ZOS - Companion ideas for you to consider

Gruumsh1

Hi ZOS,
I know you are already planning for missing race companions but I have a few ideas on companions and expanding people's options.

As I see it, companions are basically a long-game special attack DOT that players get so whether or not the companion speaks or not it wouldn't necessarily matter (it might save on some voicing talent of the companions too if needed).

1/Racial companions that you find in all the specific racial areas - e.g a Bosmer's companion from Grahtwood/Greenshade etc. or a Khajiit's companion from Southern Elsweyr.
The twist to this could be these companions could be animals or monster types. That Bosmer companion could be a forest animal or even a Lurcher; that Khajiit companion could be a Pahmar-raht or a magical Alfiq.

2/Gear options for animal/monster companions could be different thus providing more option to hunt for their gear. In regards to this, you could maybe find companion gear via the antiquities system. So you'd have to go searching for related areas for parts as normal for antiquities.

3/Why stop at a few of them? Go nuts with the options for people's choice. (I know this one would take quite a bit of effort on your behalf to code etc)

This would serve at least two purposes:
1/It would give players a reason to go back into the more "dead" zones of the world.
2/It would give players a "cool" factor for their own benefit of RP/class matching/housing-placed characters

Anyway, thanks for reading.

Jim_Pipp

Strongly agree that companions should go beyond playable races. Disagree that we need new gear for each novel race.

If a novel body type can't work with existing cosmetics (motifs and costumes) then have a few dyable area's and leave them equiped in a permanent 'costume' so we can edit them in the outfit station. Most attack animations are mostly interchangeable.

This would be an amazing way to explore the corners of lore.

E.g. a supuratingly moist priest of peryite, who now looks like a slime mold, tells dad-jokes, and tries to touch as many people as it can (doing disease damage).

Or more obviously, a pet dog that barks enthusiastically at everything good, and growls menacingly at everything bad.

Necrotech_Master

possible they might give more unique companions once we have at least 1 of each class

i think the main issue with giving us non humanoid companions (ogrims, a mini titan, etc) is while they could have the same equipment setup, other stuff wouldnt work well

how do you do a rapport system with say a bear/clannfear/netch? (i dont think a rapport would make any sense for stuff like this, and a lot of people already dislike stuff with the current rapport system (see: mirri) so they would have to basically do without this)

what kind of customization could you do like fashion wise because you couldnt use the outfit station

people already dont like that we cant fully customize our current companions (such as adding a helmet, or any other headwear/facial cosmetics)

Amottica

Gruumsh1 wrote: »

As I see it, companions are basically a long-game special attack DOT that players get so whether or not the companion speaks or not it wouldn't necessarily matter (it might save on some voicing talent of the companions too if needed).

It is a necessity for companions to be voiced just as it is a necessity for us to minimize their random communication. Without any voice, their quests become absurd, including the quest to obtain them. Not that they have much depth as it is, without a voice they would become completely shallow.

Even an animal roaring is voicing.

As for suggestion #1 I expect Zenimax will exhaust the current race list seen in-game that have had a voice at some point and then maybe some other races seen in previous TES games before moving on to beasts. Just an opinion but it does make sense. Eventually, they may go to beasts.

As for suggestion #2, Gearing should remain simple. It does not matter if it is visible or not.

And even then, @Necrotech_Master brings up some other good points that would make beast less interesting.

TaSheen

One of the reasons I don't have companions is that I don't want to hear them - or anyone! - in game. I really really really hate voice acting.

Gruumsh1

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

how do you do a rapport system with say a bear/clannfear/netch? (i dont think a rapport would make any sense for stuff like this, and a lot of people already dislike stuff with the current rapport system (see: mirri) so they would have to basically do without this

what kind of customization could you do like fashion wise because you couldnt use the outfit station

people already dont like that we cant fully customize our current companions (such as adding a helmet, or any other headwear/facial cosmetics)

Imagination is how.

e.g A dog that loves treats and hunting rabbits and loves going on farms but hates it when you kill sheep or livestock?
A Wolf that's the opposite and prefers to kill livestock.

The list could be endless for these things. It doesn't take much imagination either.

You want fashion? Why couldn't the aforementioned antiquity provide a lovely spiked or chain collar; or a cool colour change for a Lurcher? It could be a skin to adjust their appearance altogether. Apply it at the outfit station if you need it to be.

On the other hand, why do you need fashion when you have a cool monster pet? You have the same outfit every time on one of your toons(unless your daft and pay to change it every time a different toon rolls out Mirri etc). It's not like it's unique.

People are complaining about the lack of customisation with companions. Making these additions opens that up. You don't need to worry about a "no helmet" restriction if your Comp can't fit one on their tiny/wooden-branchy head!

It is a necessity for companions to be voiced just as it is a necessity for us to minimize their random communication. Without any voice, their quests become absurd, including the quest to obtain them. Not that they have much depth as it is, without a voice they would become completely shallow.

Even an animal roaring is voicing.

/snip

And even then, @Necrotech_Master brings up some other good points that would make beast less interesting.

You know I meant human-companion voice acting, right? Of course voice acting is necessary to do animals as well, I just guess an actor would be required to do such extended dialogue for animals etc.

Also, have you not done the dog quest in Alik'r or Daggerfall(?) They don't talk for you to do that quest, so I can't see an issue with that beginning style. I've never felt it absurd. Or, why can't you save them from being attacked etc? It doesn't take much imagination to enable or enjoy this.

Do real life animals have a human-spoken voice? Do you feel they're shallow? Of course not. It's all in the writing. A dog companion could bark or growl at things. It could do roll overs or whatever makes that companion tick. Heck, pets do simple actions (e.g the gryphon pet when it grasps for the floating feather) and they don't feel shallow.

And Beasts being less interesting is down entirely to writing. They won't be if they written well. Besides, other people might feel the voice-acted ones are less interesting. Swings and roundabouts.

The sky is the limit when it's a fantasy world!

Gruumsh1

Gruumsh1 wrote: »

You know I meant human-companion voice acting, right? Of course voice acting is necessary to do animals as well, I just guess an actor would be required to do such extended dialogue for animals etc.
*less extended dialogue (oops!)

jtm1018

Can we get Liris as a companion?
Maybe Queen Ayrenn?
Fine, I will just have Dibella as my companion then.