Wendersnaven.com (a resource for nwn2 builders)

Styraxian pointed out this article by Kevin Carter that talks about the placement of NPC/Creatures and their relationship to the environment.

I have a great time playing through all sorts of game worlds—blasting randomly placed enemies, collecting scattered power-ups, earning points, gaining levels, all en route to some nefarious “main boss.” Usually the game world is very transparent though, meaning I can tell I’m in a game from the moment I pick up a controller to the moment I put it down again. As a player, I’m not exploring environments, I’m beating levels. I’m not fighting aliens, I’m defeating scripting.

This isn’t always the case. Sometimes I can forget I’m playing a game. Sometimes I feel I really am crawling through an air vent in the Black Mesa Facility. Sometimes I think I’m actually looking for the orc chieftain who has been leading the attacks on my village. Sometimes I—

Check out the full article Living Worlds: The Ecology of Game Design by clicking the link below:
http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20...arter_01.shtml