[Community] What should an NPC know the answer too. Community KA additions.

[Denes]

Reading the responses I think I got it all wrong. I was aiming for helpful advices to newbs:
-   about books: The selves are not just textures there. Those you can actually interact with. And there are hardtofind books in DR.
-    Don’t attempt a hike to Oja (BD or Gug) alone for the first time, or suffer the consequences. There is no road of yellow brick nor consistent signposts.
Knowledge about home town and such suggests something whole lot different approach
We all have an idea on what we expect [N]PCs to know about. For me those fields are:
-   general knowledge (the whole setting (or most) we expect players to know ie: races, the crystal, currency, etc)
-   background (home city, my race/family customs)
-   allegiance (towards other factions too)
-   religion (self and others)
-   job (and related ones)
-   friends (I guess this is where we want NPCs to tell about winch. Or job maybe?)
-   hobbies the char might have
-   odd traits to spice the char (allergies, fears)
-   casual chat topics (news, weather, champion’s cup)
To make it even more realistic, one-to-one conversations should be effected by the relation of the two chars. That is hard to categorize, but since Denes has joined I’d expect a guard to be friendly and open to chit-chat about favorite weapon class. At the same time rogues could refuse to talk (unless it is false info). Faction points basically.
And this all translated to char dialect.

But then again this would result in a relational database in itself which I imagine is off topic (or is it not?). My point being: Shouldn't overdo it, so to keep things maintainable IMO.

<OFF>
About directions:
All who draw maps and designs need directions in 2D and then technique to expand it to 3D.
   If we call one of them “East” then we have to have means to tell: Compass, towards crystal, or simply a reference: from the fountain to the center of Oja.
   In case we don’t have “East” then there should be an explanation to “Hydlaa East”: Like there was a famous marksman called Clint Eastwood later became known as “Clin East” since this he had carved on his wooden bow (lack of space). After his heroic deeds the Ojwards part of the city was named after him. 
I guess I shouldn’t get "creative" on this.  But if some should have a strong opinion I’d be more than happy to add some to a brainstorming in a different topic (wishlist perhaps?) and thus help devs with ideas.
</OFF>

[Venalan]

@ Denes

So, first, knowing about what is beyond the gate a guard is guarding. Nice idea, I'll add it to the list.

In terms of mechanics information like "-   about books: The selves are not just textures there. Those you can actually interact with. And there are hardtofind books in DR." that is not something the NPCs will say. I'll admit something like category headings would be perfect to make things clearer. But alas we don't have any, but I will add it to the list of things I want from the art department and see if i cant get some simple signs made up.

And the rest of your list is pretty big and to get anywhere near that much added would take a loooooooooong time. I'll add it to the lists.

Request: If anyone wants to join the settings team and work with Mordaan and I with making these up I would love it. Having someone dedicated to writing these for a few months would get lots and lots added.

Ideally right now instead of giant lists of things it would be nice to have specific things individual or a few NPCs should know that you lot would like to immediately see as they can be added more easily than big projects can.

[Roled]

Thanks for doing this work, you all, devs and especially Venalan and Mordaan! 

Here are my suggestions:
All the bartenders should (and do) know about people in their cities, and perhaps others that are famous like Tyrus Beaut.  Brado could say "Tyrus Beaut! The kran sings like a (name of birdlike Dome creature)- I hope he will performer here soon" or something- Allelia and the barkeeper in Amdeneir might know of kra's reputation too.

Speaking of Amdeneir- references to the city by crafters (like Harn and Trasok) and other relevant tradespeople could refer to tradesfolk in Amdeneir, in prep for when quests might go there too...

I like it that bartenders used to (maybe still do ) tell you gossip about local npcs! Juicy gossip about Freila for example  ... (gosh I can't remember how to spell any of these npc's names!) 

Everyone should know the names of the pterasaur (sp) keepers... 

The guards have great responses to things like "about Tower" and "about dungeon."  Other NPCs near that doorway- you know which one- would probably know the secret too and might be willing to tell you...  for a bribe or a fee, or some lunch. 

Speaking of lunch is Jilatt the only hungry person in Hydlaa? Guards could get 'caught' eating their favorite snacks and mumble through some answers, which would help cooks understand the various kinds of food that can be crafted maybe...

The relationships between the npcs are good too- Loren Chalma should know about the special soap the lady in East Hydlaa uses - and the merchant at the BD fortress should know some of the other merchants too, eh? This would help tie the quests into 'real' virtual uses of the stuff questers are sent to find- to help herbalists and alchemists etc. I remember one quest when I was new that I looked and looked for a certain chemist in Oja's female assistant out in the woods outside Oja til someone told me that person was a fictional character and not an npc...    

I second the idea to , for roaming npcs, that others on their route might have things to say when asked "Where's Merrinez" for example... since he and you- know- who are the talk of Oja town...  They could say "Oh I see him go by here everyday on the way to the shop" or something- so we'd know they will return when the shop opens, or a certain archmage who takes the longest lunch breaks ever... 

Most NPCs should perhaps know their own religion and be able to point you to others that follow that god or goddess. This would help players with overall knowledge of the game world.

That's my twobites for tonight! Thanks again gang!
RR

[Denes]

I’m not sure if the following idea is any good but, someone might pop a better up reading this:

Cutthroats/rogues/daggers could respond with: “Hand over your tria if you value your life! Grrr.”
Gladiators/mercs: “Are you here to practice, or what?”
or similar variations to any given question.

Also I don’t really know what to make of the relation between my main kran char and the derghir. First I had set up an idea based on their history then Denes read the truth about them. Now kra feels like a murderer. 
Long story short: Kran could frowned at on passing by: “Are you here to hunt or to be eaten? Either way I suppose you could try to defend yourself.” [Translated of course] Actively pretty much like kikiris do.

[tman]

Ok so this might be a little farfetched, but the discussion about who NPCs should know about gave me an idea.  What if there was some functionality to add temporary "rumors" to NPC dialogues about the things that PLAYERS are doing.  For example, the owner of the RCD, or a couple that just had a big wedding ceremony, or other people taking part in RP events.  After something big happens, a GM or dev can add some NPC dialogue to the "rumors list" and a duration until it expires.  So after something big happens, NPCs might talk about it for say a week, or if it's huge, a month.  This can also be used to inform players of market events, "town hall meetings" (meet the devs), etc.

[Venalan]

Ok so this might be a little farfetched, but the discussion about who NPCs should know about gave me an idea.  What if there was some functionality to add temporary "rumors" to NPC dialogues about the things that PLAYERS are doing.  For example, the owner of the RCD, or a couple that just had a big wedding ceremony, or other people taking part in RP events.  After something big happens, a GM or dev can add some NPC dialogue to the "rumors list" and a duration until it expires.  So after something big happens, NPCs might talk about it for say a week, or if it's huge, a month.  This can also be used to inform players of market events, "town hall meetings" (meet the devs), etc.

I did something very close during the last fair where I added to KAs to Mirra, Jayose, Arion and Moren so they would mention the fair to you as you passed. Problem with doing this is that I cant do it myself, I had to get weltall to do it so the rate of on/off is slow and it requires a server restart to load. For a 'rumor list' that you could add to on the fly and would be removed from on the fly as well would need to be coded, but its not a bad idea and i like it. It's something you should add to the bugtracker as a feature request.

[Venalan]

A little update, I've started adding KAs to every trainer so they will tell you what they train and I'm also trying to give you 'In Character' pointers as to who trains lower levels and higher levels. All of 9 NPCs done so far

The KAs will be in the format of
'give me training' where the NPC will answer generally about what they train.
and
'about <skill> training' where the NPC will give you IC pointers about what levels they train and who you should see before and after them.

There are no mentions to levels or how far off you are from finishing/starting training with NPCs, but this should allow you to work out easily enough at least which NPC you need to go to next.

[Bakin_Fundinson]

This sounds really nice, Venalan.
It's always been a problem for me how to proceed with regards to trainers.
Lots & lots of improvements lately, the fruition of your hard labor coming to the fore?
 
Bakin bows in respect for the time & devotion of all the contributors
    

[Venalan]

Thanks for everyone who commented on here. They have taken a little bit of a back seat since the big release we had as I wanted to relax a little but as soon as I've sorted out the book release I've mentioned a few times elsewhere I'll get back to sorting out some of the topics mentioned previously.

There is also currently a bug in the KAs which appeared with the update and is causing havoc with lots of quests as its causing a KA to be triggered and not the quest menu which is causing progression to be blocked. I have no idea what is causing it and no ETA for when it will be fixed. My guess would be as soon as an engine guy sits with the problem explained and looks at the code additions.

[Kolela]

I was thinking that it would be reasonable to expect vendors to be able to tell you about the things they sell, such as food ingredients for Jomed or weapons for Harnquist and Trasok.  A merchant like Jirosh who carries all sorts of things might not know as much detail about some of the things he trades, but a cook like Jomed would surely know what his wares were good for.  Grok seems pretty knowledgeable, so I would think he could also tell you about the things.  Also, trainers, as applicable, might be able to tell you about the tools of the trade, so that Percival could answer questions about sabres, shortswords or claymores (like which is lighter or does more damage, or who sells them), and Jefecra may be able to tell you about the advantages of chain mail vs. heavy armor.

[Venalan]

Update - I'm 20% done with getting trainers to know what they train and to tell you about who trains higher and lower than them were it suitable to tell.

And the KA bug is fixed and will make it onto the server at the next update.


@Kelola

Some IC details about what merchants sell would certainly be suitable, at least when there uses might not be obvious or they have some special IC uses. Sword and axes and beer mugs really dont need explaining.

[Roled]

Team Venalan and all! THIS IS SO GREAT!  NPCs knowing what they train, yahoo! 
NPCs telling you who's next in their line of tutors is soo freaking awesome!

Update - I'm 20% done with getting trainers to know what they train and to tell you about who trains higher and lower than them were it suitable to tell.

And the KA bug is fixed and will make it onto the server at the next update.


@Kelola

Some IC details about what merchants sell would certainly be suitable, at least when there uses might not be obvious or they have some special IC uses. Sword and axes and beer mugs really dont need explaining.

[Venalan]

I don't like trasok, he trains too many skills I'm getting an rsi from repeating all the triggers.

[helios21]

How do KAs work. There are two main parts.

One: The trigger.
This has to be very simple so that what the player says matches what is in the database. The server also changes some text, so if you said 'can you tell me about harnquist' it would change it to 'about harnquist' and then look for a KA that matches. We can have things like wild cards only direct text matches, and some text changes.

Two: The response.
Each KA has upto five different responses which can be said by the NPC.

I think thats my main problem of why I did not use this much. I tried to initially, with some phrases I thought off but they did not trigger anything or just got back that I was not understood. After having seen this reaction for quite some time I lost interest and even forgot about it.

And in concrete I´d like to talk with those friendly eagle gobbles. I greeted them, I said "I am friend" and such but they do not react.

I think its important too make it much easier to find a phrase that triggers some reactions. As for "tell me about" I think back then I tried stuff like:

- "What is xyz?"
- "Where is xyz?"

I think its good to have NPC to react on questions like that.

[Illysia]

Kaiman Jilatt needs to know what the Irifon river is since he makes so many references to it.

Triggers:
about Irifon
about Irifon river

Answer:
The Irifon is a river on the Dome that ends in a waterfall called the Cups of Laanx which falls for several levels. The river runs near the cities of Ojaveda and Sarpendil.