This suggestion is based on something I noticed in Chiconis - namely the random hatchie running back and forth to that crystal, which got me thinking. Basically, I see a lot of empty/almost empty settlements and even towns in the game, and likely that’s due to there simply not being enough dev bandwidth to go and create nonessential NPCs for each of these locations.

So rather than having the devs try and come up with endless lore and NPCs to fill out the world, why not have a thread where players can suggest NPCs with their own little backstory to populate various villages and empty locales across Istaria?

That way, the devs would only have to implement the character models, movement paths (if they move) and speech text, but the NPCs themselves would have depth and everywhere you go would eventually feel like a real town with real people living in it. Not only that, but for future updates the devs could build on these NPCs, making them into quest givers/merchants/etc if need be. It would also encourage players to get out and explore all of the towns and settlements of Istaria, because in each there would be interesting mini stories to discover and NPCs to befriend.

I’m not talking about incredibly in-depth NPC backstories either, though no doubt there’s plenty of excellent writers just itching to design a masterpiece here. I’m thinking a lot of simple stuff like “Farmer Joe and his wife, Betsy, who left the hustle and bustle of Tazoon for the more peaceful and pleasant air of Heather. They dream of starting their own ranch, but for now make their living as humble grape farmers.” Just a few folks like that peppered around and the world suddenly seems so much more there.

You know, normal folks just trying to survive and scrape by in a world filled with blight and death.