Given that I hate escort missions, this is currently incentivized backwards: Why wouldn’t I wait for the machines to finish them off and then just take the guns, rather than do an annoying escort mission to then maybe be given a gun? 
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Further more… if they survive the robot themselves, you know what you’re dealing with.
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If they survive the onslaught, they probably think we are the bumbling fools who need to be escorted home.
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There would be perks to keeping them alive, rather than just scavenging their corpse.
And they won’t necessarily be escort missions, there could be various types of them with their own little twists.
And I hate escort missions as much as you do, so the NPCs should probably not be as dumb as a doorknob, moving at a snail’s pace. They would probably react accordingly to dangerous situations as much as a real person would, rather than just having a huge Heath meter and no offensive mechanisms. There wouldn’t really be waves of enemies scripted to attack you once you reach a certain point of your journey. The only ‘Scripted’ machines you would encounter during these rescue operations would be the ones you have to save them from when you initially find them. The only other ones you could encounter are the ones just wandering around the world as is.
And you could wait until they die and then scavenge their corpse, but it wouldn’t be very rewarding, as the robots would probably scavenge them before you get to them.
they would have to add some AI stuff to make the npc’s better , but it think its a great idea , like +1
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Rather than hauling NPCs around as dead weight, how about Projects within bear hotel?
In Mad Max video game (another Avalance Studios game), there are Strongholds in the wasteland, acting as big cities. If you 1st arrive there, it’s desolated and almost empty of NPCs. But you can take Project quests from NPCs (e.g go to X spot, collect X items OR ice X enemies OR find X items from world). Once you fulfill the quest requirements, the stronghold folks build the project within stronghold (e.g water tower, storage, oil well), making stronghold look more alive, where every project you complete also helps player char.
It’s more in tune of base building by helping community to thrive while providing you a benefit as well.
As how to implement it in GZ, hard to say. Let me think a bit…
Given that the bear hotel is the “stronghold”, within there, there could be several Projects. E.g:
“Survey crew” - find 5x binoculars and bring them back to quest giver.
Visual effect: Some NPCs in bear hotel have binos hanging on them, indicating their “scout” status.
Effect for player: every 2 in-game hours one or two random robots are flagged in the same region with e.g similar icon to rivals icon but not black on red but black on yellow.
“Recall” - find 10x field radios and bring them back to quest giver.
Visual effect: more NPCs within the hotel itself, mainly in hotel rooms.
Effect for player: unlocks higher tier Projects.
“Paramedic” - find specific quest item(s) within specific area (bunker).
Visual effect: paramedic response packs laying inside hotel.
Effect on player: dispenser for 1 advanced first aid kit every 4 in-game hours.
Etc. Can’t come up with any others at current moment.
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@Ennui, bless you, you hate all sorts of things, and mildly dislike the rest 
I’m glad I’m not trying to make a game just for you - I’d be in despair by now!
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Don’t like much really, do I? But what I do like, I love passionately.
So, close enough to a fair assessment.
But then, Sturgeon’s Revelation asserts that 90 % of everything is crap, so I feel well justified!
One thing puzzles me though: That of all the examples in all the gin joints, you picked escort missions, when everybody hates those!
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Oh wait, in a way, I feel hard done by.
It’s entirely possible to make a game I like. I have gone on record multiple times (so often in fact that I figured people would be bored of it by now) saying how much I loved the “original version” of the game (minus the bugs), i.e. how it played after release / during beta. So I don’t quite hate everything yet. Give me time!
And it’s exactly because I loved it so much that I have an urge to protect it. Given that I thought that that incarnation was great, it stands to reason that any change has the potential to be a change away from that greatness.
So in a manner of speaking, as relevant here, I really only hate one thing: That weird conviction that the game must grow and change constantly, at any price. 
That’s like buying an orange, coming home, and finding that the farmer sneakily exchanged it for a turnip! It should not be accepted!
But really, I bought the game to have fun.
Criticizing the heck out of it is part of that fun.
It means I love the game. If I thought it complete shite, it wouldn’t be worth engaging with in the first place.
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The more you know! 
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Yes, but he do post links to some pretty okay Youtube videos
And that’s the best part of becoming a bitter old fart: you’ll get so much joy and satisfaction from hating everything. It’s very rewarding, actually. Don’t you worry, mate … you’ll get there! I see so much potential in you 
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You have no idea how long I spent trying to get the scientists to follow me out of the Black Mesa when I was being Barney in Blue Shift. I tried everything. I just want to save someone.
What everybody hates is the sewer mission! 
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I was one of the poor chums who bought Hunt Down The Freeman, expecting it to be a half-life 3. Oh, how I was mistaken.
And in hindsight I don’t think I should’ve played as many violent games as I did as a kid. 
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Interesting - I have just read a book about soldier’s trauma, and how difficult it is to kill a human being, and the damage it does to you (never mind them!). Gettysburg was the classic bayonet battle, but only 2% of the dead were bayonetted.
So what modern armies do (as we did) is to train on human shaped targets, and the book made the point that close-range face to face killing in the most graphic games has the same effect - desensitising. Doom was monsters and I was all right with that. The first time I played a computer game with humans in it was the first Starwars one, where you got sparks, rather than blood. I’m very glad we are fighting machines - I wouldn’t play it now if it were humans, I don’t think - I played that game IRL once and no more! I actually find it quite distressing to find dead civilians in this game…
Possibly too much information! 
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You know, I’ve been saying that for a while.
Trouble is, I can’t remember what convinced me of that. Dead Island, sure, but that’s only two games. Now I’ll be agonizing about this all night! Vampire: Bloodlines?
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I never really got into shooters, more so RPGs like the Fallout Franchise. I guess half-life is an exception though. I don’t like killing people, even virtually, I try and be a pacifist in any game that allows you to do so.
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It was so good - so immersive. And in fact it was monsters and very bad people, so it was an exception for me too! And the NPCs were fab (back on topic - it’s a Bootie first!)
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Heh. I seem to be the exact opposite. Was a bit shrug on HL (loved Portal, though!), and always get the “Shoot the perp!” targets at the range. Isn’t it lovely we still all get along so well?
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Ironically it seems like I’ll get a free HL:Alyx. So, I don’t know, hate me?
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