Random automated NPC events

1. like one ganger attacking another ganger in another gang.

2. gangers leaving their turf to spraypaint anothers turf

3. gangers / judges automatically requesting backup and their backup, if they hear the request, showing up and attacking the atacker, or if they have a medpak, trying to heal their ally

4. corpies randomly jumping off the skywalk and suiciding when they lose their jobs

5. random npcs leaving their turf to go hang at a bar and order a drink and then leaving after a while

6. Service NPCs like doctors and shop owners returning automatically to their posts if they are left out or dragged away.

7. random npcs using the suicide booths

My plan has been to slowly incorporate more complex actions like maybe a ganger showing up at a club and starting trouble, or workplace related things, or corpse cleanups.

There are some code barriers to some of this stuff, like elevator pathing, that I've made a lot of progress on in the last year. The trick is that this stuff has to be simple enough that we can script out the actions in a way that they get carried out, so it makes it tough to find the right mix of ambiance with them.

I'm interested in hearing everyones thoughts on additional actions we could add.

- Just get some NPCs to walk around and hang about disguised

- Have some NPCs sneak around in the mix sometimes just going somewhere random, sometimes sticking in one place for a while, sometimes shadowing a random character for a while.

- Have NPC dips head somewhere, hide out until someone comes by and try to dip them (go for flash, wallets, phones). If they think they get caught, they run away. Otherwise, keep moving, hiding and dipping.

- Have NPCs go and hang out outside apartments and attack people who come out or open the door.

- Have NPCs hang out and mug people for visible items or crates. The NPC posts themselves somewhere. If a character shows up they aim and demand flash or a visible item. If they get it they run off and if they don't might still run or they attack and try to take it from the unconscious person then run.

- Have NPCs run crates. Just literally show up, run a few crates, then go away.

- Have NPCs go to a bar, order some drinks and leave.

- Have NPCs drive/fly around wherever.

- Have lots of SIC messages played that report things like the above have happened. Some from the perspective of the victim, some from the perspective of the perpetrator and some from the view of the agent/judge that dealt with them.

Then there are things you can have NPCs do that might give people of various roles something to do. Examples:

- Have injured NPCs wander in to clinics or hospitals seeking treatment. First they use "address /all" and "say" to ask for someone to help heal them. If they do this a few times with no luck, they ask the NPC doc to heal them. If a PC starts healing them they keep still for about a minute then pay the PC a reasonable amount. Then they leave.

- Have an injured NPC sit somewhere and call out on SIC for help. Maybe have them be bleeding out and they keep calling until someone comes heal them or they die. If they get healed they pay a fair amount and leave.

- Have NPCs with distinctive features show up and slowly wander around. Then have actionable bounties added to the CnC term for that NPC. Have the toughness of the PC and the size of the bounty range.

- Have NPCs spawn and head to places that have bouncers/security and then start making a scene. If no one interacts with them they will leave after a bit of fuss. If they are moved, they run off or attack when released.

- Have random nodes hacked and silly/insulting content put in place. You wouldn't really see them but it would be the act of an ambient gridrunner. If it was the node of an active character/corp/biz, now they have a reason to contract a gridrunner to fix it.

- Send out some cheesy scam sounding gridmails to random accounts. Again, ambient gridrunner.

To be honest I think that a lot of these things are best done by other players and that a lot of ambient things can be reported via SIC without them ever actually happening. And sorry for the messy presentation. Just a quick and rough brain dump here.

It would be mega boring seeing something happen and pricking my ears up, then quickly realizing it was an automated NPC script I'd seen before and already knew how to 'solve'. The metaknowledge that it was just a brainless script and not part of a bigger plot would be such a mood killer.

See the problem? It's repetitive. It's become expected and the outcome is always the same. That's the problem with this idea and automated events in general. The outcome will always be the same and if you want funnier outcomes you have to constantly script new events, edit existing ones or involve GMs to puppet a NPC. Again...nobody has time for that.

If you want more shit to happen, get out of your cube and your comfort zone. Go make them happen and make the world react around YOU, not around itself.

I don't think this is correct at all. Like I said, even the ambiance SIC chatter with Judges calling out crimes a few days ago had old characters confused and asking what was happening because we're all, in a way, used to small worlding. You don't necessarily need puppeting or anything to get ahead of that.

As Grey said - sure, even if it might get boring after a while (for us and for people who know what it is) for new players it's quite impressive. We aren't the only ones playing this game and there's a constant influx of new players, and I know that it helps new players adjust to the theme when they're reminded they aren't the only ones in the Dome and there are things happening all the time.

It's not necessarily a comfort zone and I never meant that there should be murder and robberies every single second Topside. Yes, crime isn't supposed to be rampant, but you're forgetting crime isn't necessarily defined as just killing. Corporate traitors, extortion, jumpers/littering, treason, driving under influence and all of that counts as crime too. This is exactly what I mean - when people say crime, they just think guns blazing because that's what we're used to in the game. That's what PCs do most of the time. However, does that mean that's the only thing that could potentially happen?

Like I said, I still support the idea that even a little amount of ambient SIC chatter - be it for crimes or anything else, to remind both new and old players not to smallworld - isn't a bad idea at all, and would help a lot for both immersion and to stay in theme.

What Rangerkrauser just mentioned is a good point though, you are not the only one playing Sindome.

Automation to these things though is something I don't know how to feel about because what if the player base interacts with it outside of "Ermagerd what was that" on Sic and looting a jumper? It would probably require GM intervention. When I GM'ed and there was nothing going on, and a few people were in a bar, I would puppet an NPC with some chyen on him and some gear and go into the bar and be a rude drunk. sometimes something went down over it, sometimes he or she just got the stink eye until he left. Either way, if something were to happen how would an automated script react to it?

I -really- like this. A lot of people in medical professions often wait around for hours on end and rarely get patients, it feels, and in some professions, based on status, it's not like you can go out and beat the shit out of someone to heal up for money. PC Cab Drivers already get NPC fares, why not look into docs getting some NPC patients? Let's show some love to our healthcare providers.