More Recurring Characters

CONTAINS SPOILERS! STOP READING IF YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED ALL QUESTS.

So, in the main story we get a few recurring characters who "level" with the player, most notably Aledar and Tasim. There are a few others, too, such as Elphaba, Miner Linton, Lanu, and depending on how you classify him, Afelis. However, most of the characters we meet early-game are gone by mid-game (think Miner Linton - he's in Tunnel Trouble, then he reappears in The Mercenary. Same deal with Lanu - she appears in The Mercenary, then again in Corrupted Betrayal). All this to say - when playing A Journey Beyond, we find Elphaba again after around 40 levels of content without seeing her and Lucio is completely new, yet we're supposed to be heartbroken over their deaths.

Don't get me wrong, it's nasty that our team is gone, but the impact is dampened by the fact that we've never gotten to know the travelers, besides Aledar. And so, we come to my suggestion: insert more recurring characters throughout all the quests that "level" beside the player.

A few examples in mind:
Replace Alfonse and Roy (from The Corrupted Village) with Miner Linton (and maybe one more person?)
Replace the Alchemist (from Recover the Past) with Mel (from The Mercenary)
Replace Lucio (from A Journey Beyond) with Miner Minton (from Tunnel Trouble)
Replace Batelu (from Reincarnation) with Tarod (from Bob's Lost Soul)

These changes would cut back on the number of unique NPCs in-game, and I'm sure there are other quests that could use some replacements too. Alternatively, more characters like Afelis that appear occasionally in quests would add to the fullness of the world; players would meet other Fruman refugees that may have emigrated just before or just after the player arrived in Wynn. With recurring NPCs not tied to quests, players can meet them first in Ragni, then in Troms and not bat an eye at the large location change. I do recognize this second idea cuts back on Afelis' uniqueness, but they would still make the world feel a little more interesting.

Anyways, let me know what y'all think. This probably won't happen due to the upcoming Fruma story stuff, but it's still fun to think about.

 

... This is just something that'll naturally happen as old quests are revamped. Tasim is already planned to show up in Gavel

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Reclaiming the House

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Reoccurring characters are good, but this is not a good thing. You forget that these locations are meant to have an actual present population. Swapping residents with soldiers might satisfy a desire for a reoccurring cast, but it eliminates the stagnant resident population of Wynn and Gavel. It makes the world more empty for the sake of what's ultimately largely novelty.

 

good points from both sides

 

Guessed that. Very excited to see the story!

Guess I forgot to mention that in my original post. Yes, Elphaba is in that quest and she also hints to AJB afterwards I think, which is honestly enough I suppose.

I totally get that, which is why I only have a few quests described. If I really wanted to put in recurring soldiers in every possible place, I could find some way to do that for probably every quest.

I guess to better describe my recurring character idea, take Mel from The Mercenary replacing the Alchemist. Mel isn't described anywhere besides The Mercenary, and the Alchemist isn't seen anywhere besides Recover the Past. By merging the two, you wouldn't have a soldier showing up randomly, you'd have an Elkurn alchemist lending a hand to the Almuj military. Recurring character, yes, but also a very present part of the population. Another possible scenario is replacing Dren the blacksmith with the blacksmith from Bob's Lost Soul. Dren shows up out of nowhere, when there's a blacksmith already somewhat knowledgeable about mystic arts just down the road. Again, recurring character, yes, but it adds to the population while retaining some familiarity.

At the same time, like you said, I totally recognize some quests are just relics of the past, and to clarify, by "cut back on the number of unique NPCs," I mean cut back on the number of unnamed characters who could realistically have actual identities.

 

Must say as a self proclaimed Tasim fan im excited to see what's to come! Had almost suggested something along the lines of the OP. It always struck me as odd that it is said Tasim went to Gavel and then we like... never see him again (besides the Blizzard Festival)

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Would be cool if he talked about different adventures of his as you progress through the story. Kinda like Luigi in Paper Mario 2 TTYD

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I think with Aledar it makes sense we don't see much of him, as he's very secretive about his mission (and as we later see viewed the player as rather replacable)

 

This is a misreading. Aledar did not view the player as disposable, Aledar explicitly didn't want you to be the fourth.

 

Huh, my bad. Been a while since I played that quest. Thanks for bringing that up!

 

the wording implies he was only hesitant at first, and the plot of the quest really makes it seem like he only changes his mind after you are the only person in the expedition to not get killed/mortally wounded. its not a hard reading to come to.