I don't disagree that NPC dialogue is repetitive at this stage and that there is clearly only a limited set of phrases being cycled. But NPC dialogue is only one of many textual components in the game. It's probably on a list; a prioritised, time-dependent, does-this-add-more-than-that-to-the-game list. All text has to be QAd, translated, checked, inserted into dev releases and tested. It's not a case of populating a file called dumbNPC.txt and uploading it to an AWS server. Maybe it's on hold because of another feature, maybe it's on hold because the dialogue system is slated for replacement at some point in the future. Who knows? Game dev is a matter of working with priorities. Any 'little' feature might not take much time on its own, but it's time a dev isn't doing something else. That all adds up and a dev lead makes a call.
Player submitted dialogue saves no time as it would all need to be verified and checked for consistency by a QA team and leads to more IP complication than it's worth. Submitters try to drop in dialogue from their favourite films or TV shows. TL;DR the idea has been investigated and rejected already.
FMV dialogue? It takes weeks to do this to match the quality level seen elsewhere in the visuals, its simply not viable with a team the size of the one at FDev. They'd face the combined criticism of the videos themselves and 'why are you wasting time making video when you should be working on the game'.
FDev read out loud Galnet? And stick two fingers up to the community streamers and youtubers that have been doing this for years? I doubt it.
That's before you get to the consistency. What about mission text. What about in-game non-NPC description and dialogue, what about scannable artefacts. It's simply too big.
Perhaps outsource it? Have you any idea how much that costs?
Even with all this you'll get the same sarcastic responses as I've seen already on this thread. "There is a story?" In place of "I don't read GalNet" you'll have "I don't watch the videos, who wants cutscenes in an MMO?"
The priorities in the game are set. You can't please all of the people all of the time, so you aim to please the maximum number you can with the resources you have.
As for the book I'm writing. No one at Frontier has the time to do that, lots of people want books. Not everyone does. For less than the price of a shipkit you can have a story in the ED universe that expands on what GalNet has been telling you, coupled with in-game mysteries and actual content... and (hopefully) be entertained for several hours.
Like that shipkit you can buy it if you want to, or not. The choice is yours. The same goes with the story. You're not the hero, you're just a bystander. Get involved if you want, or don't bother. The story doesn't owe you anything, you're just some random person in a spaceship.
So far that book represents 243 days of writing effort and time and it will cost you the price of a few beers when it comes out. That is known in the trade as a schmucking bargain.
Cheers,
Drew.
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