VNPCs are no myth. They are alive!

[Akaramu]

Recently I seem to encounter a lot of players who absolutely ignore the presence of VNPCs. As a reminder, if a room is described as being crowded, it IS crowded. You cant look around and say "there is no one here" and then skip your duties because there is no PC to practice skills with.

What bothers me more are people who totally ignore VNPCs I interact with. If I emote a spar with that red-haired, barrel-chested man, I AM sparring. Dont ask me 3 times if I want to spar, and dont give me that look as if I was nuts because I chose the VNPC over you, he was there before you showed up.

Thanks.

[Gilvar]

Yeah I think there was an instance I witnessed a long time ago where someone walked into the Barrel and said "man this place is empty" or something. Because of the lack of pcs.

[Clegane]

I've always been one to tout the presence and impact of vnpcs. I love emoting with them, interacting with them, using them to further my little mini-plots and flesh out my background and history. I think the concept is a great one to help enrich the world.

That said, I would personally find some degree of fault with chosing to interact with a VNPC over a PC. I mean...if you just want to disregard the presence of other PCs in the world, you may as well shut down your mudclient and open up Word to start writing yourself a story. Vnpcs can be used as an accent to enhance RP....and as filler to help flesh out solo-RP when no one else is around. But, in my personal opinion, its a little weird to choose to 'spar' with a vnpc over a fellow player.  

I mean, most of us are here to interact with the playerbase. If we weren't, we'd be playing Baldur's Gate or something. VNPC's, in my opnion, shouldn't be used as a substitute for interaction with other players.

If, in fact, someone were choosing continuously to 'roleplay' with a VNPC despite my attempts at interaction, I would very quickly be finding some good IC reasons not to bother with that person anymore. This game has some great potential for depth and realism...but the fact remains, we ARE here to share a collective world and interact with one another inside of it.

Use VNPCS as a roleplay tool and a scenery enhancer...not as a substitute for interacting with real players.

[Nadav]

I agree with Clegane - PCs should be given higher priority than VNPCs. However, they shouldn't just magically disappear when a PC shows up. For the sparring example, you should RP out a reason for the VNPC to leave; maybe it has to go shopping for new boots, maybe it got tired and needs to rest.

[sarahjc]

I don't know, I mean if you have involved yourself in a scene with an vnpc, I think it is perfectly exceptable, to fininsh that out, before interacting with PC that just walked in. I think that the other PC should respect that you have started something with a Vnpc, and either bring himself into the scenerio or wait until you are finished.

In the idea that you -are- sparring with vnpc and a pc shows up. You -are-sparring with someone.  The other PC just shouldn't expect you to drop everything that you have just spend a good amout of time Rping out because they want to fight. You are in the middle of something with someone else.

I like to leave my heavy Vnpc interation to solo rp. But if someone walks in my solo rp scene, they should respect that.

Also Yeah.. VNPC's are everywhere.. the tavern's and the streets are never really empty.

[Akaramu]

I agree with Clegane. However, I often need a role that no present PC can fill. I also dont mind dismissing a VNPC after a PC steps in, however this may take a moment, and some players are extremely impatient. I dont like to be asked three times if I want to spar while being beaten up pretty bad by a VNPC. It would be considered quite rude and annoying IC.

[Petra]

I don't know, I mean if you have involved yourself in a scene with an vnpc, I think it is perfectly exceptable, to fininsh that out, before interacting with PC that just walked in.

Is that actually fun for anyone?  Seriously, sometimes I think people are just being stubborn in instances like this.   The way I see it, interacting with a vNPC (something I would never waste my time with, myself -- no offense) is for supplementing your character's day-to-day activities when no PCs are around.  But believe it or not, I logon with the main objective of interacting.  Sure I won't just ignore the vNPC you're interacting with but if you mean to tell me you're going to finish your "scene" with the vNPC and not involve me at all, well shit ... all I can say to that is, man, have fun!  There's a huge difference between waltzing into a tavern, announcing the entire place is deserted based on the lack of PCs and basically ignoring a PC because you're too busy involved with an imaginary vNPC!

As an incidental, I honestly think that sometimes the  Bard's Barrel for example might actually be dead.  It can't always be this madhouse of people.  Places with crowds have their downtimes too.  If some newbie strolled up to me and said the place is deserted because I'm the only other visible PC, rather than getting all holier than thou on him and trying to correct his so-called "Bad RP", I might just go with it and be like "Yeah, there's a bit of a crowd in here but it's not really that hopping like it usually is."

You really need to take that shit with a grain of salt 'cuz I think a lot of ya'll way over react on the GDB every time some newbie says it's not crowded when maybe (maybe!) it should/could be.  That's just what I think anyway.

The thing about using VNPCs like that is that YOU are controlling the VNPC and who says you should have control of them. They are essentially now your creation and they do exactly what you want. Can the guy who enters the room ask the VNPC if he may step in or not. Can he start making the VNPC do anything since he doesn't know exactly how this VNPC should do things, background etc.. Also I think it can be abused. Like I really hate it when PC's pick on VNPC's and try to make them scared, when they are just a commoner. Especially if there is a PC there. Pick on me! Or another PC. Don't attack what can't fight back. Or the old so and so walks in and all the VNPCs nod their head respectfully or shy away from in fear. That's sure thinking a lot of yourself. How do you know everyone loves you?. Sure VNPCs are there and to be respected but then the onus is on you to make sure they behave realistically and properly.

[Tmp]

Yeah I think there was an instance I witnessed a long time ago where someone walked into the Barrel and said "man this place is empty" or something. Because of the lack of pcs.

Sometimes it's just a brain fart, we all know what they really mean. I guess everyone has to be more careful to amend their sentences to, "Man, this place is so empty of anyone interesting, nobody I know is here."

Does it really make that much a difference, since we already understand the intent of the statement? Maybe, I don't know.

[Quirk]

Well, there's a good and a bad way of handling it.

Good:

"Hey man, want to take me on after you finish up with Red-beard here?"
"Looks like you're getting your arse kicked. Want an easier opponent?"

Bad:

"Want to spar? C'mon, come fight me!"
"Don't just stand around... the Sergeant said we had to spar."

Quirk

[SykotikGith]

The way I see it, it's up to each person to determine how they're going to interact with the VNPC world. In a perfect setting, everyone would treat VNPC's the same way, and no one would feel ignored if someone wanted to "finish a scene" that they started with a character that doesn't really exist.

Personally I think it should go both ways. To those who create scenes and use the VNPC population, I salute you. You make the world real, and I think that's great. I know I do the same myself, especially when it comes to sparring, and I happen to log in at a time when NO one in my clan is on. I don't feel right ignoring my duties, or the schedule just because "no one is there," because there ARE people there. You and the five active PC's are NOT the only ones in your clan. Your PC superior, is NOT your only superior, there are others.

To those who think VNPC's are a bunch of crap...that's fine as well, but don't get pissy when someone, who is obviously in the middle of what *WAS* solo-rp wants to finish that up before interacting with you. You might have to wait a few minutes, but it is not fair to expect someone to drop everything they are doing just to interact with you. It's very jarring to be in the middle of some kind of RP, and have someone come in and ignore your scene as if it doesn't exist. Be thoughtful and courteous, and I guarantee, you'll get your interaction a LOT faster. Besides, you shouldn't walk in a room and immediately start sparring anyway, don't you remember PE class? You should do some sort of stretching before heavy activity, that way you don't injure yourself. It's very easy to come up with something to do in the few minutes it would take the other person to wrap up their rp session, chances are they would like to interact with you as well, but don't want to leave something half-finished. Be patient.

[Akaramu]

Exactly. I've seen too many of the bad kind of reactions, totally ignoring the VNPC and giving me a confused stare. Please dont pretend they are not there when I am emoting them.

Example:

The training schedule states that every clan member will train two-handed weapons this afternoon. There is a -crowded- room full of virtual clan members. You cant go buy a piece of cake because there is "no one there" to instruct you with two handed weapons. Chances are there is more than one virtual person teaching in that room. Dont give me that "are you nuts?" look if I attend a virtual person's lesson.

[Quo]

I don't know, I mean if you have involved yourself in a scene with an vnpc, I think it is perfectly exceptable, to fininsh that out, before interacting with PC that just walked in. I think that the other PC should respect that you have started something with a Vnpc, and either bring himself into the scenerio or wait until you are finished.

One excellent point here seems to have been widely overlooked in the posts to follow. Playing with a vnpc doesn't mean that the next pc entering the scene has to be ignored. Nor does he have to stand aside. There's no magickal barrier separating the vnpc from the other pc.

Both sides have all the options to resolve that scene without dropping or disregarding the vnpc. Join in. Some of the best scenes involving vnpcs I was allowed to witness were those had the vnpc "control" flowing between several PCs present. Control doesn't have to mean making the vnpc "act", something someone who isn't familiar with the vnpc may feel rightfully shy about. By including them into his own emotions, say, etc he can do a lot though to acknowledge the presence of the vnpc and make him even more real for not being bound to the emotes of a single other pc.

That first PC can of course make clear by the actions of the vnpc as mirrored by himself that the other pc is welcome to join in. By having the vnpc react to the appearance of the other pc rather than doing it himself, he's inviting the other to interact with the vnpc.

Just make sure they don't send you away ;-)