Episode 51 – NPC’s

NPCs at the Reading of the Will: When Real Life Runs on Bad Dialogue Trees

Some people show up to life like they’re straight out of a poorly coded video game – not the kind you’d choose to play but the kind you accidentally click on and can’t escape. Their dialogue options are limited, their empathy is permanently glitched and they just keep repeating the same tired lines, no matter what’s happening in the story.

Enter Bully, my very own Inheritance NPC.
He rolls up to the reading of the will with all the classic accessories: a shiny new pickup, a smug aura of self-entitlement and the emotional depth of a blank spreadsheet. Try to engage him in a real conversation? He short-circuits. Ask for fairness? He reboots into ‘But I’m owed more’. Confront him about ignoring texts and emails? New dialogue unlocked: ‘Well, I didn’t see that’.

Bully’s Dialogue Tree (Limited Options):

• ‘It’s not my responsibility.’
• ‘You always overreact.’
• ‘That’s not what happened.’
• ‘I don’t remember it that way.’
  [End conversation]

Attempts at human connection? Insufficient empathy. Quest failed.

Dealing with an emotional NPC like Bully is like trying to have a heart-to-heart with a voicemail. You pour your soul out and all you get back are canned responses that don’t even pretend to care. But here’s the kicker: unlike in games, these NPCs can actually hurt you. They can inherit the family land, withhold critical documents and sabotage any chance of peace – all while acting like they’re the protagonist of this story.

Spoiler alert: they’re not. They’re the glitch. You’re the one writing the story.

So, if you’re stuck in your own estate drama, wondering why someone seems programmed to destroy nuance and empathy, don’t take it personally. You’ve just unlocked the Advanced Narcissistic Behavior Pack (Inheritance Edition). It’s a DLC no one asked for, but here we are.

I’m over here dodging emotional landmines, taking notes and watching the cut-scene unfold. But I’m also rewriting the script, one where I don’t let the NPCs derail my story-line.

Lesson of the Day:

You can’t change an NPC’s dialogue tree but you can change the game. When someone’s stuck on a loop of bad behavior, stop trying to win their quest. Focus on your own story-line, set boundaries, protect your peace and let them glitch out in the background. You’re the player character here, not them.