Ooh, just found this, looks like a fun way to generate discussion. Worth a shot, anyway. :)
I'm just going to babble about my love of NPCs now.
I think an NPC, any NPC, is an extremely good thing to have in any rp. And I maintain that any and all persons or creatures mentioned in a post or backstory are, will be or could become NPCs. Therefore, while I've noticed that quite a few people say they're good to have around because they make the world richer, and I heartily agree with that, I'll be taking it a step further by saying that only those rps designed specifically to contain only two characters with amnesia in a deserted area who will never interact with anyone else, ever, shouldn't have NPCs. Mainly because, without them, there really would be absolutely no one else in the world, or there'd seem to be no one else, beyond the player characters. They're in the bakery giving them their bread, and above their heads dumping chamber pots out the window, and pouring their ale and off being villainous somewhere to incite people to complain, they're complaining about the villain, they're writing up quests for our heroes, they're paying them or complaining about their work ethic, driving by and splashing them with a mudpuddle, they gave birth to the character, presumably they do have parents somewhere, siblings? family pets? a goldfish? Without the NPCs, you've got no backstory or voluntary background interaction, and so, very little with which to shape the story and the characters' choices within it.
Of course, I don't think every NPC has the same importance, but they are all important, from the one you use to make your character a better person or to prove what they can do or to steal that really important bit of info from them that would have made the story end far too soon. Yes, even the ones without names. But then, I'm an NPC junkie and I do love to bring them in when I can get away with it. Because they do enrich the story and give life to the background. They're the difference between walking into an empty room or having to shout because the customers are being too rowdy or putting up a building next door. They may not seem important when they're there, but their absence, like a missing waiter when you want a refill on your drink, is noticeable.
I will readily admit that there are some places an NPC shouldn't be brought in, or shouldn't be elaborated upon and used so often they become their own character. I love a well-rounded and well-respected(by the players) NPC, but they certainly should be considered always and ever secondary to PCs in the writer's focus. They shouldn't be considered secondary as a character though, even if all one has to go on is that that black-haired punk just stole your wallet, one should still assume they had a reason that wasn't, we needed someone to steal that wallet to make for the drama or for plot points.
I'm wondering if my take on this is because I'm more usually in the 1x1 section or on boards that were entirely one world, and so there wasn't a single thread used to create said world. I could see too many major NPCs bogging down a storyline in a group rp. How do you guys class your major or minor NPCs? Is it just with the named or not named? Are only GM NPCs major? Is it when they have a starring role in the plot?
