Morrowind talk:Non-Relevant NPCs/What is Relevant?

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In the interests of completing this section of the site, I've decided to draw up some official criteria for what defines an NPC as "Relevant", as it's been a pretty grey area until now. There are already a number of NPC pages for characters which really should not be considered relevant. The following list should help clear things up a bit. An NPC may be considered relevant if:

  1. They provide a service. Any kind of service whatsoever. Merchants, trainers, repairs, travel, enchanting, etc. This includes NPCs who are hostile and only provide a service if you Calm them first.
  2. They are related to a quest. This does NOT include all hostile NPCs you will encounter in a location where you've been sent on a quest. These are only counted if it is required that you interact with these NPCs in order to complete the quest. (E.g.: The quest sends you out to kill them.) If you could complete the quest by running or sneaking past them, they are not relevant. However, if they are carrying an item you need for a quest, they are relevant, even though you might avoid killing them by picking their pockets instead. Note that the NPC should be involved in the quest on an individual basis, rather than as part of a group. Thus, if a quest says "Kill 12 Berne Vampires", or "Free 30 slaves", this does not mean that all Berne Vampires and slaves can be automatically considered relevant, though of course, some are.
  3. They have unique dialogue. If an NPC will give you any information, no matter how mundane, that cannot be anywhere else, they are relevant.
  4. They are mentioned by name in dialogue or in books. Very few NPCs will meet this qualification without falling into one of the above groups as well, but there may be some.
  5. They are unique in some other way. This may even include NPCs who are found already long dead - though only named ones.

NPCs may not be considered relevant if they do not have a unique name. This mostly only applies to guards, sleepers, and the occasional anonymous corpse. Any NPC or group of NPCs which is found in multiple instances and can respawn if killed should be assumed to be non-relevant. These may be discussed on a Generic NPCs page at some point in the future. Hopefully setting this down as some sort of semi-official policy will prevent the creation of thousands of unnecessary pages. (There's over 4000 NPCs in Morrowind including the expansions, so we're not going to do like we did with Oblivion and create a page for every single one of them... Feel free to comment if you have any thoughts on this matter. --TheRealLurlock Talk 20:17, 23 September 2007 (EDT)

Going through NPCs who currently have pages, there were a handful for whom it was not immediately apparent why they are considered to be relevant. Specifically:
In some cases it's just that the pages haven't been filled in and I don't know whether there are related quests. In other cases, the pages state that the characters have no relevance, making me wonder why the page actually exists.
Finally, I noticed a few NPCs who need a NPC summary, and thought I might as well make note of here while I'm at it:
--NepheleTalk 20:44, 22 October 2007 (EDT)
Well, I can clear up a few of these at least:
As for the dead people, I don't know, probably not really important, except to fill out the Morrowind-Dead NPCs category, though they could just as easily do that with my Non-Relevant NPC template and a redirect. Haven't gotten around to setting that stuff up yet, though. --TheRealLurlock Talk 17:06, 23 October 2007 (EDT)
Just to clarify, Diradeni Farano has unique dialogue under "join the Royal Guard," which technically qualifies her for a page. --Eshetalk17:30, 23 October 2007 (EDT)
Well, all of the guards have unique dialogue under that topic, and as far as I can tell only that topic. Question is - does having a small amount of unique, barely quest-related dialogue qualify an NPC as relevant? You don't have to talk to any of the guards except Aleri Aren and Ivulen Irano to complete this quest, the rest just provide a little bit of color. Though I'm starting to consider whether faction membership alone might be enough to qualify. I'm reluctant to do so, mainly because of the number of un-interesting people in the three Great Houses. But for most of the other factions, the vast majority of the members are unquestionably relevant in some way or another. --TheRealLurlock Talk 00:26, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
Well, when I first did the Tribunal NPC pages, Diradeni Faranon ended up on the Non-Relevant page, and I feel that she should stay there. --Ratwar 00:40, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
Morrowind:Calvario is certainly relevant. You have to kill him for the Zainab Nerevarine quest.--Gaebrial 02:26, 24 October 2007 (EDT)
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