Civilization

Waking up and doing my daily exercise has become a routine. Every day after gaming I would run around the block twice, doing some pushups, planks, squats and other body-weight exercises. After working out I would have something to eat for breakfast, usually eggs, toast and the occasional bacon or sausages. It was 0800 when I got a message from Evan in the group chat between him, Sabrina and myself.

"GUYS! Look at the forum. Some players have finally met each other and posted about it." - Evan.

"On it!" - Sabrina

After seeing the text message I go to my computer and turn it on. While waiting for the computer to boot up and I sipped water. I gaze at the screen as it blinks awake. Once, the computer booted up I opened the browser and searched for the forum. The first post's title was "I Met Another Player!!" and since Evan piqued my curiosity about the topic I clicked on the post and read the information.

"I Met Another Player!!" - CrystalWand

Hi everyone my name is CrystalWand!!

I started playing after the patch so I missed out on a lot of things :(. However, because of the changes, I was able to pick Traveler rather than Leader. In doing so when I spawned for the first time I was with a group of 3 NPCs who looked like they had been traveling for a while. In joining them I learned the ways of survival in the game by foraging for food and hunting.

I should probably talk about where I spawn. Somewhere in a mountainous environment with tall bare trees and snow falling onto the ground was the biome I was spawned in and this made life pretty hard. I opt for finding a warmer location so I convinced the NPCs to travel down the mountain and eventually we got to the bottom and it was a forest.

Very little greenery but even so it felt warmer as I traversed through the forest. A couple of days go by and in the distance, I see a trail of smoke. Now, this was not the first time I had seen a trail of smoke in the sky. The first time I saw it I almost died to goblins. Running into an encampment thinking it was going to be other players or NPCs was not the best decision of my gaming career.

So I carefully approached the location and WHAT DO YOU KNOW IT WAS HUMANS AND A PLAYER AT THAT!

I will not mention the player's ign since he/she did not want to reveal it however I did ask if it was okay to post about our interactions after meeting and they allowed it.

So, I will be calling the player I met P. P's NPCs welcomed us and my NPCs and looking at the patch notes I was a little afraid that my NPCs would leave me and stay at P's base. However, it was a very different scenario. Both parties got along well and helped each other but neither wanted to merge with the other party. The NPCs are loyal to whomever they are with first.

Most likely if the player allows them to leave the party will the NPCs decide if they want to stay at another player's base or leave with the original player. We tested this theory and IT WORKS! My NPC who I had told could leave and stay here actually left soon after but none of my other NPCs left. They did not even stop him from leaving. Likewise, P's NPC joined me when P asked the NPC to leave.

This means other players cannot steal NPCs from other players.

Now, I am with P and trying to build their small village into a better and bigger village. Slow progress but we can do it after all 2 heads are better than 1!

After reading the post I collected my thoughts and started to message the other two about it.

"They only tested if the NPC can leave more or less voluntarily. What if the player was killed by the other player would the NPCs rebel or be willing to go to the killer?" - Ian

"I had that thought too and looking at it logically I would think the NPCs that lost their leader would be taken as prisoners first and then slowly their outlook will change and the NPCs will admit to the new leader." - Evan

"Then isn't better to just kill any player?" - Sabrina

"Yes, but what if they come back with a bigger army?" - Evan

"The game is too early to have an army though?" - Ian

"Maybe for you guys. But I rescued more NPCs from nearby encampments and I am currently housing about 25 NPCs in my settlement. I bet Sabrina still has 5 HAHAHA" - Evan

"I DO NOT OK! I recused some NPCs too. I'm around 16 NPCs. What about you Ian?" - Sabrina

"Hmm, counting just humans then I have only 13 NPCs, but if it is all then 13 humans, 17 goblins, and 4 wolves. " - Ian

"WHAT!!! HOW??" - Sabrina

"That's just insane..." - Evan

"HOW ARE GOBLINS PART OF YOUR SETTLEMENT???? AND WOLVES TOO LIKE ARE THEY NOT MONSTERS??" - Sabrina

"They are monsters but at the same time, they are not. It's uhh complicated. " - Ian

"Ian I want to meet up with you in-game so you can just carry my people around. I'll give them all to you just give me a high position in the soon-to-be city." - Evan

"HRMP! I'll create a massive city here on these plains and then find a route to connect the two of us so we can develop a trade." - Sabrina

"Okay, guys we are getting sidetracked. Has anyone met with any other players yet? I think it will be happening more and more now since more players are joining the game. " - Ian

"Nope seen no one. Not a single elf even though I'm in a god damn forest with big trees and green leaves." - Evan

"Before I left the game I saw in the distance a smoke trail. It came from pretty far away so I was going to check it out the moment I go back into the game." - Sabrina

"Okay keep us updated Sabrina!" - Ian

"Will do." - Sabrina

"Don't die!!!" - Evan

"I would kill you if I died Evan!" - Sabrina

" :O well then." - Evan

With that I turned off the screen and focused on the rest of the day. Work, work, work and then dinner.. After all of that, it was finally time to go back into Settlement.