Why are Dragon's Dogma 2 players planning to kill NPCs in-game?

Forget slaying dragons, the biggest threat in Dragon's Dogma 2 might be the friendly townsfolk. With the game's launch seeing some technical issues, PC players are facing frame rate woes, and some have devised a drastic solution: a mass NPC culling. But before you start picturing a medieval killing simulator, there's a surprising reason behind this planned virtual slaughter.

The game's heavy focus on CPU resources seems to be the cause of the problem here. Since every NPC takes a chunk of resources from the central unit, players theorize that killing these characters would free up said CPU load. This could potentially free memory that can then be used for improving performance.

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Why are players killing NPCs in Dragon's Dogma 2?

The idea to kill off NPCs stems from Reddit (Image via Reddit)

Dragon's Dogma 2 has seen a slightly bumpy launch on PC with FPS issues, which may be linked to the heavy CPU demand. This is where killing NPCs come into the fray, at least according to those in the community.

The game's PC version is experiencing frame rate issues, and some players believe the culprit is the sheer number of NPCs. The aim isn't a complete ghost town, but rather a performance boost.

Unlike the first game, the sequel's NPCs are complex and demanding on the CPU. In areas with many NPCs on screen, the CPU struggles to keep up, leading to frame rate drops.

The goal is to eliminate non-essential characters like random townsfolk or guards who don't play a major role in the story or gameplay. Ideally, you would want to keep shopkeepers, quest-givers, and important characters alive. However, creating a clear distinction between "essential" and "expendable" NPCs can be tricky.

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Is killing NPCs improving Dragon's Dogma 2 performance?

Killing NPCs may improve FPS temporarily (Image via Capcom)

The short answer is yes, it does fix the problem, but only temporarily. Many players argue­ for eliminating unnecessary non-playe­r characters (NPCs) as a performance fix. The­ir proposal is to kill off a big chunk, thereby reducing NPC count, which will decrease the CPU workload and enable smoothe­r gameplay.

Although the idea stems from a seemingly logical interpretation that killing off an NPC would remove its data and resources from the CPU, it is unlikely to be the actual scenario. Most NPCs in Dragon's Dogma 2 can be revived from the morgue after a few in-game days, which works against the collective theory fans have come up with.

Killing off an NPC did seem to provide a temporary boost during my gameplay, but it was likely built around the fact that there was one less NPC to render on the screen at that moment. It's not a permanent solution because when the NPC is revived, it will come back to its station, and the problem will likely persist again.

From a more long-term solution, simply having the option to disable all NPCs seems like a better choice (both morally and otherwise). Killing off NPCs can have unintended consequences, like disrupting quests or affecting the game world's atmosphere.

If you can disable them, the resources used will go down, and it will preserve any quest-related impact said NPCs would have. A Reddit user, u/AzureBookwyrm88, came up with a similar idea:

Comment byu/leaveitalone36 from discussion inDragonsDogma

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While the idea of eliminating NPCs for smoother gameplay is unique, it's not a perfect or long-term solution. Killing NPCs might disrupt quests and the game world, and their revival makes the fix temporary.

Ideally, players would prefer an official option to disable NPCs entirely, preserving the game world and quests while reducing CPU load. Hopefully, Capcom can address these performance issues with future updates so players won't have to resort to such drastic measures.

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