Videogames—RPGs in particular—just love to make us go for a wander with an NPC. Whether it's the tiresome MMO mainstay of an escort quest, following an NPC to a bandit camp where their mate's being held, or simply sauntering down a road having a chat, we are expected to give up a significant chunk of our lives to this most mundane task. Which wouldn't be that bad if NPCs walked at a normal pace. But they almost never do—because game devs delight in tormenting us. Presumably.
The consistency with which NPC and player walking speeds fail to match up suggests some sort of global conspiracy. Nothing else makes sense. It's such a simple thing, you'd think, given that designers know that there's always going to be a specific speed range that players are moving within.
