Non-player character

I didn't, I didn't boost this character yet 'cause I was like, "I wanna do the starting zone," and if you boost them then they just start you in Stormwind.

So I was doing the starting zone, and I didn't realize that you were kinda supposed to stand towards the back of the cave so a bunch of the other, like, NPCs will pull some of the ads, and they just, like, mobbed me 40 deep.

And there was a time where I was just, like, desperately trying to constantly heal myself so they wouldn't beat me to death.

I lived, just so that we're clear.

NPC.

It's the non-play-- it's the NPCs, the, the peanut gallery that cause the problem.

That is the problem because I can tell you, if you go into a business that is owned and primarily serves an, a non-American-born community, you don't go strolling in there demanding to be treated right.

I will tell you that.

P intended.

I suspect that each of the first three regions will pair us up with some different NPC simply for the fact that they need trusts to work.

We have Alphina and Estinia, and then they need to add in someone else.

It can't be Visna all the time because of the weird... story stuff which we'll talk about soon.

Just that

feeling of...

After you've done the first little bit of the opener, just that feeling of going around, checking all of the beasts out, seeing if you can catch them, trying to get them, and just having, like, a little NPC crab next to you, and just, like, solo exploring the world again with your little partner.

It just feels good.

Hmm.

And another thing that is so strange about this is the racers, the NPC racers do not want to win this race.

They have a specific spot that they want and they will always try to get.

So, whatever you're doing, if it's like Luigi, Mario, Peach are the top three, if you stayed back at the start of the race and didn't do anything and didn't disrupt the race at all, the end result will always be the exact same order.

And that's like all I'm seeing.

This is I mean, this is another issue that I have.

I just think that the NPCs in this game are too perfect.

And it's not as interesting to me.

The massive hyperscale data centers, the regional power grids required to run them, and the millions of gallons of water required to cool the servers.

And the mechanism they are using to sabotage these physical sites is what intelligence analysts in the sources have dubbed the Tony Hawk NPC tactic.

Let me explain the mechanics of this because it is brilliantly insidious.

Foreign bot networks are utilizing behavioral interaction algorithms modeled directly after the non-player characters, the digital pedestrians, in the classic video game Tony Hawk Pro Skater 2.

In that game, NPCs had specific idle loops, proximity triggers, and randomized pacing to make them appear natural.

Right.

The foreign intelligence services are hooking large language models up to automated Selenium scripts.

We dissected the cognitive dissonance of tech CEOs having public existential meltdowns, demanding the government form a regulatory cartel while simultaneously cashing in on multi-trillion dollar IPOs.

What could this be? And then I need three hours, preferably in a block, but could be spread out, to do all the related prep, like to...

Write out the descriptions of the NPCs, the gather information tables, the location, rumors, all of that stuff.

Takes me about three hours, four hours.

Could be done in one night.

Yeah, that will be me.

Yeah.

And so some people really like getting into world building and, you know, creating specific NPCs and plot lines.

Other people might want to like, you know, spend time building set piece encounters, right? Where they're, you know, breaking out the foam and the paints and stuff to make elaborate mini things, right? Those are all time.

Because PCs in most games get way more tools.

than the NPCs do.

Yeah.

And certain classes can synergize with other people.

Yeah.

But if you're careful with it, you can play it off.

And we kind of – I kind of showcased this in the game we're currently playing where these two NPCs have an interest in each other, but it's more the one girl sees the older – brother or not older brother.

That, that sounds weird.

Um, the way that the world's laid out is really cool.

Um, the NPCs that you talk to that you can get on your side.

Like, there's one NPC, like, commander of, like, this group of rebels that are rebelling against the vampires.

It, you come up to him and you say, "I wanna join your people.

You're playing their game of Monopoly.

You're not playing your, you became, you pretty much became an NPC, non-player character, right? In your own life.

And I even, like I said, I talk about that.

And, you know, I even talk about like some of the games that we've played before in our lives have, it should give us inspiration because it's, the answers are right there.