There are a number of NPCs in the game that perform a service or job that player character can also do. My complaint is that PCs should always cap out higher than NPCs, but this is not the case. in many instances, the cap is the same for PCs and NPCs. This de-emphasizes going to a player over an NPC and somewhat softens the consequences of conflicting with the PC when you can just go to their NPC counterpart and get the same or better results.