SilverBride wrote: »

PrincessOfThieves wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

If we put a helmet on a Companion covering their face then yes, they do lose their identity, because that is the only thing that identifies them. Unlike humans that have recognizable body shapes etc. that help identify them, too.

They still have unique voices, abilities and reactions, and even some unique animations.

We don't see those when they are just running by with the player.

No, but from our perspective other player's Mirri is not Mirri anyway, just someone who looks kinda similar. It doesn't make much sense for 1000s of Mirris to exist at the same time.

The companions are all labeled "Player's Name's Companion". That's really all that's needed.... Though I do have to say that I think forbidding hats and hairstyle changes is quite silly. No one asked me of course....

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

-casually walks into thread and leaves behind an army of clones-


Please let us stick helmets and other customization on the companions. People don't suddenly stop being themselves because they've done their hair differently. It's just immersion breaking at this point to attribute someones "identity" to any singular physical trait when I've always considered the strongest aspects of what makes someone who they are to be internal- their mind, their heart, their values. Those things don't go poof under a hat, regardless of how ostentatious or not said hat might be.

Notice how every Zerith-var is in the default outfit? Now imagine every single one with a helmet on.

Does that fix the clone problem? No — of course not. With helmets on by default, Companion "clones" are just "clones with helmets on" which makes them look even more like clones!

The "clone problem" will not be fixed by allowing helmets. The reason player characters don't suffer the "clone problem" is because there is no default appearance for players — the "default" is always randomized when creating a new character. Companions are different because they are each designed to look a certain way, while allowing the players some degree of agency in how they look.

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

Erickson9610 wrote: »

ArchangelIsraphel wrote: »

-casually walks into thread and leaves behind an army of clones-


Please let us stick helmets and other customization on the companions. People don't suddenly stop being themselves because they've done their hair differently. It's just immersion breaking at this point to attribute someones "identity" to any singular physical trait when I've always considered the strongest aspects of what makes someone who they are to be internal- their mind, their heart, their values. Those things don't go poof under a hat, regardless of how ostentatious or not said hat might be.

Notice how every Zerith-var is in the default outfit? Now imagine every single one with a helmet on.

Does that fix the clone problem? No — of course not. With helmets on by default, Companion "clones" are just "clones with helmets on" which makes them look even more like clones!

The "clone problem" will not be fixed by allowing helmets. The reason player characters don't suffer the "clone problem" is because there is no default appearance for players — the "default" is always randomized when creating a new character. Companions are different because they are each designed to look a certain way, while allowing the players some degree of agency in how they look.

Providing that players are choosing different motifs in the overland, I'm pretty sure it will mitigate it somewhat. I highly doubt everyone will suddenly decide to use the same helmet.

Honestly, I just want more customization, more ways to involve the companion in whatever story or quest I'm playing out at the time. Solving the issue completely likely isn't possible, because you'll always have a few people running around in default stuff or choosing not to use a helmet/hat. Really, it just makes companions more fun to deck them out a bit more.

I agree that helmets and hats would make Companions look better. For instance, a potential Nord Companion would feel incomplete if we couldn't adorn them with a Nord helmet, such as the one from the Nord Hero Armor costume.

I recognize that there will always be some two copies of the same Companion who were left in the default appearance, and they'd look the same regardless if helmets were on or off by default. If every single player decided to outfit each of their Companions, the issue would be mitigated somewhat, but it would be mitigated more if players also chose to put helmets on their Companions. If most players can't be bothered to change their Companion's appearance (which is per-character) then there's minimal benefit to allowing helmets to fight the "clone problem" — but it would still be valuable customization for players who are invested in that aspect of the Companions system.

WhiteCoatSyndrome wrote: »

AnduinTryggva wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

They have said in the past they won't allow this because they want them to feel like characters.

Which I somehow understand but this is somehow in contradiction to the fact that we have so many clones of the same character on a large mee-up. In cities, it reaches the dimension of a sort of identical twin convention.

This leads this "the companion is a unique character with a unique identity" a bit ... how shall I put it, ad absurdum.

I seem to recall running quests with (for example) Abnur Tharn, and while he was accompanying me I could see his face, but everyone else’s copy of him had a hood on. So it was just a swarm of generic Mages Guild wizards instead of a swarm of Abnur Tharn. Might help?

That said, I’m pro-hat, I think it’s a silly restriction to have to have their heads bare.

Oh yeah, if you run through the recruitment quest for Zerith-var or Tanlorin, the quest version of those characters for other players have a totally different appearance:




Other people's Tanlorin is called "Mercenary" while other people's Zerith-var is called "Grim Swordmage". This is the appearance they're given to be distinct from the copy you're with during that quest.

I think a big reason why other people's Companions don't just look like this at all times is because we are supposed to show off our Companion's fashion to other players. Although we never see other people's Companions in towns, it still matters that we get to show off how our Companions look in the overworld and in other PvE content — or at least other players should see them use their equipped weapon type to make Weapon skills look right.