Like the villager in Firelotus that close the door, more please

Its so nice to see a closed door for once in multiplayer so I stopped to look, and yes there was a villager NPC there whose sole purpose it seemed was to close that door.
(Although when talked to he claimed to be a messenger...)

More of this please.

Maybe the Jack of Lanterns could have a day job as well?

Maybe guards, guarding a gate could close it as well, so that one could call out to them to open it.

 

That sonofabitch Rickard slammed the door all night at the new years party AND molested the patrons. Also he smells suspiciously of mutton.

 

Beware of Rickard... he's one of many... they're just pretending to be nice with all his mutton chatter! their takeover will come soon... better be prepared!

Besides the bad joke, i enjoy seeing how NPC's makes the city more lively, with different conversations and activities. Maybe guards will guard players in a not so distant future! Thumbs up and more of these!

 

I'm glad there is someone to shut doors now.

But literally standing in the doorway waiting for the door to be opened just so you can close it? That's a bit much.

If it's closed doors we want, why can't we just use magically doors that shut themselves after so long? It seems like it would be easier to code, and better than just having NPC's stand around for the sole purpose of shutting doors.

 

yes, i'd like to see more closed doors (particularly my own, you people who're running around looking at decorating!) ...but i don't think having a dedicated character for each of them is reasonable. gates in the clink close on their own after a few seconds, i don't see why normal doors can't. maybe offer a switch to attach so people can decide whether they want a door to autoclose.

 

is it more suspicious to smell of mutton or of live sheep?

 

Literally my reaction on my first trip to US and China respectively. I had seen valets before, but not doormen. Then I talked with the locals. Turns out the doorman is seen as a really good job.
But in China they topped the US. In one place they had a revolving door, which you pushed to revolve. This put fingerprints on the glass of the revolver, so someone had the sole job of sitting on a stool waiting till someone went through and then one lap after follow half a lap to clean the glass.
Very weird, but again a sought out job since you could do it with bad joints.

Yes please. But if so have it as a really expensive "door mechanism" just like the chest one, but you use it as a wall decoration with a switch like the gates witch ties to the door.

Why not both?
Although I have my suspicion on the pigs in the back. They don't serve pork at FireLotus - so what is the pigs there for?

 

they're for the kobolds in the clink. the new kobold camps in the forests have a lovely pig on a spit.

 

They do, but if so those pigs would be in the pen next to the guards not in the back of the notorious FireLotus inn.

 

I had a lot of fun writing Rickard, but I was scared to submit him at the same time. If people haven't spoken to him yet, strike up a conversation with him!

Previous Ultima games had a lot of easter eggs and silly references. I hadn't seen that many in SotA and it seemed the tone was a lot more serious. I was afraid if I submitted a humorous NPC like that, they may not let me submit any more dialogue in the future. I tried to have a variety of NPCs in Owl's Head. One is grieving over a dead husband and is a bit depressing. I figured a little levity might provide contrast.

 

i think you struck a good balance!

 

I like it, i spent a fair bit of time wandering around talking to them all.. i may still have missed a couple in Ardoris.

 

I am writing dialogue for the NPCs in Ardoris now.

I'm writing almost double the dialogue per NPC for Ardoris than I did for Owl's Head. NPCs in Owl's Head maybe responded to 20 topics. In Ardoris it is over 40 topics for some.

 

Nice... i heard rumours relating to a barmaid there... investigation warranted.

 

Ah, poor Emma!

Generally, if an NPC might be involved in a quest, them Lum and the Portalarium crew write for them. I'm just trying to fill in the blanks by giving unique personality and dialogue to everyone else.

I will say for those that liked Rickard in Owl's Head, I've written another humorous NPC for Ardoris. Instead of hammering in the mutton joke with him, poor Jeffrey Post in Ardoris will have a bit of a story to tell.

 

Technology Magic is taking over our jobs! How long until NPC jobs have all been taken over by the convenience of magic spells and NPC's will be loitering around, looking for anything to do!