NPC Comic
A comic about two blue cats who play World of Warcraft, and their gamer human. Written and drawn by Mary Varn.
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Continuation from two comics ago.
About a month ago I didn’t know about this Skyrim meme and someone mentioned an arrow to the knee on Google+. I thought they were serious. I had been walking around in the woods in Massachusetts over Thanksgiving and ran into some bow hunters sitting dangerously close to a hiking trail, so I didn’t think it was too outlandish.
Also, Brigwyn wrote an interesting post about the single-player feeling he gets from SWTOR and other MMOs.
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Looks like someone stole Lisa’s sweetroll
Wait, I know you!
That said, the memes from Skyrim aren’t too bad to me. They are everywhere, but it’s like “that’s what she said” jokes. I glance over the bad ones (which there are a lot of) and enjoy the good ones.
Wow! Thanks Mary for sharing my post. I really appreciate it!
BTW – I’m not sure what the Skyrim meme is all about but I heard lots of stories of hikers being turned into pin cushions as a kid growing up in the backwoods of Tennesee. (And if you’re wondering what I mean by “backwoods” google Bufford Pusser and that should explain it. lol)
Anyways, thanks again for sharing!
You’re welcome! And yikes! Bow hunters by trails give me the heebie jeebies.
Gee… That brings back memories. I miss Mike and Turpster
Wait, you two know each other?
Oh why am I not really surprised.
Skyrim meme is a commentary on the fact that almost every single guard in that game will tell you the exact same story about how they used to be an adventurer.
I met Brig at a Mike Schramm/WoW Insider meetup in LA in 2009, shortly after I started NPC.
Yeppers! And I have the pic to prove it.
Can’t believe it’s almost been 3yrs! We need to plan some type of reunion. 
I’m glad this Skyrim meme is fresh because I keep seeing new and original material around it. Hadn’t thought I’d see it here as well but it was very well played
Mmm, I don’t get the joke.
I cant stand the arrow to the knew jokes anymore. They were funny for the first few times, then they were just too everywhere. And they were always the same.
I think you’d have to play Skyrim a LOT to get the meme. It was cute at first, but after hearing it from every guard in the game hearing it elsewhere isn’t the best either.
That said, I always think it is funny when people talk about SWTOR in the single player sense. The only MMO’s I have played in the last few years where people actually group before level cap are LotRO and Rift.
Yes, SWTOR definitely works better as a solo experience than pretty much all the other MMOs I’ve played. But I’m a little surprised to see the “If you want that, why not play [insert name of solo game]” trope show up here. I get really tired of that response.
I play MMOs because that way I can play them with the one or two other friends I play online with … but I also end up playing them alone a lot, so I like solo play to be feasible. Also, for those of us who actually bother paying attention to an MMO’s story, it’s nice that the people who made SWTOR bothered to create a really good one. That’s true solo or not. My friend and I routinely go into each other’s story quests, not just for social points, but because we each like seeing how the other’s story unfolds.
Anyway, if you do play it solo, it’s possible to easily avoid all the group-required content, which is clearly marked. Or, try your luck! I have had better luck so far with PUGs for heroics in SWTOR than I ever have in any other MMO. I mostly abandon the ones that require a group of 4 (I hate having to stand around waiting to find a group), but with the 2+ ones you can often get good results instantly. (Of course, if you’re feeling really tough and you’re slightly overlevel, the 2+ ones can often be soloed with a companion ….)
There was a period of about a week where it was impossible to play SWTOR without general chat being full of “arrow to the knee” jokes. Fortunately that seems to have died down a bit.
It’s showing up here because it’s so common I don’t want to ignore it, and I think it’s a legitimate complaint from people looking for a certain kind of experience. I think it’s good to push developers to try new kinds of play, even if we’re happy with what we’ve got.
It’s not a complaint I share personally. I’m pretty shy in my MMO’s. I like to solo, but I still like the fact that there are other people around, chatting, playing, existing around me. And of course I DO like to group up now and then, especially with friends. It’s kinda how I feel about living in New York City in a way.
I guess I’m a little defensive because in many ways SWTOR is exactly the MMO I’ve been looking for for a decade – compelling and doable solo content, but with group content always handy when I want it – and I’m not happy with the numbers; for a game that supposedly had such a phenomenal amount of box sales, the population numbers I’m seeing on the planets every night (and I am on one of the busiest of the East Coast PVE servers – Juyo) seem way too low for me. I think I’m worried that all the naysayers and trash-talkers are killing this game prematurely. So forgive me if I’m jumpy.
No worries – I think it’s great for people to talk about what they like or don’t like about games. It all adds up to a broader variety of fun experiences for everyone. Well, hopefully, if developers hear the discussions.
Is there any data yet on how well SWTOR is doing? I’m under the impression it’s doing really well, but I’m surrounded by the hype of twitter and podcasts and my brother. Never thought to check the population numbers of the servers, good thinking. :O
i kill everyone who’s says that…then soul trap them
It could be worse. They could be acting out TF2 Meet the Character movies. (Me thinks Meet the Spy spoof would be good…)
SWTOR can easy be played solo, and it works fine becouse of the compainen system, but over the last week a friend of mine decide to change from REP to SITH, and start to play on the server I had siths on, and we been playing almost most of the game to lvl 30 together, talking over steam or skype, and the game is just more fun that way with a friend.
we always love the big sole games, but always thought it woud be fun if you coud play them with 1 or 2 other ppl.
Game like eldre scrolls, mass effect, dragon age, kotor.
It’s strange… I’ve always been a solo player. I loved leveling solo in WoW and I was very excited about the solo abiilty of TOR. And yet, the story has made it so that I actually enjoy leveling with my guildies more. We get to share our characters’ smart -ss responses and the social points are yummy and it allows us to easily do heroic quests and take turns sending our companions out to do crew skills without worrying about having them around… I’m on an RP server, too, and I waited for a friend to catch up because we decided that our characters were being put on the same mission by the Jedi council… then we decided to re-roll as knights and a third friend joined us, so the three of us are going through massacreing the Coruscant quests. It’s just so… fun!
At the same time, when they aren’t available, I still have a few toons that I can sneak away on and level by myself.
I love this comic, Mary. It made me laugh. It causes a giggle while touching on some hot topics in the gaming community. It’s funny, contrary to what others are saying, when I was in beta, I was indecisive about the game until I grouped with someone I normally play with, and then we both decided we didn’t care for the grouping experience in SWTOR compared to other MMOs.
But ultimately I’m glad SWTOR is so successful, even if it isn’t the mmo for me (that’s it really, I’ll only pay for one at a time and SWTOR didn’t quite cut it) because it provides competition for other MMOS. Competition is a good thing. It means both old & new MMOs must grow.
Anyway, Lisa’s comment makes sense to me as far as her personality goes. I imagine people are being more defensive about what’s going on outside of this comic, rather than within. And as a “writer” I know frequently what a character says doesn’t necessarily reflect my own opinion.
I appreciate that.
I kinda dug my own grave when I based Lisa’s life loosely on my own, but I figure I’ll dig my way out if Lisa keeps on being her crazy self.