*Could an NPC become friends with a player?*
For most players, NPCs were just tools in the game, serving the sole purpose of pushing the story forward, selling items, or acting as enemies for players to kill for fun.
Perhaps players could also develop feelings for specific NPCs, such as certain exceptionally crafted characters by game developers, or like pets players painstakingly raised in the game...
However, these feelings were more of a condescending recognition and affection for things that matched their preferences or for things they had worked hard to shape.
In essence, this type of emotion was not equal.
Even in many games, where players endlessly fawned over NPCs, it was mostly not because they liked NPCs but because they sought benefits or used it as a form of mental support...
Even if they truly liked a character, it was only because of the persona the game creators had crafted for that character, and perhaps the backstory behind it.
