Master) ID gains experience by making a change to your character, giving you a holo-emote(s), or migrating your stats. The exp does not stack, so it would be kind to suggest an ID break up a long session into a few parts so that they can get exp for more than one change. Q: What are the bugs? A: Here are a couple that have been documented, and are still not resolved: 1. "You are already in the process of an ID action" bug - when one of you goes LD during a session, the ID may not be able to design you (or anyone else) until they relog. 2. The UI does not always show the outfit you are wearing, but instead something you were wearing earlier. Try a relog. Q: Can someone practice image design on me without changing anything? A: A change must be made for an ID to get experience (though stat migration is an exception, you can "migrate stats" without actually moving any stats and still get experience). Many IDs like to practice using eye color, which has minimal impact on your overall appearance and is easily restored. Q: What should I expect to pay? A: Some image designers set fixed prices, and others do not. It should be asked up front. Price systems might be set up based on complexity of the change (higher skill required = more expensive) or time spent on the ID session. If your ID works off of tips, consider this question: if someone spent a half hour doing a custom tailoring order for you, or made you a gun upon request, wouldn’t you tip him for the personalized effort? A Pricing Guide can be found at Pani’s Lightstrider Image Designs site. Q: Why am I being charged if ID doesn’t cost resources? A: ID takes the valuable resource of time - think of it as on par with requesting a long and complicated custom order from a crafter. Some of us have paid for our training. We have to buy clothes so we can look nice for our profession. We have houses. We spent time getting ID xp, time that we could have spent farming Baz Nitch lairs back in the day. When we ID YOU we are spending time we could have spent doing missions, crafting, or any other lucrative endeavor. We spent points on ID that you chose to spend on skills that help you take better missions, or craft better items. We are providing you a service. Pay up! Q: I get ID’d all the time and don’t pay for it. Why should I start now? A: You will have no choice. We now have a secure payment window built into our user interface. The ID’er will enter the amount they wish to be paid, and if you do not match or exceed the amount you will not be able to accept the changes. Some ID’ers work for tips and may enter a minimum tip amount or leave it set to zero and give you the option to show your generosity. If they’re not happy with your tip (for example they work with you for 20 minutes and you tip them 10 credits) they have the option of canceling the session. Q: Oops I just realized I left my money in the bank, now what? A: The secure payment window will pull money from your bank if you do not have enough on hand. Don’t fret! Q: What is general etiquette for an image design session? A: · DO: be polite to your image designer, and don't forget to say thank you! · DO: make an appointment – that will ensure you don’t have to wait (try an email first, they may be busy) · DON’T: expect the ID to come to you (though you would of course have to meet at an ID Tent for a stat migration). · DON'T: attempt to barter on the price after the ID session has begun