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

[Hulbert]

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.

Lee
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