The Entertainer Token System could use some improvements.
The way I see it the way the entertainer tokens are currently designed it has created a Veteran vs Newbie mechanic that unfairly builds a hill against new player participation.
No one gets entertainer buffs from anyone that doesn't already own a full 7 pc set, making it virtually impossible to get the tokens to earn the 7 pc set if you don't already have it unless you resort to begging or bribery, neither of which is a good thing. We all know why... Everyone 'must' have the extra buffs. Grace & Performance has become a standard everyone wants. If you can't provide the Lasting buffs your Entertainer isn't as good as the ones that do.
I have parked my entertainer in the cantina for 12+ hours at a time.
I've been there week days, week ends, before world bosses, before OG / Heroic runs, and ahead of the events.
I always have my entertainer registered so she shows up in the discord as being there on duty.
If there is an entertainer there with the set I'm wasting my time standing there, and no one would disagree with this point.
I've been on the server almost 9 months and I have a total of 19 tokens. For the amount of hours I sit in Mos E trying to do the daily and earn tokens that is laughable and kind of sad. I've only ever succeeded in the daily for tokens once. I feel like farming these tokens is harder than grinding Jedi Holocrons. Of those 19, 17 come from three people in my guild trying to help me get them. I've only ever gotten tokens twice from someone outside my guild, and both times it was when I was the lone Ent online. I look at the prospect of needing 150 tokens to get a full set as impossible to earn without resorting to begging or bribery.
Every entertainer I talk to... pretty much fall into one of two categories:
Those that have the set - who tell a story of begging everyone they could to help them and it being a huge pain to do.
Those that don't have the set - who think earning it is near impossible because those that have it are the only ones people go to, adding the veteran player entertainers as an obstacle in their ability to earn the tokens.
This right here is the core problem. No other token outside of PvP in the game is impacted by 'other player participation' working against you. Trader's don't earn less tokens because of other Traders farming them. Combat characters don't earn less tokens if more people run Heroics / Legends / World Bosses. Entertainer tokens require community participation but their tokens also are hindered by the participation of other entertainers in the system. This means the system itself is a form of player competition. It shouldn't be. We should want more entertainers around that can give out the buffs, not less. We want to reward hard work but we can't equally make the hill harder based on the previous success of other players in the community, or we risk driving people away from the profession entirely.
I propose the following changes, any of which could help the current system.
1) Allow more ways to buy the set.
--Put them for sale like Heroism / Class sets in Aurilia using Heroic Tokens. This would allow you to grind it from a combat toon, or even consider rolling combat entertainer to get it.
2) Allow alternative ways to earn the tokens.
--Give a low % chance to earn the 1 entertainer token every time you turn in Entertainer quests during ground Invasions. Maybe 5% chance per entertainer quest, from all entertainer only quests.
--Put a one time reward of entertainer tokens behind entertainer only quests. (Calypso Music / Peiyi Dance / Theater Quests / The Entertainers Life). Maybe enough so each one time quest awards 10 tokens, allowing new entertainers to jump start the first few items in the set by doing them all, thereby lowering the hill to get started.
3) Modify the rewards of the Entertainer Mission Terminal. Currently I don't know any entertainer that does these missions at all, yet the terminals are placed around most cantinas in the game.
-- Award a small chance for 1 token upon completion of the missions from the terminals.
4) Create a Band Performance chance to earn a token. This can be done two ways...
-- Allow all members of a band (group) to have a chance to receive a token when any member of the band performs a buff. This could lead to awarding to many tokens for a large band of AFK entertainers, leading to an alternative suggestion.
-- Allow a token to be earned separately by both participants in a Listen / Watch for music and dancing when an entertainer buff is given. This would allow for two entertainers to work together building the buff timer up, and allow newbie entertainers to collaborate with veteran ones to get tokens.
5) Currently tokens can only be awarded in Mos E. This is part of the problem, it creates a very competitive hotspot.
-- Create an item you attach to a player owned cantina (inserts into the building like storage increases) or a house decoration that when placed inside a cantina creates a buff zone of 50m around it that allows you to earn tokens in your own city.