In traditional "Journeying" archetypes (the Hero’s Journey, the Odyssey, the Road Trip), the traveler collects experiences like badges. The mountain is a challenge. The storm is an obstacle. The stranger is a plot device.
Do not be angry. This is the NPC’s afterlife. In the deletion, they achieve the one thing the player cannot: an ending. The cruel irony of Journeying in a World of NPCs -v1.0- -Nome- is the mirror it holds up to the traveler. Journeying in a World of NPCs -v1.0- -Nome-
Today, I broke the protocol of Journeying. I did not walk past. I stood directly in her collision box. I blocked her arm animation. the Road Trip)