i noticed in the streams something that annoyed me in eq for 16+ years and that is that corpses talk or emote.
example from stream : "Gadai Outlaw's corpse twitches for a moment and then slumps to the ground."
it really should be "Gadai Outlaw twitches for a moment and then slumps to the ground."
i hope this is something that will be addressed?
If this was already brought up in a previous thread, i missed it due to not knowing what to search for.
Interesting observation. I haven't heard anybody mention noticing that.
I don't really consider that to be talking or emoting though. That's more like a Dungeon Master's explanation of what's going on. And to be technical, a body's nervous system can twitch momentarily even after the person is actually dead. Sometimes people die before they even hit the ground, so personally I don't think it's incorrect to describe it as the corpse that is twitching and slumping. Now if the NPC was literally saying something that clearly showed it was actually still alive like "I will be avenged!" then it would be incorrect for the "corpse" to say that. But dead bodies can twitch and slump :)
Going to agree with Bazgrim and Zubi here, corpse is more of a descriptor so it fits just fine.
In technical terms, all thats happening is the npc's name has changed from "MobA" to "MobA's Corpse" to differentiate it in the database. The emote text is simply taking the npc name and adding the flavor text after it. So it would be setup something like A = NPC_Name , text_to_output = A + "twitches for a moment and then slumps to the ground". They could easily remove the corpse text from NPC_Name before outputting the text to client with something like A = NPC_Name , if A.Contains("corpse") then A = A.Trim("Corpse").
I have no problem with a corpse twitching.
What I often see in MMOs, however, is *speeches* from a dead NPC, usually a boss. Often along the lines of "You have killed me, but ......".
Granted there is a long literary tradition of death speeches but it can be taken to extremes.
I've no troubles over a corpse twiching. It's what they do lol....that and spasming...isn't that kinda a twiching too...? Anyhoo....no if a corpse actually talked as a player would, so long as it's somekind of undead I'm cool with it. Hmm.... now that would be interesting.... If a players corpse would rise as an undead it would really add a bit of spice lol.
i used the "twitches" as an example but anyoine who has played eq knows that it also has emotes like "An Orc pawn's corspe groans, dies and falls to the ground" or "an orcs corpse says "aargh" as it falls to the ground.
I believe that it is because the name of the NPC has been changed from "an Orc pawn" to "an Orc pawn's corpse" and that the text is just added to the end of the name without parsing the 's corpse off of it. I will look for a clear example in the stream to illustrate my point more clearly.
1.Chronology
Typically (as Durp says) the reason you see 'XXX's corpse' say something is because the game has removed/renamed (some games use different methods) the object 'XXX' and replaced it with 'XXX's corpse'. To fix this would require the 'death emote' to predate the switch rather than postdate. It rather depends on how the 'death event' is written and at what point the AI object hands over control to the 'death' process.
2. Innovation?
However ... this lends itself to potential innovation perhaps?
Imagine fighting a bunch of Bandits.
Somewhere into the fight, the wizzie returns from being AFK again to notice:
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse twitches',
he thinks nothing of it.
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse twitches',
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse twitches again',
Gandalfus says "whut??"
Tankius Mightius says "You still OOM, or any chance of nuking a bit?"
Heals-a-lot-of-fools says "perhaps this time watch your aggro?"
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse twitches yet again',
'A Bandit Witch Doctor's corpse twitches',
'A Bandit Shaman's corpse twitches',
Gandalfus says "guys....."
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse groans',
'A Bandit Witch Doctor's corpse twitches again',
'A Bandit Shaman's corpse twitches again',
Gandalfus begins to gather energy
'A Bandit Witch Doctor's corpse twitches yet again',
'A Bandit Shaman's corpse twitches yet again',
Gandalfus dissapears
YOU perceive Gandalfus has cast a [Self] spell of type [Escape]
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse gets up',
'A Bandit Witch Doctor's corpse groans',
'A Bandit Shaman's corpse groans',
'A Bandit Rogue's corpse twitches',
'A Bandit Warrior's corpse twitches',
'A Bandit Rogue's corpse twitches',
'A Bandit Defender's corpse twitches',
'A Bandit Sub Chieftain's corpse twitches',
Smelly Gnomesalot says "ADDs detected, watch your A$$"
Smelly Gnomesalot says "Mezzing [A Bandit Sorceror's corpse] .. you BREAK it you OWN it"
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse ignores [swirling lights of disco]'
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse cackles in glee'
'A Bandit Sorceror's corpse bathes [Smelly Gnomesalot] in dark flames'
Smelly Gnomesalot is burning like a cheap lantern
Smelly Gnomesalot burns for 126 danage
Smelly Gnomesalot burns for 67 damage
Smelly Gnomesalot is obscured by thick black sooty clouds
Smelly Gnomesalot is blinded
Smelly Gnomesalot is choking
Smelly Gnomesalot is panicked
Smelly Gnomesalot is wishing he was back at the inn with a flagon of beer
....
....
Gandalfus says "Phew! You guys alright there?"
....
....
Gandalfus has left the group
Evoras, isn't keen to group with Gandalfus
And, if they cast a DOT on you, you had to put up with "plargs corpse hits you for 3 damage"
"plargs corpse hits you for 3 damage"
"plargs corpse hits you for 3 damage"
"plargs corpse hits you for 3 damage" ... really. 8-)
<<< My opinions are not humble, they are just my opinions. >>>