NPC Towns, what makes them special?

Has anyone got a chance to read Blade of Avatars in full details? How well did they describe each town beside Etceter?

 

Aerie is very distinctive. It makes me want to explore.

 

More variation would be nice. Especially when it comes to that towns specialty... every town seems like the specialty is... well... there isn't really one.

I'd love for mage, smithy, mining, adventurer, archery, commerce, thieves, etc. towns where it is clear those are that towns specialty and some items are only available there or are slighty cheaper there.

Also some more color variation between towns. Some could have a white look, others a dusty look, others a dark and eerie feel, others bright, etc.

 

I think each town should have the npc's change clothes each day IE when they go home they access an item storage box and change to a new set of everyday clothes to give them a feel of change and also have different sets for different seasons

 

Well... The player housing in them usually looks like a carnival or some sort of modern art experiment.

Does that count?!

 

Well the results say I'm not alone in the feeling so far.

 

Well now that the cat is out of the bag with the final launch info, still think they will get time to adjust these cities guys??

https://www.shroudoftheavatar.com/forum/index.php?threads/final-wipe-and-lot-selection.44430/

 

They will never stop developing things. This isn't "launch" info. Just final wipe. They consider it early access instead.

 

Please show me in the notes where it says they are going to work on the towns? Other then the brief note they will be adding unique NPC's afterwords....there isn't a mention of redoing any of the cities.

 

Good point lol. Oh well... They're all turned into circuses once the demented decorators make their monstrosities anyway :-/

 

Hah, I made that complaint a long time ago....was drowned out then too.

 

You made me laugh, but it's because you're right. That's a major RPG trope so big that hardly anyone notices that everybody wears the same clothes every day. But I'd rather see people in this world blink their eyes all the time before they change their clothes every day. It's kind of creepy if you think about it. Look at their faces for a minute or so, and you're sure to lose the stare-down contest.

 

So, how do we fix this?

After this poll it is clear there is a problem.

I brought this up in another thread, why not get players to decorate...could they not bring in a group of players to go into towns and give them decorations? It could be done on a test build and then saved?

I'm not sure the requirements for this, but I can see huge benefit from this.

I don't know if this would be enough, but at least it would be a start.

Of course, stacking ankhs and crap like that can't be done though, but that should go without saying.

 

I love this idea. There are a number of players who already do this for Hometown every release, why not some of the NPC towns. Or even better, doing this for the PRTs which are really in need of some help. This would save time for the Devs, increase player involvement and give some life to these carbon copy PRTS.

As for the stacking of ankhs...AMEN. I hate that! Stop lowering my property value dammit!

 

@rune_74 maybe there's something technical? Like pathing - noticed they're still adjusting(bugged) for them(NPC navigation) with building/structure in place already. Furniture and stuff added in by players might make it more?

 

Good question. Having read the book three times I can tell you that most of the cities that they spend time in are now ruins (Opalis e.g.). Brittany, Ardoris, Valhold & Aerie are mentioned but not described well in intimate detail.

 

Carrying my opinion from the other thread...

That being said, it has been stated that all the scenes are one of their first priorities, so I guess they'd vote that they need a lot of work as well. I've been reading about Aerie and Resolute and people seem very happy with them, so maybe this post being a reminder of doing some passes at previous towns is a start

 

That's not entirely accurate...scenes that are clones are their priority....they don't mention towns at all.

 

@KuBaTRiZeS Speaking for myself, I personally think Aerie is incredible. Best city in the game so far IMHO, but I digress from the original topic and I don't want @rune_74 to yell at me!

 

Well, they do say they want to have 40+ towns in game, they don't mention them being clones, so that's not entirely accurate