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Latest revision as of 01:38, 18 February 2008
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:
o For cosmetic changes (including holoemotes), the timer is 1 minute (or 30 seconds in an ID Tent - Tents are discussed in the next section) o for body changes, the timer is 2 minutes (1 minute in an ID Tent) o for stat migrations the timer is 4 minutes, and this can only be done in a tent
- Master ID's:
o For cosmetic changes, the timer is 30 seconds (or no timer in an ID Tent) o for body changes, the timer is 1 minute (no timer in an ID Tent) o for stat migrations the timer is 4 minutes, and this can only be done in a tent. o 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.
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:
o Hair I gives you: Beehive, Brainstorm, Imperial, Rebel o Hair II adds: Bubbles, Hologlitter, Holonotes, Sparky o Hair III adds: Bullhorns, Champagne, Technokitty, Phonytail o Hair IV adds: Blossom, Butterflies, Haunted, Hearts, and the All option
- Color palettes
o Novice Ent: old palettes o Novice ID: all palettes have 16x6 colors o Any Tier 1 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x8 colors o Any Tier 2 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x10 colors o Any Tier 3 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x12 colors o Any Tier 4 box: all palettes you qualify for have 16x14 colors o Master ID: all palettes have 16x16 colors (=256 colors)
- Stat Migration
o 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.
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.
Here is a list of some current channels/contacts:
- Bria: Chat.ent for entertainers and clients
- Flurry: chat.eof for entertainers and clients
- Intrepid: ID Union
- Scylla: Salon for ID's and clients
- Tempest: Union Contact Info
Q:Any other business tips?
Run your business the way that you see fit. You can do image design on the fly or you can use the tents. 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.
Message Edited by NJ62 on 12-04-2004 06:45 AM
