I use NPCs quite interchangeably, and consider them to be largely disposable. When I was running events for the Ransacked Rug, there were at least four crucial NPCs that stuck around through the duration of the plot, and were often in the same scene. Attempting to level alts for them would have been a nightmare. It was far simpler for me to just describe them and their actions, as I would during a tabletop game, then to take the time and commitment necessary to level that many alts.
I would consider leveling an alt for the sake of specific representation if and only if a particular NPC is kept around for so long, and regarded as important enough by other players, that it becomes a full-fledged character in its own right to be played outside the course of the storyline for which it was made.
So in short, I don't consider characters that have specific models to be NPCs. They're characters. NPCs only get the visual representation afforded by verbal description, and I use that all the time.
I would consider leveling an alt for the sake of specific representation if and only if a particular NPC is kept around for so long, and regarded as important enough by other players, that it becomes a full-fledged character in its own right to be played outside the course of the storyline for which it was made.
So in short, I don't consider characters that have specific models to be NPCs. They're characters. NPCs only get the visual representation afforded by verbal description, and I use that all the time.
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Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine
Current Fate-14 Storyline:Â Merchant, Marine