A Meditation on Entertainment
By Zagadka/Ycah
INTRODUCTION
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First of all, welcome the the troupe! Being an entertainer can be a
daunting challenge, especially for those who are more attuned and used
to the arts of combat, but can be incredibly rewarding in ways that
matter most - enjoyment and socialization. In this guide, I won't focus
on trite details like how much XP it takes to reach what level. Instead,
I will concentrate on explaining the specific behaviors expected from an
entertainer. Much like there are strategies and tactics in combat, there
are in entertaining. Neither is all about pressing buttons and running
macros.
STARTING OUT
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After your successful release from the Imperial starship, you will find
yourself facing a hugely intimidating world. The good news is that, to
start out entertaining, you don't need to do anything more complicated
than finding the nearest cantina (these can easily be found by pressing
CTRL+M to bring up the overhead map, or CTRL+V to bring up the planetary
map and selecting "Cantina" from the menu on the right). Part of the
first secret is finding the right locale. I generally favor starting on
Tatooine, in Bestine or Anchorhead (as you are likely not able to start
in Bestine and can't start in Anchorhead, but start elsewhere on
Tatooine, you should start with enough cash to buy a shuttle ticket to it).
Alright, you are in the cantina. Hopefully, it will be packed. Yes, I
said hopefully. Unlike most other acts in most other MMORPGs, the more
people entertaining, the better off you are. This is why I suggest
starting at a well-populated center like Bestine or Anchorhead. Firstly,
the more people performing in your group, the better XP you will get.
Secondly, the more guests you will have, which means the more tips you
will recieve. Lastly, it means that a medic is much more likely to hang
around and heal your action wounds. If those reasons confuse you, I will
cover each of these points later on.
Before any of this matters, though, you need to know how to perform. As
this is covered extensively in other guides, and this is a guide
primarily about strategy, I will cover this only briefly. As either a
Musician or Dancer, you can type /startMusic or /startDance to begin
performing. A window will pop up and ask which performance you wish to
start. We'll come back to this in a bit - for now, pick what should be
your only selection. On your taskbar should be a series of icons with
musical notes - these are Flourishes. They are the meat and bones of
everything you will be doing. If they are not on your bar, press CTRL+A
to bring up the Command Browser, go to the Other tab, and drag them from
the window to your taskbar. While you are doing this, move your cursor
to the bottom of the taskbar until it becomes a up/down arrow, and drag
it down to reveal the second row. This is very important. If you are a
Musician, be sure to open your Inventory (CTRL+I) and equip (double
click) on your Slitherhorn. If you do not have one in your inventory,
you can buy one fairly cheaply from the nearest Bazarre.
Alright, so you know how to dance. Your next goal will be getting in a
group. In general, all of your experience will come from being grouped.
Why? You get MUCH more experience working with a band - and it is more
fun. Just ask, "May I be invited to the entertainer group?", and you
will likely be invited shortly. Once in the group, greet your new
friends. Socializing is the cornerstone of entertainment. You don't get
experience for it, but it is vital to your quality of performing, the
tips you will get, friends you will make, etc etc. If you are a new
player, ask to be taught all of the languages. It is free Appreticeship
XP for someone, and will help you in dealing with customers.
As you perform, you will notice that your action pool lowers. You will
either need to stop performing and rest for a while, or hope that a
medic/doctor is around to use a stim on you (The Entertainer/Medic
relationship is an extremely beneficial one for both sides. It is some
of the fastest and most steady sources of XP for them, and they keep
your downtime to an absolute min). Once your pool is back up to max,
start performing again!
Side note: If you do end up having a lot of downtime, start up a career
as an Artisan or Medic. While these can be expensive to start out, they
make the downtime pass more quickly and open up your options down the
road (for instance, being a Tailor or Image Designer can make your life
much better, in changing costumes and appearances to keep your act from
getting stale).
Side note 2: If you are a Dancer, ALWAYS use your highest level dance.
You will get more XP. If you are a Musician, ALWAYS use the highest
level instrument you can. You will get more XP.
MACROS
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At this point, I digress. One oft-debated point of performances are
macros. A macro is a set of commands - I'm sure you can see the value in
them already. Some people, however, take this to the extreme, resorting
to going AFK (away from keyboard) with a macro running to get XP for
doing nothing. Other people insist that *any* macro is too many macros.
The truth, as usual, lies somewhere in the middle. I find macros
essential to performing, and this is why: They let you chat, perform
emotes and actions, and interact with your customers. I have a couple of
macros on my toolbar that I can click on, freeing my hands to chat and
interact with everyone - and this is the core of our profession. Our job
is to provide entertainment, not just healing mind wounds and battle
fatigue. If you can make the cantina a more interesting place for
players to hang out, ply their trades, or even just sit and tradeskill,
you have succeeded, whether you are a Master or a Novice. It also is the
primary key to getting yourself more tips.
A simple macro that I use is this:
/flourish 3;
/pause 3;
/flourish 1;
/pause 3;
/flourish 8;
/pause 3;
/flourish 7;
/pause 3;
/flourish 4;
/pause 3;
/flourish 6;
/pause 3;
/flourish 5;
/pause 3;
/ui action toolbarSlot01
(ui toolbarSlot01 is the macro code to click the second button from left
on the toolbar - the first one is toolbarSlot00; by placing this macro
on that button, it will loop itself. See the macro guides for more
information about complicated macros. If you want to stop the macro from
looping, all you really have to do is move it to another toolbar spot;
when it goes to click on itself, it'll do nothing and stop)
While this is looping, you will be free to chat or do whatever else you
would like to. I have several of these, for variety.
INTERACTING WITH GUESTS
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As I mentioend above, this is the meat and bones of entertainment. While
you are making your performance macros, make a few more. Make a macro
welcoming people to the cantina. Make a macro thanking someone for tips.
Make a macro saying that you are getting tired and need a break. Drag
these to the second row of your toolbar, so you can access them quickly.
Notice that two of the suggestions I have are thanking people for tips
and saying that you need a break - they are NOT *asking* people for tips
and heals. You can get the same effect by thanking someone for something
as you can by asking, and it is less rude. The other people in the
cantina will see your message and be reminded about tipping and healing.
Hell, there doesn't even need to be someone who tipped or healed you -
just say them randomly and hope someone's brain is triggered.
Greet as many people as you can, personally. Drag things like the icons
for /greet, /bye, /smile, /thank, and whatever other social animations
you liek onto the second taskbar. There are literally dozens to choose
from, so you'll run out of taskbar slots before you run out of commands.
When someone comes in, greet them. When they cheer, smile at them. When
they heal or tip you, thank them.
As you advance and get more brave, you may want to do some trick things
like sing songs. You can make a macro for this, such as
/sing Twinkle, twinkle, little star;
/pause 5;
/sing How I wonder what you are;
/pause 5;
and so on. Don't make them too long, as they can become annoying and be
considered "spam" - particuarly if the cantina is really chatty. But
these can also be fun ice breakers. You can even play games with
customers - "guess the name of this song, or remove an article of
clothing" was my favorite game.
On that note, keep in mind - you never want to anger a guest. You should
avoid any argument, or try to steer a conversation away from mean words.
These can ruin the entire atmosphere of a cantina. If we wanted flame
wars, we would be reading the forums, not hanging out in cantinas, now
wouldn't we? :-)
Now, all of this does not mean that you CAN'T step AFK. For that matter,
I am entertaining while I am writing this. Just try not to do this
reguarly, and notify your group of status changes.
ADVANCED PRINCIPALS - WORKING WITH GROUPS
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Within your group, several things are important. If you are going to be
spending any amount of time in the cantina, and you likely will, get to
know the "regulars". Chat with them in the group. Exchange actions with
them. Pillowfights are common. Cheer for them when they sing. Comfort
them when they need it.
Groups are important, as mentioned at the start of this article, for
several reasons. Primarily, for some people, is the experience point
gain from performing in groups. Just as important, however, is the
"hidden" bonuses. Larger groups sometimes invite in medics/doctors, so
they can monitor everyone's action pools more easily. These are the
people you will be asking to train you when you advance in a skill, and
the people you will be training.
In general, these are the things that will not only make your
entertaining career more profitable, but will keep you from going
insane. Someone who approaches the Entertainer career path from a pure
numbers/XP point of view will often wonder how entertainers can keep it
up. It can be boring, they say. These are probably the people who simply
perform, rather than *entertaining*. Why is this important? Well, for
one, a pure Entertainer is extremely dependant on tips. Someone who
*entertains* will get their name seen more, and be more likely to get
tips, than someone who is silent or, horror of horros, has "AFK" above
their name. You will also be more likely to get heals, applause, and
strike up a boredom-defending conversation.
CLOTHING AND APPEARANCE
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I've saved this for the end, primarily because a new Entertainer won't
be able to have these options while starting out. As you progress,
however, and gain tips (another advantage for Entertainers is that we
have very few expenses), you will be able to collect clothing and pay
Image Designers to alter your appearance. Changing costumes, especially,
breaks the monotony and keeps your act fresh. I change clothes several
times each night, so my advice is to always keep several sets in your
inventory.
CONCLUSION
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Follow these simple steps, and you will be a great *entertainer*,
instead of a mediocre *performer*. Always do what you can to keep your
audience's attention and make the atmosphere as enjoyable as possible,
and you will do well.
Happy travels!
--
Zagadka/Ycah
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