Any update on Romance Options/Food and Potion Hybridization? (NEW AMA answer inside 9/9/2025))!!

spartaxoxo

I know I'm putting the cart before the horse a bit by asking about this prior the big reveal stream. So, I don't anything before then. But, is there any word on these?

Romance options for Companions

"With these companions, they have their own likes and dislikes," Lambert says. "You can go up one side and down the other side with your relationship to them. There is going to be something special that unlocks when you max out that relationship spectrum as well, though initially, romance won't be a part of it."
He adds, "Down the line, though, romance is definitely somewhere we want to get to. We just want to make sure when we add it that we do it right."

Source

Speaking of what the team learned, can you talk about what sort of plans there are for Companions in the future?
I can't get into all the things we're planning, but one thing I will say is that we know everyone wants to be able to romance their companions. It would be a pretty big miss on our part if we don't deliver on that at some point in the future.

Source

Food and Potion hybridization

The team has no major sweeping overhauls on deck, although it’s continuing to work on potions and food as remaining hybridization plans. Expect some in U41.

SOURCE

Erickson9610

I wonder how romance options would work with Companions who have escaped unhealthy relationships or who are generally uninterested in romance. Maybe it'll be different for every Companion; not every Companion may have romance options.

spartaxoxo

Erickson9610 wrote: »

I wonder how romance options would work with Companions who have escaped unhealthy relationships or who are generally uninterested in romance. Maybe it'll be different for every Companion; not every Companion may have romance options.

At this point, I just want a "sorry, it's scrapped," or an update on if the feature is still on the drawing board.
ETA: We've been told this feature was still planned a couple of years ago. I think we should get an update.

spartaxoxo

@ZOS_Kevin

Any update on these? I did not catch any in the Direct but maybe I missed it

M1SHAAN

I would also be interested to have an update on these things, especially since the reveal didn't mention any new companions coming this year. They did mention pivoting their focus to revisiting older content and adding to it, which makes me hopeful that could entail additions to older companions / the companion system as a whole. I'm personally hoping for romance because that's an important component of some of my characters' relationships with their companions, but I'd be thrilled with any new content, especially for poor Bastian and Mirri, who have less than everyone else already.

BretonMage

They must realise that a huge portion of the players are looking forward to romance, so I think it's unlikely that they'll scrap the idea totally. I hope it's unlikely anyway.

It would be great if they could revisit the first batch of companions. Bastian is such a promising character, but really needs to be fleshed out to the standard of the later companions.

I hope especially that they would extend romance to current companions and not limit it to the incoming ones. We need Garrus redux. And romancing Azandar would be super fun.

tsaescishoeshiner

I want more Companion quests that make us feel close to them like Zerith-var's, not necessarily romance. Some games have romanceable characters that you still get very close to even if you don't romance them, and I would greatly prefer that. Just more character-based quests.

Especially because ESO isn't an RPG with an ending, but a longer story, it would feel weird having a romance type of character hanging around lol.

spartaxoxo

You've mentioned before it would be a miss to not include romance options in Elder Scrolls Online at some point. Is there anything we can expect on that front this year?

It would absolutely be a miss if we didn't do it at some point.

I just found out this was said in April 2024. I'd really like elaboration on this. Is this still planned?

https://wccftech.com/elder-scrolls-online-gold-road-hands-on-with-scribing-plus-qa-with-rich-lambert/

spartaxoxo

ESO_Bill_Slavisek on Reddit AMA wrote:

Romance is on our list of features to roll out, but we want to get it right before we unleash it on the world. In the meantime, we’ll be experimenting with the new Player Response Options to see how to best integrate it into the game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/s/A22Qn0NMPW

ESO_Bill_Slavisek on Reddit wrote:

Once romance does come on line, it will take some time to include all of our many, many popular recurring characters, let alone any new ones we make.

https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/s/DukKmMo4hp

ZOS_BrianWheeler on Reddit AMA wrote:

Repost from another thread in here but still relevant to this question regarding consumables...We had recently dug into adjusting the values of consumables to fit within our adjusted combat values we've been applying since 2019, and found that it would have been far more detrimental to make some of the changes necessary, and almost needlessly so. EG. Many of the consumables would have needed to be nerfed, in some cases extremely so. It was determined in those discussions that it would not be seen as a net positive change, despite aligning with our hybridization efforts, so we are looking into other avenues for consumable balance changes in the future. Throughout that process however, we did tackle a lot of long standing bugs regarding improper tooltip information and other UI issues.

https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/s/5JKcbdn6me

spartaxoxo

Looks like characters like Count Verandis in addition to companions and new characters we haven't met yet are being considered.

Syldras

spartaxoxo wrote: »

ESO_Bill_Slavisek on Reddit wrote:

Once romance does come on line, it will take some time to include all of our many, many popular recurring characters, let alone any new ones we make.

https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/s/DukKmMo4hp

This sounds like they intend to include lots of characters. Since ESO is mainly not a dating sim, it makes me wonder how in-depth the system will be. Of course it's just speculation at this point, but I somehow don't believe that it will be very detailed and personally tailored for the individual npcs if they really do that for, let's say, 40 characters instead of just 8 companions or so.

metheglyn

If they do make non-companion npcs part of the romanceable crowd, I hope they remember to take the npc personalities into account. A romance with Count Verandis should look and feel very different to a romance with Razum-dar. I also wonder if there would be a certain quest requirement before you could even unlock the romance. Would you have to get to know Verandis through his Rivenspire questline first before being able to ask him on a date? Or could you just start the romancing the moment you meet him?

I'm not really interested in having my characters romance npcs or companions, but I am interested in seeing what system they come up with.

wolfie1.0.

Dont be surprised if romance options just boil down to skyrims take on it.

"Hey we both single, wanna get married"

Its a bit pessimistic... but all that i anticipate on the subject.

Daoin

i hope it's not companions we been in too many battles together to even want to think about it bastion (just wish it was easier to move him out of harmful aoe) is just as good as a tank now as some end game players and deserves his life unbothered with any sort of romancing. and mirri is well..mirri..still my favourite companion but so far away from romance may aswell move to the moon. companions need some love alright but not that kind

metheglyn

wolfie1.0. wrote: »

Dont be surprised if romance options just boil down to skyrims take on it.

"Hey we both single, wanna get married"

Its a bit pessimistic... but all that i anticipate on the subject.

Haha, wasn't it more like: Hey, I did your personal quest; let's hook up! Then you get married and your spouse makes you a meal once a day. Marital bliss?

No, for ESO I do expect something more robust than that, particularly since they said they want to do it right.

Daoin

please do not punk out our companions aswell as our old class skills especially after just getting used to the skill system again

metheglyn

I think companions are the ones most likely to get romance options, based on everything they've said. But it will be optional, so you can ignore it if you prefer.

Daoin

funny how theres lots of forums debating this optional thing in matters like that. thinking about it more nothing else could ever suprise me in eso, if optional means a way to make them have never seem have existed them i am all in for that, not sure i could handle one more bastion throw back potion in that situation and you dont even pull him out your pocket for that. so you see its another decision to make love to companions that does in actual fact effect every player in some way. mass ejection of players over over power fantasy not enough ?

metheglyn

Well, Bastian's perk is an account-wise passive. Any romance option would be an active interaction you purposely pursue. You wouldn't suddenly find yourself married to Bastian simply because you went through a few battles and got rapport up with him.

Daoin

thats what they say on every forum come back it gets really boring to tell the truth even reading it, the persue crap, your simply refusing to understand and thats that even though its simple. i want nothing at all to do with them if they go down that route. dont try string me along with your known for it rubbish all over the known digital world about it. either way make it so i can have completely nothing to do with companions and i'll be happy for you, promise
i would ask where they come up with these ideas but everyone already knows it is this forum
and please remember some of us have to keep some resemblance of civility to each other and new players we meet ingame, not only would i not want to be seen with one but i need some deniability to having them full stop

metheglyn

I understand well enough you want nothing to do with a romance system. I'm not trying to talk you into it or string you along about anything. I think you will be able to completely ignore any romance system they put in the game: that's all I'm saying. Maybe my assumption is right; maybe it's wrong. I won't know until the system appears.

Daoin

coversation over enjoy romancing your companion if it goes ahead

edit: was going to put some purple vig companion jewels in guild bank when i got the chance to get around to it now they are going to the npc store and will until i know more

BretonMage

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Looks like characters like Count Verandis in addition to companions and new characters we haven't met yet are being considered.

I see the quote regarding recurring characters, but I can't find the quote mentioning companions. Those are the ones I really wanted to romance.

spartaxoxo

BretonMage wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Looks like characters like Count Verandis in addition to companions and new characters we haven't met yet are being considered.

I see the quote regarding recurring characters, but I can't find the quote mentioning companions. Those are the ones I really wanted to romance.

First quote was a direct response to romancing companions, second is a response to a question about romancing Count Verandis. They answered both in the affirmative, which would be odd if both weren't being looked at. They have also stated in the past romance is coming for companions which I did include in my OP.

BretonMage

spartaxoxo wrote: »

BretonMage wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Looks like characters like Count Verandis in addition to companions and new characters we haven't met yet are being considered.

I see the quote regarding recurring characters, but I can't find the quote mentioning companions. Those are the ones I really wanted to romance.

First quote was a direct response to romancing companions, second is a response to a question about romancing Count Verandis. They answered both in the affirmative, which would be odd if both weren't being looked at. They have also stated in the past romance is coming for companions which I did include in my OP.

Thanks for the reminder. I do hope romance for all the companions is being looked into. I know the more vocal players have been asking about story characters like Naryu, but I do love my Azandar and Garrus Sharp.

Mathius_Mordred

If they do actually ever go down the romance route, there are some prerequisites I'd like first. For example, I don't want my companion to disappear every time I get my feet wet, so add swimming to their abilities.

If I am going into town for a meal at an inn, I want to be able to sit, and when I do, my companion sits with me. There should be a meal animation, where we are served by a waiter, and we both eat and drink for as long as the player wants.

The companion should have their own desires, like us having to follow Isobel into a sweet shop occasionally.

We should be able to alter our companion's appearance more, e.g. hairstyles, adornments, makeup as well as just clothing and mounts.

If we are able to marry our companion, then we should be able to have a proper service and then use the scroll of Mara to gain that juicy 10% XP boost, something I've had in my inventory since closed beta and never used.

I want them to walk alongside me, not 10 steps behind; this is not a Taliban relationship.

We should be able to walk holding hands.

We should be able to give gifts to each other and get an appropriate response.

We should be able to tell our companion to stay back if we think a situation is too dangerous for them. They will argue of course, but you get to choose if they run into a dragon or not.

They need to have the Lightfoot perk from Skyrim to stop them from running into traps and AoE

I can't see them ever introducing sex scenes, but these should be implied, a follower I had in Skyrim would play a white screen with birds singing and heavenly music when this happened lol, so whilst you don't see anything lewd, we all know what is happening!

Just a few ideas, but sadly, I think this is still years away.

Daoin

Mathius_Mordred wrote: »

If they do actually ever go down the romance route, there are some prerequisites I'd like first. For example, I don't want my companion to disappear every time I get my feet wet, so add swimming to their abilities.

If I am going into town for a meal at an inn, I want to be able to sit, and when I do, my companion sits with me. There should be a meal animation, where we are served by a waiter, and we both eat and drink for as long as the player wants.

The companion should have their own desires, like us having to follow Isobel into a sweet shop occasionally.

We should be able to alter our companion's appearance more, e.g. hairstyles, adornments, makeup as well as just clothing and mounts.

If we are able to marry our companion, then we should be able to have a proper service and then use the scroll of Mara to gain that juicy 10% XP boost, something I've had in my inventory since closed beta and never used.

I want them to walk alongside me, not 10 steps behind; this is not a Taliban relationship.

We should be able to walk holding hands.

We should be able to give gifts to each other and get an appropriate response.

We should be able to tell our companion to stay back if we think a situation is too dangerous for them. They will argue of course, but you get to choose if they run into a dragon or not.

They need to have the Lightfoot perk from Skyrim to stop them from running into traps and AoE

I can't see them ever introducing sex scenes, but these should be implied, a follower I had in Skyrim would play a white screen with birds singing and heavenly music when this happened lol, so whilst you don't see anything lewd, we all know what is happening!

Just a few ideas, but sadly, I think this is still years away.

cook ? clean ? not enough ? to be honest though i dont even think i would want a romancable companion in my make believe kitchen at one of my make believe homes in game. and i definately am not going to be encouraging other players to run off and romance thier companions either. mara stuff failed due to lack of real people playing now so our companions get thrown in as the substitute is that it ? i would have to look at that face now every time i accidentally pulled out my companion wondering what they have been upto with other people other than battle. why cannot people understand a lovely romance with your companions over the forum is not how it will translate in the game just like anything that happens here in forum that makes it to game ?
i can however see this idea could have become become one of the staple jokes in the old rp guilds
---raids bastions place looking for baby oil---

YandereGirlfriend

The most questionable thing in these two statements is the implication that the devs believe that finally hybridizing something like Critical Chance on a potion is somehow doubling its power. It most definitely is not. It is simply quality of life that we have been missing for years and years and years and years.

Did the original hybridization somehow "double" the power of every ability that now scaled off of the higher of one's max resources? Again, no; it simply expanded player choice.

Like the original hybridization, players would welcome this. And, frankly, we deserve this win.

MincMincMinc

For the food and potions, i would expect with vengeance that they would go through these systems and restructure them to provide a proper output compared to the skill system. We could also bake mundus into this discussion, because mundus has issues like how the regen mundus are worth more than the WD/SD mundus. Not to mention there is no point to the wd/sd mundus anymore and one of them could be changed to be a crit resist mundus for instance.

At some point with them making the vengeance skills they will have to swap the tooltips over to utilize stats and stat changes. Once that works you would see zos start implementing these basic stat change systems like passive skills, mundus, racials, food. Ideally they would be doing a balance pass on all of these to ensure their outputs match the new skills and morphs.

kind_hero

I get that romancing npcs is a big deal for many players. What I would like from the devs though is to address some of the more long standing issues before adding "romance". One thing I find critical is how boring combat becomes after you level up, and you lock in your build. It's not that combat is easy, it is about how pointless it feels. That's why it's a chore, you don't get any meaningful return from it. Most of the time a mob doesn't drop anything useful or valuable, but also doesn't provide any buff or resource that might make the fight interesting. So, no matter how flashy combat becomes, in the end it will still be a delay to get from A to B.

BTW, if we get to romance npcs, it would be great to have some improvements to housing regarding guests as well. For example, increasing the limit of npcs in a house, and adding various actions for guest npcs, such as using a stove, using chairs, beds, using a broom, serving a meal or a drink etc. This way we could have an npc behave like in Skyrim.

JemadarofCaerSalis

Syldras wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

ESO_Bill_Slavisek on Reddit wrote:

Once romance does come on line, it will take some time to include all of our many, many popular recurring characters, let alone any new ones we make.

https://www.reddit.com/r/elderscrollsonline/s/DukKmMo4hp

This sounds like they intend to include lots of characters. Since ESO is mainly not a dating sim, it makes me wonder how in-depth the system will be. Of course it's just speculation at this point, but I somehow don't believe that it will be very detailed and personally tailored for the individual npcs if they really do that for, let's say, 40 characters instead of just 8 companions or so.

Yeah, I ws just expecting companion romance, not being able to romance random characters, and how will it work with the characters that are in relationships already or are in love with someone else, even if they aren't in a relationship with them, will they just be excluded (even if they are some really popular characters) or will it just ignore that part?