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

[Daniel.Harman at barclayscapital.com]

Matt Mihaly wrote

> 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).

Exactly. You'd actually have to hire really smart people to make a
good job of it, they'd have to know the mileu inside out and have a
masterful grasp of language and dialect if they are really going to
add any value. A previous post suggests that an actor playing a
barkeep could be fairly ignorant of the world, but I don't buy
that. If they can't talk plausibly about the world they are
functioning in, what value do they add?

I don't for a moment think you could get the requisite caliber of
talent and get them to work for low enough wages to make it
viable. At least not with the current 10$ a month cost structure.

Amanda Walker wrote :

> Quite probably.  And "heck if I know, I'm just an inkeeper" is a
> perfectly good answer for them to give.

I really don't think so. In fact, if I heard a character use the
construct "heck if I know..." in a fantasy game, any illusion would
instantly be shattered. I'd think I was in America not
Pyroth. Dialect is important.

Dan
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