Path Companion Discussion

[Shurrikhan]

Hey, this fun little subject. In general I'd like to see NPCs as something far larger in ARR. It's never been capitalized upon in any MMO, and while I can't say it'd be worth the time costs without an elegantly formed finger of the larger whole pointing at its different possibilities, it does seem lucrative.

Wouldn't have to stop at path companions either. We've got our fellow guild-members, both AI and PCs. It always suprised me that the quests didn't more often step from those NPCs themselves, and perhaps with their own set of semi-automatically generated missions or quests that might even have an NPC laughing his head off at my utter failure compared to a fellow PC guildmate on my friend's list and still within the same sort of level tier/ladder/rank/period of guild questing.

"MMOs are so players can interact" doesn't leave you with story situations when your friend has gone missing out there somewhere, unable you to contact you, in danger, and probably with limited time left. These things do not occur to those who simply send you a tell and ask for help gathering from or hunting around a dangerous zone, which is about the only reason a PC would ever get themselves stuck out anywhere. Especially until 'quests' become something more than journals and triggers and xp rewards, something we pursue for ourselves, our own needs in story, NPCs provide an access method into a large part of the FF feel that PCs cannot.

My three cents, spent.

Edit: Need IX Moogle couriers for humorous letters and hints on world events.