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Turning Player Characters into NPC when logged out: Is this a popular idea?

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Comments

  • NewfrNewfr Member UncommonPosts: 133
    Maybe it's ok for hanging out in your house or guild hall (some private instanced area), but anything else - no thank you. Just think about Dalaran or any other city in WoW with thousands of NPCs in it (any other game and city in it as well). There will be no clear space at all, you will suffer major performance issues (extremely low fps and net lag) and that will not look realistic at all. Because cities in MMO are not that big (and you don't want em big because running for 10 real minutes just to get from city gate to the nearest shop isn't what you want) in a first place and even a hundred more NPC will make em look like Tokyo subway during rush hour.
  • ScalplessScalpless Member UncommonPosts: 1,426

    It's not like every single player character MUST be active as a NPC at all times. There could be a cap.

    Besides, this works best in sandboxes, where worlds are large and there's plenty of peaceful activities.

  • AutemOxAutemOx Member Posts: 1,704
    Originally posted by Novusod
    Originally posted by wormywyrm

    I think this would be excellent for player housing.  I would love to leave my character hanging around his house and around my guilds city to protect the city if it is attacked.  It would be necessary for our NPC player characters to wander around a bit, maybe have some dialog (that we choose?) when clicked on.  It would suck if they just turn into pieces of still furniture or something :-/.

    As far as those games go that allow toons to sit in cities selling stuff...  That is terrible!  There should just be an auction house or player shops as part of player housing.

    This is why I support it. Logged off players remaining in game to protect player housing and halls 24/7 is the next step in making a persistant world. Making long term goals that need to be protected 24/7 is ultimate sandbox concept.

    I was thinking about it more though and it might give some extra advantage to guilds having the most players possible...  That is already a problem, but this might just make it worse.  Lots of solutions though.

    Play as your fav retro characters: cnd-online.net. My site: www.lysle.net. Blog: creatingaworld.blogspot.com.

  • fonoifonoi Member UncommonPosts: 56
    Honestly this idea does not appeal to me at all. I fell when I log out my character goes to the pub for some r+r, goes home to polish his armor, sharpen his sword or just to get a few hours sleep before the next big adventure.

    Unless of course when I logged out they would do exactly the above and just make the world feel more alive.

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441

    It really depends...

    That your logged off character stands in your player owned store and peddle things or similar would work fine. Maybe work on your farm and similar rarely dangerous activities is not a bad idea at all.

    You could also let the character share out quests for materials and similar things.

    That your character plays herself on the other hand would be bad, I am controling my character, and my character do what I tells him. It would just open up for new ways of ganking and pulling people to weird and dangerous places.

    I didnt vote but rightly done it is a good idea.

  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403

    Roleplay. My characters are ME.

    Want an NPC to take my place when I log out? Go ahead. But gen up a random name, at least, because it won't be ME, while I'm away.

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • AethaerynAethaeryn Member RarePosts: 3,149
    You left out I like it. . when logged. . not optional.

    Wa min God! Se æx on min heafod is!

  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403
    Originally posted by Aethaeryn
    You left out I like it. . when logged. . not optional.

    Posting under the influence?

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • sea.shellsea.shell Member Posts: 63

    We had that in a max 128player PW(PVP) NeverwinterNights (Bioware!) Module (world) i've used to play for 3 years, then for one year in NWN2 a partial rebuild. The Design developed over the years, because we saw what worked and what didn't. In the End we had the following:


    - When you log off, you Character started out as an npc.


    - You could chose the location where your character had his "home" and what he did.
    (If your logout position was different from your home, your NPC character started traveling to your home area, if you wanted). - in real time.


    - There had been generic NPC scripts, like sleeping at night (fitting for races - it was D&D ruleset). Your character just did that then.


    - If you had certain consumable items (like a campfire) your npc character would deploy those for a bonus (once you log in)


    - Your NPC character could "die" either by other NPCs or other Players - meaning you log in dead, and need to respawn.


    - Your character did get XP if he could kill those npcs / players just as if you did play.


    - "Loot" of a Dead character was originally what you did wear and later a copy. Neither full loot or copy did work out great. Full-loot got quickly changed. Too many ways players could exploit it to kill the npc characters in an open PVP world (even with factions). The pure copy didn't work because Players killed their own characters with alts / other accounts for doublicating gear, not only for financial gain but to overall stock "better starting gear" even if the gear had no currency value.

    The whole above loot system just don't work out when (other) players can get effortless kills on "NPCplayers" and then meaningfull loot or just to annoy people.

    In the end we had a loot script, giving (a copy of) the worn "NPCplayer" gear with a "stolen" tag once a logout (not per death). You needed to remove the tag (inscription) which costet 80% of the item value and ALL Faction guards attacked you (if you didn't bribe with a dice check or handed over the tagged gear).


    Important was, you couldn't carry 10 itemsets, if you wanted to loot a fullplate you'd better be 1. strong enough to carry it (weight) 2. got enough room in your inventory). Items have been placed on the world (outside your inventory). So you'd better had a good stockpile location hidden somewhere. Dangerous places had always a visual indicator (prettym uch like later in World of Warcraft skelettons of dead players) of naked dead npcs or trails of "stolen" gear.


    - If your NPC character got killed (and looted) your items have been placed inside your inventory and you spawned "naked" as a visual indicator that you got looted.

    - It was awesome seeing your own twinks / other characters wandering around in a town / sitting in your "housing zone". You could talk to them to change gear (pretty much like skyrim) and even recruit them as npc henchmans (NWN had it build in).


    - It was always fun to see the NPCPlayers characters wandering "home" from the famous farmspots. (they could have logged out somewhere "safe" but didn't) sometimes even in groups. (And if faction was hostile, those NPC fought each other), then the players stalking those routes.....

    There was always raiding an PVP everywhere. And logging out somewhere remote always ended up in fun suprises. (you could "charm" npcs in NWN D&D ruleset as a powerfull sorc, making them follow you for a few seconds as henchmans - as well as resurrect spells worked on dead npcs too). I remember once logging in to find myself "naked" in the enemy faction stronghold in a room inside the castle. (it probably took them over 2 hours to drag my NPCplayer character there).

    It took me longer to get out alive...

    Playing: EVE Online
    Wants to play: ArcheAge, Lineage Eternal: Twilight Resistance / Star Citizen / FFXIV AAR / Neverwinter

    Used to play for 5+ years: Lineage 2, Lord of the Rings Online and Ragnarok Online

    Utter disappointing MMO experience for 1 - 3 Months:
    WAR / AoC / SWTOR / RIFT / AION / STO / TSW / GW2 / GW / Vanguard / Planetside2

  • IcewhiteIcewhite Member Posts: 6,403
    Originally posted by sea.shell

    I remember once logging in to find myself "naked" in the enemy faction stronghold in a room inside the castle.

    "Waking up" to find you've been Big Bubba's Prison Toy certainly sounds appealing, yes indeed.

    Self-pity imprisons us in the walls of our own self-absorption. The whole world shrinks down to the size of our problem, and the more we dwell on it, the smaller we are and the larger the problem seems to grow.

  • TheocritusTheocritus Member LegendaryPosts: 9,739
    No...Its a bad idea because it lags the heck out of the game if you get too many in one area.
  • sea.shellsea.shell Member Posts: 63


    Originally posted by Icewhite

    Originally posted by sea.shell I remember once logging in to find myself "naked" in the enemy faction stronghold in a room inside the castle.
    "Waking up" to find you've been Big Bubba's Prison Toy certainly sounds appealing, yes indeed.

    If you put it that way....
    I'd rather thought about the revenge i had and the friends that helped me (they attacked the city) to create a distraction so i could "sneak" out after finding another players npc stading about...all alone *smirk*.


    I always could have logged out on a safe spot.

    Playing: EVE Online
    Wants to play: ArcheAge, Lineage Eternal: Twilight Resistance / Star Citizen / FFXIV AAR / Neverwinter

    Used to play for 5+ years: Lineage 2, Lord of the Rings Online and Ragnarok Online

    Utter disappointing MMO experience for 1 - 3 Months:
    WAR / AoC / SWTOR / RIFT / AION / STO / TSW / GW2 / GW / Vanguard / Planetside2

  • erictlewiserictlewis Member UncommonPosts: 3,022

    I just can see this happening.  It just seems odd,  having your toon turn into an npc that you have no control over.  I don't think so. 

     

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