Hirable NPC Companion concept

Shadesofkin · January 2015

I wouldn't hate it, especially if they commented on the surroundings now and again.

Merlin13KAGL · January 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Types of Skilled Companions:
BARD: Will play a selection of songs while you adventure

Thoughts?

I immediately imagine some *sshat singing a ballad while I'm getting the crap kicked out of me...

Could you hire them to irritate other people? Now there's something I'd potentially pay hard earned gold for...

Gidorick · January 2015

Ok... For the Crown shop. Require us to buy "contacts" in the crown shop to have the capability to hire specific NPCs 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.

Maybe lessen the gold requirements or lengthen the time hired.

Nyghthowler · January 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Ok... For the Crown shop. Require us to buy "contacts" in the crown shop to have the capability to hire specific NPCs 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.

Maybe lessen the gold requirements or lengthen the time hired.

No.
I'm already and will be paying a sub fee. When a game introduces a mechanic that requires me to spend even more of my limited and hard earned money to use a feature that I should already be able to access with my sub fee, then just NO.
I realize that we will receive a monthly stipend if we pay the sub. But anyone who has played a MMO with this cash shop model in place knows that it never equates to enough to get the good items, which the developers count on to cause players to fork over cash to cover the difference, as most players are impulse spenders.

Shinozuka · January 2015

If this idea were reality it could be used in the player generated content

http://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/discussion/144735/player-created-content-suggestion-for-the-future-of-eso/p1

Gidorick · January 2015

Nyghthowler wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Ok... For the Crown shop. Require us to buy "contacts" in the crown shop to have the capability to hire specific NPCs 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.

Maybe lessen the gold requirements or lengthen the time hired.

No.
I'm already and will be paying a sub fee. When a game introduces a mechanic that requires me to spend even more of my limited and hard earned money to use a feature that I should already be able to access with my sub fee, then just NO.
I realize that we will receive a monthly stipend if we pay the sub. But anyone who has played a MMO with this cash shop model in place knows that it never equates to enough to get the good items, which the developers count on to cause players to fork over cash to cover the difference, as most players are impulse spenders.

You're right! How about the game offers a selection of Mercs and you can buy additional Mercs in the crown store? Want that Lusty Argonian maid to follow you around? That'll be 750C to be able to hire her with in game gold

AlnilamE · January 2015

Coren wrote: »

nerevarine1138 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

I love the Craglorn quests. I always want to join people when they ask in zone, even if it's a quest I've already done. I'm running them on my alt with guildies. Our problem is that we usually start with a full group, so we don't have room for more people.

Gidorick · January 2015

AlnilamE wrote: »

Coren wrote: »

nerevarine1138 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

I love the Craglorn quests. I always want to join people when they ask in zone, even if it's a quest I've already done. I'm running them on my alt with guildies. Our problem is that we usually start with a full group, so we don't have room for more people.

I run into the "sorry, group is full" answer quite often.

kyrowski · February 2015

Great idea.

I posted a similar idea for the crown store (just a one liner, not the full on, well thought out post seen here!).

For people who can't commit uninterrupted time to groups but would want to try other parts of the game companions are perfect.

Having used companions in many MMO's I don't really get the 'not suitable for MMO's" argument.

Mercutio · February 2015

Great idea and concept. There's a guy in the 'Open Letter' thread that is a game designer, you should pitch it to him.

10 minutes? Really? I've waited 4 hours before. What would be great is if, after say 15 minutes of a group not getting formed, NPC's such as the OP describes were put in so the dungeon could be run.

phairdon · February 2015

Coren wrote: »

nerevarine1138 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

As another poster stated "I feel your pain". Gave up on Craglorn too as finding a group become a joke.

Gidorick · February 2015

kyrowski wrote: »

Great idea.

I posted a similar idea for the crown store (just a one liner, not the full on, well thought out post seen here!).

For people who can't commit uninterrupted time to groups but would want to try other parts of the game companions are perfect.

Having used companions in many MMO's I don't really get the 'not suitable for MMO's" argument.

This is a HUGE issue for me. I have family, pets and other things that cause me to have to find a safe spot every now and again to go do something for two or three minutes at a time. I hate having to be like "I need to be left alone for a while"...

SanderBuraas · February 2015

Yes, please. This would be excellent. Take in consideration that the people who would use this would mostly be solo players. Also, to the people who have a negative attitude towards the idea of npc companions, remember, you are supposed to play this game how you want. An npc companion is not very different from a vanity pet, except it can help you in combat or the other suggested tasks in the opening post.

Yemeth · February 2015

Oh my god ! This idea must be in the game ! This will add more flexibility and gameplay. I know it's a MMORPG but seriously, we should be able to do all the content in solo. We all play in different ways, there are people with priority in life who need to often pause in game, there are people who rush and like to go fast, there are other who love to take there time and savour the game etc... That's why I was scary to see an Elder Scrolls online.

Gidorick pointed something important, he shows a roadmap of this merc system and I'm sure developer can extend this concept.

I have to agree, we are often stuck to create a group (where is the fun when someone leave a group and we have to search another player and the story continue to repeat...).

So yes I fully support this idea and I really hope it's not a bottle lost at sea...

Gidorick · February 2015

Thanks @Yemeth‌ . I too hope the devs take notice. I think this concept would go a long towards helping players PLAY the game and not scratching for groups.

SanderBuraas · February 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Thanks @Yemeth‌ . I too hope the devs take notice. I think this concept would go a long towards helping players PLAY the game and not scratching for groups.

It would also allow players to bond with various npcs in the game, and find the right one to support their playstyle and personality.

Blo0dstorm · February 2015

As one of these players unable to complete Craglorn quests because I can't find a group I agree to @Gidorick suggestion.
There are quests I have taken solo until I'm blocked at the last step by the group requirement.
I have been part of many grinding groups, those Spellcars ones, but nobody around seems to bother trying completing quests or clearing dungeons.
Yesterday I have completed the lower Craglorn skyshards achievement without meeting anyone at the entrance (or running to) of the dungeons.

Gidorick · April 2015

The more I play ESO the more I hope ZOS has read this concept and is working on implementing it.

Natjur · April 2015

All NPC's that currently follow you stand in red and die. They had to make the sorc pets immune to AOE to make them any use.

If you could hire a NPC tank who was immune to AOE (the red on the round) it would make this game easy mode.

Gidorick · April 2015

They would HAVE to develop some better AI, without question. lol

Wintersage · April 2015

Overall, I like the idea. It would add a great deal of flexibility to those of us who don't often group for whatever reason. (And no, I don't group often not because I'm anti-social, but because I'd much rather play as I want rather than slotting skills for the highest DPS output in the game. Which pretty much makes me have what amounts to ESO Leprosy, far as most other players are concerned) This idea would allow me to get content done that would otherwise be impossible.

My only real disagreement comes from the idea of hiring mercs. I mean, that's alright I suppose, but I'd prefer to have my own npc. From the get-go. Someone I could level up in some kind've npc way. I want some creative input into the process, and I would like to feel some kind of attatchment, and sense of accomplishment as my little npc kicked greater and heavier amounts of posterior. Or healed more. Or made more snide comments. Or what have you.

Anyways. Great idea. Except, perhaps, in Cyrodiil.

Anoteros · April 2015

No.

Go play SWTOR or single player TES if you want that.

Gidorick · April 2015

Anoteros wrote: »

No.

Go play SWTOR or single player TES if you want that.

The prevailing attitude of "I don't like it so you shouldn't have it" on this forum never ceases to astound me when it manifests.

pugyourself · April 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

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.

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 metcenaries 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?

I would be against this for chests, nodes, crafting, etc. But I wouldn't have a problem with this in certain zones. But it would have to be really expensive and provide low-level support relative to what another player would provide. And I don't think they should be allowed in trials. I liked the mercs in Skyrim but that was a single-player experience. It's a well-thought-out idea for sure. I'm just not sure it "fits" within the current system.

EDIT: BTW, I do love the auction HORSE idea.

Gidorick · April 2015

Wintersage wrote: »

Overall, I like the idea. It would add a great deal of flexibility to those of us who don't often group for whatever reason. (And no, I don't group often not because I'm anti-social, but because I'd much rather play as I want rather than slotting skills for the highest DPS output in the game. Which pretty much makes me have what amounts to ESO Leprosy, far as most other players are concerned) This idea would allow me to get content done that would otherwise be impossible.

My only real disagreement comes from the idea of hiring mercs. I mean, that's alright I suppose, but I'd prefer to have my own npc. From the get-go. Someone I could level up in some kind've npc way. I want some creative input into the process, and I would like to feel some kind of attatchment, and sense of accomplishment as my little npc kicked greater and heavier amounts of posterior. Or healed more. Or made more snide comments. Or what have you.

Anyways. Great idea. Except, perhaps, in Cyrodiil.

Oh I agree... Cyrodiil is right out.

I did have a sister concept of permanent companions that players could have by their side but I couldn't really figure how to suggest it in a way that made it seem like it was optional for players. The whole non-leveling NPC thing was to keep the concept as an optional tool and not a required game mechanic.

Anoteros · April 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

Anoteros wrote: »

No.

Go play SWTOR or single player TES if you want that.

The prevailing attitude of "I don't like it so you shouldn't have it" on this forum never ceases to astound me when it manifests.

Welcome to the real world where not everyone agrees.

Same happened to nameplates, global auction house, better guild controls, inventory fixes, game fixes, ability fixes and so on and so forth. Whiteknights whine it's too MMO so *** gets ignored but hey, adding yet another gimmick to an already somewhat solo prevalent game is a good idea.

Gidorick · April 2015

pugyourself wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

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.

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 metcenaries 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?

I would be against this for chests, nodes, crafting, etc. But I wouldn't have a problem with this in certain zones. But it would have to be really expensive and provide low-level support relative to what another player would provide. And I don't think they should be allowed in trials. I liked the mercs in Skyrim but that was a single-player experience. It's a well-thought-out idea for sure. I'm just not sure it "fits" within the current system.

EDIT: BTW, I do love the auction HORSE idea.

Yea, the inclusion in trials always seemed off to me but I figured if people want to try it, let 'em. Just no leaderboards or rankings if you are using any NPC Companions. Maybe even lessened loot rewards. The basic idea is to allow players to hire others to help them complete group tasks so it should be open to pretty much every aspect of the game (except PVP).

lol. thanks for the kind words on the Auction Horse. I love that idea too. It's funny, would give players what they want but would still keep the integrity of Tamriel and Lore intact... I really hope the mods took it up the chain. If they ever even do that with ideas from us "armchair developers".

Gidorick · April 2015

Anoteros wrote: »

Gidorick wrote: »

Anoteros wrote: »

No.

Go play SWTOR or single player TES if you want that.

The prevailing attitude of "I don't like it so you shouldn't have it" on this forum never ceases to astound me when it manifests.

Welcome to the real world where not everyone agrees.

Same happened to nameplates, global auction house, better guild controls, inventory fixes, game fixes, ability fixes and so on and so forth. Whiteknights whine it's too MMO so *** gets ignored but hey, adding yet another gimmick to an already somewhat solo prevalent game is a good idea.

It's not that I don't like people not agreeing with me, it's the attitude.

"No. Go play SWTOR or single player TES if you want that"

How is that in any way constructive? How about you tell me how it will ruin the game? How it will harm my play experience? How it will harm your experience? Will it unbalance the game? How do you suggest those of us who want to play the game, but aren't suited for group play-style, complete group content?

Or should we just not be playing ESO? How is that good for anyone. Me, you, ZOS? Who does it benefit if customers just go play something else?

Disagree, sure... but give us more than a crossed arms and stomping feet. Look beyond the tip of that nose you are so unabashedly looking down and try to empathize with WHY I'm asking for this and suggest an alternative that's helpful.

AngryNord · April 2015

Gidorick wrote: »

nerevarine1138 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?

Look up the meaning of MMO. There's your answer.

AngryNord · April 2015

bertenburnyb16_ESO wrote: »

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

UUUhhh, that was changed ages ago, one do no longer need to be at the exact same quest stage.