So, the main feature this whole year are two whole overworld companions.

Iccotak · January 2021

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe wrote: »

If I wanted bland, annoying, useless npc companions, I would just play Skyrim. What a massive disappointment.

We don’t know anything about the characters yet

Iccotak · January 2021

Schwa83b14_ESO wrote: »

Sylvermynx wrote: »

AcadianPaladin wrote: »

I am very pleased to see the introduction of companions! I love soloing and it will be lovely to have a constant in game companion to keep my elf company and whose schedule perfectly mirrors ours. My elf is nurturing by nature and favors supporting roles so we're looking forward to having our very own private companion to support. One nice feature of the companions is that, if you don't want them, you don't have to use them.

Yep. I've never wanted companions in any game I've played since I started CRPGs in 1985 - even though I've had issues with overland questing due to lack of teenage reflexes, and having only satellite for connection. It's nice for those who have really wanted them. I'd have preferred story-mode for dungeons.

I'd love Story/Solo mode for all dungeons so you can actually experience the story content there vs. rushing through for gear farming.

I agree, kind of felt annoyed when Rich dismissed and said find a group of likeminded players.

On one hand, I get it - it’s an mmo and should encourage playing together.

On the other hand - if you’re going to support solo play then I think solo story dungeons would be great for people hopping into the story

Thealteregoroman · January 2021

I've been gone for 3 years and decided to return because of companions...I think it's a great idea for more options, its really not that deep and if this game is easy for you then cool.

With the addition of house guests and pathing, ESO prob got the stats to see what's gonna sell. Most play this game for the emotional value and story, we shouldn't shun these options for players buying what they buy "just cause."

There is easy content in the game and there is challenging content in the game. Let's judge this feature until it comes out on PTS before we start giving the devs a hard time. You don't like it then don't buy it. Don't be the person that secretly buys every new companion pack that will be dropped but then runs to the forums to complain about what you just bought. Money talks and people will always buy what works for them and their fantasy. Not every ESO player has to play like the next person. That's why this game is awesome.

Play how you want to, do what you want to and go where you want to.

Brrrofski · January 2021

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

Iccotak wrote: »

Nordic__Knights wrote: »

idc if this the main , 2nd or 3rd thing its DUMB and USELESS easy as that

yet it has been a requested feature

Where? I haven't seen anyone request for traveling companions. Ive seen a few people mention it here and there, but it isn't by any means something that the community has been clambering for.

That's what made me laugh. They said "something you've been asked for".

I come on here and reddit often and I don't recall anyone asking for it. Definitely not at a level that it warranted them as part of the main selling point of a chapter.

Finedaible · January 2021

mav1234 wrote: »

Why even bother with a chapter release if the dev team, due to working situations, can't come up with proper new features? Just give us two story DLCs...

Yeah, from what they announced it sounds like it hardly qualifies as a "chapter" level dlc but it is still priced/sold as a chapter while having even less combat additions than Greymoor... The companion system will have to be pretty damn good and useful in a wide variety of content for it to be worth it in my opinion but then I can't really have much hope when I've seen the balancing decisions they come up with.

winterscrolls229prerb18_ESO · January 2021

For my solo playing style thats what i concluded too.

Beats antiquities.

Sure there's the story content, but there's only one question in my brain for me, do i buy it now, or when im actually ready for it. In a few months time the digital collectors on steam is the instabuy price. So those followers need to be beyond good to pay triple for it now.

Saccopharynx · January 2021

Reposting my comment from the other, now closed thread that was scooted over here

I think I will wait till they come out to save my full opinion, but I can see one pro and one con to it immediately.

Pro - I tend to run my builds through normal overland content as I make them, instead of changing everything up when I'm maxed out, so I can make sure I have my rotations down (plus memorizing when to use certain stuff until it's second nature for Undaunted dungeons to be easier). Downside to this is when I'm running a pure group tank that does zilch damage, it takes forever to do even the most basic delve. Sure this is argued to be "NoT tHe WaY tO dO tHiNgS" but, it's how I do it, so having a companion who can handle some DPS would actually be a huge plus for me when I run my tanks.

Con - Going into towns for anything that requires me to select something (crafting tables, merchants, etc) constantly get blocked by people with winged twilights and warden bears. Would this companion also block me from doing stuff as well? That sounds like another pain to an existing problem. We haven't had a solution to these combat pets yet, even though people can turn them off in towns and cities they choose not to.

Arahallris · January 2021

Maintenance mode here we come.

Thechuckage · January 2021

Many players are not prepared for group content at all. The game tells those players who only hit overland that they are awesome. Then a random normal dungeon slaps them in the face.

Now add in companions. Suddenly the situation just got even worse. Unless they do negligible damage.

For all you semantic loving peoples, no this is not a universal case, but will exacerbate the already existing problem.

Hapexamendios · January 2021

https://memegenerator.net/img/instances/63416405.jpg

Trevore · January 2021

You know, just a while ago before companions were officially revealed, my girlfriend and I were joking about what the new companions would be. She said "You wouldn't replace me with an AI, would you?" I said "Nah, that's not happening. You'll still most likely be the healer, it'll be fine".

Well, sure enough, the companions are officially revealed, even their names, and... well, I can't really complain at all.

Bastion- Well, this one is a must-have for me. He's an Imperial, and I main an Imperial. His name reminds me of Overwatch's Bastion (Who is one of my mains as well). I main a tank, and I think Bastion here would be really useful as a DPS, or a tank when I switch to my DPS.

Mary- Hoooo boy, this one. I totally was not expecting a Dark Elf named Mary at all. No sir, not at all. For starters, that is the name of my girlfriend, which makes our joke before even more ironic. Second, a Dark Elf? One of my other mains is also a Dark Elf, and I have more characters that are Dark Elves than I know what to do with them (Plus, I liked Naryu, so there's that). I think just for irony's sake, I might make her into the healer role, or even DPS (Those are usually what my girlfriend mains anyway). Again, never have I expected a Dark Elf named Mary, but I really can't complain.

Now, it says we can give our new companions gear, but can we customize their outfits with the outfit station? I hope so, I'd love to have my companions as customizeable as possible, maybe even the option to change their names, too... Personally I would keep mine the way they are for irony's sake, but overall? I am absolutely hyped for this feature.

Norith_Gilheart_Flail · January 2021

I'm looking forward to having a little npc party to experience overworld questing with, and their dialogue they will contribute.

I am thankful for any additions to this game. I don't feel it is warranted to speak poorly about additions.

WhereArtThouVampires · January 2021

Zavijah_Arventi wrote: »

I'm looking forward to having a little npc party to experience overworld questing with, and their dialogue they will contribute.

I am thankful for any additions to this game. I don't feel it is warranted to speak poorly about additions.

It's not going to be an NPC party. It's 1 npc following you.

Iccotak · January 2021

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

Zavijah_Arventi wrote: »

I'm looking forward to having a little npc party to experience overworld questing with, and their dialogue they will contribute.

I am thankful for any additions to this game. I don't feel it is warranted to speak poorly about additions.

It's not going to be an NPC party. It's 1 npc following you.

Which you’ll have dialogue with (how extensive we don’t know yet) as well as their own storylines to explore

WhereArtThouVampires · January 2021

Iccotak wrote: »

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

Zavijah_Arventi wrote: »

I'm looking forward to having a little npc party to experience overworld questing with, and their dialogue they will contribute.

I am thankful for any additions to this game. I don't feel it is warranted to speak poorly about additions.

It's not going to be an NPC party. It's 1 npc following you.

Which you’ll have dialogue with (how extensive we don’t know yet) as well as their own storylines to explore

Did they say they'd have their own storylines to explore? All we know is they'll have dialogue. Which could be anything from detailed storylines to the random dialogue from NPC-house guests.

Elvent · January 2021

Love this feature, always missed the companion system from the Elder Scrolls games, will be very happy with companions in this game, will also be fun if they come with their own story quests and maybe dailies.

Iccotak · January 2021

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

Iccotak wrote: »

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

Zavijah_Arventi wrote: »

I'm looking forward to having a little npc party to experience overworld questing with, and their dialogue they will contribute.

I am thankful for any additions to this game. I don't feel it is warranted to speak poorly about additions.

It's not going to be an NPC party. It's 1 npc following you.

Which you’ll have dialogue with (how extensive we don’t know yet) as well as their own storylines to explore

Did they say they'd have their own storylines to explore? All we know is they'll have dialogue. Which could be anything from detailed storylines to the random dialogue from NPC-house guests.

The character are going to be unique NPCs with explorable backgrounds and quests. Ones that you can build a dialogue with. These are characters which will be expanded on as time progresses.

These aren’t bland followers like Lydia or most of TES:V

Article interview:
https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2021/01/26/the-elder-scrolls-online-oblivion-is-the-next-step-to-adding-romance-in-game

Edit: also the after show twitch stream discussed more about it

Syldras · January 2021

Iccotak wrote: »

Article interview:
https://www.gameinformer.com/interview/2021/01/26/the-elder-scrolls-online-oblivion-is-the-next-step-to-adding-romance-in-game

I had thought they had something like this in mind in the end - but I didn't expect to see it confirmed so soon.

adriant1978 · January 2021

Trevore wrote: »

Mary- Hoooo boy, this one. I totally was not expecting a Dark Elf named Mary at all.

I hope this might be just a working title or something, otherwise it's going to seem really weird.

Faulgor · January 2021

adriant1978 wrote: »

Trevore wrote: »

Mary- Hoooo boy, this one. I totally was not expecting a Dark Elf named Mary at all.

I hope this might be just a working title or something, otherwise it's going to seem really weird.

... maybe she was raised Catholic?

adriant1978 · January 2021

Faulgor wrote: »

adriant1978 wrote: »

Trevore wrote: »

Mary- Hoooo boy, this one. I totally was not expecting a Dark Elf named Mary at all.

I hope this might be just a working title or something, otherwise it's going to seem really weird.

... maybe she was raised Catholic?

Actually, I was wondering if this might mean she's a Dunmer raised outside of her culture. I'm remembering Brand-Shei from Skyrim.

Firstmep · January 2021

Finedaible wrote: »

Interestingly, 90% of the stream was focused on selling merch and calling for new players instead of trying to retain the old ones.

Seems to me that "Companions" already exist in the game as glorified pets for certain quests, but are now being sold as a feature? I knew not to expect much when he said there would be no new systems this year, but I thought surely there was something worthy of a chapter update. I doubt companions will be useful where you would actually want them with this balance system.

They got 5 months to put something else in the chapter or I'll seriously rethink about buying it.
I still would like them to do something with sigil stones, since those were an integral part of the oblivion gate system is in TESIV.
They could make a simple unique, one time use enchant system that doesn't take much to drum up and it would already be a nice feature.

Fischblut · January 2021

I've lurked on here for a bit and have seen many people complain about how easy overland is. That seems to be a common issue. I can't imagine those people are too happy.

There are not many of these people, they are simply very vocal on forums.
Content difficulty is totally okay in ESO, and overland is just perfect

honestly, if these companions will make solo dungeons possible? then I'm happy. its not dedicated solo mode, sure, but its a compromise I can personaly live with.

I also hope that this will help to deal with annoying "group" mechanics which prevent lone player from soloing dungeons. I hope companions will be able to hold aggro of bosses, and/or at least certain mechanics will target them first, so I as player can interrupt it.

I agree, kind of felt annoyed when Rich dismissed and said find a group of likeminded players.

Compared to his decision to rob veteran players of their previously earned vMA and vDSA weapons in Greymoor, these words are not even too bad...

rpa · January 2021

So are those companions like the Flappy and the Big Butted Bear but for everyone?

eso_lags · January 2021

its complete garbage boring garbage. spitting if the face of pvp players with literally nothing new for pvp. like no one asked for this and its so pointless in a game like this,

Finedaible · January 2021

Finedaible wrote: »

mav1234 wrote: »

Why even bother with a chapter release if the dev team, due to working situations, can't come up with proper new features? Just give us two story DLCs...

Yeah, from what they announced it sounds like it hardly qualifies as a "chapter" level dlc but it is still priced/sold as a chapter while having even less combat additions than Greymoor... The companion system will have to be pretty damn good and useful in a wide variety of content for it to be worth it in my opinion but then I can't really have much hope when I've seen the balancing decisions they come up with.

Seems I missed the announcement of the champion point rework so I'll have to retract my judgment until I see what they came up with. Champion points are part of the base game, but I could probably overlook a lack of new features if the rework brings more diversity to the game.

Lysette · January 2021

Iccotak wrote: »

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

Zavijah_Arventi wrote: »

I'm looking forward to having a little npc party to experience overworld questing with, and their dialogue they will contribute.

I am thankful for any additions to this game. I don't feel it is warranted to speak poorly about additions.

It's not going to be an NPC party. It's 1 npc following you.

Which you’ll have dialogue with (how extensive we don’t know yet) as well as their own storylines to explore

I expect it to be very near to what Bethesda game studio did with companions in Fallout 4. And this was actually fun. Companions had their likes and dislikes, and if you behaved in a way they didn't approve of, they complained and demanded you to change or they would just leave you. This has been interesting game play in Fallout 4. If it is any similar here in ESO, it will be ok, as long as it is avoided that everyone has the same looking companion trailing him/her.

Well, it actually started already in Fallout New Vegas, made by Obsidian, where companions had their likes and dislikes and the personal quests - so this has tradition within the Bethesda realm - and it could actually be good ... well, I'll give it a chance.

Iccotak · January 2021

https://www.gamesradar.com/amp/elder-scrolls-online-gates-of-oblivion-is-a-lot-more-than-an-mmo-tes4/

"I think we've learned a lot over the years. And one of the main, recurring themes that we've heard from players, especially our more hardcore Elder Scrolls people, is people are scary. And there's some content that they aren't necessarily comfortable within a large group, but they would do with a couple of close, trusted friends. And so the beauty of this system and one of my hopes is, you know, you and a buddy could go and do four-player dungeons because you have two companions to help you out."

Another benefit to the upcoming Companion system, Lambert hopes, is that it'll give folks the confidence to take on tougher dungeons, thereby getting the chance to mingle and engage more with the ESO community.

"It will help players, A) develop stronger social ties in-game with their companions, but also, help them kind-of edge a little bit more into some of the group content and meeting other players potentially, which is really exciting to me, because that's where the magic of MMO happens, you know, meeting other people and talking with them and developing those really close social ties."

Celephantsylvius_Bornasfinmo · January 2021

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

And yet quests are literally mind numbingly easy? Why do we need a travel companion?
It's literally going to get to a point to where I don't even need to attack the mobs myself anymore. New here to the forums, needless to say I hope this isn't the only system being touched upon or added this year.

I know they said they were adding less but damn.

This means now nobody should complain when a ton of people ask for harder overland and more meaningful quests/content imo. Now that we have the option to take an npc with us.

I've lurked on here for a bit and have seen many people complain about how easy overland is. That seems to be a common issue. I can't imagine those people are too happy.

I also can't imagine that the camp who wanted some meaningful chapter additions this year are too pleased either.

Maybe this would have had more impact if the overland was actually challenging and we felt the need to have someone "at our aid" as the text says it.

I agree that my idea of a companion in another game is to help you in a difficult environment. Are they going to fight or just be another payable inventory bank? (I haven't read all the details yet).

Lysette · January 2021

Youyouz06 wrote: »

WhereArtThouVampires wrote: »

And yet quests are literally mind numbingly easy? Why do we need a travel companion?
It's literally going to get to a point to where I don't even need to attack the mobs myself anymore. New here to the forums, needless to say I hope this isn't the only system being touched upon or added this year.

I know they said they were adding less but damn.

This means now nobody should complain when a ton of people ask for harder overland and more meaningful quests/content imo. Now that we have the option to take an npc with us.

I've lurked on here for a bit and have seen many people complain about how easy overland is. That seems to be a common issue. I can't imagine those people are too happy.

I also can't imagine that the camp who wanted some meaningful chapter additions this year are too pleased either.

Maybe this would have had more impact if the overland was actually challenging and we felt the need to have someone "at our aid" as the text says it.

I agree that my idea of a companion in another game is to help you in a difficult environment. Are they going to fight or just be another payable inventory bank? (I haven't read all the details yet).

It sounds like they will be very similar to Fallout 4 companions, with their own likes and dislikes, their own background story and their own personal quests - just like it has been in Fallout 4. This kind of game play was actually quite interesting, if one is more into the role play content than combat - in combat those companions were not bad, but as well not good either.