100 replies to this topic

[Galactygon]

Whether or not it fits into the storyline well. It's more important than banters, IMO. It's the backbone of the mod itself. The banters and romances can be expanded later on, but the story-line should be right in the first place.

Ahem, perhaps the #1 reason which is why I don't like some of the released NPC mods (aside from NPC mod-ideas/mod concepts being too popular)...

-Galactygon

Edited by Galactygon, 02 August 2004 - 08:54 AM.

[SConrad]

HK-47 romance, plsthx

My net-speak skills are limited. I can't tell if this is a request for the elimination of Romance based NPCs, or a request for a romance wih an HK-47, or what?

plsthx is please thanks, I think.

HK-47 is an NPC-droid in KotOR.

[jester]

What you probably meant was AK 47

http://kalashnikov.guns.ru/

[BobTokyo]

What you probably meant was AK 47

http://kalashnikov.guns.ru/

Thanks. Guns I do not know.

[Galactygon]

Thanks. Guns I do not know.

It's unimportant these days...

-Galactygon

[Deva]

Interaction, as well as new spells/battles are the best. Either that or something completely original, which no-one has ever attempted before.

[Archmage Silver]

I want a gnome NPC who has some, let's say, 2000-3400 banters per hour and and self-made plasmacannon and shotgun-machinegun multicomponent weapon and carrotstew obsession....blah blah....bllppr.... BIIB ERROR... THE JANSEN ™CHARACTER CREATOR PROGRAM TERMINATED... SHUTTING DOWN...

[T.G.Maestro]

Hmm, my vote goes for the "fitting into the world.." part, but interactions and an interesting story are also important.
Oh, and I hate killing machines in case they lack the proper background - and even if they don't, I prefer them on a moderate, believeable level. The same goes for special items and abilities.

[Stone Wolf]

I'd say the most important thing is that the character is consistent. Everything about the NPC should fit together, to make the NPC seem more real.

Other than that, I think it's a good idea to make the NPC stand out in some way. There are so many NPCs out there now that it's easy to forget about some of them. Simply making the NPC extremely powerful is just cheesy, so there has to be something...else. It could be personality, history, appearance, or just about anything you want.

[yamaele]

I like all of them , they are important but for me what is important is the talking , because when you played the same game many many many time already like i did , and talked and did everythinggggggggggg well you need something to cheer you up or the game gonna fly by the window :-D

[Shadowhawke]

For NPCs, I also reckon that it's quality interaction between the characters; the other NPCs and the PC himself/herself. Not only does this make the roleplaying experience more real, it also makes it easier to empathize with the situation . And as yamaele notes, when you've played BGII several times, the interaction helps to overcome any boredom that might sneak in.

[disari]

You have several good points and it is hard to choose between them. I really like the romance MODS because they give so much more depth to the character. I love NPCs you can really get to know on a deeper level. I don't want just the placeholder that has nothing to say. The reason I play BG is because of the characterization it gives the NPCs. What is a fantasy without a significant other and good friends. So I think fitting the NPC into the world is a good thing. But if the character is well written with Planar travel you could have a limitless supply of ideas for new NPCs. I like different kits and races as long as they are useful in the game. My ideal NPC would be an aasimar? asimar? fighter-thief type with a good decently long quest a lot of testosterone with a lot of interraction with PC and NPC's alike. With a creative approach to the Anomen romance/jealousy issue. A realistic romance would be good. One that starts physical and grows from there. well thats my input.

[Proserpina]

My ideal NPC would be an aasimar? asimar? fighter-thief type with a good decently long quest a lot of testosterone with a lot of interraction with PC and NPC's alike. With a creative approach to the Anomen romance/jealousy issue. A realistic romance would be good. One that starts physical and grows from there. well thats my input.

disari, you take after my own heart.

I've been thinking as of late about how marvelous it would be if someone were to create a truly evil-aligned assassin/bounty-hunter (to replace our dear Yoshi after we?ve mercilessly eviscerated him) that evil-aligned PCs could romance. After all, don?t our more sinister Bhaalspawn deserve a strong, passionate consort bloodthirsty enough to keep up with her?

Ideally, his relationship with Charname would be initially one of working professionalism, with subtle displays of admiration for her handiwork (among other things) that would eventually lead to the blatant and uncontrollable desire for the fearless leader herself. The ?romance? would be intense and entirely unsentimental in tone, I would think, with expressions of undying love entering very late, if at all. Such things do not always need to be expressed with words.

[mrnemo00]

It's the interaction with the party and the PC. Everything else, (Encounters, kickass abilities, etc...) I can do myself even with a multiplayer party. So I look for the 'new' interactions of an interesting NPC with personality to keep me intrigued and provide the angle of role-play. Without that, you're just playing IWD.

Yep...Your soo right. Intercation with NPC's somehow ads more flavor to the whole rolplaying experience. This is one of the reasons that I didn't like Morrowind(wich still is a preaty good RPG), no party

[disari]

I don't really care what alignment you play the Romance NPC who I really hope isn't a paladin type. I really hate that. The lawful good NPC is really not my cup of tea. But CE is just as bad. My ideal NPC is somewhere in between. A real person. I generally play CG or CN PC. My character is usually a thief but not particularly evil in nature. So I like NPC's that are more realistic in nature not too good and not too bad. Actually it is not the alignment so much as how the NPC is written (Tsujatha) was evil and I really loved playing with him. Interraction is everything. I really hate the Bioware reputation and leaving thing.

[Archmage Silver]

I don't really care what alignment you play the Romance NPC who I really hope isn't a paladin type. I really hate that. The lawful good NPC is really not my cup of tea. But CE is just as bad. My ideal NPC is somewhere in between. A real person. I generally play CG or CN PC. My character is usually a thief but not particularly evil in nature. So I like NPC's that are more realistic in nature not too good and not too bad. Actually it is not the alignment so much as how the NPC is written (Tsujatha) was evil and I really loved playing with him. Interraction is everything. I really hate the Bioware reputation and leaving thing.

I think CE persons can be very real(istic), unfortunately they exist in RL too.

[disari]

Unfortunately that is too true in RL. Actually upon reflection alignment isn't as important as the characterization of the NPC. Some really good "evil" chars are Tsujatha, Edwin (romance) and Sarevok. I do really not like the leaving when your reputation gets too high. Yes I know about the happy patch. I think there are so many possibilities in the BG world for almost any NPC. With planar travel and all the world to choose from. I think the NPC has to be well written given life so to speak (well developed) I thought NWN dropped the ball in characterization. I was really bummed with that. I hope NWN2 does a better job.
Another must for an NPC is he/she a useful addition to your party. For example a good thief if you don't want to play with Yoshi. A straight fighter class is also good. I know some of you think that uber stats are bad but I think it depends on the character and how they are explained or characterized. Truthfully whatever the class of the NPC it would be preferable for the requisite stat to be high for his/her class. I think basically it depends on what your NPC is racially and how you would justify stats. It is part of the writer's idea of the character and therefore a creative thing. How does the modder see that NPC. If a player plays the NPC and doesn't like them they can drop them or not play them. Sola was one that while well written I don't like to play with so I don't. I played him through once and decided never again. But that was a matter of taste. No NPC is going to make everyone happy. That's why it is great to have choices. Especially if you play the game a lot different characters make it a lot more interesting to go through again because they change your game. I really appreciate the banter packs and character enhancing mods. I have some issues with NPC mods that almost require certain of the Bioware NPCs I really don't like to play with Jaheria for long and rarely if ever pick up Aerie or Cernd. But again that is the creative thing for the modder. Writing a character is up to the person writing them. While it is okay to post ideas in that forum I really hate people that blast the writer for not writing the character to someone elses taste. If you want the perfect NPC you will have to write it yourself. (I wish I had that skill) alas I could write the character but couldn't code them for the game. But to vent on someone who worked on something purely for free and spent a lot of time and creativity on that vision is very rude. After all we get the benefits of all that time and effort and should be grateful. And we should forgive a few typos and maybe even a bug or two. Maybe the bugs will get fixed in the next version. If I could mod I wouldn't be posting in the idea forum. So I for one appreciate all the effort that goes into making NPC's and other mods. I do know enough programming to know it isn't easy.

[Hubelpot the Sage]

I think it would be nice to have an in-depth romance that continued as long as the NPC was in your party, rather than stopping after a certain point.