1. what is a NPC (non player character)? 2. is it a character that does not play? 3. is it a character without agency? 4. is it a character that quit this game to play another game? 5. or maybe a character that is merely reactive and not proactive (eg 3.) in video games, NPC, are characters or people that usually don't move much, or rather repeat regularly the same patterns given their creator programming (the developer) for example, take John, John will greet you with "Hello my friend, how are you today?" with a gentle smile and some hand movement John will repeat this behavior every day when you encounter him coming to 3., agency is a word often used vaguely, everyone having different meaning in mind or not understanding at all but not saying anything for fear of looking stupid my definition of agency-free person is that someone who is predictable in their behavior and acts according to the output of the many, society, the news, the norms, "common sense" Lee for example, born in France, 20 years old, believes that beer is cool and you need to work hard at school to be successful and that success is owning red car that move fast and do noise, a big house, a wife with big boobs (not too smart) and a big salary Lee got a job and work 9-5 and then go to the bar on the weekend with his friend to try to get this wife Lee watches Netflix and feel sad for being lonely Lee never read a book, think that's boring nerd shit, and never wrote something outside of French class homework Lee has no agency let's look at Alice now Alice born in France, 20 years old, she is curious about the world and regularly reflect on how it works, she writes, journal, think about her future, her life, make plans and life goals Alice is bored by what most people are interested in, find this surface level dogshit and would rather invest her time and energy in activities that compounds Alice has agency now let's go back to 4. and 5. which are similar to 3. so we can say that a NPC is a person with no agency then what is an example of a NPC in the "real world"? Lee is a NPC usually people that are financially poor over a long period of time are a good indicator of NPC (except if they are monks, artists, or those that quit the game, although if someone truly has agency, society will reward them for achieving extreme performance, regardless of them quitting society's game) why is it important to not be a NPC? do you want to have a predictable, repeatable life, to be a slave of others' thought pattern? or do you want to be free? to be unique, incredible, the best in your category? do you want averages or extremes? now it's time for you to stop being a slave it's easy to identify NPCs, by their information diet, their reasoning abilities, their predictability, their health, their wealth, and relationships #gaming #AI #NPCs