Suggestion Re: Conversations

Possible override the distance speech meter when selecting a person.

Case in point:

I'm trying to speak to Myra

12/12/2013 11:35 AM
Area: OwlsHead Loc: (80.3, 71.4, 59.9)

But Peasant Todd keeps replying to me. Since I have Myra selected and I'm trying to speak to her it would be nice if my speech would be ignored by Todd and picked up by Myra. I have to walk behind the table she is at to speak to her.

Another possible fix is to make sure NPC's we are to talk to don't have another one within speech range?

 

Having the same problem when two NPCs are to close together. Even with the 'blue' circle under my intended NPC, the other one responds. Has happened in the market and with guards at the bridge into town.

 

We're going to implement this as a test in R2 to see if people prefer it. My fear is that someone will select an NPC and then forget, but it's an easy thing to implement and check. Right now there is no check on NPC targeting, just distance.

 

I think this is proper handling, as you are conversing, and the NPCs in the immediate vicinity can "hear" you talk, and will respond accordingly.

However, there should be a feature, that if you address an NPC by name, only they respond.

 

Yes. I think it would be nice if you can adress the NPC by name.

Thus:

"Myra, show me your goods." Should adress only Myra and not Todd.

Else I take something like: "Todd, get out of the way!"

 

I thought that as well, at first, but when I first encountered this bug I tried to get a little closer to the NPC I was trying to talk to, thinking maybe the game thought I was "facing" the other NPC, since I was a little closer to him. I ended up having to actually stand right in front of the NPC with almost no space in between the characters, before the other NPC stopped responding. It's a little annoying and cumbersome, but it also "breaks immersion". If you're in a store, and looking over the counter at the clerk, even if another customer is closer to you, they can understand who you're really trying to talk to So, I think a check on NPC targeting will be an improvement.

 

I found it impossible to talk to whom I assume was Winslow, because Enmar upstairs kept responding to me instead, through the floor. Didn't find a way to address Winslow.

 

Perhaps check if they are X range from NPC then deselect?

 

I like this as well... def keeps the immersion alive better than having to click on someone but wouldn't it need to be the first thing for parsing reasons.

Mara, who is Byron?
Mara, tell me about your family.

etc...

 

Or simply, be able to make a statement to direct your future comments. So for instance, you say something like "Hello, Myra." And whatever you say next gets directed to Myra, until you say "Hello, Todd" or Myra and Todd are no longer near each other to cause confusion.

Would be interesting then to extend that to be able to address groups of people, like by saying "Listen, all!"

 

These are all good implementations. Perhaps a combination of all these mechanics?

• Vicinity
• Target highlight
• Address by name

I was thinking of how IRC chats work, and @name is a good way of addressing a person. This way if could handle NPC and PC conversations using the same mechanics. You could even address multiple individuals at the same time, and then wouldn't have to adhere to sticky syntax. Or perhaps their parser is smart enough to check for any name in within the vicinity and compare it against your text? I could see that getting process-intensive though, especially on online-multiplayer mode, thus the @name would be a better implementation. Would it be too distracting and break immersion?

 

Yea, I think you'd have to allow for target addressing in addition to addressing by name, in the case that you don't know the name of the NPC yet.

Short hort of that, you could also add generic ways of addressing NPCs like, "Hello miss," "Hello sir," "Hello ma'am," "Hello kid," "Hello old man," "Hello trader," "Hello hunter," (or by Elfenwahn's method) "Miss, show me your goods," and so on, allowing for variations such as "Hello kind sir" and "Hello gentle lady." Those would at least distinguish between NPCs of different descriptions. You would have to make a list of possible descriptors for each NPC.

I was thinking over my suggestion though; it seems to me either addressing someone by name like Elfenwahn suggested, or greeting them by name, should lock you into a conversation mode with that NPC, to the exclusion of other NPCs, until its broken somehow. Either by the ways I stated, or until you walk away, or something else happens to break up the conversation. The game should just allow certain indicators of who you want to have a conversation with, then remember who you're having a conversation with.

 

The only drawback to that that I can see is having other NPCs chime in on your conversation with tidbits they might know about on the same topic. Very much like in real life, imaging coworkers around the water cooler, and people standing around you always have something they want to share, even if you are directing your conversation at one person. This would allow for more information to be disseminated more organically, and you can then address the other NPC now or later to follow up on that particular topic.
Locking in a conversation wouldn't allow for this type of dynamic interaction.

 

Sure, but it doesn't have any drawbacks compared to the current system, which also only allows you to talk with one person at a time, and you would certainly, at times, want certain comments to only go to certain people. The devs would have to add in support for group conversations to make what you're talking about work. It wouldn't be a bad idea, but it would be an added feature.

 

Good point ... I guess the way I saw the current system working is a bug not a feature (or weren't bugs actually unintended features? ;-P ). It seemed to me that when I said something other NPCs would respond as well. But that may have just been coincidence, because I mostly got Um... and Huh... from them.

 

My concerns are about the application of these in a multiplayer setting. With multiple players attempting to have a conversation with one NPC, it would end up with a very schizophrenic-sounding NPC... not to mention potentially massive chat spam. The system is fine for solo play or for playing with friends, but when the masses come in, it'll be rather messy. Maybe for those who would prefer not to deal with that, you could have the option of opening a 'private chat window' with the NPC in question?

That being said, I love being able to use Ultima-style conversations with NPCs

 

+1 to this behavior.

I would prefer if it could be selected by placing the NPC in the roughly center of the screen to override priority and actual selecting the NPC would be highest priority if that makes sense.

Also, when entering a new area and several NPC's all speak at the same time is not as fluid as it should be IMO.

 

Another nice option might be if we call them by name, it would let us talk to two at once then. "Bill and James, what do you know of the dungeon?"