Think NPCs are dumb? Click here!

[Morla Phlint]

There are no cells present there.

There are cells. At least two I know of. That's one of them (sorry for the quality of the screenshot):

[Prolix]

Is that above one of the places where gems occur? I have never noticed it before. Is it new?

[Morla Phlint]

Is that above one of the places where gems occur? I have never noticed it before. Is it new?

Yeees . And according to different sources, it's not new

Edit: Ouch, we are quite a bit off-topic, aren't we? 

[iocustheoda]

Why not have the system record phrases that NPCs don’t under stand in the game?

We do. Unfortunately, it's lost with every restart. So it's likely that if I went around, I could find several NPCs that have no misunderstood phrases because nobody's spoken to them since the last restart. In addition, a large majority of the things spoken to NPCs is within a quest context. Most people don't talk to NPCs "just because." Just reading the forums and seeing people asking for help when NPCs know the answers is proof enough of that. That's why I want your help: to make it easy for players to speak to NPCs and use them as not only a source of game information but also interesting settings tidbits, outside of quests.

Sorry, for intruding , especially for someone newbie like me. Can I ask something: Why don't we do predesigned answer choices?

I know that many RPGs already did that, and that Planeshift wants to be unique, but I think this would really help solve the Talking To NPC problems.

Besides, that's what me and my friends love about MMORPGS; simplicity of communicating. We like the convenient choice of choosing the right replies, or answers that have their certain reactions in a game. It also what makes us differ games and reality. In reality, it's hard to know the right replies to people, but in MMORPGs, especially with the NPC,  things are easier to communicate. That is, for me, the beauty of RPG games.

Please, don't let the objective of making Planeshift unique makes us forego the traditionaility of all games: communication with NPCs. All of my friends, even the one who introduces to me this MMORPG had left the game, in search for a more easier-to-communicate NPCs game.

Although just started, but I am finding it harder and harder to stay, especially when I had to spend half an hour just to get one right answer. And I can't just keep going to the tutorial, it would spoil the game.

And it also save the energy of making new phrases and words just so NPCs could react with what players type.

I'm sorry if this is bemeaning for those who have done a very good job with this game, but I was sad that the trait I loved most in an RPG was lost in Planeshift.

[Da_Kaos_Child]

so often the only way to get a response is to ommit the details from what the previous NPC Said

also it would be nice if the NPC you need to see about a particular thing , didnt just tell you about the item or subject
seeing as how you need to talk to them about it

[khoridor]

Lorytia Starhammer inspired some questions, after completion of some quest. (U) for unanswered, (A) for answered and (I) for improperly.

U   about trasok
U   about starhammer
U   about the starhammer clan
U   about clan
U   about family

Then it goes a bit confusing, as the same questions have to be asked twice to be answered.
I    about the sunshine squadron (Which Squadron would that be then? There are two).
I    about the sunshine squadron, 2 (She still talks about both squadrons)
I    about the shadow squadron (same issues as above; the last sentence is also unclear: "They must be doing something correctly." I still have no idea what she means)
U  about the fortress

[khoridor]

And a bit of Canyt

Family:
U   about nyshyn
A   about your sister (My sister Nyshyn...)
U   about ruins
U   where are the ruins?
U   where is Nyshyn?

Occupation:
U   about your findings
U   what are you looking for?
U   about thieves / thievery
U   why are you here?
U   are you hiding?
U   about hiding
U   about the fortress
U   where is the fortress?
U   where are we?
U   what is this place?

[khoridor]

Today, Utno-Leig:

Job:
A    who are you?
U   about your superiors
U   who are your superiors?
U   who is in charge here?
U   what do you guard?
U   why are you here?
U   what is your position? / rank?
I    are you a guard?/ soldier?

Places:
A   what is the winch?
U   where is the winch?
U   can I use the winch?
U   how do I use the winch?
U   about the Barn
U   what is the Barn?
A   about Nalvys
U   where is Nalvys?

Personal:
U   are you a kran?
U   are you hungry?
U   are you strong?
U   do you like the winch?
U   do you like it here?
U   do you like your job? / position?
U   do you have any family?
U   about [your] family

[Elouil]

Not that he's a particularly important NPC, but Ondren Torr:

U  about diamond powder
U  about gem cutting
U  about diamond
U  can you cut/crush/smash diamond
U  smash diamond
U  make diamond powder
U  cut/crush/shape diamond/gem
U  can you help me

The input that ended up working for me is not, as you probably know, very different from those above.

[LigH]

Nalri Grimtorr stands in front of a staircase up to a tower, with a heap of crates next to her, right on the street. She tells me she used to be a freelancer smith, and that she used to travel around a lot...

U about steel
U about smithing
A about Harnquist (incl. a little hint)
U about Trasok (traveled not so much, eh?)

U about stairs
U about staircase
U about house
U about crate[-s]
U about box[-es]
U What is in the crates?
U about delivery

[khoridor]

Bjorid Haakthir builds and repairs carpets. It's not obvious that he doesn't sell to everybody. I think he should somehow direct us to merchants. (Some of the following questions use his own words from other dialogs, but are generic enough so that I put them here.)

I     who are you? (He doesn't tell his name.)
U   can you make/repair a carpet [for me] ?
U   I need/want a carpet
U   show me your carpets
I    what do you sell? (You'll find merchants almost everywhere...)
U   who are your customers?
U   about customer[ s ]
U   about [your] shop/laboratory
U   are your carpets cheap/expensive ?
U   how much for a carpet?
U   what are your prices?

Hunting:
U   about hunting
U   how/what do you hunt?
U   about fur[ s ]/hide[ s ]
U   about fur quality
U   what furs/hides do you use?

[LigH]

Regarding Bjorid: I believe at least two of the questions above are also key phrases in a quest, so the server better knows if you are in a quest when asking this sentence.

[miadon]

.

[Jarexia]

It would be nice if Tyrus Beaut had some responses to...
about Talad
about Laanx
about Konroran
about Aedaisti
about Iduello (or "Iduello Beaut"...though "Beaut" now seems to give responses about Tyrus)
about Ilallorin ("Ilallorin Cor" now gives a response that seems appropriate to Kerryk)

In fact Kerryk could do with some responses to those too.

(posted in the wrong threat last time  )

[Inquit]

Hey, all. I think this is my first trip outside the whining- sorry, tech support forums. (For the record, I solved my last problem completely on my own, thank you very much. ) I hesitate to offer my two cents on this issue, especially seeing how the last suggestion was taken ( ). But anyway, here goes...

Planeshift is an open source game, no? Therefore, anyone can delve into the murky depths of the code and tinker around to their heart's content, right? Could we, the great unwashed programming-illiterate masses, submit directly the code necessary to make our favorite NPC as verbose as anyone might wish? What language is it in (French? German?  ...) and how much effort would it take to learn just the bits to write NPC responses? Obviously, the devs would have to give a submitter the green light both before and after submission, and the actual insertion and editing would be done by them. But I think this is an annoying enough issue that we the players want it resolved as quickly as possible, and lots of us, I think, would be more than willing to lend a hand to make this game more fun.

Don't get me wrong here. I'm not actually volunteering or anything ... yet. But, given the vast number of idle players and contributors lurking this forum, I'm sure we could get together enough enough material to crush a Kran. So, rather than post lists, we could post code ... Anyway, that's my idea.