NPC behavior.

heartless

I've been playing MMORPGs since Ultima Online and every game I have played, granted I have not played them all, the NPCs and mobs don't really do anything except wonder around from place to place and attack you once you get too close to them. Animals should be hunting, fighting each other, protecting their young all the while reacting to your presence either by running away or attacking you. You know, behaving like you would expect them to behave in real life.

There is no need for this anymore. Developers should attempt to break away from this design flaw. It made sense back when Ultima Online came out and the limited technology would not allow for something like this. But in this day and age, I see no need for the thousands of braindead animals just hanging out right outside of town ready to be slaughtered by mobs of players. It's and old and outdated concept, not to mention immersion breaking (at least for me). On the other hand, imagine running through a forest and instead of "zig-zaging" to avoid aggro from junk mobs you see a pack of wolves chasing a deer? Or a rabbit eating leaves or whatever it is they do? Or a bear trying to catch fish from a creek? That's immersion. I don't know about you folks, but I would rather see one bear in the game acting somewhat like a real bear would, than thousands of them aimlessly wondering around back and forth as soon as you leave town.

Also, I would like to add that I am sick and tired of killing rats, boars, wolves and bears for quests or to level up. Animals in games, for the most part, should be added to enhance the feel of the world not as means for lazy developers to provide content.

That is all. Feel free to ridicule, comment or just leave your opinion on the matter. Maybe someone with some real game development experience can clue us, or me at least, on the limitations of current technology in regards to the above statement.

 

Token1337Guy

Now I'm not sure about MMOs, but I know that in S.T.A.L.K.E.R. the AI does just what you've described (at least, when it works properly).  NPC animals will fight each other, fight the NPC bandits, sleep, and work in a pack.  I've even come back through an area where I'd been in a firefight and seen animals eating the dead corpses of my foes.  So, it can be done in a single player game, at least.

nomadian

Ryzom I think is meant to involve some animal behaviours or something.

Grunty

Originally posted by nomadian


Ryzom I think is meant to involve some animal behaviours or something.

I started to hate those little tirebiters that were always pissing on my shoes in the beginner zone.

rob1101

i hear ya man the devs are just using the wild life as an easy out to "add more content" to the game, but im like you i don't enjoy killing 10 bears then killing 10 wolves, ect. ect.

Kyerna

Ryzom does indeed have that feature.



Herbivores migrate in herds, graze the countryside, scatter when a pack of carnivores attacks them. Carnivores patrol the area around their lair if they have any, hunt often in packs, and react to intruders of their territory. All animals have a sleep/feeding cycle but will react when a  player comes punch em on the snout or enters their surroundings. Curious animals will observe you, follow you around ( in some cases even pee on your leg).



So it's certainly not impossible; just not given much thought by the major developers these days.

heartless

I wasn't aware that Ryzom had that feature. I tried playing it before but could not get used to the controls. Maybe I'll give it a try again.

Kurush

A lot of people say you can't understand a MMO until you've really played it for a few months.  I think this is patently untrue in most cases, even for games like Vanguard or SWG, but I'd say it's true for Ryzom.  That's probably the biggest failing of Ryzom, that it completely fails to showcase its potential early on.  If you look at Vanguard, for instance, you get tastes of combat, diplomacy, crafting, and the scale of the world early on, so you have some idea of what's to come.  Ryzom just kind of throws you in there with nothing.  Maybe they've improved on this since I played, though.  I only ever touched the game in beta.