Posted on 10/17/2018 6:51:59 AM PDT by EdnaMode
Because it's funny, effective and mostly true.
Those are excellent.
The term came about in the 90’s when MMORPGs (multiplayer online video games) took the adventure PvM (player versus monster (computer)) into the PvP world of online play. But you still had an old phenomenon carry over from the PC and console games where you needed software driven characters to man the shoppes and contribute to quests/adventures. The term NPC was born to describe non players that were still in-game characters. They generally had very limited set of dialogue capabilities, if any at all.
These days, some NPCs can have extensive dialogue and even A.I. (to adapted to in game variables and user input) but it’s really always obvious you’re not dealing with a real human, and that’s the point of the meme.
While they are correct that the meme is ‘dehumanizing’ in a way, that is also why the meme is so effective in making the point. Lefties and snowflakes often seem to be reading from a script written by PC (that’s politically correct, in this case) programmers. They’re going from a script. They’re parrots, and while they may actually have a mind of their own, the generally only tend to use it to try to be clever (which usually fails miserably) in sticking with their programming.
You will be assimilated to service...us!
The Left don’t Meme. Kinda like “Charlie don’t surf”.
“I used to be an adventurer like you, but then I took an arrow in the knee.”
NPC (non-player character) was a term developed in the old module based role playing games of the 70s such as D&D long before computer games/consoles.
Where they called NPC’s then? They may have and I just don’t recall it. It seems to me that the NPC term entered more common vernacular when the games went online and you had to you needed a term to distinguish the software characters from the hoomins
The Left don’t Meme. Kinda like “Charlie don’t surf”.
~~~
I love the smell of meme in the morning. It smells like... melty snowflake
It will take awhile if it happens at all. Youtube has so many people who post non-political and helpful how-to videos that will keep the platform going for awhile yet.
Yes. It took a few years to evolve as things were taking off and D&D copycats came out, but by the time the 2nd or 3rd module sets came out and Dragon Magazine was launched it was a standard RPG term. I don’t have enough of the old mags to figure out exactly when, but it would definitly have been pre-early 80s. When I get home I’ll pull out my guide and confirm the year I first saw it.
The problem I’ve seen is that most of the memes resulting are themselves completely & totally STUPID! Seriously STUPID! ;)
Ahhh yes! D&D I was never involved with that. Were the NPC’s in that read from a card?
Sort of. The Dungeon Master (guy-in-charge-of-game) drew a card or rolled a dice (most common).
Then, based on the result of the dice, he would read out loud, “You meet a dwarf. The dwarf swings his axe at you. You receive two damage points.” (Or what ever. Sometimes the dwarf misses too.)
Anyway that “interaction” with the dwarf would simulated later as a visual (on-screen) non-character player swinging his axe at you.
Hey-ho! Hey-ho! NPCs have got to go!
That was one type of NPC. Others were characters that were used to ensure the story kept going the way it was intended. So maybe - you save the princess from the dungeon, but she adamantly refuses to leave until you retrieve her necklace.
The party discusses amongst themselves and says “sorry princess not worth our lives for a bauble.
She states “I cannot return without it or she will not be able to marry her prince charming as it represents her dowry. Besides it’s just sitting on the table in the long hall.”
The party confers - “nope not worth it”
She says “I can get you each 100 platinum and a magic item of your choice (DM note: up to 1 level above current character level)”
Party confers (DM note: any thief in party is awarded 10 gold from all other party members due to increased proximity occurrences) - “ok let’s go”
Party enters long hall (DM note: Princess gets lost at least twice enroute) and is set upon by 2 trolls, 5 goblins, and a pack of kobolds. Necklace if picked up by anyone other than princess will deliver an electrical shock of 5 hp. Princess will hinder any party member in a direct line between her and necklace as she attempts to retrieve delivering a -1 chance to hit and -1 Armor class. If she is able to place necklace on all monsters fall asleep.
Princess will remain with party until exit from dungeon. Party incurs a -2 penalty to hide and move silent skills. Every 4th turn party will lose a turn while waiting out princess temper tantrums and self-pity displays.
THAT is a good D&D NPC... If they aren’t named they are just monsters. An NPC is either a named monster who has lines or a character who drives the story in a direction.
Irrelevant whiny noise machine.
Yep.
Hilarious!
The reason it bothers them is because it’s true - and everybody knows it.
This kind of cutting ridicule is one of the best weapons we have to change and open minds.
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