Should a shop keeper be vital to the tale?

[LuLingqi1]

Hey guys! So, after doing the first bug test of the first 40ish minutes of my game, I learned a lot. One thing I decided to do, was involve the Shopkeeper this early on in the tale.


The spoiler is specific to my game, but scroll below it to see the TLDR that can be applied to all games!

Spoiler

In the original Script for the game, the Shopkeeper was named Anyanka, and served strictly as means of getting equipment. When I revised it, she became Vey, a Dragonborn who knew a lot more about the dungeon than she was letting on. Currently, she has a pretty weird quest line that involves finding about, six items. (It's really one, but you need the previous five to get the final one). This isn't a quest she gives to you either, it's strictly chance based. As in, if you don't pay attention to the areas and the things she says and other "npcs" say, youll miss the items and the quest. I have also enabled the choice to talk to her. When this happens, depending on which store you're at (She moves around the dungeon like magic with these hidden rooms), the dialogue is different. It won't change everytime you hit talk in the same store simply because it's super hefty dialogue. It does however change depending on who's in the party.


Anyways, what I'm getting at is, as of right now, Vey knows a lot about the universe. Probably more than the quintessential Loremaster of the party, who knows a whole lot. She even knows things about the characters that would be hard to recognize. She even pokes fun at the alternate routes in the game that gives you the first optional party member.


So in the long run, I intend for Vey to be able to be recruited as she is just as much a major player in the game as anyone else. However, is it too much of a pivotal role to push onto an npc who runs the shops? Like I already have scripted who would take care of the shop once she joins the party, but do you guys think a role of this scale could be utilized in a much different way? Perhaps, say, like she appears and cutscenes roll?


Too me, it seems like having her be vital to the story as a shop keeper would also make a lot of what she implies go unheard, and perhaps even keep one from realizing she is recruitable.


I thought it would be cool to have a magic shop keeper know a lot and be important to the story... But is that something, you as a player would appreciate? Would you go out of your way to find her hidden shops, read her philosophical/lore-revealing/foreshadowing dialogue, and perhaps even take her hints to go and recruit her? Or would you just see it as useless npc banter that doesn't matter?

TLDR; As a game designer, and player, would you be okay with a lot of the game's story weight being placed on a Shopkeeper?

 

[Alexander Amnell]

   I think most players are more likely to get exited when they realize that Vey actually has input to place on the story than to be put off with the fact that she's not a typical rpg npc whose only purpose is to aid in the stat progression of the party. If you are worried about them overlooking her completely, maybe have the first meaty dialogue be an unavoidable conversation the first time you talk to her, where maybe she explains a little bit of what the hell she's doing in a dungeon in the first place and a little background information to hint to the player that she's not just the mysterious stranger from RE4 rehashed into your game but a knowledgeable ally worth talking to from time to time as they peruse her wares.

 

[Ms Littlefish]

I tend to develop major NPCs like that quite a bit. If someone is going to be assisting and interacting with you during the entire duration of your journey; it just makes sense to me that you'd move beyond, "Hey, how are you? Thank you! Have a nice day!" because that's how real life is for me, too. When I worked in retail I always ended up moving beyond pleasantries with regular customers; sometimes a real dynamic developed. 


I'd definitely be pretty excited to see major NPCs have depth and input on the events of the story.

 

[LuLingqi1]

   I think most players are more likely to get exited when they realize that Vey actually has input to place on the story than to be put off with the fact that she's not a typical rpg npc whose only purpose is to aid in the stat progression of the party. If you are worried about them overlooking her completely, maybe have the first meaty dialogue be an unavoidable conversation the first time you talk to her, where maybe she explains a little bit of what the hell she's doing in a dungeon in the first place and a little background information to hint to the player that she's not just the mysterious stranger from RE4 rehashed into your game but a knowledgeable ally worth talking to from time to time as they peruse her wares.

I love that you brought up the merchant from RE4! That's actually a really good way of doing. The first dialogue isn't forced, simply because it's really hard to tell like when you would meet her and who would be where, I was able to use a conditional branch though to have her interact with the first optional party member.


I suppose I could force the dialogue. That wouldn't be too bad.


I kind of want her to have the mystery the RE4 merchant had, but also be integral to the story. I guess players would love that, as well.

I tend to develop major NPCs like that quite a bit. If someone is going to be assisting and interacting with you during the entire duration of your journey; it just makes sense to me that you'd move beyond, "Hey, how are you? Thank you! Have a nice day!" because that's how real life is for me, too. When I worked in retail I always ended up moving beyond pleasantries with regular customers; sometimes a real dynamic developed. 


I'd definitely be pretty excited to see major NPCs have depth and input on the events of the story.

Most of the npcs in my game have depth to the story, as most of them are important. I'm just not sure if many people would appreciate it in a shopkeeper npc, who really, isn't even an npc. It's good that you brought up how the interactions aren't so flat in real life. I think character interaction needs be so dynamic like in real life. Thank you so much for your input.


I'm just racking my brain with whether or not it's suitable, though. Arghhh.

 

[Marsigne]

If your audience is geared toward those who like story-heavy games and the like, then they surely will appreciate those little details and npc having story, without doubt. I would say it's suitable in that case.

 

[TheGamedawg]

Usually when I see a shopkeeper as a recurring character in a story, they're not being more than just that, a shopkeeper.  The idea of something like this is to introduce have a familiar face every now and then that the player can always trust and look forward to seeing.


A great RPGMaker game I like with a recurring shopkeeper was Off.  In that game, a character named Zacharie would occasionally show up and sell you things.  He was always on your side.  He was also pretty funny too, breaking the forth wall occasionally and even impersonating another character when they were away.  He wasn't necessarily an important character in the story, but he was a memorable one nevertheless.

 

[kaukusaki]

sounds like fun! I hadn't played RE series yet (but know about it from friends and my sis who loves the survivor horror genre) but having a shopkeeper who's more than such and can help out the party on a big quest makes me want to check it out. it's an interesting concept, having shopkeepers with lives than some generic faceless person behind a counter...