I've thought about this for a while now and decided to make a formal post about the NPC encounter inconsistencies in explore. I'm going to specifically reference the encounters in the February event because it's the only one I can think of off the top of my head with this inconsistency between some encounters. Also, as it's the current event, it's a bit more relevant!

In Feb, there are two encounters that have NPCs from other events, Menhit and Apollyon (July), in one and the second being Nirah (October). BOTH events obviously take place AFTER February; thus, in the Menhit/Apollyon encounter, your lion doesn't recognize/know them, which makes sense because the July event hasn't happened yet, meaning we haven't met them. However, in Nirah's encounter, you DO know him; your lion recognizes and knows him by name, which doesn't align with the fact that, technically, we shouldn't know him as the October event hasn't taken place.
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"You walk along some eroding cliffs that are dripping with water. Under the shadow of a nearby rocky arch, sprinkled by droplets of a narrow waterfall, lie two lions who have caught your eye. The young adolescents are quietly giggling and being secretive. You infer that they're on a forbidden date of sorts. Sunlight glistens within the wet fur of the female, creating radiant glitters and sparkles, while the male is showing off by tapping rocks with his claws to create flaming sparks."

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"You notice Nirah! He came out at night to admire the stars."

I feel it would be more consistent to make it so our lion doesn't know Nirah, as October hasn't happened yet; it would fit that we don't know him. In my mind, every January is kind of a "reset" for the year where we shouldn't know NPCs from events that haven't happened.
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My suggestion is not to get rid of the Nirah encounter; just change the text to fit with the idea we haven't yet met him at this point in the year. (Like how in the Menhit/Apollyon encounter, they aren't "known" to us just yet)

EXAMPLE "You notice a...manticore?! Seems like he came out at night to admire the stars. The manticore notices your lingering presence and appears to be inviting you over!"

...something that doesn't start too far from the original text, so the actions still fit! Of course, the text for the actions would also be changed to remove his name, or maybe the "join" option could include him introducing himself.

As I've stated, personally, I feel it makes more sense to change the Nirah encounter; however, there's also the opposite option, which would be changing the Menhit/Apollyon encounter, making it so we DO recognize them. I lean more towards the idea that we shouldn't technically know any NPC until their event!
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I'd love to hear others' opinions on the matter! Does this inconsistency bother anyone else? If so, which way do you lean? Should your lion recognize Nirah, Menhit, and Apollyon during the February event, or rather know none of them?

Also, if you have any text change suggestions for Nirah's encounter, I'd love to hear them!