Do you anthropomorphize the friendly npcs in Terraria?

Do you anthropomorphize the friendly npcs in Terraria?

  • Absolutely. I give them backgorund stories and build them houses that make them happy.

    Votes: 11 20.4%

  • Sort of. I might call them by their names or spend time with them even if for no real purpose.

    Votes: 19 35.2%

  • Not at all. I feel nothing when they die.

    Votes: 24 44.4%
  • Total voters
    54
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ExoticCharm

ExoticCharm

Terrarian
I saw some comments in some other topics that made me want to ask this question. For those that don't know, "anthropomorphize" is when you assign human traits to some type of object. I have noticed that people's opinion on this issue differs based on the game they are playing. For instance, most people flipped out when "you know who" died in FF7.

But what about Terraria? Do you treat them almost as if they were real? Or are they just pixels to you?
 
i'm a bit between absolutely and sort of.
i like to talk to them, especially since i've seen Tobuscus Terraria playthrough. he does it in a way that makes even the game feels funnier.
I've doubts of giving them better houses, because i've to decide what's better for me, or for them.
 
I make them bases in hell and then "accidentally" dig a lake of lava into said bases. That should tell you just how real I think they are.

It's one of the reasons why, for example, "scary" games don't scare me. It's just a game. It can't hurt me. Heck, games let me do a lot of stuff I don't want to do IRL, like going on murderous sprees and seeing the death count rise to the thousands (Dynasty Warriors.) They help you deal with your darker side, and as long as you acknowledge the line between what's real and what's fiction, you won't be on the news, no matter what some "worried parents" may want you to believe.

#blamebadparentingnotgamingmusicorbooks.
 
Unfortunately, I agree with Baconfry here... The NPCs in Terraria aren't much more than a lifeless shop with legs. All they do is walk around randomly during the day and stand in their home motionless at night. My opinion might change though when 1.3 comes along...
 
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I like to make them the prettiest houses I can (Not pretty at all) and treat them respectfully because it helps me have a reason to build.
 
While Terraria's NPCs are by no means endearing or interesting characters, I do try to keep them relatively safe and... happy, for the roleplay perspective (not the Fisherman though, I always keep him in an actuated room with lava underneath ;p). But what do I think of them? I think of them as... property, mine to make or break however I see fit.
 
I don't anthropomorphize game characters in any game, least of all in terraria. This is not a jab at the devs, but the NPC's are way too stupid and unrelatable for me to have any chance of considering them as anything more than moving pixels.

I build rooms for each of them according to their themes, since that way I have a reason for building. But should any of them die, let's say, during a solar eclipse or a boss battle, the only thing that bothers me is that I now have one or more useless, empty rooms and have to wait for the :red:ers to spawn all over again.
 
I would say I treat them better than mere cattle but worse than individual people.

For, you see, I am the lord and master of their rhealm. They are my peons.

I give them comfortable accomodations, but at the absolute minimum expense.

... I also like to pretend the Stylist is my waifu.
 
I'd vote for "Not at all. I feel nothing when they die." But that's untrue for my homeworld. I'm used to their npc names and it'd annoy the crap out of me if one of them would die. :)
 
I'm on the fence with this one.

I make them nice houses and care for them the best I can, but they're just so dumb.

Looking forward to 1.3 and the NPC improvements it will bring.

Baconfry said:
Roughly as intelligent, too, when it comes to self-defense.
Click to expand...
Yeah. It's hard to feel sorry for them when they get themselves killed.

"You should stay indoors at night. It is very dangerous to be wandering around in the dark."
*hears a knock at the door*
"I wonder who that could be..."
*wanders out*
Andrew was slain...
 
Are you kidding? The NPC's probably couldn't be more boring and lifeless. I mean I'm glad I have a way to get money from stuff I don't want anymore, but heck, the only reason I have an NPC house is because I made it my goal to get all of them. I rarely even buy things from them. I also have a slight hatred towards the tinkerer. Who knows how much money I have spent on cruddy reforges...
 
I built them an awesome hotel, with a dining room and a crafting room and even bathrooms, glass backwalls for windows in each room so they can look outside, and a pool(even though they never go in there) and I took extra measures to prevent Corruption from ever reaching it, all for them. And I used a White Torch for every room because it's the brightest, and light switches hooked up to each.

And I like to talk to them a lot. They're funny! And the Nurse always seems concerned when you're at low health. I just wish you didn't have to kill Guidy for the Wall of Flesh. :(
 
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Individual NPCs by name don't have stories (for instance, Cody the Guide isn't any more distinct to me than Connor the Guide), but I do have a working, in-development headcanon for why they're around, why they keep coming back, why their names change even when they're completely identical to the previous one, etc. I kind of liked it more when they didn't have names and were just identified as their profession/whathaveyou, sort of like my early interest in TF2 when it first came out. It made filling in the blanks more flexible.

It's less of a real deep connection to them as individuals, and more my deep fascination with worldbuilding. It rarely EVER comes into the picture when I actually play the game. The game mechanics just don't gel with my usual depth of storytelling. But that doesn't mean I won't tool over that story outside of the game's context when I'm not playing.
 
I control my NPCs like slaves.
If one I don't want moves in, the twins kill them in the crossfire by "accident"
 
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