8-14,000 is plenty precise enough for me -- it beats the heck out of the 2,000-25,000 spread we had when this thread started. And most of your last message is very good, as it establishes the "look and feel" much better than a mere number can. Thanks!
As for the rest, I agree that "can remain nameless" is not the same as "will remain nameless". Really, that's in the hands of the DM and judges. If there's a good in-story reason for characters to seek out a specific merchant, he better have a name and a face. But at least in a large city, the possibility of anonymity exists. It seems a little phony for multiple groups of adventurers to say, "Ok, now we go to the blacksmith's shop", when they are all passing through the same small town with only one smithy. Sooner or later, there will be a valid in-game reason for one of the PC's to know the name of that smith, so you might as well flesh that detail out and be done with it. In a large city, you have more options...if the encounter is intended to be routine, you can omit some detail at first, then add it in if the developing interaction demands it. For example, if one of the PC's attempts to swindle a merchant and fails, sooner or later that NPC's name and possibly even his personality is going to affect the outcome, even if you originally intended the encounter to be routine. But for a routine interaction, such as, "I go to the Street of Swords and buy a short sword." "Ok, you find one you like in one of the shops there for 10 GP.", you can dispense with the details if you'd like.
If it sounds like I'm belaboring this, I guess my point is that in some of the adventure threads I was reading, the level of detail was so far from "Freeport" that I was having a hard time imagining just what kind of place Orussus was. But thanks to this thread, it's all coming into much better focus now.
As for the rest, I agree that "can remain nameless" is not the same as "will remain nameless". Really, that's in the hands of the DM and judges. If there's a good in-story reason for characters to seek out a specific merchant, he better have a name and a face. But at least in a large city, the possibility of anonymity exists. It seems a little phony for multiple groups of adventurers to say, "Ok, now we go to the blacksmith's shop", when they are all passing through the same small town with only one smithy. Sooner or later, there will be a valid in-game reason for one of the PC's to know the name of that smith, so you might as well flesh that detail out and be done with it. In a large city, you have more options...if the encounter is intended to be routine, you can omit some detail at first, then add it in if the developing interaction demands it. For example, if one of the PC's attempts to swindle a merchant and fails, sooner or later that NPC's name and possibly even his personality is going to affect the outcome, even if you originally intended the encounter to be routine. But for a routine interaction, such as, "I go to the Street of Swords and buy a short sword." "Ok, you find one you like in one of the shops there for 10 GP.", you can dispense with the details if you'd like.
If it sounds like I'm belaboring this, I guess my point is that in some of the adventure threads I was reading, the level of detail was so far from "Freeport" that I was having a hard time imagining just what kind of place Orussus was. But thanks to this thread, it's all coming into much better focus now.
