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

[Michael Sellers]

Lee Hulbert 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.

Sorta.  They do this only after an extensive screening process and
behind-the-scenes training that lasts from two to four weeks.  Some
specialized "on stage" jobs receive additional training as well.

There was a recent incident where several women accused one of the
Disney people playing "Tigger" in the park of having fondled them.
One of the interesting things about this (aside from how
infrequently such accusations are made) is the look into their
training procedures it provided.  Their character actors are trained
in how to stand with/near/by people, where to put their arms, how to
respond to inappropriate advances, and on and on.  Lots of training.
Now, we don't have the physical aspect of this to worry about in
online games, but I think there's probably a strong analog to the
kinds of training any MMOG would have to provide to actor-run NPCs.

And given the *abysmal* state of MMOG CS and GMing (with due respect
to those here who have been or are in those trenches), I think we
have a whole lot to learn about this before we assume it's easy to
do.  It's instructive to remember that Disney had the idea for
Disneyland because the fairs and amusement parks of the day were
dingy, dirty, unsafe places, and he wanted to make something better
-- less grim.  I think that currently in MMOG-land, we resemble the
carnivals that Disney was trying to gain distance from more than we
do any of the Disney parks.  We have a lot of work to do to come up
to world-class entertainment customer experience standards.

Mike Sellers
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