>>715694050
They gate what objects appear in your world based on main quest progression but they do populate sections of road if you unlocked an area that's developed before you got to it yourself. All three starting pavers were finished once I got the Governor's surrounding area plugged in. I personally contributed to the next four sections in both directions all by myself before any of those players who previously paved got around to them. My name was the only porter on maybe 1/3 of all my roads, if not more. As stated before the NPCs contribute building supplies automatically as you increase strand connections in their area. Pizza chef took credit for the road running past the ceramics western mine and I know I was the one who put 99% of the mats in.