Could it be done? With the new near Turing test AI chatbots, could you route conversations through the internet to a chatbot and have NPCs actually talk to Players? Would that be cool? In an open world like ED it might be the most appropriate game for it.
Chatbot for ED, cool or not?
- Thread starter Jason R. Starkiller
- Start date
Why go to the great lengths or programming refinement required for a chatbot? If you want predictable, badly formatted and thoughtless text that looks like it comes from NPC's - just have guild recruiters 
Why go to the great lengths or programming refinement required for a chatbot? If you want predictable, badly formatted and thoughtless text that looks like it comes from NPC's - just have guild recruiters
Hiyooooo! <rimshot>
I think a lot of that stuff suffers strongly from the "uncanny valley" effect.
Some of it is really quite sophisticated, but just subtly not quite right.
That pervasive "not quite right" interrupts my suspension of disbelief far more than in lore canned chatter - the predictability of canned text consistently sets the stage and illustrates a skeletal narrative that I can flesh out with my imagination.
I don't think we're quite to the point where we could produce a chatbot that would act as a reliable narrative force - that would honestly be more difficult in some ways than simply making one that could pass for human given casual observation.
Some of it is really quite sophisticated, but just subtly not quite right.
That pervasive "not quite right" interrupts my suspension of disbelief far more than in lore canned chatter - the predictability of canned text consistently sets the stage and illustrates a skeletal narrative that I can flesh out with my imagination.
I don't think we're quite to the point where we could produce a chatbot that would act as a reliable narrative force - that would honestly be more difficult in some ways than simply making one that could pass for human given casual observation.
Inb4 a thread compiling all of the silly things NPCs said.
I am in support of it for amusement.
Yeah, that is kind of it. In the same way that FD procedurally generated the Galaxy, rather than coding each system, would using one of the advanced chatbots, properly instructed, be an improvement over the current canned NPC chat. I got thinking about this after being repeatedly spammed by NPC canned messages. You could just make sure the chatbot conversation starts with the information the game was already going to give, but let the player go where they want to from there, or ignore as they wish. Add in information about Galnet News and players could amuse themselves talking about recent ED events however they like.
Very experimental, but in many ways I am as interested in this game as a technical feat as much as a game.
Very experimental, but in many ways I am as interested in this game as a technical feat as much as a game.
Oh yeah, nothing like hearing "you're clean, thanks for your cooperation Commander" over and over, or "what are you carrying?"
Just hit your text screen next time you're in a RES or CZ, same comments spamming the entire time. Who wants to hear that?
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How about "I was about to leave the game anyhow"? How does that affect your immersion?