As the Nethernet is still in its growing phase, constantly evolving and mutating into interesting versions with new tools, bugs, stories, events etc. In the recent NPC related events around here in the world of PMOG and with the The NPC Cup! in mind, I played with the thoughts of the possibility of new Nethernet characters and what could be done to improve the old ones.

Most likely there are some new but still unknown characters in store for all of us, waiting to be unveiled when the time is right and the light is lit, or perhaps not. Although, I wouldn't mind to see more activities from the already present characters and recently Victoria Ash and Bloody Tuesday conspired against the Casque, shaking up things a bit and indeed creating some interesting reactions, but I ask myself if this is enough? Could all the NPC:s do more for/with the community or is it still to much work for the controllers and did anyone see any tool discounts or did I completely miss it (wouldn't surprise me if I did though)?

Do you have an idea for a new character, like a shoat NPC or wish to see JC as a new NPC version of Bloody Tuesday or perhaps will finally Shyiskhar transcend into a new NPC and 'nade us all constantly forever and ever? Or, will the mythical System show up and guide us (or devour us all)?

New NPC:s? Improve the old ones?
Speak your digital mind on this matter, nethernetters.

Recent NPC News:

Ninefinder hacked? A recent increase in the activities of the NPC:s have been noted and an interesting turn of events have just taken place; Ninefinder started to 'nade players! Perhaps his circuits couldn't take it anymore since he got naded the last time.

Thumbs up for this unexpected (or was it?) move.

Disclaimer: I did not find any related subject amongst the threads, I'm not promoting Shy (Don't forget to bring over the DP:s), and I'm not a secret NPC seeking to overpower the others and take control of tNN... yeah... that's the... truth.

Esper, Jerdu, Hoggins, and Sasha all need to do more. Imho.

Indeed Sylverling, they need a boot up the digital behinds. I dare them to become more active!

Should the NPCs be all that quiet about what they do, though? I mean, if the point is to foster and encourage more active player participation, doing stuff behind the scenes that no one else even knows about seems not so productive.

Salinat gets to the point there; They should actively engage with the community at least a little more than once a week (or every other week) or so and not hide behind the scenes so much. However they did a good try with the VA and BT versus the Verdant Casque event, but I didn't see much of it myself but then again I'm not a member of the Casque so, I guess that's quite understandable. I also actually happened to notice a mocking post by BT aimed at Zous (something about crates) but he withdrew it faster than he throws his 'nades, as it was gone the minute later when I clicked to look at (I think) the call to order thread. Wouldn't it be more fun if it was left there?

Personally, I think the NPC have been a major letdown. When they first came out around December, I thought they would be super active players, endorsing the community, making events left and right. I thought there would be an actual storyline.

Instead, they have just become idols. They have set idly by. They have just become excuses to hold events. These events are totally random. They don't evolve the plot. They don't go with the storyline.

The only NPCs who have done anything are VA, BT, and Ninefinder. They should be posting, using their tools a lot, making epic threads, and generally doing more than just being an excuse for an event. They should act like real players, rather than just acting like modgods.

The recent event with VA attacking the Casque was a step in the right direction. An event held up with substance, her actually using tools against the Casque. However, it lacked because it did absolutely nothing with the storyline. Instead of GL making a scatter plot with events, they should make a living, growing, evolving, line plot.

Hey! I'm incredibly active! And I have an evolving plot!

Just a moment ago, I received this intriguing note from our NPC friend, Professor Thaddeus Esper;

"I saw your discussion in the forums, and I was curious--how do you expect an old man such as myself to act? I no longer have an interest in showboating like that uppity Mr. Tuesday, or the Lady Ash. I prefer to bide my time, and act when it seems necessary."

What do you fellow players think? Now here's an actual involvement from the perhaps most reserved character of them all! Staying true to the NPC:s character of course but is he too much in the background or is it enough? I mean, Jerdu squeaks around sometimes in the forums in his rusty armor annoying some people, Bloody Tuesday doesn't really live up to his reputation, Ninefinder is active in a passive way, due to his pathmaker association and VA is the only one active enough according to many. Well, Esper, I don't really know what to say about him except that he's rather reserved and Sasha, who's she (rethorical)?

I can't help but agree with Geb. The NPC:s here are controlled and could indeed produce epic threads and events, involving the people playing this game to a higher extent. The game has an interesting potential with the player-character interaction that is not only dynamic but also more realistic than the common scripted NPC from your favorite shooter/RPG/[insert whatever game you play here].

As Geb pointed out, the storyline/s here have the dynamical potential that many traditional game designers only could wish for at the moment, as it can grow and develop together with the players of tNN and in live mode too, instead of being a fixed linear or multipath story! Although, I think that GL do know this already.

Perhaps when somethings afoot, PM:s are sent out to all the players? Well, I'm glad that Esper contacted me regarding this thread... there's still hope for the NPC:s.

Geb: there is stuff that we, as stewards, can't tell you - there is sort of an overall plot, but it has kind of stalled, and at the immediate moment, there is NOTHING we can do about it. Believe me, we have been trying. We are just sort of filling in the blanks while we wait for more info. :/ So don't blame us, k? We're doing the best we can.

Might I question why we need a plot? After all, the majority of players just go the sandbox mode and screw the forums and the news. Most of our events dont affect them.
This game is a sandbox game, do whatever you feel like, cause we dont care! It's not an rpg like zelda or dink smallwood. So I don't really think we need a plot. Quite a few other games have no plots, and they live fine. Maplestory, runescape, cs galaxies, just to name a few. You get the idea.

I enjoy the plot. It gives the whole game a sense of progression (even when aesthetically there may not be one*).

I do wish that the NPC'S were more active. I appreciate that the devs may not want to just get everything over and done with in a few weeks and that coming up with interesting events that aren't samey and repetitive takes time, not to mention that TNN is still in its early stages. I imagine the npc's are still being tested to see what the community does and doesn't like

A simple bit of interactivity that I would like to see would be some general rule that AT LEAST ONE NPC should post in a (each?) NOW thread every week. Maybe spreading it out through the week.

This wouldn't take a great deal of effort (save, maybe the amount of ' that turn up in BT posts) and it would keep the npc's in the public eye. Also the best ideas and events come from interacting with the community. New ideas will come up and I GUARANTEE that this will encourage more original and interesting events to pop up in the future.

*This isn't a criticism. I realise it may sound like one tho :)

A defined plot might not be necessary in a MMO or in any game really but those games named above are non-linear simulated graphical fantasy worlds filled with quests and NPC:s and several other game elements to keep all the players busy when not socializing with other players; like monster battles, exploration, mini games and events etc.

The Nethernet is a small game with little visual representation other than pictures and web graphics, so the natural focus on communication and imagination makes it more fun if there's an in-game plot as it can involve the players in various ways, if people want to, and the NPC:s (the actors) can create flexible events and subplots involving player related elements, like the showdown between VA-BT and the Casque, involving people even more. The game would only benefit from a plot if played out correctly.

It is understandable that nothing can be done about it if the overall plot is delayed and I give the NPC actors credit for attempting to fill out the blanks =)

I want to add something to what I said before. While I would like to see the NPCs more active, there is absolutely nothing preventing players from creating their own events and telling their own stories. The most Epic threads and events in the history PMOG and The Nethernet have been created by regular players, not by NPCs. At least one of them, the original tag war, even made it into the official Nethernet lore.

So ... if you want to see more going on, don't wait for the NPCs to start something. Come up with an idea and start it yourself.

Players make up their own stories either internally or externally like posting in the forums, and we've seen a lot of them yet not every player are active enough to post their own stories or threads but rather participate in what others might have created. The NPC:s can bring the community even closer by being a little more active and flexible, like the last event showed us.

Post more things and don't erase them, let the players immerse themselves more into the world of TNN where NPC:s interact with players in various ways, co-host events that players do or back them up more often, or post intriguing threads a lot more, inspire the players or taunt them! Stash tools or post fun little roleplaying threads or make up some small, tiny quests or at least like Ghastly said try to have one NPC in the NoW every week, just to keep them close to the community in the public eye and not letting them fade away into oblivion (well a bit exaggerated but still you get the point).

However I think that the NPC actors do a good job when keeping in mind that they are only few and have to control these characters as they also maintain other tasks (am I correct?). Well it is a good job you all do anyway despite having your hands full with other matters, like guiding shoats and oversee things... and nading players ;-)

I have to say, I've been waiting for a plot myself, waiting for something to unfold

And if nothing does, then I guess I'll just have to come up with something of my own to keep people entertained ;)

i would also like to see some more activity from the NPC's. So far, the only active ones are Victoria and Tuesday.

Keep a lookout for Ninefinder; I think he's due for an activity soon. I personally am watching for psmk10. I wonder if he will appear any time soon and how that relates to sabotage. Does anyone remember the comment Joe gave after Nine's "fixing", about how to link together the current events and clues in the game's storyline, or am I just goin' crazy? I have seen a trend in his missions, how they fall under (mostly) War/violence, Government (or lack thereof), and organization.

@salinat

That would work. Except for the fact that a lot of players won't respect a player hosting an event. Or the host doesn't have unlimited funds. Or access to inside stats, like tool uses for each day. Could a normal player tweak a Thursday event? Could a normal player get their own entry in the News Blog? I think not.

Yes, players themselves can host a lot of events. But will they be as grand? Will they be as mysterious? Will they be as intriguing? No. They won't.

And the game does need a storyline. You think we don't get bored eventually? I would. We don't have any fanfic. We only have a few small pieces of lore. There's barely really anything to go out and "do". For example, Sasha's bracelet thing was great. It was a quest. It added to her character (the ditz). It got players using tools (jumping through portals). It inspired community teamwork (sharing ideas and hunchs). It was a great event.

I know I'm breaking out of the spirit of the game in this post, but it's related...as you've heard a hundred times before, Gamelayers is a small team. If I'm not mistaken, the focus right now is on gameplay--I.E. adding tools that inspire you to level, the help foster more interaction with others. Fleshing out the story has been placed on a backburner (probably). Would it be nice to have more concrete storylines and lore? Of course! That doesn't mean you can't enjoy the game without it :P

Like we did for the first six-eight months it was in private beta and released before there were NPCs. :D

@geb Week of Chaos - started by players. Week of Order - started by players. Tag War - started by players. PRisk - started by players. PMOG and TNN elections - started by players (who also aggressively kept the NPCs out it when they tried to participate). The Verdant Casques prank on the Destroyer leaderboard - players. I'm sure there are other examples, but I'd say that's a pretty good list of grand and epic events NPCs had nothing, or very little, to do with.

Would I like to see the NPCs more involved? Absolutely. My only point was ... we can have fun even with them.

/me grins

Geb above all others should know that. ;) Don't blame him or any of my comrades for not being too fond of NPCs at the moment though...

I'm glad to see that many of the NPC:s are more active! Can't say what caused the recent increase of activities but it is very nice to see them participate a lot more =)

AND

It is a bit amusing to see the sudden posts from JC, confusing us a bit -> one post here and another post here. I'm guessing that, forgive me if my suspicions are way off, his account is being hacked and (ab-)used. One could almost say that in one perspective he is gradually becoming a NPC! ^_^

Or, will the mythical System show up and guide us (or devour us all)?

Yeah, something written by Jerdu Gains.... I don't trust that stuff. Definitely total bull... or worse...

Jerdu Gains is a minion of Nethernet Cthulhu