I know the game won't have AI controlled pedestrians, but what about an alternative. when the player logs out, their character becomes AI controlled. A character running from the police would surrender, one driving a car would continue to do so (instead of stopping in the middle of the road, or crashing). this would prevent people disappearing, or simply stopping suddenly. then the game could despawn them when needed(maybe when not in view of players).

Hello everyone! Though i've played hundreds of video games over the years, MMO's are a rarity for me. But when I saw this game on kickstarter, it seemed right up my alley.