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Trying Ultima IV out for the first time; figured the controls out sufficiently to get my Paladin into the town next to the start area, able to move around and introduce myself to people. But they all want to know what I want to talk about? Nothing seems to lead to any actual conversation. What should I be typing to get them to talk to me?
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I'm new, too, but I've been told (and can confirm) that the main things to say when you meet someone are:
look (to see their description again)
name
job
health

And then, if they mention something that looks interesting, type that, and they often tell you about it.

Like: "I was just thinking about that mountain..."
mountain
"The mountain is in the east, across the bridge!"

^I made that up by the way, don't go looking for any mountain.
Just a couple of things to add to what Gibush said:

Sometimes NPCs will reveal that other characters know something about 'x'. So (making this up), let's say Iolo tells you Shamino knows about a dinosaur. When you meet Shamino, he won't give you any indication he knows about a dinosaur, unless you specifically ask 'dinosaur'. It's a good idea to make note of those hints.

Also, you can ask anyone to 'join' you. Not everyone will, of course.
Yes. As the above two people have said. I'd also like to add that as well as "look", "name", "job", "health", "join" and "bye", each NPC responds to exactly two unique words each (other than Lord British and Hawkwind who respond to more). These two words for an NPC can either be learned through their reply to "job", "health" and sometimes even their description (as repeated by "look"), or through other NPCs as Nedrix said. Here's a typical example:

John: Hello.
You: name
John: My name is John.
You: health
John: I'm feeling great.
You: job
John: I'm a musician.
You: musician
John: Yes. I play music to Lord British.
You: lord
John: That I cannot help thee with.
You: british
John: That I cannot help thee with.
You: bye

At this point you know one of the two unique words that John replies specifically to. The word if "musician". You've tried "lord" and "british" but they don't seem to trigger a reply, meaning that the second word is still a mystery to you. In cases like these it's up to another NPC to reveal the word. Here's an example:

Bob: Welcome.
You: name
Bob: My name is Bob.
You: health
Bob: I'm at death's door.
You: death
Bob: Yes. I've not got long to live.
You: job
Bob: I was an adventurer.
You: adventurer
Bob: I found a magical amulet. I gave it to John.
You: bye

At this point you've figured out both "unique" words that Bob responds to. One is "death" and the other is "adventurer". Furthermore, you know you need to ask John about an amulet. So you can head back to John:

John: Hello.
You: amulet
John: I lost the amulet somewhere in the tavern in Britain.
You: bye

And now you've finished off John as you know both of his words, "musician" and "amulet". Of course, you've also learnt a useful clue as to the location of an amulet, which could even be required to complete the game.

It's also worth noting that there are a few NPCs in the game that only seem to respond to one "unique" word as no one else in the game reveals their second. However, due to what I'm guessing is an engine limitation, their mystery second word is "a" which prompts them to reply with the word "a". In other words, if you type "a" to an NPC, if they reply with "a" then you know they are one of those NPCs that only respond to one "unique" word, as their second is "a".

(All of these examples are made up.)
Post edited September 12, 2011 by DeathStrike
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DeathStrike: Yes. As the above two people have said. I'd also like to add that as well as "look", "name", "job", "health", "join" and "bye", each NPC responds to exactly two unique words each (other than Lord British and Hawkwind who respond to more). These two words for an NPC can either be learned through their reply to "job", "health" and sometimes even their description (as repeated by "look"), or through other NPCs as Nedrix said....

It's also worth noting that there are a few NPCs in the game that only seem to respond to one "unique" word as no one else in the game reveals their second. However, due to what I'm guessing is an engine limitation, their mystery second word is "a" which prompts them to reply with the word "a". In other words, if you type "a" to an NPC, if they reply with "a" then you know they are one of those NPCs that only respond to one "unique" word, as their second is "a".
Woah. If only I knew that when I started the game.

It does kind of ruin the immersion and mystery of the game though.
Post edited September 12, 2011 by Trevorish
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Trevorish: It does kind of ruin the immersion and mystery of the game though.
True, but you catch on to the fact that all NPCs have only two interesting things to say pretty fast. I only learnt about the whole "a" thing after getting frustrated by a seemingly useless NPC and looking up the game's dialogue dump. Plus, if you're playing through the series, you'll really appreciate the improved dialogue in the next game. Feels like a nice evolution.
There is one last thing to mention as regards NPC conversations in IV: Due to memory limitations of the Apple II, which were carried over to the other computer ports, you only have to type in the first four letters of a keyword in order for the NPC to respond to it. That is to say, if someone responds to "Compassion," you only have to type "COMP" to hear their response. This applies to every NPC in the game, Lord British and Hawkwind included. (Note that this does create some odd behavior, including why you cannot ask anyone in the game directly about "healing"; because the parser only reads the first four letters, it interprets that word as "HEAL" and thus gives the NPC's canned response for "health." This is of small concern with Lord British, of course, who will offer to heal you if you ask about his well-being, but is still worth noting.)

Just an FYI for those who dislike excessive typing. 8^)
Post edited September 12, 2011 by TheKid965