Tonight I finished a really long quest line in GWEN (Guild Wars Eye of the North), The Missing Vanguard. Depending on how you count, there are upwards of 16 quests that make up this storyline.

As I finished up the last quest I started thinking about how much of this quest line I completed without the help of another 'person.' Often, my groups were made up of myself and a few heroes and henchmen.

Henchmen are NPC characters that players can group with. They are available from early on in the game and come in various levels and classes. Generally speaking, as the content of the game becomes more difficult, higher level henchmen are available to you.

Heroes on the other hand are only available to players who own the either the Nightfall or EoTN campaign and they must be unlocked via various quests. While henchmen are unchangeable with regards to skills and equipment heroes are highly customizable.

In the final battles my groups were made up of myself, 3 heroes, and 4 henchmen. Not another single 'real' player in the mix.

Makes you think about the 'multi-player' aspect of a MMO.

To be fair, Guild Wars describes itself as a co-operative role-playing game, but it really falls under the larger umbrella of MMORPG.

These heroes and henchmen do have personalities of their own. It seems that Lina dies a lot for a monk that focuses on protection and Pyre Fierceshot isn't that focused if you ask me.

It was with these NPC characters that I got through some pretty tough battles and for that I owe them some gratitude. But how do you say thanks to a computer controlled character?

What are you thoughts on NPC characters in MMOs?