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

[Freeman]

From: Amanda Walker

> This, I think, is one of the areas where the=20 movie/blockbuster
> model of the gaming industry misses the=20 mark pretty severely.
> MMO games aren't movies.  I would=20 argue that, regardless of
> Bartle type, they are closest to=20 theme parks or clubs.

They aren't movies, theme parks *or* clubs.  They are MMO games.

> How many people go to Disney World (or any amusement=20 park)
> alone?=20=20

...and stand in front of the tea-cups shouting "Looking for group!"

See?  Different.

> I don't think it would be easy--setting up any kind of=20
> sustainable business is hard.  On the other hand, I don't=20 think
> "believable AI" is easy either, and I've been following=20 that
> field since the late 70s.  Neither do I think (as the=20 poster I
> was originally replying to suggested) that employing actors is
> cost prohibitive by its=20 very nature.  Disney, smaller amusement
> parks, or even themed=20 restaurants are counterexamples to that
> claim.

No, they are counterexamples to the claim that it is cost
prohibitive to hire actors to work in Disney World, smaller
amusement parks or even themed restaurants.

> Hey, if I had it all worked out I'd be out shopping around a=20
> business plan :-).  But I do think that the current model is=20
> hitting a number of walls that could be removed by=20
> reformulating what an MMO game is all about, and what an MMO=20
> company should be in order to support it.

It sounds like this business plan goes something like: "First,
re-envision the industry and redefine the product from the ground
up.  Second, hire some actors, and restructure your company!  Now,
we're almost ready to begin making something, which we will sell for
more money than other MMO games which do not have human
actors... Like a theme park!  Oh, and I'll need to be in charge of
what we're doing and how we're doing it, not the dev team."

And for *what* exactly?  In spite of what the commercials suggest,
these days you stand in line to put your kid on Mickey's lap and you
pay extra for the photo.

Yeah, it's a human actor in the suit.  Wait in line for an hour or
so, see an actor for 2 minutes and then it's NEXT! and you're back
out on the lawn.

Sorry, what is it we're supposed to learn from that?
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