score:3
Have you ever done on-line check-in super early (20h before departure) and found the plane already really full when trying to select a seat? That's because on many airlines, people get assigned seats by the system at the time of booking.
At the check-in counter (or when you phone in to get a special seat), the personnel can bump around passengers who have "soft" seat assignments (but not those who pre-reserved a specific seat, or who have checked in already), and thus may be able to give you the seats you want. For the soft seat assignments, you may have some influence by selecting your preference regarding "aisle" or "window".
What Norvegian seems to do is simply use the system-assigned seats to allow you to proceed to gate faster. This means less man-hours for them to devote to check-in, and potentially more flexibility at the check-in counter to bump people around, since those without luggage don't lock in their seats until they reach the gate.
Upvote:-1
The easiest way is to make an online check-in and print your boarding pass at home, there you can choose your sit or the sit is assigned automaticaly. The other way (I'm not sure if it's available in all the airports) are the Norwegian self-service kiosks, where you type your confirmation number and some other detail and the boarding card is printed automaticaly. Remember that the gate closes 30 prior the departure, so even with this option you should be in the airport at least 1h before the flight in case of some stuck in the security check or anything else.