Development effort aside, I love the idea of cities evolving a bit over time. Having NPCs move about, roam, change their routine is one aspect to making cities feel alive - and remain alive. Density of NPCs is also of critical importance.
I recall playing Vanguard back in the day and visiting the city of Ahgram (I think that is the name of the one I am thinking of). It was this huuuuuuuge city, the size of which I don't think I've seen again to this day. Anyways, you would walk around this city and it felt like a complete ghost town. Yes, there were NPCs around but not nearly the amount that was needed to make a place of that size feel real. Plus many of the NPCs were stationary inside of buildings. So unless you went inside some small shop, they might as well have not even been there. My point is that even the coolest, most interesting cities will feel dead if there isn't the right amount/placement/mobility of the NPCs that inhabit it.
Furthermore, equally as important is the need to encourage real players to visit cities often - and stay awhile when there. There's nothing quite as stale as visiting a city and feeling like you are the only one there. And since there are going to be quite a few cities/towns/villages in Terminus, there needs to be incentive to visit all of them. Maybe not all by the same character but VR needs to design the game and the cities in such a way that we don't get one single favorite place that everybody goes to leaving the rest of them dead zones.
So to recap... to make cities feel alive and vibrant requires a deliberate and multi-layered approach including, but not limited to, NPC placement and routine, changing that up from time to time, and creating reoccuring incentive for players to visit the various cities far and near.
I like Fulton's idea. I'd like to see crafting areas mostly in towns/cities, with a few scattered in dungeons. I'd like to see a blacksmith shop in Thronefast say, give a bonus to cold resistance. While a blacksmith shop in Skargol give a bonus to strength. Maybe that way towns are destinations for ever. The higher level gear gives a bigger stat boost. I like the idea of a lot more NPCs being in a town so it looks Like there's a lot of life. A family store front where a family of five takes turns selling stuff. I'd love to see some housing in a town. A loft over an inn for PC live in. A small stamina buff for, maybe 2 hours, for logging off at an Inn. Or there could be a guild hall, in a small town with a bigger city having 3 or 4 guild halls.
Brilliant idea! I don't think the idea as it was originally described requires too much from the devs -- changing one building in a few cities every month or two I don't think would be that much of a drain?
All for these relatively simple ideas which add a lot more energy than their constituent parts.
honestly this would annoy me. I don't really pay attention to an NPCs name beyond needing to know who to find for a quest. If I went to a spot to buy my reagents one day and the shop was gone and I had to spend 15 minutes running around trying to find it that wouldn't be very fun.
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I do really like the idea of "living cities", but make it a mix of "random foot traffic" and "procedural foot traffic". Maybe even work some of it into the player character stories...
For example, maybe as a part of a Rogue quest, you have to stalk and NPC and follow it around to gather "intelligence" to bring back to someone. Or maybe follow them to an alleyway and mug or kill them.
I would also take this a step further and apply the "livingness" to the rest of the world. NPCs travelling between cities, between villages, whatever. I could see all sorts of procedural based things that could happen.
I really like the entire idea, would love to see it happen. I would also like to see what Kalok said. Just people out in the world, yelling at a dog, trying to catch some chickens, having a bonfire. etc.
I would also like to have a Reason to go in a building. I can't stand it when I find an old building or shack in the game, you go in it and there is literally nothing in it. Leave a Note that might help with a quest or help with being a Keeper, maybe find some crafting stuff that was abandoned. Find some flints to start a campfire. Anything to make the building have any purpose at all would be geat.
I have seen this in other games, but I also want to see NPCs whispering your name in Awe as you gain reputation. Others Salute you, some Thank you. Make them show appreciation that I cleared out all the orcs to the east of town that was causing all that trouble.
Sadly, as much as I would love this. I just want pantheon to release before 2035.
At this point ANYTHING they can just leave out for now and maybe add in an expansion, skip it.
Forget mounts. Forget Pets. Maybe even add the envirmental and acclimation stuff later. Just release something playable. By the time this game makes it out someone will buy the EQ franchise and make EQ3 and have it out before pantheon. or Blizzard will make an all new MMO and take 20 million players out of the search for a new MMO. Sorry to be a downer. it's just sad to see blizzard able to take a broken POS alpha like shadowlands was in at alpha, to this polished finished product in 90 days and we are going on SEVEN YEARS with NO chance of release within the next 1 to 3 years minimum,.... dang it man, i jus want to play pantheon already... Heck, where is this new site? been a month or more since they said it was "almost ready". guess soon in pantheon means "within a year or two"
A side effect: (just a note, not saying it's bad or good)
People often talk about there being spoiler sights up in months if not weeks showing all the details of everything,
For example, spoiler sight says:
"He is located in The Thronefast Inn on the 2nd floor. First door on the left at loc -1166, -11, 84."
Until, with a Living City, he's not!
Spoiler Site would have to say something like, "You need to find Thaddeus Questmobios in Thronefast someplace, he's a traveler so check the Inns, Bars, Eateries, or even tourist attractions"
Bankie said:If I went to a spot to buy my reagents one day and the shop was gone and I had to spend 15 minutes running around trying to find it that wouldn't be very fun.
This question has been raised already. Most here are advocating for different NPCs behind the counter, the way an entire family would be taking turns running the family business. The location of the shop would not be changed.
I definitely like the idea of adding some life to cities. I especially agree with the statements that cities are too empty of NPC's and should instead be bustling during the day and then activity should decrease at night. I don't really need them to be busying themselves with an actual purpose, just people mulling about would be good enough for me. Actually, I wonder if you could code them up to adapt to player character density to keep popular spots for players from getting overly crowded.
I would like to add an idea to the mix though. I would like to see faction-wide responses to player behavior. If server statistics say faction X is out of favor with the player base, then goods associated with faction X will not be sold widely or will be more expensive and benefits for supporting that faction increase. This would be a roughly self-correcting system so that players are incentivized to side with the underdog or obscure factions, thereby encouraging diversity in player choices. If generally nobody ever sides with the gnolls because their faction is seen as pretty terrible, then their goods will not be sold outside their faction and only the few players who do side with them will be able to get access to the gnoll's special everburning candle recipe.