Loving the game but a bit dissapointed

[Soulless_Body]

Yeah I know what you mean. I love this game, but hate how you have to talk to NPC's... I mean my grammar sucks beyond words so I try to keep away from quests and just level my guy lol.

[zanzibar]

It's not so bad once you get used to it.

As far as non-english speakers... sorry, but PS isn't for you.  A major component of the game is talking with the characters controlled by other players.  If you don't speak english, then you can't participate in that and thus don't belong.

[drah]

Typical phrases to use:

"can i help you"
"about [keyword]"
"[npc] sent me"
"[npc-FULL-name] sent me"
"can i have [keyword]"
"[npc] needs [keyword]"

When those fail, just try the keyword on their own, try giving the object (if you have one) directly to the NPC you want to give it to.

Last but not least... if an NPC sends you to another NPC, keep an eye on what they say, sometimes they ask you to specifically say something to the next NPC (which then allows you to continue the quest)

[Garon]

The only advice I could give to foriegn players is to join a guild that provides spoilers if you want them, other than that someone who has poor grammar in english will never figure out the key phrase.

I'd say that they might have a better chance then someone who tries to be completely grammatical as a native English speaker, since the NPCs usually don't like "unnecessary words" such as articles, "am", "are", sometimes verbs, oh, you know, all that stuff.

[Lolitra, Celorrim Purrty Twins]

I am very good at English. I have to admit the 'artificial' intelligence that the NPC's work on is completely flawed in the Role Play sense.  They fail to understand simple English, so I would have to agree with Garon, a non-native English speaker would generally have better luck with finding the key Phrase-ology to activate key parts of quests.

For this reason, I tend to avoid the quests... for I just end up pulling out my hair.  And I am rather attached to my hair.. I like my hair... it is long and silky... and... well... I am attached to it!

I think until they get a more 'interactive AI' they should present you with options to say and in what manner to the NPC and the success of your speach to them altered by your charisma...

[emeraldfool]

I think until they get a more 'interactive AI' they should present you with options to say and in what manner to the NPC and the success of your speach to them altered by your charisma...

Exactly!

[Idoru]

@ Zanzibar

I would just like to say that I dont think anyone is refering to people who speak no english, ive had a couple of run-ins with people who apparently speak no english and I think the biggest problem for them would actually be learning to play the game and actually getting to talk to people in open chat. People can speak english that is entirely understandable to a native english speaker even if their language isnt entirely grammatically correct. Th problem is that while it may be possible for a human english speaker to understand it is nearly impossible for an AI to understand these things. If you use the incorrect tense when communicating with an AI then it is very unlikely to understand you unless it has been speciffically given multiple versions of the same word to try and decifer what you are attempting to say.

Im no expert in the field, but I would suggest that whoever is responsible for the NPC AI take a look at some of the other AI chat bots on the market and see how they work out what you are saying and coe up with a response. They are generally quite simple entities run from text files containing various conversation fragments. This may not help non-native english speakers too much but it would make the chat more realistic.

[Jeraphon]

I don't really want to debate the limitations of the NPC speech parser again; been there, done that.

However, just one thing I'd like to address:

"[npc] sent me"
"[npc-FULL-name] sent me"

This should be fixed. In most cases both the full name and the first name will work, in some just the first name, but there should no longer be any where only the full name works. If so, it's a bug and should be reported accordingly. Thanks, and enjoy questing.

[Tarik]

Yes, very disappointed too about the same and thinking strongly in uninstall the game. And I think it has nothing to do with my level of english as I have survived in my travels with no problems so far. Premade options would be easier to everybody, in despite if english is their mother language, I bet it would be easier even for the programmers of the game.

When in character, I can't help but think that NPC are retarded, and it makes no fun...

[Idoru]

Yes, very disappointed too about the same and thinking strongly in uninstall the game. And I think it has nothing to do with my level of english as I have survived in my travels with no problems so far. Premade options would be easier to everybody, in despite if english is their mother language, I bet it would be easier even for the programmers of the game.

When in character, I can't help but think that NPC are retarded, and it makes no fun...

I would give it some more time if I was you. The Devs have been very kind recently and added things like 'Tell Levrus I sent you' or 'Just ask him about carrots' at the end of all the stuff they say. I think things are signifigantly better than they were a while ago.

[Mordaan]

I guess the Settings team probably already have an idea on an epic-range and lenght quest but it isn't appliable on Planeshift current stage  .

   I take it you have never spoken with a dwarf by the name of Lorytia?  If your looking to do laps around Yliakum, that would be a good place to start.     I don't want to imagine a quest more lengthy than that one.

[Idoru]

Giving away locations of quests? Shame on you

[Jeraphon]

I don't want to imagine a quest more lengthy than that one.

I do. But imagining quests is in my job description.

[MorraKiree]

Possibly?

Its the most annoying aspect of the game, after playing for nearly a year I have completed very few of the available quests, even if I have access to all the guides, in the main its not worth the trouble. ......

Wait... do I understand this correctly? This game has been out for nearly a year and yet is still basically being beta tested? Or did I misunderstand that statement. Any clarification would be appreciated   

[Karyuu]

This game is a hobby project run entirely by volunteers in their free time Thus:

1) We have real lives and real jobs or education that often comes first,
2) Development is not as fast as it would be for a commercial game.

PlaneShift has been out in 3D form since 2002, I believe, but recently updates have been pushed to a release schedule of every two months, so we're getting content out faster and in a more organized manner. But considering that this is only a hobby for the members of the dev team, I think it's very impressive that so much has been created already, and of such quality.