{"rewrite":{"id":"r_db3094dcb067d4e31a1ff750","clusterId":"c_e72c97a128c7b82f4da2ded1","slug":"a-researcher-explains-why-players-mourn-procedural-crew-characters","model":"deepseek-v4-1-flash","headline":"A Researcher Explains Why Players Mourn Procedural Crew Characters","summary":"Jonas Pastoors of Breda University of Applied Sciences spoke at the Game Industry Conference in Poznan, Poland, on designing characters the player commands but does not embody. He calls them crew characters and splits them into authored types, handcrafted by writers, and procedural types generated by systems. His examples include XCOM 2 soldiers, RimWorld settlers, Darkest Dungeon heroes, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, and Karlach from Baldur's Gate 3.","whyItMatters":"The talk gives a working vocabulary for the middle ground between NPC and player character, which is where long-running strategy and tactics games get their emotional weight from units the player never authored.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003ePastoors said the classification came out of an argument with a friend. When he called the Baldur\u0026#39;s Gate 3 companions wonderful NPCs, the friend asked whether a character the player can command and even control is really an NPC at all. That question shaped the categories he presented: bots, whose faces are hidden and who are replaced when defeated; NPCs the player cannot control; player characters with a story and inner life; and avatars with no personality.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eCrew characters sit outside all four. The time spent with them is gameplay, not a cutscene aside, and Pastoors said that makes them the strongest candidate for a relationship with the player. Authored ones cost design resources and are limited in number. Procedural ones come from a system that assembles story parts into people.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Procedural soldiers in XCOM 2 and RimWorld get names and permadeath, which is enough for grief. Jonas Pastoors says authored characters carry writer intent while procedural ones carry player investment.","twitterPost":"XCOM 2 and RimWorld soldiers are never written, only generated. Pastoors argues that gap is where player attachment lives.","threadsPost":"XCOM 2 soldiers and RimWorld settlers are generated, not written, and players still mourn them. Jonas Pastoors separates authored crew characters from procedural ones: the first carries a writer's intent, the second carries the player's own history with the system.","newsletterBlurb":"Jonas Pastoors of Breda University of Applied Sciences used GIC Poznan to sort out the characters players command but do not embody. He calls them crew characters and divides them into authored ones crafted by writers and procedural ones generated by systems. XCOM 2 soldiers, RimWorld settlers, Darkest Dungeon heroes, and Karlach from Baldur's Gate 3 all appear as examples.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"Game Spark\",\"url\":\"http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/11/08/174616.html\",\"title\":\"Why do we cry for soldiers who have endless replacements? Learning about \\\"attachment\\\" game design from XCOM 2, RimWorld, and Darkest Dungeon\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":5598,"outputTokens":768,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1794095397,"createdAt":"2026-11-07T23:46:43.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-11-07T23:48:51.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-07T23:48:51.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_e72c97a128c7b82f4da2ded1","canonicalTitle":"死んでも代わりがいる兵士に、なぜ私たちは涙するのか？『XCOM 2』『RimWorld』『ダーケストダンジョン』に学ぶ「愛着」のゲームデザイン","representativeArticleId":"a_40cccf4f244a582193373824","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[\"XCOM 2\",\"RimWorld\",\"Darkest Dungeon\"],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"op_ed\",\"domain\":\"games\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-11-07T23:00:02.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-11-07T23:00:02.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-11-07T23:48:52.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"Game Spark","url":"http://www.gamespark.jp/article/2026/11/08/174616.html","title":"死んでも代わりがいる兵士に、なぜ私たちは涙するのか？『XCOM 2』『RimWorld』『ダーケストダンジョン』に学ぶ「愛着」のゲームデザイン"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":["XCOM 2","RimWorld","Darkest Dungeon"],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"op_ed","domain":"games","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["Jonas Pastoors of Breda University of Applied Sciences gave the talk at the Game Industry Conference in Poznan, Poland.","The talk was titled \"To care or not: Designing characters for the right emotion.\"","Pastoors calls player-commanded, non-player beings crew characters.","He divides crew characters into authored types and procedural types generated by systems.","His examples include XCOM 2 soldiers, RimWorld settlers, Darkest Dungeon heroes, and Karlach from Baldur's Gate 3."],"pageLinks":{"healthSlugs":["xcom-2","rimworld","darkest-dungeon"],"storySlugs":[],"entities":[{"slug":"xcom-2","supported":0,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":1,"overall":"unverified","story_count":1,"has_dossier":false},{"slug":"rimworld","supported":0,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":7,"overall":"unverified","story_count":7,"has_dossier":true},{"slug":"darkest-dungeon","supported":1,"disputed":0,"contradicted":0,"unverified":2,"overall":"green","story_count":5,"has_dossier":true}],"stories":[],"entitiesOk":true,"storiesOk":true}}