Skimming trough, I read that AFK entertainers and AFK grinders are deemed a major problem within the Entertainer community. After some digging, I could not find any listed possible solutions for this. All I found posted here is that this would not be an easy issue to fix. If there was a discussion on this before, I missed it and I am sorry if this is bringing up "old news."
Maybe it's time that the Entertainer community begins to take initiative on this issue beyond just telling the dev's that this is a problem. Maybe we need to analyze the issue, find out what can be done if anything?
First and foremost, why do people AFK entertainer? This answer is simple. Leveling up in this game derives from a simple XP system. One gains a certain ammount of XP and they level up. One gets XP from quests, crafting, killing creatures/NPC's and entertainer flourishes. The quests are the quickest way to get lots of XP. Quests are also the only one of these leveling methods that cannot be macroed. Quests MUST be ATK. Levelling by macro is basicly avoiding much of the tedious repetition that comes with level grinding. The quests do help with this, however. Out of all professions, ony Entertainer has a true "set it and leave" option when it comes to leveling up. All one would have to do is check up on the toon every so often to change dances or songs to ones that would bring a higher XP yeild. Is the fault with the macro system or the Entertainer XP?
Let's say it is the macro system. The only ways that this could be fixed would be to either do away with macros all together or disallow XP gain from the use of a macro. Both, may have a devastating effect on all professions and the game itself. The former would be the easiest to implement, yet have the largest negative result. I need not explain this one to anyone who has played any other profession or uses macros to create some of their stage shows.
What about the Entertainer XP? Leveling can possibly be moved from a performing only system into a blend of performing and quests. Other professions (BH and Jedi for example) give quest-giving items when reaching certain levels. Why not offer this for Entertainer as well? Put a lock on the XP once the item is received where the Entertainer MUST do the quest when given or he/she cannot reach the next level. Doing this just 4 to 6 times throughout the 1-90 grind will dramaticly cut down on the AFK grinders.
Here's a thought that may tie in with both Macros and XP. The game has a built in timer that automaticly turns a toon to AFK when no keyboard/mouse activity is detected. Why not just make it where XP can not be gained when a toon is in AFK mode?
I know there has to be several more options out there. I open it up for you guys to discuss!
