AI has this issue (about keys). As I understand it, this is because they check whether you have the key in the dialogue box, not in your inventory. That's where the problem lies. You can mention this in the dialogue box, it might help.
My personal recommendations:
- Don't create long contracts/quests. Due to the peculiarities of information storage, AI can often mess up and fail to perform a certain action.
Personal example: Aldric offered to make me armor in exchange for artifacts. He gave me the artifacts and, in DIALOGUE, he gave me the armor, when in fact he didn't give me anything. Short-term deals like “I'll give you slime in bulk and you give me N coins” can be pulled off, but it's not worth doing.
P.S. And don't ask for more than one type of item at a time.
- Someone once told me that you can save outside of dialogues and return to them. This is true if you are communicating with one NPC. In general, I recommend ending the dialogue before saving, as restarting the server can sometimes play a nasty trick on you.
- There are times when NPCs can take their fiction for the truth. For example, Oriana scolded me for trying to take her and Celandine to the fortress for some unknown reason, even though it was Celandine herself who suggested it.
- And yes, sadly, NPCs may ask to join your party, but when you move to another location, they simply disappear. That would be fine, but sometimes they insist on exploring caves/castles with you. The lack of this option is infuriating. Sorry, Three Eyes Software, but criticism is criticism.
Well, those are all my recommendations. And yes, Three Eyes Software is working on adding custom NPCs. I wonder if they understand that Ryan Gosling didn't die at the end of Drive)