NPC Marriage

Quantact

Going to be a long post, but I think it'll be worth it.

The Rings of Mara touch on a severely underused concept. Skyrim NPC marriage was not perfect, but I think a lot of people liked its introduction. Make a Matchmaker NPC that asks a billion questions of you, and based on how you answer those questions you get an NPC to date, and if you like them, to marry. Make the NPC designable by the player. Have them run around with you, except in places where it might not make sense or lead to too much lag. So, for example, you might have a restoration staff user or a tank of the sort Lydia is in Skyrim. From an equipment perspective, you're not just buying gear for yourself, but also for the spouse.

Let them level alongside you and have a bond-rating which you can boost, for example by giving them a Columbine flower, a Ruby ring, etc. Or some Beer! In the real world successful relationships develop from people taking care of each other, the NPC shouldn't like it if you're just using them as a pack mule. The longer they are with you, the more bonuses they accrue.

There should be a great element of customization. For example, okay, you've got a Templar wifey running around with you. Is she the sort of Templar that cultivates Novas to throw around, or is she a straight-up healer?

For players marrying players, give advantages to that too, so it's not automatically better to marry an NPC. In fact, PC marriage should be BETTER -- but since the two people might have a fight and sever it, it's also more of a risk. The NPC might dump you if you treat them like crap, but I think that's a more predictable thing.

There would be tons to go to in this system, and I am not saying it has to be exactly like this. But I think it would be a great addition to ESO, maybe even as a DLC in and of itself.

Nestor

This could be good from a Quality of Life Standpoint. However from a combat standpoint, our spouses will need to be inert, much like our pets are in combat.

Now, would I ever try to maintain a relationship in a game like this? No. This is one of the reasons I stopped playing Fable after about 6 hours. But I can see others who would. However they have a lot of things to work on before they can introduce something like this. And, they can practice on our current pets (in giving them more meaningful things to to, like Sit, Roll Over, Lay Down etc etc etc)

Quantact

Nestor wrote: »

This could be good from a Quality of Life Standpoint. However from a combat standpoint, our spouses will need to be inert, much like our pets are in combat.

Now, would I ever try to maintain a relationship in a game like this? No. This is one of the reasons I stopped playing Fable after about 6 hours. But I can see others who would. However they have a lot of things to work on before they can introduce something like this. And, they can practice on our current pets (in giving them more meaningful things to to, like Sit, Roll Over, Lay Down etc etc etc)

Well, even if combat for spouses is a total no-go, maybe they could contribute in Crafting -- either give spouse-only boosters to various aspects of particular crafts, or be a single skill-tree craftsperson on their own. So, for example, a blacksmith spouse could accumulate skill points exactly like in Blacksmithing.

Being able to repair at-cost in the field would make it pretty awesome too. If they could carry stuff, like 60 slots of inventory, that would be neat too.

I think the pinnacle of randomization in Elder Scrolls was the Daggerfall game that came out in 1996. There was a lot of "empty space" with just towns filled with stock people, but if such a randomization concept was to be applied to the NPC spouse, (like, what their personality is, do they have temper flare-ups, or be generally gentle, etc.) it would be pretty cool for us.

I think overall, again, I just don't see that many people using Rings of Mara right now. And Skyrim marriage, as bare-bones as it is, is still a heck of a lot better than we've ever had before.

Lithium Flower

You can do all this right now! There's tons of potential partners running around and you can find some in guilds too. If you talk to them, you start earning bonding points which can unlock other achievements including 'friendship' and 'romance'.

It's how I started and then we unlocked 'mara'ed'. We had a huge guild wedding and soon I'm planning to move in with my mara partner for real so he can run around with me in real life. You have to feed them 3 meals a day though and sometimes they want to marathon Futurama instead of ESO but it's worth it!

illiadai

i think the idea is awesome and would like to see this in game in some form, though i doubt it'll happen anytime soon if at all

Cadelay

I wish I could marry NPCs (I'm looking at you M'aiq!). The Rings of Mara are essentially useless (have to be in the same zone and in a group for a tiny bonus) and at the moment, irreversible, which means a lot of people's spouses who don't play anymore have rendered their "marriage" dead and unuseable.

Gilvoth

i would love to have my own female NPC companion and follower as my wife and fighting partner in eso.
to be with me and help me in all things, pvp, caves, delves, everywhere and do everything with me!
ive been asking for something like this since early beta 2013
help her level up
set her champion points
give her Gold armor!
give her awesome weapons
give her kisses
give her love

a dwemer female ...
please make it happen devs, please

Leogon

+1 for marriageable NPCs.

Quantact

Honestly, I also thought usefulness in combat would be good. I see Nestor's point on the potential problems of having a spouse from a combat standpoint, and I made a post suggesting what to do if that's a no-go, but I think if everybody has an NPC spouse, and there's a ton of depth in designing him/her, to the point where it's as much a matter of skill as normal combat... it would be good.

Why? Well, if everybody has a spouse, it's an equalizer; if only some had one, it would be unbalancing, but if everybody has one, the only advantage one can have is a smart design and compatibility with the Vestige character. Skilled players already have an advantage because they know so much about the various game mechanics, I think it would add depth. But I also think there should be a contingency to present if the staff agrees with Nestor and not with players like me.

I definitely think spouses going into Cyrodiil would be a bad idea. Doubling the number of sprites in combat would probably cause heavy lag.

Volkodav

It w ould be great to have an NPC husband! He could fight along side me,as was mentioned in a comment above.I'd rather him be an NPC than another player.

Volkodav

Quantact wrote: »

Honestly, I also thought usefulness in combat would be good. I see Nestor's point on the potential problems of having a spouse from a combat standpoint, and I made a post suggesting what to do if that's a no-go, but I think if everybody has an NPC spouse, and there's a ton of depth in designing him/her, to the point where it's as much a matter of skill as normal combat... it would be good.

Why? Well, if everybody has a spouse, it's an equalizer; if only some had one, it would be unbalancing, but if everybody has one, the only advantage one can have is a smart design and compatibility with the Vestige character. Skilled players already have an advantage because they know so much about the various game mechanics, I think it would add depth. But I also think there should be a contingency to present if the staff agrees with Nestor and not with players like me.

I definitely think spouses going into Cyrodiil would be a bad idea. Doubling the number of sprites in combat would probably cause heavy lag.

Ya know,some of us have great gear from the Arena in Orsinium,others dont.Should that be changed? Not in my opinion.So just because some people have NPC's marry them,and others dont that doesnt unbalance the game.

Easily_Lost

I like the idea.

BUT if your spose dies in combat, do you lose her forever and any armour she is wearing, or skills she has learned, etc. and that you would have to start from scratch.
Just asking.

Intelligar

What you could do is have it so they get back up after combat if they die during it. If they are down you can revive them too.
Make it work like other games by Bethesda, it could simplify things.

TheShadowScout

No thanks.

Its an MMORPG, not a single player game; if you want to marry someone, look at the player characters, find someone whose main you can connect with, share some character wierdness, and quest together, use those rings of mara and so on!

Or if you are a sociophobic person like me, and find it too hard to connect to anyone, then you just have to do without game-marriage (at least until that rare day when you might find someone wierd enough to be compartible, sensitive enough to not scare you away, and yet persistant enough to slowly get past your shyness)

But NPC "waifu"? Nah, that would be all too...

(And I am saying that as a rather nerdy person myself)

Surragard

I just imagine the trolling of someone killing your NPC spouse fifty times in a row lol. Since housing is instanced though I could see a "copy" of the NPC being sent to your home with interaction options in the home.

Nerouyn

TheShadowScout wrote: »

Its an MMORPG, not a single player game; if you want to marry someone, look at the player characters, find someone whose main you can connect with, share some character wierdness, and quest together, use those rings of mara and so on!

I agree with this but can also appreciate why the OP makes this suggestion because you are wrong on one point.

I don't like any of the existing classes and have just been playing the story content on and off, and preparing for the long promised but likely never to be seen spellcrafting. So I've mostly been playing ESO as a single player game. That might change when I can play a warden but I do have an appreciation for the fact that ESO is a spectacular single player game with a massive amount of story content and many players might never treat it as anything but a single player game.

ESO is primarily a single-player game, albeit online. The vast majority of content is solo-able and solo-oriented. The main story quests can only be played solo - because there's only one champion and it's you!

Majeure

Lithium Flower wrote: »

You can do all this right now! There's tons of potential partners running around and you can find some in guilds too. If you talk to them, you start earning bonding points which can unlock other achievements including 'friendship' and 'romance'.

It's how I started and then we unlocked 'mara'ed'. We had a huge guild wedding and soon I'm planning to move in with my mara partner for real so he can run around with me in real life. You have to feed them 3 meals a day though and sometimes they want to marathon Futurama instead of ESO but it's worth it!

It's that simple, is it?

Just "LF1M female [Pledge of Mara] Mic & TS required, pst", huh?

woufff

Quantact wrote: »

The Rings of Mara touch on a severely underused concept. Skyrim NPC marriage was not perfect, but I think a lot of people liked its introduction. Make a Matchmaker NPC that asks a billion questions of you, and based on how you answer those questions you get an NPC to date, and if you like them, to marry. Make the NPC designable by the player. Have them run around with you, except in places where it might not make sense or lead to too much lag. So, for example, you might have a restoration staff user or a tank of the sort Lydia is in Skyrim. From an equipment perspective, you're not just buying gear for yourself, but also for the spouse.

I find that a great idea and want to push it again as I find that this is really missing in this GREAT game

Pwoo

Cadelay wrote: »

I wish I could marry NPCs (I'm looking at you M'aiq!). The Rings of Mara are essentially useless (have to be in the same zone and in a group for a tiny bonus) and at the moment, irreversible, which means a lot of people's spouses who don't play anymore have rendered their "marriage" dead and unuseable.

This. It also makes no sense for the rings to be character-bound. Me and my friend got "married" on our first ever characters we don't even play with anymore.