"A brand new NPC chat system"

[skybert]

Now.... I kinda wonder what that means.

"A brand new NPC chat system"

I'm almost thinking about a system closely related to the one you use in Baldur's gate. When you talk to an NPC, you get x choices of what to say, and you click on what you choose, and you say that.
Dunno how that would fit into AO at all.

...anyone on test that has info on this? D'oh! I should have posted on the test-server-forum for this, right?

To keep it here, I'll ask you this: What kind of NPC chatsystem would YOU like, if you could choose which brand new system we should get?

[Nealandbob]

Skybaby: Yes, I've seen the NPC chat system in action in the new Character Creation on Test, and it works exactly like that.

[Darkbane]

Yep, you get a pop-up window with the text and choices of what to ask next. No more guess work.

[Greybear]

Problem is that not all NPCs are using it.

[______________Yazule]

I kinda liked guesswork, but I do agree that it got very frustrating saying 345783698673049876304 things to an NPC and not getting the info you need, so I give it a thumbs up.

[spookiepants]

I like the current parser interface to the NPC's. I dont like the "Balder Gate"-like menu interface. menus make it way to easy and not particularly immersive.

[_____________Brandon]

I like the new system alot. I just wish all NPCs were using it and they all had something to say.

[________Miniexplicit]

I think you also still get the choice to spew random things at the NPCs in addition to getting the choices of what to say. Just do it the old way.
/v You are a complete and total idiot.
*MOB*: I don't understand.

[____________Harammer]

As long as the guards still respond to "All your base are belong to us !!" I'll be happy.

[Razzitazz]

Yes, its cool. Saw it on test. When you talk to a NPC a text box opens with clickable answers. Way better then the rubix cube of crap we have to type in now.

[Sallust]

Nice, but I hope this doesn't become a spoiler which ends info searching. It was nice to get one story thread piece from a NPC and then go use keywords from that NPC to trigger a response on another NPC.

I like the new system, but I'm still hoping that using special keywords from other NPCs will open up "Secret" conversation trees that the NPCs don't immediately reveal to everyone. This makes the exploring of Rubi-Ka a lot more interesting and makes finding quests more interesting as well.

[Razzitazz]

Originally posted by Sallust
Nice, but I hope this doesn't become a spoiler which ends info searching. It was nice to get one story thread piece from a NPC and then go use keywords from that NPC to trigger a response on another NPC.

I like the new system, but I'm still hoping that using special keywords from other NPCs will open up "Secret" conversation trees that the NPCs don't immediately reveal to everyone. This makes the exploring of Rubi-Ka a lot more interesting and makes finding quests more interesting as well.

True, didn't think about that. But really AO isn't a game in which I, personally, want to spend an hour talking to some stupid NPC. I would much rather be spending time doing the actual quest instead of having to repeat things over and over (as I did for the NT quest) because the NPC's don't make any sense.

I had to try every word in the guys sentence, didn't sound like roleplaying -- instead made it seem very computer-related. With the dialogue boxes it will make it easier and I think better.

[Sallust]

Don't mistake me for being against the new NPC chat system, I love it so that I don't have to guess on the exact phrasing the NPC needs to respond to. It's the same evolution that the old adventure games once went through.

What I don't want is ALL the mystery and story being gotten from a NPC in one shot. I just hope they can develop a way of having hidden chat options open up to get to the really interesting story and quest parts.

That's for the future though, in the meanwhile I'll take this and be quite happy.

[Razzitazz]

I gotcha, and agree

[Zane0]

Well perhaps they could give every npc that you see walking around general information.

If you were to ask a citizen he could offer appartment help, places to shop, popular news etc. If you were to ask a store keeper he could talk about the popular weapon of the time, a new product, effectiveness of one weapon over another, etc.

That would give a great amount of immersion. I suppose you could also do some guess work if you like it that way, but that's so darn annoying for me...

Now perhaps, I can get quests from people without having to know the exact words to say.