A minor update which involved a lot of code:

I’ve added a basic framework for NPCs to MMORPG Tycoon 2. Before now, NPCs such as quest-givers were implemented and treated as very small buildings (in MS5, if you select a quest-giver and open the Info Pane, it even describes him as a building).

As of now, NPCs are a third class of game entity. Just like PCs and Monsters, they have attributes and abilities which they could use in combat. Also like PCs and Monsters, they are considered legal targets. I haven’t written any AI for them yet, so they will not respond at all if attacked, but they should automatically attack anyone who attacks them.

But after years or mindlessly doing everything that these guys demand, it’s sort of cathartic to spawn yourself into the world and beat up on a quest giver who won’t attack back.

Anyhow, right now quest givers get created at +10 levels compared against the region you place them in, but that’s just the default value; it will eventually be configurable, either through the Info panel, or perhaps by using different NPC creation tools.