AI chat system. Hmmmm, I'm unsure...

In fact you're not alone. I am a fan of the keyword system. No matter what you do it comes back to keywords, everything else is just lipstick on a pig. Somedays I just don't fell like typing forever to get the information I want from an NPC. Besides any system that's built can be worked around so that full sentences aren't necessary. Force me to use a pronoun, adjective, adverb, and a keyword and I still don't have to type a complete sentence. Any 4 words would work.

 

I think one thing people might be forgetting is the NPC flags. Just because you can go up to every NPC and say to them Throne, doesn't mean it's going to work as this system matures. You might need to first talk to the right person which will then flag follow up NPCs to talk with you. I think we're still too early in the process to completely throw in the towel. Also they stated the highlighting would be going away and might only show up with special skills. Just a couple of thoughts.

 

It's not 'dumbing it down' to make it more user friendly and attractive to a larger pool of players. Quality does not mean that you revert back to a game play style from 15 years ago, quality means making something better than it was and of more value.

Typing in keywords is what will really dumb down the game. All conversation is essentially one sided with the player saying a word and then reading the text. Say a word, read the text, say a word, read the text....

That sounds like a very low quality of interaction to me.

 

I never said "themepark", did I?

 

Maybe you're right,friend, maybe "dumbing down" is harsh, but hand holding is hand holding...

 

I used the term Themepark to take the worst situation. It is a dumbed down system, after all, no denying that.

 

True.

 

No, no. You have it all wrong. It will improve people's spelling skills, thus, increasing intellectual dialog.

 

I don't know what all the fuss is about. I mean, it really brings back nostalgia for me. I fondly remember programming my numeric 1 key for a macro to say, "Guards! Bank! Vendor Buy!" to save on using extra macro keys. It fostered creativity in how to save extra keys for other macros, like PvP firing off spells.

Just think of it. I can program my macro key to say, "Who, what, when, where, how" on one key and on another key a list of numerous key words. It really will foster deeper thinking skills to get the right combination of macros.

 

I remember that as well! I guess I'm just worried that the game will devolve into me spending my day typing 'name', 'job', 'quest', 'town name', etc. I want the game to be a bit more natural....

I don't think that this is hand holding so much as it is an improvement on the system created so many years ago. I also wholeheartedly agree with all who don't want the game dumbed down, but I also don't want it bogged down either.

I mentioned it in another thread, but I would REALLY love it if there could be some way to have a speech to text (and text to speech) program integrated into the game (or maybe we could use Dragon or something) so that the conversation would be a real live conversation! We would speak to the NPCs and then they would be able to speak back. I know there wouldn't be much variety to the NPC voices (probably just male/female), but it would be really cool IMO.

Is there such an aftermarket product? Can this be done for the game?

 

Live conversation would be great. Especially if it was only American English as RG has requested.

Niche market, who cares?

My folks used to own a medical transcription business, and I wound up running that business for them. We tried using Dragon Dictate to transcribe the words. Unfortunately, many of our clients (medical doctors) had strong accents from other countries. And even though dictation programs can come in several languages, it's pretty limited.

In addition, if the doctor said "Patient did not feel well due to consuming too much Dr. Pepper," in which a transcriptionist knew English, but not as their native language, not knowing American brands, translated it to say "dark pepper."

I dunno. Seems it would be a very difficult system to design.

 

I think that the chat box is supposed to help people feel like they are really talking to someone. By giving them a chance to really say something to the NPC and have it say something relevant and meaningful back can make that person feel like they really are in the game and are having a legitimate conversation. The big issue I see with it would be that NPC's are NOT real people and I don't think there is any amount of programing that someone can do that will allow an NPC to fully respond to every comment and question like an actual person would. I think chat box should be an option for those people who want to talk to the NPCs but I don't think it should be absolutely necessary in order to get the information you need from them.

 

I think they should just sell conversation hints and quest logs in the store for a hefty sum.
After all, if they don't do that, some anonymous wiki will offer the cheating. Those will be there no matter what, so they might just as well rake in some cash for development.
Those of us who enjoy the 80s style, look up a keyword in a table conversation won't have to worry either.

 

I've been arguing for "options" since the early days, mostly in the dev+ forums. Based on Lum's comments there, we're wasting our time criticizing the NPC interaction system, even requesting technically feasible *options* (eg clickable keyword lists). The current system has basically been "set in stone" by Richard Garriott. What you've seen is what we're getting (with the promise of "smarter" NPCs and a tweak or two). Enough said, apparently.

See Lum's post here (if you have dev+ access):
https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/f...bout-npc-conversations.3483/page-3#post-93874

(I'd quote directly, but not sure it's permitted.)

 

Allrighty then! There we have it from the most "on high." No further discussion needed.

 

I doubt that will stop it.

 

You want old school? So are these violating his trust when he wrote these (some of these anyways)?

I really do hope they offer an old-school style clue book written by Lord British and illustrated by Denis Lubet! I would buy that in heartbeat. I'd by two: one to annotate or write in, and the other to keep and pass on to the next generation 20 years from now.

 

If it was penned by His Highness Himself, or under his direct order and supervision then that would be an obvious exception.