Are the NPCs in their final form? Where you just click on them and see a wall of text? You can't interact with them or anything?

 

I'm just asking because some of the things we were asked on the survey seemed to imply much more robust roles.

They should have made them flavorful npcs like the random dudes you ran into in the BG wilderness. I would be a bit peeved if I shelled out a bunch of dough to be an npc and just got a wall of text.

I suspect that the intent was to do stuff like that, Shevek, but that the load simply became untenable. There's not enough content in the world to account for all those backers, I think.

Weird, didnt they limit that KS reward? So, they had direct control over the load, as it were. Well, doesnt affect me, so...

They should have made them flavorful npcs like the random dudes you ran into in the BG wilderness. I would be a bit peeved if I shelled out a bunch of dough to be an npc and just got a wall of text.

I in no way want to come off as sounding pissed. I'm not. I just made this thread as a general question because of beta limitation or something. 

Yeah I am curious what they will do with it too.  They should have planned around it and thought ahead.  As in "Well for this quest I need a npc that has this sort of personality and is a rogue.... lets look at the backer npcs.... yeah this guy works we will just use him there."  I suspect what happened was more like.... "Ok let's make the game.... oh yeah we have over 100 backer NPC's... what are we going to do with them?  Oh lets just toss em in somewhere."

It would be better even if it were just a simple dialogue:
 

"Hi,"

"Hi, so tell me about yourself"

"Well, I've got this wall of text here: lorem ipsum..."

 

(Obviously more involved would be even better still, but given time constraints I'd settle for that) (Not got such an NPC myself but just thinking of interacting in game would make them more a part of the world rather than a mobile info-board). (mah immershun, etc).

Isn't the innkeeper in the beta one of the backer npcs?

Yes, but that guy paid $5K for an Inn

Personally I think Backer NPCs need a line of ambient dialogue. That would make them less jarring in the game world.

Yes, but that guy paid $5K for an Inn

 

Personally I think Backer NPCs need a line of ambient dialogue. That would make them less jarring in the game world.

In Josh's stream he clicked on a memorial that listed some backers. One of them said something liked XXX "frequent poster on Obsidian forums." That kind of broke the 4th wall a little too much for me. 

I would be soo angry if I payed to have my NPC in game and this was the result.

But I am also going to be angry for noticing named NPC while exploring and hoping to talk to them only to figure out they are useless and waste of space.

"We will send you a PROJECT ETERNITY NPC character sheet for you to fill out for our design team. We will turn your personalized character design, with your name, class, and race into an NPC in the shipped game (within reason of course)."

 

Roughly 130 of these.... that's a lot of random npcs to add flavor too.

 

 

Some people got 6 of them... 

 

"We will turn your personalized party design into a lethal wrecking crew to oppose the player in the shipped game"

Edited February 7, 201510 yr by Bazy

I would be soo angry if I payed to have my NPC in game and this was the result.

But I am also going to be angry for noticing named NPC while exploring and hoping to talk to them only to figure out they are useless and waste of space.

 

Yeah, they really seem to stand out and it's very jarring that they even exist. A lot of them have.. well.. let's say less-than-thematic names, too.

 

I think it was mentioned somewhere that you could turn it off, so I'll probably do that, as long as it doesn't actually lock out content.

Yeah, that's the crux, isn't it? They stand out like paperweights in a world full of tablets and personal computers - stiff and not really part of their world, as it were. I reckon, Silent Winter is on the right track - that would make them fit in much better, no?

I thought the Backer NPC's felt out of place, and that they might more or less be promoted or shown off in the Backer Beta for those who Backed that tier a la "Look, here's some of your NPC's you made". Some (if not all) of the texts don't fit with the Dyrford Village, it's as if they are (or were) intended to stand somewhere else that fits better with their text.

Edited February 7, 201510 yr by Osvir

I saw this on the livestream. Really didn't like them being there. I feel like they should have worked with backers to come up with names etc that fit the lore. That way everyone wouldn't be switching them off immediately after installing. Seems like extra work that won't be appreciated in order to bring in more cash.

Are these the npcs with the yellow nameplates?

Are these the npcs with the yellow nameplates?

 

Yes, and there were some gravestones in a livestream that had entries from backers.

Yes, and there were some gravestones in a livestream that had entries from backers.

I saw that. The text on some of them really broke the 4th wall. 

 

Also, I found a solution to the problem...

 

 

Major loss of Repuation though... Hiro was a big deal. 

Edited February 7, 201510 yr by Bazy

Yes, but that guy paid $5K for an Inn

 

Personally I think Backer NPCs need a line of ambient dialogue. That would make them less jarring in the game world.

The running joke about the gaming-kickstarter community is that there needs to be a Steve Dengler Tier and a Notch Tier.

Edited February 9, 201510 yr by Bryy