[MUD-Dev] believable NPCs (was Natural Language Generation)

[Matt Mihaly]

Hulbert, Leland wrote:
> Samantha LeCraft Wrote:

>> Speaking as someone who was a GM (in-game customer service) for
>> UO and is now a designer on an unannounced MMO, I think this is
>> more trouble than it is worth, for several different reasons.

>> One, players have come to expect NPCs to be "in character" in
>> their speech and demeanor, and there's no way a company who hired
>> addicted/loyal players to "act" as NPCs in-game would be able to
>> effectively police their in-character-ness.  Some would be more
>> in character than others, and some would vary day by day.  If the
>> NPC-actor is working from home in a large MMO, the feeling that
>> no one is watching would be very strong, and so the temptation to
>> not be in character, or just not talk to people at all, would
>> therefore also be very strong.

> And yet, it seems to work for Disney.  I don't recall which one of
> our regular posters likes to point out equivalences between MMOGs
> and theme parks, but this one just glares out at me.  Disney hires
> thousands of beginner actors, gives them a role to play, and sets
> them loose on their cusotmers.  And having been to Disneyworld and
> Dinseyland, I never saw them out of character.  As you say, the
> temptation may be there, but I have to assume that it is fairly
> easy to weed out, since we've never seen the "Goofy goes on a
> Rampage" headline.  And it should be relatively simple to assure
> that these actors are recorded, so that any truly disruptive
> out-of-character actions can be disciplined.

Disney's "actors" don't have to do crap. All they have to do for the
most part is not talk and look cute in their costumes. There's a
world of difference between that and expecting them to carry on a
coordinated storyline, or a consistent character (rather than just a
cute costume).

--matt
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