I've fallen in love...with an NPC

[Deceptistar]

I thought it was crazy I could become so emotionally attached to what is a virtual creation of someone that doesn't exist nor can it interact in any other way besides how it is scripted. I thought perhaps it might pass, but after several days I finally caved in and accepted that I had fallen in love. I laughed, cried, and smiled at the same time. I told myself this was nuts, but then I took a deep breath and accpted I have fallen in love with the Crystal Exarch.

I don't see anything bad with pple loving NPCs but…

In this characters case, Mr. crystal was there during realm reborn, and no one gave a rats ass about him then.
But all of a sudden when he becomes one of the main chars. and looks fancier, pple notice him.
is this passing fancy or love? why you not notice him before?? ;_;

[Gwenorai]

Snip

I think it's because he was simply 'written' better and SHB storyline is more interesting than the skippable 24man. And that's basically it. Amazing writing and good character development inspire the reader/viewer to have some emotional connection. Hallmark of a good story.

I personally found it weird myself since he was already 'interested in you' in regards to ARR and was willing to do what he did - not a lot of people cared. But you slap on some nice 'he did this for you' salt on those fries and a touch of concern, a good voice actor and people will swoon. It's the same thing that happened with Elf Bro in HW. And it will probably be the same formula that will repeat for time to come.

I didn't find him 'husbando' material - more like 'Bro'. But that 'Bro' was nothing compared to the undying bromance of Ardbert.

[AlphaFox]

I don't see anything bad with pple loving NPCs but…

In this characters case, Mr. crystal was there during realm reborn, and no one gave a rats ass about him then.
But all of a sudden when he becomes one of the main chars. and looks fancier, pple notice him.
is this passing fancy or love? why you not notice him before?? ;_;

Honestly I didn't even remember him at all from ARR, even when I did the Crystal tower at the time.

[Reinha]

I'm hesitant to care about him in case the writers kill him too... That voice is so velvety though.

[geekgirl101]

I have to say that I've been scared of returning to this topic after posting about it, was nervous as hell that it would get responded by a lot of mockery and smack-tardery. I'm still amazed at how it's made me feel, in fact it's made me a lot more happier in person too as I've been letting the stresses of hunts and other things get me down lately and I've been getting pretty grouchy and irritable as result.

Well done SE, you've managed to make a human have true feelings towards one of your creations and have lifted my spirits higher than they've been in a long time.

[geekgirl101]

I don't see anything bad with pple loving NPCs but…

In this characters case, Mr. crystal was there during realm reborn, and no one gave a rats ass about him then.
But all of a sudden when he becomes one of the main chars. and looks fancier, pple notice him.
is this passing fancy or love? why you not notice him before?? ;_;

His appearance back at CT was short lived and had been long forgotten since for me it was a long time ago. I don't think he was voice acted either, that gives a character more personality than just reading everything in your head which makes the character seem flat (unlike Hildibrand ofc.) To me he came across a bit immature and inexperienced and only interested in exploration, didn't look like he had much of a personal interest in the WoL unless I missed something since there was at the time an overwhelming number of side quests that it was easy to lose track of what was going on at any one time. I was saddened to see him choose to seal himself away though, that did touch me and I thought his part in the story was over, so like so many other NPCs that come and go I didn't have an emotional attachment to him. However his personality is much more noticeable in ShB since he's the main focus of the story so far and has been very well developed, he is more maturer and has a much more deeper personal interest in the WoL. To be perfectly honest I don't know what it is that's really drawn me to his character in such a way, I thought maybe it was the voice acting but just seeing him standing in the Oculus makes my heart skip beats.

[Ayuhra]

I mean I get it, OP. My whole life I've gotten obsessed with fictional characters. I love to analyze them and pick apart why they fascinate me and try to find ways to explore their characters. Sometimes I'm attracted to them... I'd be lying if I said I ever inserted myself into a fantasy or anything like that but since I think about these obsessions a LOT, who am I to judge?

I've never been emotionally compromised by fiction, it's never stopped me from doing things like having jobs or real relationships... To me it's almost a hobby at this point. Character analysis.

[TheMightyMollusk]

I don't see anything bad with pple loving NPCs but…

In this characters case, Mr. crystal was there during realm reborn, and no one gave a rats ass about him then.
But all of a sudden when he becomes one of the main chars. and looks fancier, pple notice him.
is this passing fancy or love? why you not notice him before?? ;_;

Before, he was just a plot device to let us into the Crystal Tower. Now he's actually a character.

[Lauront]

I don't understand (or experience) any sort of attachment to fictional characters. Idk, might be an autism thing (speaking for myself, not necessarily anyone else)

I don't get it, either. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ There's characters I like more, or less, but not to the point of attachment. Insofar as I like them it tends to do more at a conceptual level, and/or in terms of design.

I don't see anything bad with pple loving NPCs but…

In this characters case, Mr. crystal was there during realm reborn, and no one gave a rats ass about him then.
But all of a sudden when he becomes one of the main chars. and looks fancier, pple notice him.
is this passing fancy or love? why you not notice him before?? ;_;

I'm at least consistent in not liking him then and still not liking him now. He's just marginally less insufferable. In terms of his character design, I happen to find him to be one of the worst designed miqo'te NPCs in the game. There's just nothing that draws me to him and I'd rather some other NPC had taken his place from the CT storyline.

[Theodric]

I'm at least consistent in not liking him then and still not liking him now. He's just marginally less insufferable. In terms of his character design, I happen to find him to be one of the worst designed miqo'te NPCs in the game. There's just nothing that draws me to him and I'd rather some other NPC had taken his place from the CT storyline.

Agreed on his design. There's two Miqo'te male faces I like - the one that X'rhun Tia uses and the one used by the Miqo'te guy that shows up in the latest seasonal event. I don't find the other two faces pleasant to look at.

Furthermore, there's a very concerning trend of G'raha being drawn as being even younger and more child-like in art than he is in-game. Which is pretty creepy!