Villages need to be populated with "decoration" NPCs

[Malena 2,854]

 

Then you decide to get out of that town, you saw enough of it, and you keep your travel following the same main road while thinking "This is just a sad game".

 

 

 

 

ps: I'm bored, and this just seems very sad and depressing for a mmo.

 

A village bustling with NPC activity

A village completely empty, without a soul in sight. 

 

Both sad, true - but to me the utterly empty and desolate village is the saddest option of all.

 

People keep saying that Wurm should not have NPCs because it's an MMO. Well let's just stop and think about what WoW or GW2 or LOTRO or pretty much any other MMO would be like if all the cities and towns were completely empty? 

 

The difference between Wurm and other MMOs is that here, players have the awesome possibility to be building their own "Orgrimmar" or "Divinity's Reach". If some of you out there have absolutely no interest in populating your cities with NPCs, sure - no-one is forcing ya. If some of you have the energy and time to manage a townful of people - huge respect to you - I wish I had the time and energy! But for those of us who adore building and designing, but who don't want to deal with RL person drama and fuss yet would like to give a "purpose" to all the nice buildings we make, allow us an option as well.  

Edited March 15, 2014 by Malena

[Alec 728]

 but who don't want to deal with RL person drama and fuss

 

Then why are you playing a Massive Multiplayer Online game in the first place, if you are not interested in having to interact with another players?

 

And for a sandbox game, that stress so much the point of player-made, throwing such a spam of NPC to it, its like going against its philosophy.

 

 

 

 

Pains me to remind this but, if I didn't make myself clear(I look at Slickshot) this is totally my personal and biased opinion.

[Malena 2,854]

Then why are you playing a Massive Multiplayer Online game in the first place, if you are not interested in having to interact with another players?

 

And for a sandbox game, that stress so much the point of player-made, throwing such a spam of NPC to it, its like going against its philosophy.

 

 

 

 

Pains me to remind this but, if I didn't make myself clear(I look at Slickshot) this is totally my personal and biased opinion.

 

Sure, you're entitled to your opinion and are absolutely welcome to voice it as many times as you feel you need to repeat yourself. No "reminding" needed, you need to just understand that the rest of us are entitled to do the same :-).

 

As for "why play an MMO then?". Well I explained it all on page one:

 

 

a) What if I'm the type of player who actually prefers living alone on my deed. I enjoy being part of the MMO world and seeking out company when I'm in the mood to socialize, but I would not want to live together with others. With people comes complications, negotiations, compromises, drama, surprises, ups and downs. What if I already have enough of all that in my real life and just enjoy coming to Wurm for a little peace and quiet, for a little crafting, groom my horses, build something. What if Wurm is my get-away, the place where I charge my batteries so that I can deal with all the people messes in real life. So, you might say: "It's an MMO, go play a single player game then!". Ah but I do enjoy the fact that there are others in the world I can interact with. I do enjoy that my friends can drop by. I do enjoy exploring and hearing the sound of sawing in the distance, following that sound and meeting a new person. I just don't want to LIVE with anyone. 

 

[Alec 728]

Sure, you're entitled to your opinion and are absolutely welcome to voice it as many times as you feel you need to repeat yourself. No "reminding" needed, you need to just understand that the rest of us are entitled to do the same :-).

 

As for "why play an MMO then?". Well I explained it all on page one:

 

 

Oh, right I forgot it.

 

 

Then allow me to say that, you should-in my humble opinion-totally not encouraging that type of play style as the last thing Wurm needs, is isolationism between its already small player base.

 

 

I think I said that on the first page(but more on the lines of autism, like GiG autistic mode), the post must have been deleted or I may just derped and never finish posting it.

 

 

Edit: I want to add, that then the new player would or see a town without no one but NPCs on it, or just be turned off if the new player ask a person of a NPC city to join. But right now I'm to lazy to right all that.

Edited March 15, 2014 by Alec

[Ikeprof 182]

I actually missed this on the first page until you re-quoted it, but ...exactly

 

Easier said than done. 

 

a) What if I'm the type of player who actually prefers living alone on my deed. I enjoy being part of the MMO world and seeking out company when I'm in the mood to socialize, but I would not want to live together with others. With people comes complications, negotiations, compromises, drama, surprises, ups and downs. What if I already have enough of all that in my real life and just enjoy coming to Wurm for a little peace and quiet, for a little crafting, groom my horses, build something. What if Wurm is my get-away, the place where I charge my batteries so that I can deal with all the people messes in real life. So, you might say: "It's an MMO, go play a single player game then!". Ah but I do enjoy the fact that there are others in the world I can interact with. I do enjoy that my friends can drop by. I do enjoy exploring and hearing the sound of sawing in the distance, following that sound and meeting a new person. I just don't want to LIVE with anyone. For me, the joy of having NPCs is to enhance immersion. They are just as "fake" as the polygon trees and grass that sway in the wind, they're just as fake as the modeled baby horses which frolic in the meadow and they're just as fake as the audio file playing the sound of the waves. However all of that simulates a world to live in. Seeing the guards going out for a swim or having one pass by me makes the world feel more real to me. More cozy. 

 

In the case that I did happen to be super social, the only people who would be interested in joining my village would be new players who didn't know any better. They would only stay a while until they realized they could make their own deed and life on the deed would be an endless cycle of exhaustion in trying to find new villagers, help them get set up and see them leave. Doesn't sound like too much of a battery charge to me! 

[Malena 2,854]

 

Then allow me to say that, you should-in my humble opinion-totally not encouraging that type of play style as the last thing Wurm needs, is isolationism between its already small player base.

 

I'd totally agree if I seemed to be the only - and I mean only - one around here who would find this to be a good thing. But it seems like there are several of us around here who would like such a thing so I think this discussion is worth continuing.

 

As for isolationism? Well after doing a weekend long horseback tour of the lands and after visiting around 20 different larger villages, I can honestly say that the incentive to RE-visit them any time soon is pretty darned low. Why bother visiting villages that just loom empty? It makes me feel like the game has been abandoned by everyone else except me. I don't want to feel that way! I'm still new, I want to feel excited and engaged! I want the game to feel alive and bustling!

 

Would it be awesome if all those villages I saw were packed with real players? Of course, that would be the best option of all. But we can keep saying that until we're blue in the face, but it's not going to happen if it hasn't happened up till now.

 

The only way I can see this changing is if living on someone elses deed as a mere villager offers some clear benefit - a benefit one would not get if one were to head out and make one's own deed. Take inspiration from WoW's guild model for instance and give a bonus to skill training, to sleep bonus, etc etc. 

[Alec 728]

I'd totally agree if I seemed to be the only - and I mean only - one around here who would find this to be a good thing. But it seems like there are several of us around here who would like such a thing so I think this discussion is worth continuing.

 

As for isolationism? Well after doing a weekend long horseback tour of the lands and after visiting around 20 different larger villages, I can honestly say that the incentive to RE-visit them any time soon is pretty darned low. Why bother visiting villages that just loom empty? It makes me feel like the game has been abandoned by everyone else except me. I don't want to feel that way! I'm still new, I want to feel excited and engaged! I want the game to feel alive and bustling!

 

Would it be awesome if all those villages I saw were packed with real players? Of course, that would be the best option of all. But we can keep saying that until we're blue in the face, but it's not going to happen if it hasn't happened up till now.

 

The only way I can see this changing is if living on someone elses deed as a mere villager offers some clear benefit - a benefit one would not get if one were to head out and make one's own deed. Take inspiration from WoW's guild model for instance and give a bonus to skill training, to sleep bonus, etc etc. 

 

Join Epic, or Chaos.

 

 

If not, is like if IRL, I go and buy real-size dolls cuz I feel lonely, and then I dress them and put them in positions like if they were doing stuff.

 

[Theodis 339]

If not, is like if IRL, I go and buy real-size dolls cuz I feel lonely, and then I dress them and put them in positions like if they were doing stuff.

But if you were building a lego city to show off you'd probably populate it with lego people, which is how I think the original poster sees Wurm . A set of models of cities and villages, with landscape, you can explore around in first person.

[Slickshot 1,195]

But if you were building a lego city to show off you'd probably populate it with lego people, which is how I think the original poster sees Wurm . A set of models of cities and villages, with landscape, you can explore around in first person.

Exactly. 

 

And Alec, to bring this to the far end of your spectrum; if you believe in only populating and communicating with real people why don't you just quit Wurm and talk to your neighbours for a change?  Those are about as real as you get.  Just a suggestion pal.

[Alec 728]

Exactly. 

 

And Alec, to bring this to the far end of your spectrum; if you believe in only populating and communicating with real people why don't you just quit Wurm and talk to your neighbours for a change?  Those are about as real as you get.  Just a suggestion pal.

 

Wow, that was direct, did I hurt your feelings buddy?

 

 

 

But if you were building a lego city to show off you'd probably populate it with lego people, which is how I think the original poster sees Wurm . A set of models of cities and villages, with landscape, you can explore around in first person.

 

But once again, Wurm is not Lego, you can compare Wurm with Lego if you want to, but its not the same.

I could compare Wurm with a diorama if I want to, and compare a diorama made out of Lego. But a diorama is a diorama, Lego is Lego and Wurm is a MMO.

 

 

I could compare potatoes to pencils too.

[Slickshot 1,195]

Wow, that was direct, did I hurt your feelings buddy?

Calm down man, it's just a suggestion thread.   No reason to embarrass yourself or get frustrated. lol

[Theodis 339]

I could compare potatoes to pencils too.

Hey now you're the one comparing Wurm with NPCs to real life and creepy Japanese life sized dolls . I was just trying to make a more apt analogy.

[Uisge_Beatha 186]

This suggestion might have application if the villagers "earned" the NPC's, or shall we refer to them as animated decor, by attaining certain levels of select skills.  Along with the title you also get the option to activate one in your deed.  Of course limits would be necessary, but its a possible direction to head.

[Marlon 303]

Calm down man, it's just a suggestion thread.   No reason to embarrass yourself or get frustrated. lol

So why did you?

 

Your forum behaviour is as superiority-complex driven as your chat behaviour. His points are valid, and I agree that people who want to be alone so bad, so 1. seek help, and 2. not play online games. Heaven forbid travellers walk through Malena's deed, geez, imagine that huge invasion of her privacy.

 

Allow the OP to post a suggestion, and allow the people who don't like it to state that, it's a forum, don't let me get the definition of that for you.

[Rathgar 959]

So why did you?

 

Your forum behaviour is as superiority-complex driven as your chat behaviour. His points are valid, and I agree that people who want to be alone so bad, so 1. seek help, and 2. not play online games. Heaven forbid travellers walk through Malena's deed, geez, imagine that huge invasion of her privacy.

 

Allow the OP to post a suggestion, and allow the people who don't like it to state that, it's a forum, don't let me get the definition of that for you.

 

 

How dare you! You have the AUDACITY to claim that a certain playstyle is bad, and another playstile is correct, coincidentially, you seem to be on the "correct" spectrum?

 

And asking a player that has been for the most part on-topic to quit the game and "seek help", I really think you should retract that statement and apologise .

 

It is a sandbox, people play however they damn please.   Even more in Freedom, wich is the bulk of the Wurm population.

 

NPCs to decorate would be no diferent than keeping mobs as pets, or having diferent kinds of roads or wall models to pick, in order to create whatever each person wants, wether the ney sayers like it or not, NPCs exist,  building for the sole purpose of decoration exists, and this suggestion would be just a step forward in catering to a popular gamestyle.

 

Edited for toning it down.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Rathgar

[Slickshot 1,195]

How dare you! You have the AUDACITY to claim that a certain playstyle is bad, and another playstile is correct, coincidentially, you seem to be on the "correct" spectrum?

 

And asking a player that has been for the most part on-topic to quit the game and "seek help", I really think you should retract that statement and apologise .

 

It is a sandbox, people play however they damn please.   Even more in Freedom, wich is the bulk of the Wurm population.

 

NPCs to decorate would be no diferent than keeping mobs as pets, or having diferent kinds of roads or wall models to pick, in order to create whatever each person wants, wether the ney sayers like it or not, NPCs exist,  building for the sole purpose of decoration exists, and this suggestion would be just a step forward in catering to a popular gamestyle.

 

Edited for toning it down.

Spoken like a man with a clue.  Couldn't have said it any better myself.

[Hussars 511]

Sorry missed this one before...

 

To all the people claiming optimization issues.

 

IMAGINE A COW WITH A DIFFERENT SKIN.

 

Not game breaking, peoples computers will not explode, servers wont crash from it, etc.  thats all.

 

Do you remember when the animals were getting new skins/models?  Quite a few systems did actually have problems (as well as enough server lag problems to require the team to disable the animations for a bit until they could take another pass on the optimization if I remember correctly).

 

My only real issue with the idea in general is the potential impact on the creature count.  We've already lost most of the animal AI logic/pathing behaviors in order to increase the creature count.  I'm against adding in something that potentially reduces those numbers again, or worse, further lobotomizes the creatures we already have.

 

It is a case of damned if you do, damned if you don't, and if the user base is going to be upset either, at least no one put dev time into the idea.

 

I'd swing my vote the other way if one of the following is true:

• They serve no purpose other than decoration, and if they can be added as "items" and not mobs/"true" NPCs, I'll throw in a vote for them.
  
• They serve no purpose other than decoration, and they can be added as NPCs without impact to the creature count, again, they'd get my vote.
  
• They would impact the creature count, but still serve as only decoration, make them RMT only from the store to cover hardware/system costs to cover that impact.
  

Otherwise, I still vote note No.

 

::Edit insert::

I also know a few people who have issues with tower guards in their local.  Their computers drop frames like crazy for some reason, and it is only with the tower guards in close proximity, they seem to be fine with 20-30 animals, but add one guard..slideshow.

Edited March 17, 2014 by Hussars

[Kagrenac 812]

NPCs to decorate would be no diferent than keeping mobs as pets, or having diferent kinds of roads or wall models to pick, in order to create whatever each person wants, wether the ney sayers like it or not, NPCs exist, building for the sole purpose of decoration exists, and this suggestion would be just a step forward in catering to a popular gamestyle.

The difference is that keeping mobs as pets or building different types of walls is something that uses ingame skills.

The current npcs that exist all have a purpose, traders distribute money and silver only items, merchants make trade a ton easier, bartenders help newbies, Santa gives out presents and emits fun particle effects. Guards exist to protect areas, as people don't play 24/7.

These decoration npcs would be different because they would be bought to create fake players/animated statues, depending on how people want them to be.

Actually, thinking about it, just buy merchants and set them up around your deed. They work as decoration.

Edited March 18, 2014 by Kagrenac

[Leroy 315]

lmao I built a guard tower on my island essentially just to have a couple of guards walking around!

[Slickshot 1,195]

The current npcs that exist all have a purpose, traders distribute money and silver only items, merchants make trade a ton easier, bartenders help newbies, Santa gives out presents and emits fun particle effects. Guards exist to protect areas, as people don't play 24/7, and decoration npcs would exist to decorate and add some liveliness on deeds to those who choose to buy them.

You forgot one, so I fixed it for you.  No need to thank me. =]

[Kagrenac 812]

You forgot one, so I fixed it for you.  No need to thank me. =]

I was going for game mechanic purposes.

Without traders, there is no coin recirculation/way to buy silver items.

Without guards, there is no land control/deed protection if people are not online.

Without merchants, trading would be a pain.

 

Santa is a seasonal thing that distributes presents, and bartenders feed newbies.

I guess they are not really necessarily for the game, but Santa is a seasonal thing, and bartenders help people get into the game.

 

Wurm is a game where pretty much everything is created by players, and I feel adding more npcs than is necessary would cheapen that.

[JudusX 199]

So i decided to skip reading all the normal BS that is posted when this is suggested and skip to the end to say that for everyone that thinks its easy to find new players to join your village is insane. There is NOTHING in game that attracts players to group together long term. The game allows you to create massive creations that people stand in awe of, for what? yea that 12 story building looks cool and im sure lots of time and materials were put into it but at the end of the day thats all it is is visually pleasing and not useful. Great another creation done....now what. "Build it and they will come" does not work in this game. out of all things in this game, the lack of usefulness is the biggest deterrent for players especially new.

 

I dont see the problem with adding visuals that complete the city life, in the end that is all everything is, visually appealing. It wouldn't effect game play at all just add one more thing to look at in the designers eye.

[Alec 728]

So i decided to skip reading all the normal BS that is posted when this is suggested and skip to the end to say that for everyone that thinks its easy to find new players to join your village is insane. There is NOTHING in game that attracts players to group together long term. The game allows you to create massive creations that people stand in awe of, for what? yea that 12 story building looks cool and im sure lots of time and materials were put into it but at the end of the day thats all it is is visually pleasing and not useful. Great another creation done....now what. "Build it and they will come" does not work in this game. out of all things in this game, the lack of usefulness is the biggest deterrent for players especially new.

 

I dont see the problem with adding visuals that complete the city life, in the end that is all everything is, visually appealing. It wouldn't effect game play at all just add one more thing to look at in the designers eye.

 

 

PvP, here, you have a reason now.

 

But what you are describing was one of the reasons why I stopped playing Minecraft. Almost all servers where just creative, where the only thing people did was building and terraforming, like a cancer, a growing cancer.

And the lack of modded PvP servers was the other one.

[Ikeprof 182]

 

 

Wurm is a game where pretty much everything is created by players, and I feel adding more npcs than is necessary would cheapen that.

 

[10:38:42] You examine the deed owner next door.  She seems attractive and fertile

[10:38:43] You begin flirting.

[10:38:44] Deed owner fears commitment and shy's away.

[10:38:46] You begin pouring drinks.

[10:38:50] Deed owner to the south is pregnant.  She should deliver a Town Crier in about 6.

[Druidnature 1,118]

[10:38:42] You examine the deed owner next door. She seems attractive and fertile

[10:38:43] You begin flirting.

[10:38:44] Deed owner fears commitment and shy's away.

[10:38:46] You begin pouring drinks.

[10:38:50] Deed owner to the south is pregnant. She should deliver a Town Crier in about 6.

What the... Hahahaha!