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Hirable NPC Companion concept

Gidorick
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Within ESO, there already exists the mechanic for an NPC to follow and fight alongside the player. There also exist quests where the player is able to choose the type of companion that follows them. Using these already established systems, ZOS should allow players to hire Mercenaries and have NPC characters tag along with them on their missions. Expanding the functionality to include different types of Mercenaries could offer a robust mechanic for groups and single players alike.

Who Will You Hire?

Player’s, starting at level 10, should be given the option to hire Companion Mercs to accompany them on their adventures. This accompaniment should extend to all areas of play. They should also fill group slots, fulfilling the grouping requirement for dungeons.

The better the Companion Merc a player would like to hire, the more expensive they will be. The Merc would ideally be leveled to the player, which would make the most sense within the mechanics of the game. Level 10 Mercs could start 50 gold per hour and increase per level to a level 50 Merc that costs around 1,000 gold per hour.

An alternative hiring mechanic could have players hire their Merc for specific quest or dungeon they need assistance with. After the Merc is hired the NPC companion could meet the player there.

Being designed by ZOS, Companion Mercs could have interesting personalities and conversation trees to give them to continue their employment or to dismiss them. ZOS could also create a random Companion generator that created the Companion Merc on the fly as the player requested them. Both have benefits and I don’t think either is one necessarily better than the other.

Basic Interaction:

The player shouldn’t have the ability to outfit the Companion Merc. They also shouldn’t be able to access the Merc’s inventory. If the Merc is the type that gathers items for the player, the player should have the option to take the gathered items, but it should be a one way transaction. There shouldn’t be any circumstance in which the player needs to give the Companion Mercenary any items.

When a player speaks with a Companion Merc they should be given the option to dismiss the Companion, chat with the Companion, and take the items they’ve collected (if applicable).

Casually conversing with a Merc could allow the player to learn more about the character and could even possibly open a quest line that would be specific to that Mercenary.

When a Companion’s time is up, that Merc stops where they are and should not move any further, should not take part in any combat, and should ignored by enemies. Perhaps they cycle through some passive emote such as /juggleflame, /read, or /eatbread. The player will have to speak with the Merc to re-hire them for another hour or so. When hiring Companion Mercs from the Merchants or extending the hiring period in the field, players should have the option of hiring them in 1 hour increments for up to 5 hours at a time. If a player leaves an expired Merc behind, the Merc disappears and the player must visit the appropriate Merchant to hire another.

Archetype Companions:

Initially these hirable Companions Mercs would include the three archetypes.
  • TANK: NPC that run toward the fray and will pull the aggression of the mobs
  • HEALER: NPC that will cast protection and restoration spells on the player
  • DPS: NPC that will deal quick, consistent damage on the target
These Archetype Companions could be hirable from the two main Guilds that exist within ESO, the Fighters Guild and the Mages Guild. Once the player selects the specific Merc type they wish to hire they could be given a random Merc from a small pool of ZOS designed faction appropriate Archetype Companions. In this way a Redguard would never end up with an Argonian Companion.

This would be a great place to either start or stop the concept. Let’s go a bit further into some expanded ideas…

Narrative Companions:

Certain NPCs that aren’t killed off in the story could be available as Narrative Companions. It would have been awesome to have Lyris Titanborn continue to run around with me for a time as I went on quests throughout Tamriel. These Narrative Companions could function much in the same way as the Archetype Companions, with their usefulness being specific to combat.

The pricing structure could be the same as Archetype Companions or it could vary by the Character. Perhaps some Narrative Characters will join you for free but only for a limited amount of time. Perhaps some are only available an hour at a time and ask for a larger amount of gold for each subsequent hour. The Hiring circumstances could be as varied as their personalities.

Skilled Companions:

In addition to the Archetype Companions and Narrative Companions, ZOS could offer a myriad of other types of Skilled Companions:

Skilled Companions could cost less and be with the player for longer durations than the Archetype and Narrative Companions. They could still help out in combat, but they shouldn’t be nearly as effective as a similarly leveled Archetype Companion.

Types of Skilled Companions:
  • HERBALIST: Will gather reagents if within a radius depending on their level
  • TILLER: Will gather clothier raw materials within a radius depending on their level
  • PROSPECTOR: Will gather ore within a radius depending on their level
  • DIVINER: Will gather runes within a radius depending on their level
  • CULINARIAN: Will gather provisions within a radius depending on their level
  • LOGGER: Will gather wood within a radius depending on their level
  • SCHOLAR: NPCs that gathers books within a radius depending on their level
  • SQUIRE: Will gather items from dead mobs
  • BARD: Will play a selection of songs while you adventure
  • LOCKSMITH: A master lockpick that will open chests for you
These Skilled Companions should be leveled to the character for combat purposes and their respective skill in their profession should be comparable to their overall level. All Skilled Companions that gather items would have an additional option when they are spoken to which would allow the player to accept the items the Skilled Companion has gathered.

To gather the material, the Skilled Companion need not actually go through the animation to gather the material. Having this requirement would pretty much defeat the purpose of these Companions. As the player runs around the world the Skilled Companion’s inventory would simply fill up with the items as they are passed. Material taken by a Skilled Companion should have ½ the yield of normal material farming. Additionally, using a Skilled Companion shouldn’t cause the item to become unavailable for other players, unlike player farming.

Hiring these Skilled Companions could be accomplished through various means throughout Tamriel. From the Companion being an NPC around the city to finding them in the bar to hiring them through Merchants. Unlike the Archetype Companions, there shouldn’t be a specific go-to location to pick them up and should be an exception rather than a rule.

Alternate Companions:

The Alternate characters that a player has created and leveled could also be able to be brought over into a player’s story to assist them in their questing.

I’d imagine this could be accomplished by having a Mercenary Merchant in each city. When approached, the Mercenary Merchant would give the player a list of their Alternate Characters and the player could import that character into their story. If a player has no Alternates, the Mercenary Merchant will have no one available.

The prices of the Alternates should be a bit more expensive than hiring a generic Archetype, but not by much. The Alternate’s should have the equipment and skills that they have at the time of rental and not be leveled to the player. Just as all other Companion types, the player should not have access to the Alternate’s inventory. Additionally, the Alternates should gain no XP or use any items from their actual inventory while questing. For all intents and purposes the hiring would pretty much be “cosmetic”.

Additional Notes:

As stated before, these hirable NPC Companion Mercenaries should occupy group slots and if multiple are hired (up to 3) a player would be able to run 4 player dungeons by themselves. Using these NPC Companion Mercs, a pair of players could group up and the leader could hire a Companion Merc or two to flesh out their group. When in a group, only the leader should be able to speak with,hire,dismiss and accept items from the Companion Mercs.

Companions should NEVER be allowed in Cyrodiil. If there needs to be lore reasons for this it could be as simple as the Mercs don’t take sides in the faction war… or something to that effect.

Companions SHOULD be allowed in 12 person trials but it should be blatantly obvious that a group has NPC Companion Mercs in it. Even to the point of coloring their life-bar a different color in their group. There should also be an option to disallow NPC Companion Mercs when setting up the groups. The option to have the NPC Companions would give a group of three players the option to try to run a trial with 9 NPC Companion Mercs (at the rate of 9K or more an hour). Their survivability might be low, but I think the option should be there for these players to give it a go if they so desire. Running through with a group of NPCs could be used as a way to have trial runs. Although it’s unlikely a group with a bunch of AI controlled NPCS would ever do well enough to be posted on the leaderboards, groups that have NPC Companions should be ineligible for leaderboard ranking. No matter how well they do.

And again, it should be crystal clear when an NPC Companion Merc is in a group and organizers need the option to automatically ignore groups with NPC Companions.

The main reason I am suggesting this is because finding a group, especially when lower than level 50, in ESO is an absolute chore. Players are on different quest lines, leveled dungeons makes it frustrating to try to find players ‘around your level’ who need to run through this dungeon or fight that area Boss.

Players that choose to use NPC Companion Mercenaries will be at a disadvantage when compared to those that group with other players or are playing solo. They will be spending a considerable amount of gold to hire these NPC and will level more slowly than if they go at it alone.

In the end, hiring NPC Companions will accomplish 2 things in ESO
  • 1: It will provide some relief from the broken LFG system and empower players to PLAY the game instead of spending their time trying to find other players that just happen to be at the exact same point of progression and story.
  • 2: It would be another gold-sink mechanic for ESO, something all MMO’s need.
Although I know this idea isn’t popular with many of those on this forum. I really think it is a tool that is needed in ESO. I have just outright skipped content because I can’t find anyone in the vicinity that needs to run a dungeon or would like to take down an anchor. I figure I’ll come back to it when I hit VR ranks but I sure would have liked the option to throw down 500 gold and hire an NPC Companion Merc to heal me for an hour.

Crown Shop:

The game could give us a small selection of mercenaries we can hire but ALSO offer the ability to buy "contracts" in the crown shop to have the capability to hire specific NPC Mercs in game. Have the contacts be a one time use item that will ALLOW us to hire that specific NPC using the mechanics as described.

Example: 750C for the ability to hire an Draugr warrior. When we go to the NPC hiring board, the Draugr would be a hirable option from then onward.

Thoughts?
Edited by Gidorick on December 17, 2015 8:21PM
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  • nerevarine1138
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    I mean, that's a whole lot of thought put in to a terrible idea. But it's still a terrible idea.

    Substantive NPC assistance doesn't belong in MMOs, period.
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    Murray?
  • Gidorick
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    I mean, that's a whole lot of thought put in to a terrible idea. But it's still a terrible idea.

    Substantive NPC assistance doesn't belong in MMOs, period.

    lol. Like I said. I knew it wouldn't be popular. I would agree that NPC assistance doesn't belong... if there weren't areas that require players to group.

    Can you offer some reasons WHY they don't belong in MMO's?
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  • Bloodfang
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    The idea is not bad, however it really doesn't belong in an MMO world..
    Why would you want to run dungeons, dolmens etc. with NPCs?

    We have more problems than any other MMO with all the anti-social people thinking they are playing Skyrim. Nothing against you, but we need more systems that actually encourage grouping, not distance away from it.
  • nerevarine1138
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    Gidorick wrote: »
    I mean, that's a whole lot of thought put in to a terrible idea. But it's still a terrible idea.

    Substantive NPC assistance doesn't belong in MMOs, period.

    lol. Like I said. I knew it wouldn't be popular. I would agree that NPC assistance doesn't belong... if there weren't areas that require players to group.

    Can you offer some reasons WHY they don't belong in MMO's?

    Because there are other people that you can group with. If everyone could just hire an effective tank/healer, then there'd be no real reason for people to be tanks or healers.

    Is it sometimes difficult to find a group of people in your area doing exactly what you want to do? Sure. But does that mean that you should put more effort in? Or should the developers just hand you a complete-this-quest-for-free card?

    I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get a full group for even the most "unpopular" content (Craglorn questing). Patience is a virtue.
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  • Gidorick
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    Despair9 wrote: »
    The idea is not bad, however it really doesn't belong in an MMO world..
    Why would you want to run dungeons, dolmens etc. with NPCs?

    We have more problems than any other MMO with all the anti-social people thinking they are playing Skyrim. Nothing against you, but we need more systems that actually encourage grouping, not distance away from it.

    hmm.. yea... I agree we do need more systems that encourage grouping and make grouping easier. Better quest-sharing and incentive to help other of differing levels for sure.

    Mostly... I'm tired of begging for someone to run dungeons with me in Zone Chat. :neutral_face:

    Instructions on how to group in ESO:
    • 1: Stand outside of the group area you would like to complete:
    • 2: Type: "/Zone Would anyone like to go through [insert dungeon name]. I'm a [LEVEL + CLASS]."
    • 3: Repeat....
    • 4: If you find someone to group with, add their level and class to step 2.
    • 5: If you actually find 3 other people... run the dungeon until one of them "has to go".

    It's to the point that I don't even try anymore... I just skip that content.
    Edited by Gidorick on January 15, 2015 2:15AM
    What ESO really needs is an Auction Horse.
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  • Gidorick
    Gidorick
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    I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get a full group for even the most "unpopular" content (Craglorn questing). Patience is a virtue.

    10 minutes? That would be awesome! I've spent over an hour trying to piece together a group.

    And not all of us has the time to futz around a dungeon's entrance waiting for other people that happen to want to do what we want to do. My game time is pretty sparse as it is and I got very tired of spending it trying to group.

    I pay ZOS to play this game and I'm asking for some tools to make that time more efficient. It's not about patience when the LFG tools and grouping in general is terribly flawed.

    Again, I 100% get why people wouldn't want to use Companion Mercs but there are many of us that would find them VERY useful. I have a friend that I group with on occasion and we have spent entire play sessions trying to fill out our group. There are times we find a group quickly, and those times are awesome! But the times that grouping is a chore is just simply wasting our time. It would have been much better if we could have just filled out our group with a few NPCs and been able to run the dungeon we wanted to run.

    There should, however, be a disadvantage to using NPC Companions... A reason that people wouldn't just always run and go get an NPC. Maybe the gold cost should be higher? At any rate, thanks for giving more of your perspective. :smiley:
    Edited by Gidorick on January 15, 2015 2:28AM
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  • Lunairetic
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    I actually think the companion system that you've come up with is a REALLY cool concept... But I think it would discourage group play in ESO, which should really be the heart of the Elder Scrolls Online experience in my opinion. As frustrating & time consuming as it can be to try to find other players to run group content with, I think your well-thought-out Companion NPC idea would hinder grouping a lot, mostly by discouraging players from grouping with each other in the first place. :(

    I think ZOS's energy would be better spent improving the grouping mechanics already in place.
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  • Laerania_ESO
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    ...doesn't belong to mmo... such ignorance lol. The point of having hirelings is exactly to not have to endure people like these.

    Anyways, excellent idea! I'd just take care with the goldsink purpose on this, remember to whom you are giving the idea.
    Edited by Laerania_ESO on January 15, 2015 4:28AM
  • PolskiBunny_ESO
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    I think that idea can belong in an MMO. I've seen it before in a pretty simple system. As mentioned it can double as a gold sink. I think it they have the hired help a certain amount lower level than you and with a limited skill set so they aren't carrying you, it wouldn't discourage group play too much because real humans would still be better, but this could be like a last resort.
  • Gidorick
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    I really like the idea of the NPC being a lower level than the player. How many levels lower would they have to be able to carry the player but can also still be helpful to the player? 3?
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  • Circuitous
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    Didn't Guild Wars 1 do this? Wasn't it awesome? I remember it being awesome.
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  • PolskiBunny_ESO
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    I have no idea. Lol. But I'm glad you like it; I think it's good to keep the system from being overpowered while adding assistance.
  • Gidorick
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    Circuitous wrote: »
    Didn't Guild Wars 1 do this? Wasn't it awesome? I remember it being awesome.

    wow! They did have this! They called them Henchmen & Heros. I'm glad to see there's precedence for this in an MMO. It sort of validates the concept.

    Thanks!

    http://wiki.guildwars.com/wiki/Henchmen
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  • AngryNord
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    Idea is good, but ZOS would probably make them just as useless as the "mightiest warriors in Tamriel" are during the Main Quest...
  • Coren
    Coren
    I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get a full group for even the most "unpopular" content (Craglorn questing). Patience is a virtue.

    I've basically given up on running anything Craglorn related because I simply can't find a group after months of searching. Maybe I'll find a single person who's also looking and then we waste another hour or two finding more before giving up. This system would actually enable me to complete the bloody content
  • Iago
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    Coren wrote: »
    I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get a full group for even the most "unpopular" content (Craglorn questing). Patience is a virtue.

    I've basically given up on running anything Craglorn related because I simply can't find a group after months of searching. Maybe I'll find a single person who's also looking and then we waste another hour or two finding more before giving up. This system would actually enable me to complete the bloody content

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  • bertenburnyb16_ESO
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    been suggested alot before and completely ignored ofc
    2 options I like
    - they regular hire a certain type npc to help you (kinda like diablo 3 has)
    - have each player be able to have an alt, or even seperatly created follower npc follow him, with maybe only one skillbar instead of 2, this 'alt' is completely customizable with armor and skills, and I would go as far as letting other players being able to hire your alt so they can form a 4man group with 2 hired alts and do dung with em maybe, even combo attacks, like launching into the air of a companions shield, or attacking an enemy while an alt holds him from the back, ..., this would cost a certain amount of currency, but you would also get currency if people hired your 'alt', and after terminating the partnership you could evaluate the alt and even send a gift back with him if you wanted (kinda like dragons dogma, that game did it geniusly, really loved it)

    I would love to run around for example with my end lvl DK and have my end lvl templar help out and support me in harder content like Craglorn delves, where you cant find anybody to group up with anyway (and some are a little to hard to solo ^^ )
    Edited by bertenburnyb16_ESO on January 20, 2015 10:09AM
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  • Wisler89
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    I have a few friends who played guild wars 1. Some time after release (have no idea how long after) the developers introduced npc followers. According to my friends this was the day grouping with friends died.

    While I find the idea interesting (especially if you look at other es games where you could have a follower) it would have to be carefully balanced.
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  • Gidorick
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    Coren wrote: »
    I've never had to wait more than 10 minutes to get a full group for even the most "unpopular" content (Craglorn questing). Patience is a virtue.

    I've basically given up on running anything Craglorn related because I simply can't find a group after months of searching. Maybe I'll find a single person who's also looking and then we waste another hour or two finding more before giving up. This system would actually enable me to complete the bloody content

    THIS is why we need hire able npc companions. Thank you.
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  • Gidorick
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    I actually talk about hire able Alts @bertenburnyb16_ESO‌. I really like the idea of "renting" out your alternate characters too! Good idea.

    I did a search for this topic and there's a good thread by @OrangeTheCat‌. That was a good read. Lots of good discussion there.

    http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/comment/1288584#Comment_1288584
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  • WhiskyBob
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    More single player content in a MULTIPLAYER game. Yaaay.
    No.
    First see a doctor to treat your social anxiety (it is treatable you know) then throw hireling ideas.
    Edited by WhiskyBob on January 20, 2015 2:14PM
  • bertenburnyb16_ESO
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    WhiskyBob wrote: »
    More single player content in a MULTIPLAYER game. Yaaay.
    No.
    First see a doctor to treat your social anxiety (it is treatable you know) then throw hireling ideas.

    good stuff son, now enlighten me how I'm supposed to complete delves in craglorn when nobody is doing them, pls share youre wisdom with us, since I tried multiple times trying to find people, spamming zone chat and asking in multiple guilds to complete ANY delve, after an hour or so I just went out on my own, not to mention the Craglorn story quest chain, where you need 4 members with the same quest in the same phase to unlock a stupid door
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  • Gidorick
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    WhiskyBob wrote: »
    More single player content in a MULTIPLAYER game. Yaaay.
    No.
    First see a doctor to treat your social anxiety (it is treatable you know) then throw hireling ideas.

    It's NOT about social anxiety. It's about not being able to effectively play the game. Surprise! Not everyone plays the game the exact same way you do. These are tools that would give many gamers a more fulfilling experience and make for a more robust and well rounded game.

    The fact that OTHER MMOs include this tool validates the suggestion and the fact that other TES games have had followers even further validates the suggestion.

    Just because you wouldn't use this doesn't mean the mechanic isn't needed and quite frankly, if the type of people there are to group with are the type to tell someone to "go see a doctor" when they present a solution to an issue they're having, I don't know if I WANT to group with the players of ESO. :neutral_face:
    Edited by Gidorick on January 20, 2015 2:59PM
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  • Komma
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    There is 16+ zones of solo content. Group dungeons are for groups (multiple players) raid content is for even more people. It is obvious they wanted to get away from soloing group dungeons by scaling them.

    Companions wont happen. Sounds like maybe you are looking for SWTOR
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  • Mandragora
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    true - LOTRO has a system of dungeons based on NPC help - Skirmish - you can do them solo (with a NPC soldier) or with other players.
    I wish this wouldn't be an answer to a lot of ideas from players like: no NPC guilds because you have player guilds already etc. :( while they don't understand that it is about something else.
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  • Gidorick
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    Komma wrote: »
    There is 16+ zones of solo content. Group dungeons are for groups (multiple players) raid content is for even more people. It is obvious they wanted to get away from soloing group dungeons by scaling them.

    Companions wont happen. Sounds like maybe you are looking for SWTOR

    I think this is a fair point.... but how does alienating players benefit ZOS? What should players like myself and @bertenburnyb16_ESO‌ do after we finish those zones? Spend our time peddling in Zone for a group? Now we're role playing beggars but there's no skill-line for that! Lol. :smile:
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  • Coren
    Coren
    Sometimes I only have an hour or two to play in. If I have to spend that entire time searching for a group to do content with then I'll have no time left to actually do the content. In those cases I might as well just stop trying and play something else. Something I would really prefer avoiding, if it means I'll have to get NPC's to enable me to actually play the game then so be it.

    You might have gotten lucky and found people able to do group content with. But a lot of people haven't (either due to RL obligations or maybe they just don't want to), pushing those people are like shooting yourself in the foot. Absolutely moronic
  • OrangeTheCat
    OrangeTheCat
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    gw1 had npc heroes. They did not diminish the social aspect of that mmo at all. Claiming that it does is a red herring. Npc heroes just added flexibility to the game.
  • bertenburnyb16_ESO
    bertenburnyb16_ESO
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    Komma wrote: »
    There is 16+ zones of solo content. Group dungeons are for groups (multiple players) raid content is for even more people. It is obvious they wanted to get away from soloing group dungeons by scaling them.

    Companions wont happen. Sounds like maybe you are looking for SWTOR

    dont get me wrong, I dotn mind grouping for dungeons, or now I mostly pvp with a full raid on ts,
    but for some content you CANT FIND a group, like craglorn delves & quests for example (read my previous post) because its a dumb concept that doesnt work, and theyre planning to bring more maps like that (murkmire) wich will be again a failure then, if they dont a. make it a solo zone like the others or b. implement some sort of follower system.
    Haze Ramoran Dunmer Dragonknight Tank/Dps – Smoked-Da-Herb Saxheel Templar Tank/Healer

    Red Diamond, Protect us 'til the end (EU EP Thorn)
  • Roguish98
    Roguish98
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    A thoroughly described idea. It is certainly not without precedent in the mmo genre: DDO, SWTOR and GW1 come to mind as games that implemented companions. I'm sure the implementation is not perfect, nor could it ever be, but I think they have been implement to the enjoyment of the majority of players in all cases. I like the idea of being able to adventure with some of the characters in game.
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