Gaming terminology is like cosmopolitan slang — it is always develop and easy to get lost in , especially if you are n’t very tuned in to on-line gambling residential area or a younger gamer . Gaming terms can also leak out into the real cosmos and take on new meanings in day - to - day conversations . You are n’t alone if you get a little lost keeping it straight sometimes .
NPC is a play term that ’s been around for a prospicient sentence , but it has latterly taken on a newfangled substance and is being used more ofttimes by folk outside of gaming . permit us break it down for you .
What does NPC mean in gaming?
NPC stands for “ non - playable character ” in gaming . It ’s a condition used in video secret plan and tabletop gaming to distinguish between characters in a secret plan that are controlled by the instrumentalist and characters see to it solely by the game ( or by “ the computer ” ) . Nonproliferation Center can range from characters that subsist only to give birth exposition through dialogue in cutscenes to fiber the players can interact with directly and even companion characters that toy the plot along with them .
Pictured above is the NPC Cortana fromthe Halo series . In the franchise , Cortana is an artificial intelligence activity that travel along with Master Chief ( the player character ) throughout the game , promote the news report through dialog mid - game and during cutscenes but never governable by the player .
NPCs add up in all shapes and forms — post - apocalyptic merchandiser and camarilla leaders in the RPG series Fallout , neighbors in the farming simulatorStardew Valley , or rival Nintendo characters in a stave ofMario Party 8 .
What does NPC mean outside of gaming?
Over the past couple of years , the term NPC has been used more and more outside of gaming . In on-line communities and in - somebody , some people have been using NPC as an insult to describe individuals comprehend as lacking independent thought or blindly succeed course . It can describe hoi polloi who may be perceived as generic , without any special characteristic that make them stand out ( unlike the principal playable fictional character in a telecasting game ) .
The term has been popularized on social sensitive , where it present up in several ways .
On YouTube , citizenry started place videos ofencounters with strangers whom they conceive to be Nonproliferation Center . Often endorse with implemental euphony from the RPGSkyrim , which is full of NPCs delivering dialog without being prompt , these telecasting typically boast citizenry who are either speaking in an leftover monotone , are repetitious or harping on a specific subject , or just talk without really addressing anything say by the person shoot ( as if going off a limited script ) . Unfortunately , this vogue of video is often exploitative and features people under the influence of drugs and alcohol without their consent .
Some content Godhead also pretend to be veritable video game NPCs in skits and as prank — devote alien sidequests , walk in an funny style like Nonproliferation Center in Grand Theft Auto , or repeating generic duologue .
And in perhaps the most extreme and confusing NPC acting movement , some creators on TikTok bulge out hosting NPC inhabit streams where they take over the same duologue and actions repeatedly based on contribution come from their viewers . CanadianTikToker Pinkydoll is the most well - known and popular NPC banner , with over 1.6 million follower on the platform . consort toan consultation with Vicelast year , oppose to gifts sent by viewers , she was spending six hours a day on TikTok , seven days a workweek , and making thousands of dollar a day .
There ’s a pot of NPC substance on the internet right now , and a wad of it is authentically funny . But if someone call you an NPC , they probably are n’t saying it in a overconfident light .
