At least one of each race, except make them all differentt furstocks of Khajiit.

I'd like more, but I'm done with the leveling grind for them and with having to do the quests for each alt I may want to use the companions with. So for me, I'm currently have Isobel up to 17, and then when she hits 20 I will go back to using Ember. I don't plan on doing this again for any unless they improve how they work

Companion grinding should be 20 times more first.

I hate let them grind for leveling, because they're just "pet".
Not for real combat.

If I consider real combat, I want my alt character as my companion.

Got no issue with a new pair every year, so long as they each bring something that makes them different from those we already have, if it reaches the point where we just get reskinned ones with identical class skills at some point, like for example a new DK companion with the exact same skills as Bastian aside from racial passives then I would be annoyed.

Would like to be able to use more than one at a time, at the very least in dungeons and arena's, let us make use of 3.

ZOS should have a lot of them to choose from. Double what they have now.

But... I use Mirri on PC NA and Isobel on XBox NA. No plans to change that.

Imo we need more choices to suit the different play styles and needs. There are so many possible combinations of personalities, classes and races (and sexualities, if romance is added), it would almost be infinite. I would have picked an "as many as possible " option.

I have Bastian, and for the content I touch, he is perfect. I have no need for more.

So my answer would be 1 only (side note: I have collected the others but don't use them).

I don't mind the grind.

I think that once all the races are checked, they should take it slow and not release any more unless they have a very good idea for one. And I mean very. A character that is interesting for who they are and not just there to represent a race.

Infinite. Love companions, and I'm hoping one day ZOS will create one which totally fits my playing style. Also, we can never have enough different ones.

Keep in mind, companions get many players to actively play in the world just to level them. So for ZOS companions are a win-win.

It would depend on what they decide to give us to work with.
Their current process isn't good enough; it's far too restrictive.

If we could create and customize Companions just like we can our characters (gender, race, class, skills [including Werewolf and Vampire]), I would create maybe a handful of Companions; enough so that I'd have a good match for any of my characters, and also content.

As it stands right now, I use three of the current four (I don't use Bastian).
But only a small number of my characters have even unlocked a Companion.

And what I use of the future Companions will depend on who and what they are.
I'm undecided on the two upcoming ones.
I like that they've given us a Warden, but I'm not a fan of Argonians. But still, Warden, so I will probably unlock him.
And maybe the Redguard, as well.
But, I'd rather have a female choice, in general. (I imagine that they gave us two males with this chapter to balance the two females from High Isle.)

I hope ZOS does better at giving us more choices/flexibility, *overall* within this system, in the future.

it doesn't matter how many there are. what matters is how much you can take with you on an adventure. I want to summon three companions at once at the same time to go to the dungeons

Since I've paired them off with my DD toons (1 of each class I mainly use for different story content), I wouldn't mind a Necromancer 7th in future to complete the set.

Beyond that, whilst I'd welcome more, I'd prefer to see general improvements on the companion system itself.

I feel like several options fit for me. I definitely want all the classes covered, and at minimum I'd like one of each race. I don't want them to necessarily stop at that though.

I love them. They're cute for roleplaying purposes and each one is basically a ''free'' houseguest. As someone who loves housing, that's a big plus for me. One of my main house builds is a Dark Brotherhood Sanctuary that felt pretty sad before I was able to start filling it out with appropriate houseguests, two of which will be companions once Necrom comes out. It's a lot easier to headcanon Mirri, for example, as a generic dunmer person for my builds instead of Irnskar as a generic nord person, or some other notable NPC that we seem to only get as options for non-companion houseguests.

I find the companion system interesting, so I look forward to seeing new people added. However, I'd also like it if current companions were improved, for example by avoiding AoEs, having more dialogue options and being able to wear adornments (and helmets). Yes, the grind to level can get tiresome, which is why it's good we only get two new folks per year. That being said, I've yet to find a companion to replace Mirri (torchbugs notwithstanding) and I like her so much I leveled her in everything but light armor. I doubt I'd go through all that again with another follower, but let's see what ZoS will give us in the coming years. In sum, let them come; a lot of people enjoy them and those who don't can just skip them.