No NPCs

[Ashfen]

I know this probaly extreme and quite alot of players will call me an idiot for saying this but. I think after a period of time when there are players who are well settled into the game NPCs should be deleted.

The main reason for this is so that players who want to set up there own shop/buissiness will then get more customers rather then an NPC charcter who gets all the money.

This would help in the long run because then the game would be more player orientated and making it a funner game for merchants and tradesmen.

About quests that are given by NPCs im sure there will be a few willing players who would make a quest for players.

Im not sure if this work as well as i think it will, feel free to comment

[Quwaar]

I guess you have a point at the Merch thing, there will be a lot more trade and buy/sell if the NPC\'s are gone, but think of all the new players that might come, an NPC will also answer questions of some stupidity, I dont think there actually are a lot of players who want to answer stupid questions.

Ofcource we could make our own guests, each guild could make a dozon and you would have plenty, but do we really want to worry about that?

But the trade flow is a very good point ^^

[mbahleda]

I like the idea of the players controlling all of the buying and selling. After a while, I could see the NPC\'s that control the stores to be deleted.

But the other NPC\'s should still remain. Sure, players could give their own quests, but these quests would be hard to find and would probably be stupid (probably just gathering stuff for another person in exchange for money or something). They would lack depth.

As for guilds giving quests, I\'m all for that, but I could see many of the guilds not being dedicated enough to make great quests. Besides, wouldn\'t these have to be controlled by NPC\'s? If not, then the quests would probably be like the ones described in the previous paragraph. Besides, many players might not want to join a guild. NPC\'s would also have to control a banking system.

NPC\'s should stay in most cases, but they could eventually be taken from stores.

[Monketh]

Hold it!

NPC\'s should definitely stay on as player-hired vendors.

[dfryer]

I think NPCs will always be necessary to some extent- few people can afford to stand around 24 hours a day, especially in remote locations.  NPC shops, etc., could be relocated to make room for player merchants.  Another option might be player-hired NPCs, to gaurd things, staff shops, etc.

[shangralah]

Originally posted by Ashfen
I know this probaly extreme and quite alot of players will call me an idiot for saying this

........ no reply besides

KEEP NPCS

[Cirque]

I agree to some extent. I think certain NPC\'s should be deleted and others kept. NPC\'s that buy and sell useless items that no one could be bothered selling to players should be kept. NPC\'s that sell \"rare\" or more expensive items should be given the drop punt. Although im starting to think of circumstances where even they might be needed. I think it needs to be discussed in depth.

[Icefalcon]

I agree with dfryer, NPC are nessesary, but to solve the problem with merchants, NPCs should only sell a limited variety of goods. Take swords as an example. An NPC only sells some types of swords, but the majority of other types can only be player smithed and player sold (cant sell to NPCs, or if they are sold, the NPC cant sell them back to the public.).

[Entamis]

How about stock in NPC\'s shops running out? NPCs should have only limited amount of goods they can sell at the time, it would be more realistic and make NPC\'s shops less important.

[Zeraph]

I sorta disagree with this whole thing because I always thought that NPC?s are there for mainly quests & a majority of the role-playing aspect of the game?

Also, I though NPC shops were there to sell items @ a somewhat-high-price & buy things @ a lower price then the object is actually worth, I think they sort of set the standard of buying & selling stuff, so if someone wanted to open a store, they couldn?t have there stuff overpriced to rip off there costumers or they would just buy from the NPCs?

But I do think it may be important to adjust the NPC buy/sell prices somewhat to simulate the market would be nice? If you wanted to open a store, there should be an Yliakum Market Prices Chart or something.

Also there may be some npc?s that will sell you stuff from warehouses @ a low price if you buy 20 of them, if it was a sword for example, small items means more? although this may not be good because of people working @ a blacksmith would loose out, so maybe there is a blacksmith, & if there is no blacksmith to run it, like if there offline, then a NPC comes in & takes over until someone wants to be the blacksmith, there should be able to have more then one @ a time?

Ops getting long?

[Icefalcon]

expanding on that idea, NPC shop prices should automatically fluxuate from time to time, so there will never be a \"how much does a steel broadsword cost at Bob\'s Swords?\" It will be more like, \"How much does a Steel Broadsword go for these days?\"

[Samoth]

Icefalcon - without NPC shops, a player market will automatically settle in on a realistic free market cost.

Zeraph - How do see NPCs adding to role playing?

Unless a player\'s role requires interfacing to mindless AI entities.

Until the NPC can be confused with a real player (has not happened yet Eliza), they should be left out.

Only exception would be ansering newbe questions - so I concede one NPC.

If you need to run your shop 24 7 then you are missing the point of role playing.  Just put the \"gone fishing\" sign in the window.

But getting rid of NPCs would require that the players can do everything the devs need to have done.  Giving out quests, selling rare items, filling in the story line.

[Icefalcon]

Originally posted by Samoth
 Giving out quests

I cant see that working without NPCs...

[Samoth]

A player run town hall can give out quests - for the good of the town/city.

[AendarCallenlasse]

 Anyway, I\'ve got a question I\'ve been dying to know the answer for Venge. How many \'useless\' NPCs will there be? I mean, will cities be crowded even with few PCs there?
 I\'ve always hated other games that are ghost towns unless there are PCs.
 They could just be a general population that responds with the same info like in Baldurs Gate and those kinds of games
 Noone really cares about them, but they\'re there and they can talk. I\'d love to see that... That\'s for sure.
* Aendar agrees.
* Grono heads off to the wish list
 ^_^
 I believe we will have lots of NPCs in the cities eventually
 Think GTA3 level