Why aren't we getting new companions til Q4?

Anigma11 · July 30

Why aren't we getting new companions until Q4? I'm not sure if anyone's answered this already, but I can't seem find anything on it. Are they replacing the regular Q4 DLC with the upcoming companions, or are we getting them alongside a new DLC?

EdjeSwift · July 30

They announced no new Q4 DLC last year with Necrom, or did you not notice that we didn't get one last year? It's just features/QoL in Q3/Q4.

SaffronCitrusflower · July 30

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

Syldras · July 30

Anigma11 wrote: »

Why aren't we getting new companions until Q4?

There have been speculations (nothing proven, of course) that this year's rather short chapter might have been designed as a Q4 dlc originally, which would also explain the lack of companions.

LunaFlora · July 30

We were told q3 and q4 updates would be different in the 2022 retrospective letter.
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63363

q4 updates now have a big system instead of a zone dlc. last year that was the Infinite Archive and this year it'll be a PvP feature.
a base game feature.

Companions were moved to q4 i believe because zos needed more time.
Not sure if they have addressed why, but Scribing is gigantic so it's possible they couldn't finish the 2 companions at the same time.

And this will likely mean these companions will be in base game zones which would be awesome so people don't need a chapter for a companion.

Elsonso · July 30

LunaFlora wrote: »

We were told q3 and q4 updates would be different in the 2022 retrospective letter.
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63363

q4 updates now have a big system instead of a zone dlc. last year that was the Infinite Archive and this year it'll be a PvP feature.
a base game feature.

Companions were moved to q4 i believe because zos needed more time.
Not sure if they have addressed why, but Scribing is gigantic so it's possible they couldn't finish the 2 companions at the same time.

And this will likely mean these companions will be in base game zones which would be awesome so people don't need a chapter for a companion.

Maybe they will be mobile PVP target dummies and are part of the PVP system.

Orbital78 · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

SWTOR has companions with story arcs, but I think they had more variability (romance, dark, light, etc.) rather than a static story.

I like companions personally, this is a mmo, yes. But it is also "play how you want", solo, duo, group, or large group. They announced Q4 companions awhile ago. I'm not sure why it wasn't with launch.

EdjeSwift · July 30

LunaFlora wrote: »

And this will likely mean these companions will be in base game zones which would be awesome so people don't need a chapter for a companion.

I wouldn't put money on the new companions being part of the base game. If anything, from a marketing/retention perspective, it makes sense to push the companions (PvE content) to Q4 if Q4 is focused on PvP content so that the PvE side (which is the recognized majority) doesn't feel completely left out of the update(sorry PvPers).

Syldras · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

Do these plenty of people come with a (preferably interesting and well-written) multi-part questline and can I place them in cozy little cages inside my home?

BretonMage · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

Companions are story content that we can talk to and travel with at any time. I love them. More please!

Erickson9610 · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all.

TES V: Skyrim had followers, and since ESO is a TES game that is largely played by solo players, it makes sense that ESO would introduce its own take on that system. The system has proven popular enough with players that it's been receiving updates for years.

LunaFlora · July 30

Elsonso wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

We were told q3 and q4 updates would be different in the 2022 retrospective letter.
https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/news/post/63363

q4 updates now have a big system instead of a zone dlc. last year that was the Infinite Archive and this year it'll be a PvP feature.
a base game feature.

Companions were moved to q4 i believe because zos needed more time.
Not sure if they have addressed why, but Scribing is gigantic so it's possible they couldn't finish the 2 companions at the same time.

And this will likely mean these companions will be in base game zones which would be awesome so people don't need a chapter for a companion.

Maybe they will be mobile PVP target dummies and are part of the PVP system.

that is super unlikely. you can't summon allies in PvP

LunaFlora · July 30

EdjeSwift wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

And this will likely mean these companions will be in base game zones which would be awesome so people don't need a chapter for a companion.

I wouldn't put money on the new companions being part of the base game. If anything, from a marketing/retention perspective, it makes sense to push the companions (PvE content) to Q4 if Q4 is focused on PvP content so that the PvE side (which is the recognized majority) doesn't feel completely left out of the update(sorry PvPers).

no need to put money on it as base game additions are free

we'll see pretty soon whether or not the companions will be in base game zones. update 44 will likely go to PTS in September and zos might reveal what's in the update way earlier like perhaps at Quakecon

IncultaWolf · July 30

The khajiit necromancer companion is going to be awesome, glad they delayed them both to be more polished.

Maitsukas · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

What would be the appropriate replacement or compensation for the players that do like them?

hiyde · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

I have amazing news for you: Using them is completely optional!

I_killed_Vivec · July 30

Syldras wrote: »

Anigma11 wrote: »

Why aren't we getting new companions until Q4?

There have been speculations (nothing proven, of course) that this year's rather short chapter might have been designed as a Q4 dlc originally, which would also explain the lack of companions.

This makes complete sense - a Chapter that has as much content as a DLC; the previous chapter having no "completion" DLC and this "chapter" providing it.

The whole of the Ithelia arc should have been done in one chapter, with the conclusion in last year's DLC - which was of course replaced by "bug fixes".

There can be no doubt that ZoS are reducing content, not just for ESO+ but for chapters too.

SkaraMinoc · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

The majority of ESO players are solo.

Bastian does 10k single target dps with an optimized DPS setup. Makes world boss dailies faster and he also kills stuff while you're questing, fishing, etc.

Sharp-as-Night has something like 8k healing per second. If you need extra healing.

Also, Isobel is voiced by Laura Bailey 😍 aka Jaina Proudmoore. So it's nice having her around.

LaintalAy · July 30

Anigma11 wrote: »

Why aren't we getting new companions until Q4? I'm not sure if anyone's answered this already, but I can't seem find anything on it. Are they replacing the regular Q4 DLC with the upcoming companions, or are we getting them alongside a new DLC?

Some players will return in Q4 just for the new companions.

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

Some players won't.

TX12001rwb17_ESO · July 30

IncultaWolf wrote: »

The khajiit necromancer companion is going to be awesome, glad they delayed them both to be more polished.

You already have a Khajiit companion.

Rishikesa108 · July 30

BretonMage wrote: »

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

Companions are story content that we can talk to and travel with at any time. I love them. More please!

Talk to? As a tamagotchi ? They answer all the same answers, they are not real persons, and their AI is very very limited !!!

tsaescishoeshiner · July 30

I don't mind delaying companions if it means they'll be basegame, or it cleared development time to work on the Scholarium or something.

What I do wish is to replace two point-of-interest or delve quests with companions quests. Like the quest at Sutch or Haldain Lumber Camp delve would be a companion recruitment quest. Sharp and Azandar were the first two to not have their own dedicated instances for their recruitment quests, so it could make sense to combine them into the normal quest quota with dedicated quest areas instead being extra quests that hop all over the map and reuse multiple areas. I think it gives them more flavor to have their own spot.

Ingenon · July 30

IncultaWolf wrote: »

The khajiit necromancer companion is going to be awesome, glad they delayed them both to be more polished.

We already have a Khajiit companion (Ember). There are ten races in ESO, and we have six companions which each are a different race. So there are four races we have not yet got as companions: Altmer (High Elf), Bosmer (Wood Elf), Orc, and Nord. I expect the two new Q4 companions will be two of these four races.

There are seven classes in ESO, so one of the two new companions should be a necromancer class. The second new companion will probably be the same class as one we already have.

M1SHAAN · July 30

SaffronCitrusflower wrote: »

A better question is why do we have companions at all. ESO is an MMO. We don't need companions. There are plenty of people in game to group with. We don't need companions at all.

Other players complain if I try to dress them up in cute outfits and get them to follow me around as I harvest resource nodes for hours

Ingenon · July 30

Anigma11 wrote: »

Why aren't we getting new companions until Q4? I'm not sure if anyone's answered this already, but I can't seem find anything on it. Are they replacing the regular Q4 DLC with the upcoming companions, or are we getting them alongside a new DLC?

I have no idea why we aren't getting new companions until Q4. For the past three years we have gotten two new companions along with the new chapter for the year. This year the two companions are delayed.

And as others have said, no Q4 DLC this year, just like there was no Q4 DLC last year. For this year Q4 we are supposed to get two new companions, and a PvP feature. Before that, in Q3 we are supposed to get a housing feature, and quality of life improvements.

Erickson9610 · July 30

I hope we get a repeated Class and a repeated Race for the two Companions this year. This year could highlight what it means to have multiple Companions of the same Race or Class, and it might also add new features that we aren't expecting. Hopefully we get Werewolf/Vampire skill lines for Companions soon.

Syldras · July 30

Erickson9610 wrote: »

I hope we get a repeated Class and a repeated Race for the two Companions this year.

I don't want to imagine the amount of complaints they'll get if they do that before there's at least one companions of each race.

I think for the sake of variety one should be Bosmer or Altmer and the other one Orc or Nord. One male, one female.

IncultaWolf · July 30

Ingenon wrote: »

IncultaWolf wrote: »

The khajiit necromancer companion is going to be awesome, glad they delayed them both to be more polished.

We already have a Khajiit companion (Ember). There are ten races in ESO, and we have six companions which each are a different race. So there are four races we have not yet got as companions: Altmer (High Elf), Bosmer (Wood Elf), Orc, and Nord. I expect the two new Q4 companions will be two of these four races.

There are seven classes in ESO, so one of the two new companions should be a necromancer class. The second new companion will probably be the same class as one we already have.

They never said they wouldn't repeat races, and we have Ember the female khajiit, but this necromancer is most likely going to be a male khajiit. Trust me, I'll come back to this thread when they're revealed. His name is Zerith also. There's going to be a lot of fan service to northern Elsweyr in general with this one. Enough evidence points to that.

TaSheen · July 30

Uh. If that's datamined you're not supposed to post here about it....

Syldras · July 30

IncultaWolf wrote: »

Trust me, I'll come back to this thread when they're revealed. His name is Zerith also.

So a rumour? That name doesn't follow any Khajiit naming conventions. That would make me suspicious enough.

IncultaWolf · July 30

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

IncultaWolf wrote: »

The khajiit necromancer companion is going to be awesome, glad they delayed them both to be more polished.

You already have a Khajiit companion.

Well we're getting another one, a better one, Ember is kinda meh.