Dancing in Mos Tera

[Dwilah]

Maybe its just me then. I've always thought S&V was supposed to be where people would be a little worried to take their eye off the guy in the corner.

It should be. The place is poorly lit, it's in a crashed ship for crying out loud, and it's run by Jabba's arch enemy (who has a crush on Dwilah's man, as Lady V confided to Seret once). Reason enough for Dwilah to be nervous in that place. Though people complained about fighting breaking out, it really lent itself to the atmosphere.

Mos Eisley is gritty, dirty. People should be nervous going there, even battle-hardened smugglers and warriors. Especially combatless or scantily-clad dancers. I mean what happened to Oola in Jabba's palace? Pretty dancers are vulnerable. You guys should be extremely aware of everything going on...you could even pick up info to sell to other people later and become vital to other plot lines. The Despot is the counter to Jabba's...just without the rancor pit. Everyone should be edgy there, because they're all vulnerable.

[Ekade]

Well the problem as I see it is that not everyone plays a shady character. If you want S&V to be populated only by shady characters.. you'd have maybe 3 people there.

Ekade is not a shady character, but I am trying to come up with reasons for her to interact with shady characters so she fits into the scene. Last S&V I approached Zannon with an inquiry about obtaining hard to find items. It is my hope that this will evolve into some recurring RP. At S&V I try to be sceenery and not so much a main player.

Regarding the social hour aspect.. this is simply due to human nature. It is easier to RP what is familiar. I play a villian in WoW and I am learning it is hard to be mean all the time.

It is really up to us to make these events what we want them to be. Anyone can do this. If you want S&V to be something.. then make it happen. Lead by example. Other roleplayers will feed off of you.

Why not have a regular card game where the shady character gather to play and have that classic shady character banter? You get something like this going and people WILL want in. It would make for a great scene. Just imagine the wheelers and dealers sitting around a table, tension thick in the air. Everybody in the room looking over to see what they are doing. I think that could be awesome and really set the tone for a "scum and villainy" type thing.

[Sai'nu]

If you ask me; Scum and Villiany is just as much about the Upstanding citizens as it is the shadier types. Without the stand up citizens around; the shadiness goes away. I think after you get that little opporation you suggested in the game master forum, Zannon, S and V will pick up a bit.

[Ekade]

Mos Eisley is gritty, dirty. People should be nervous going there, even battle-hardened smugglers and warriors. Especially combatless or scantily-clad dancers. I mean what happened to Oola in Jabba's palace? Pretty dancers are vulnerable. You guys should be extremely aware of everything going on...you could even pick up info to sell to other people later and become vital to other plot lines. The Despot is the counter to Jabba's...just without the rancor pit. Everyone should be edgy there, because they're all vulnerable.

Well.. here is the problem..

If the place is TOO scary and TOO dangerous.. why go? What is the reason people would to go to such a risky place? In fact, we could trek down a very logical path that would tell us our characters really have no reason to go at all because it is just not worth the risk.

So, where is the balance? We want a place that is gritty and edgy.. tension thick in the air. But not so much that you would have to be crazy or stupid to go there.

I don't think you would ever see a pretty dancer in an environment with drunk criminals unless the host provided some sort of protection. We should assume that they are protected by the guards/bouncers/whatever. To follow the Jabba example.. he had guards ensuring people did not get out of line. At our events, I don't think many people assume there is any law and order present whatsoever. It is a free for all.

[Zannon]

Mos Eisley is gritty, dirty. People should be nervous going there, even battle-hardened smugglers and warriors. Especially combatless or scantily-clad dancers. I mean what happened to Oola in Jabba's palace? Pretty dancers are vulnerable. You guys should be extremely aware of everything going on...you could even pick up info to sell to other people later and become vital to other plot lines. The Despot is the counter to Jabba's...just without the rancor pit. Everyone should be edgy there, because they're all vulnerable.

Well.. here is the problem..

If the place is TOO scary and TOO dangerous.. why go? What is the reason people would to go to such a risky place? In fact, we could trek down a very logical path that would tell us our characters really have no reason to go at all because it is just not worth the risk.

So, where is the balance? We want a place that is gritty and edgy.. tension thick in the air. But not so much that you would have to be crazy or stupid to go there.

I don't think you would ever see a pretty dancer in an environment with drunk criminals unless the host provided some sort of protection. We should assume that they are protected by the guards/bouncers/whatever. To follow the Jabba example.. he had guards ensuring people did not get out of line. At our events, I don't think many people assume there is any law and order present whatsoever. It is a free for all.

So, by this rationale, all dancers are two-dimensional characters that only dance and flirt? You yourself are a rebel and a fencer, but is that not a part of who your character is? Why would Ekade need protection? She can probably kick my butt in the game. Maybe Ekade would go to the Despot to spread the word of the Goddess and to gather information for the Rebellion. Maybe she's watching one of her sister's backs while she does business there. I don't know, I just know when I show up there, I have an agenda and a reason and I think everyone could make it that much more fun if we all played that way. Have we all become so set in our routine that we can't truely roleplay? Zannon flirts with the dancers and has a relationship with Dwilah...but he's more than that. He has a past and a motivation for the things he does and where he goes. I think there is too much of a groove formed in alot of our RP and not enough organic, free flowing RP based on our characters. With what I have in mind to do with the RP in Mos Eisley, I don't want us to play random NPCs, I want us to play our characters...take us out of the safe zones we've created and put us into Star Wars and make us feel like we're living in that universe. Beyond killing stuff and flirting...people wouldn't do that 24/7, but we all seem to act like the characters in Star Wars do. I'm a traditional pencil and paper RPer, and I see SWG as being a great surrogate for that. We have the tools and the ability, now we just need the desire.

I dunno if this is making any sense and I hope I'm not offending anyone. I just want to know that what we're doing here is the best and most fun it can be. I'm not asking anyone to change the way they like to play, just to look at how they can make it better for themselves and everyone around them.

[Sai'nu]

I think the point we're all trying to make here is probably the very reason this sight was created. We don't go to these places simply because it's posted on the event calender. We go to develope our characters and see what kind of adventures we hatch from going. We just want to get an overall consistant 'feel' to it. It's hard to sometimes; but I think we're making progress.

[Jabe Adaks]

If the place is TOO scary and TOO dangerous.. why go? What is the reason people would to go to such a risky place? In fact, we could trek down a very logical path that would tell us our characters really have no reason to go at all because it is just not worth the risk.

I can not speak for everyone, but when I picked up SWG I looked forward to fighting and going to dangerous places. Some of us play for other reasons. I think this event is way off balance because we have a stage that is filled with more dancers than there are people to watch them.

There is no reason for Ekade to go to S&V. Not unless Ekade is willing to go for reasons like the ones Zannon stated above. This is not Roba night, rather quite the opposite. To be honest the band and dancers should be far fewer in number and they should have a body guard.

I would like to see more of the people who are usually entertainers come for other reasons. Just my opinion.

Jabe

[Dwilah]

I don't think you would ever see a pretty dancer in an environment with drunk criminals unless the host provided some sort of protection. We should assume that they are protected by the guards/bouncers/whatever. To follow the Jabba example.. he had guards ensuring people did not get out of line. At our events, I don't think many people assume there is any law and order present whatsoever. It is a free for all.

I honestly think that in the SW universe, pretty dancers probably have it kinda sucky. If you're just a pretty dancer, you have to dance in gritty, gross cantinas. You have to put up with drunks, spice fiends. You might do spice yourself. It's a dangerous life putting up with drunks and druggies and living off tips from strangers.

You learn as a young lady in today's world, it's dangerous to walk around barely clad in certain places. You're going to attract attention, and not all of it is positive. Oola wasn't protected by guards, she was a slave in Jabba's palace held by chains and a collar. Very demeaning. The other dancers...who the hell is going to touch Jabba's merchandise? The guards are there to protect Jabba and Jabba's stuff. They weren't protecting the dancers from Jabba.

In the SW universe, you've got to have something else besides the dancing because you're going to find yourself in some crappy situations and dealing with some crappy people. Grabby alien hands, etcetera. Dancers aren't respected in the classic SW trilogy. If you get to diva, that's another thing. You need something else in your professional pocket to be able to say hey, respect me. Most of our ent professionals have that. It just needs to be played up more.

In the case of the Despot, you're there on Lady Valarian's ticket. Same kinda thing on Jabba, but not quite so much. You're going to get harrassed, but you at least have your posse of the band and the other dancers.

[IagoBoom]

If the place is TOO scary and TOO dangerous.. why go? What is the reason people would to go to such a risky place? In fact, we could trek down a very logical path that would tell us our characters really have no reason to go at all because it is just not worth the risk.

I can not speak for everyone, but when I picked up SWG I looked forward to fighting and going to dangerous places. Some of us play for other reasons. I think this event is way off balance because we have a stage that is filled with more dancers than there are people to watch them.

There is no reason for Ekade to go to S&V. Not unless Ekade is willing to go for reasons like the ones Zannon stated above. This is not Roba night, rather quite the opposite. To be honest the band and dancers should be far fewer in number and they should have a body guard.

I would like to see more of the people who are usually entertainers come for other reasons. Just my opinion.

Jabe

S&V isn't what it was intended as, anymore. If an event has a goal, then someone has to be there to GM. If not, us social RPers will show up and rule the roost. I was invited a long time ago, and no one ever mentioned why. I was pressured onto the stage but a majority of the attendees, and have been trapped there ever since. Iago hasn't been hired to work there, he just does so his friends have music. If you want S&V to turn back into a scary, dirty, shadowy event, then you have to:

1. Find a GM to police.
2. Turn the attendance around. Having so many of the Roba patrons at S&V makes S&V Roba Nite Part Deux. You either have to scare us off, or get some low lifes to show up to balance it. I'll avoid S&V if necessary, but Iago just doesn't have enough underworld connections, yet.
3. Show up. If the event isn't what you want it to be. Guess what? CHANGE IT. I want to see as many scary BH's and Smugglers there as possible. If you're not there to put some effort toward making S&V seedy, you really don't have the right to say it isn't.

Suggestions:
A. 2 big rooms in the Despot. Why don't we separate the theme? One for the friendly, happy, flirting and fun, the other for the underworld types?
B. An alternate event for the people that don't have reason to be at S&V. Not everyone can have a shady side. If everyone did, like Jedi2b said, there'd be no contrast. Having an S&V (Silliness &...uh...is there a V word for fun?) at the LL to pull the goofiness away, might be a good idea.
C. Break down S&V and start over. I really think an event that is supposed to have a "feel" needs to have someone there to protect that "feel." Seedy/scary/shadowy isn't a popular setting, and I, personally, think friendly/fun is a better recruiting tool. After you make friends with someone, you can show them how RP works. KS made friends with Onissossk at a recent S&V, and she's been teaching him the ropes of RP for the past week or two. He'll probably be at more events soon...I think.
D. Get your lazy butt to the event, and show me how you want it played. Iago could be there as an NPC, but as The Kreetles probably wouldn't get a job playing in the Despot, he has no place there.

I think I'm ranting, and I hope I'm making some good points and suggestions, as well. Gotta get to work. Someone reply and tell me off. ;)

[Dwilah]

I think the main problems are that the shady people stopped coming because of all the social activity, and now there's nothing but social activity. Oops.

[Zannon]

I think it was Coiyonite's fault...that guy is just dag nasty evil.

[Hashum]

Well I don't go because Sunday's are bad for me. But were I able to attend I would only attend if I had a could IC reason such as working on something like the ME project Zannon has going on. Most of the events like Roba and S&V seem too social for me. I just need an objective so I feel like I accomplished something when I RP. But I'm still new so.

[warsloth]

I guess Whar is going to have to slip back into the shadiness...

About dancers being in bars and such? Think RL. There is this really pretty girl that works two bars locally. I see her occaisionally, and she's going nuts, but she still does it.
"I just love drunks" she says sarcastically, but what else is she going to do? Our economy here is crap. Tips are good money.

[Jaminos]

Part of the reason Jaminos stopped going to S&V was because all people did was chat about things that did not concern him. He could go to the Mos Eisley cantina and get the same amount of infromation. Grant it Jaminos has not rped much in the bounty trade for a while, but that is my fault because of having other things on my agenda. There is also the risk of having Jaminos get pwned but someone. I rather keep him away from somthing that is one sided.

I like to pick fights with people who are equal to me. That is the exact reason Jaminos hardly ever hunts. But as soon as I have got my toon on WoW up to level ten I will likely stop playing just like COH and FF11. When I come back full swing and finish with the vaction with Jaminos and Tovaar I will be getting into the bounty trade. this time I am going to be man enough to let Jaminos lose. I will accept losing but Jaminos will not ever be a clone. I am not going to let him die just loose. Anyhow back on subject.

I keep Jaminos away from Roba because of the Imperial presence that shows up on a regular bases. Jaminos is not an enemy to them but he has enemys to the lower beings of it. I guess i have Rped me into a box. But in every box there is a way out. As long as you keep your jetpack at the ready. /wink.

I will try to get to these events more often but I am just not one for most. I do however like Club midniht though I have not been there sense a while ago.

[Novall]

I dotn mind policing S&V night. I do however guarentee that the socialites and non S&V types arnt gonna like it though.

Fact is that everyone has a dark side...and if you dont wanna play in that realm or atteast attempt to discover it, then your social Rp nights of fun are gonna be limited to Fridays and non villanous events.