Suggestion: Unused Characters as NPCs

SockFiddler

So I have (and love) Earthtear Cavern. I figure my toons are a kind of crime ring and this house would be their hang-out, where they go to rest, recuperate and stash their loot. They already have a banker, a merchant, a fence, a training ground...

But that place is huge and somewhat lifeless and lonely. Wouldn't it be cool if we could choose 3 or 4 of our unplayed characters to just hang out there?

My thinking is that upon placing them (and not ALL of them, just a handful) we'd be able to access a menu that offers emote profiles - I'm guessing NPCs must have something similar already, because you don't see people in the Mage's Guild throwing buckets of water, nor do you see guards reading books. So you have a series of profiles "Cleaner", "Drunkard", "Scholar", "Trainee" whatever, you choose one that you like and, boom! They start moving around, performing little actions and inhabiting the space you've put them in.

It'd be near if they started to interact with your stuff, too - kinda like in Skyrim when your companion would start chopping wood or stirring a pot. But they could hit dummies or go fishing or... whatever, really. Maybe they could even greet you when you pass them, or scold you: "Shouldn't you be out earning coin?" or whatever.

If you then decided you wanted to play that character, it just gets removed from the space while you play it. And when you're back on a different character, the one you placed gets returned as an NPC.

I'd just love to see more life and interest in these vast spaces we have. It's nice to be able to put out pets, but they don't move around much. And the mounts make some interesting noises, but they're otherwise completely still and lifeless. It'd be awesome to see my main 4 characters hanging out and having some kind of purpose outside of me deciding it's their turn to be summoned into existence.

Anyway. That's my idea! Happy trails,

Sock

(I've had this idea for a while, but I've recently discovered the "LorePlay" add-on, which is AMAZING and really brings my characters to life when I'm playing them. So, instead of waiting idly somewhere, they now do situationally-appropriate emotes, like dancing in a city or holding a torch in a cave. And I'm thinking if that's what an add-on can do, what could the devs achieve?)

tim99

great idea! +

and to make it also usefull, you can access their inventory when go to your npc-character and start interacting or talking.
It you be similar to the banker, place and retrieve items.