Treselegant wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

rpa wrote: »

I don't care if companion is criminally insane or all rainbows and love as long as they do not whine about playing the game as intended. I'd prefer a mute one. Or option to mute em.
Minimal comments option helps a great deal but companions still blurb stupid. I BoW one of a pair of foes and Isobel comments: "Stow your weapons, my friend. We've won." while I'm still killing the other one.

The game as intended is most characters flee or attack a murderer! The whole point, if you choose to play that way, is not getting caught or face the consequences. Likewise, you should have to hide such activities from most companions and the rapport loss should be greater than it is, especially for Bastian and Isobel.

It would make sense to have an assassin, DB, or similar character who does not object, but from yours and others’ comments, it does seem there is interest in a character without either disapproval of anything or commentary. How about a dog? The mabari hound in Dragon Age was great, and there would be a trade off of less (no?) equipment to worry about but less customization and skill lines (no guild lines to grind either) and could make a fine tank or damage dealer.

I don't think there's a way for the game to have interesting and well written characters and also please the type of player who wants a 'companion' who never objects, never speaks and has no personality. Even if they added a dog I'm sure the companion threads would be filled with those declaring that they hate dogs and that dog companions are a waste of resources.

Best thing for the devs to do is to concentrate of fleshing out the companion system rather than trying to please a sub-section of the community who obviously cares little for them anyway.

Araneae6537 wrote: »

rpa wrote: »

I don't care if companion is criminally insane or all rainbows and love as long as they do not whine about playing the game as intended. I'd prefer a mute one. Or option to mute em.
Minimal comments option helps a great deal but companions still blurb stupid. I BoW one of a pair of foes and Isobel comments: "Stow your weapons, my friend. We've won." while I'm still killing the other one.

The game as intended is most characters flee or attack a murderer! The whole point, if you choose to play that way, is not getting caught or face the consequences. Likewise, you should have to hide such activities from most companions and the rapport loss should be greater than it is, especially for Bastian and Isobel.

It would make sense to have an assassin, DB, or similar character who does not object, but from yours and others’ comments, it does seem there is interest in a character without either disapproval of anything or commentary. How about a dog? The mabari hound in Dragon Age was great, and there would be a trade off of less (no?) equipment to worry about but less customization and skill lines (no guild lines to grind either) and could make a fine tank or damage dealer.

Agenericname wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

rpa wrote: »

I don't care if companion is criminally insane or all rainbows and love as long as they do not whine about playing the game as intended. I'd prefer a mute one. Or option to mute em.
Minimal comments option helps a great deal but companions still blurb stupid. I BoW one of a pair of foes and Isobel comments: "Stow your weapons, my friend. We've won." while I'm still killing the other one.

The game as intended is most characters flee or attack a murderer! The whole point, if you choose to play that way, is not getting caught or face the consequences. Likewise, you should have to hide such activities from most companions and the rapport loss should be greater than it is, especially for Bastian and Isobel.

It would make sense to have an assassin, DB, or similar character who does not object, but from yours and others’ comments, it does seem there is interest in a character without either disapproval of anything or commentary. How about a dog? The mabari hound in Dragon Age was great, and there would be a trade off of less (no?) equipment to worry about but less customization and skill lines (no guild lines to grind either) and could make a fine tank or damage dealer.

A dog would be cool. Id rather have a wolf skin for the Warden.

Yes, I agree that Bastian should oppose things like murder, theft, or anything morally questionable. The rapport loss for those activities are fine. They makes sense.

I'm lactose intolerant and I've never once thought to myself "that person just made a cheesecake. I dont want to be their friend!"

A thieves trove? Theft, sure, but its a box hidden behind a log in the middle of nowhere. How does he even know its stolen and why is that not okay but being in someone's house and taking their belongings, as long as its not flagged as stealing, somehow okay? Or that heavy sack that someone stuffed 5 kuta runes into and left. Any chest.

Ember and fishing. If I ever need to find my cat all I need to do is open a can of tuna, and BAM! There they are. A more realistic conversation with a cat would be more like "hey, servent! slot the CP to catch fish faster or I'll knock the coffee pot off the counter while you sleep."

Treselegant wrote: »

Agenericname wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

rpa wrote: »

I don't care if companion is criminally insane or all rainbows and love as long as they do not whine about playing the game as intended. I'd prefer a mute one. Or option to mute em.
Minimal comments option helps a great deal but companions still blurb stupid. I BoW one of a pair of foes and Isobel comments: "Stow your weapons, my friend. We've won." while I'm still killing the other one.

The game as intended is most characters flee or attack a murderer! The whole point, if you choose to play that way, is not getting caught or face the consequences. Likewise, you should have to hide such activities from most companions and the rapport loss should be greater than it is, especially for Bastian and Isobel.

It would make sense to have an assassin, DB, or similar character who does not object, but from yours and others’ comments, it does seem there is interest in a character without either disapproval of anything or commentary. How about a dog? The mabari hound in Dragon Age was great, and there would be a trade off of less (no?) equipment to worry about but less customization and skill lines (no guild lines to grind either) and could make a fine tank or damage dealer.

A dog would be cool. Id rather have a wolf skin for the Warden.

Yes, I agree that Bastian should oppose things like murder, theft, or anything morally questionable. The rapport loss for those activities are fine. They makes sense.

I'm lactose intolerant and I've never once thought to myself "that person just made a cheesecake. I dont want to be their friend!"

A thieves trove? Theft, sure, but its a box hidden behind a log in the middle of nowhere. How does he even know its stolen and why is that not okay but being in someone's house and taking their belongings, as long as its not flagged as stealing, somehow okay? Or that heavy sack that someone stuffed 5 kuta runes into and left. Any chest.

Ember and fishing. If I ever need to find my cat all I need to do is open a can of tuna, and BAM! There they are. A more realistic conversation with a cat would be more like "hey, servent! slot the CP to catch fish faster or I'll knock the coffee pot off the counter while you sleep."

I think the suggestion in game is that you make food not just for yourself but your companion. It's why Mirri gets excited about the player making drinks and Isobel about sweets. I think, as someone who's also lactose intolerant, if my friend kept giving me cheese related dishes when I'd explicitedly expressed my reasons for not wanting them - yeah that would get a side-eye from me which is what -1 rapport really is. It's flavour rapport and you'd have to make a whole load of cheese for it to matter on the rapport meter.

Is a good addition to the character? Not particularly and it does feel like at times that someone at ZOS thought lactose intolerance was a really hilarious addition to an already weirdly curated reaction list...buuut some players get way too worked up about the cheese thing.

As for the thieves trove, well that one's easy, it's a thieves trove left for members of the Thieves Guild. Bastian has dialogue about hating the criminal guilds so it's entirely within character that he wouldn't support someone recieving stolen goods from the Thieves Guild. It literally has the Thieves Guild mark on the top of the trove and as a character who's been travelling Tamriel for a few years he'd probably be aware of its significance.





As for Ember - she is all about being busy. She doesn't like standing around fishing and doesn't like reading (in her dialogue) probably for the same reason. She's just not really the standing about type.

Agenericname wrote: »

Treselegant wrote: »

Agenericname wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

rpa wrote: »

I don't care if companion is criminally insane or all rainbows and love as long as they do not whine about playing the game as intended. I'd prefer a mute one. Or option to mute em.
Minimal comments option helps a great deal but companions still blurb stupid. I BoW one of a pair of foes and Isobel comments: "Stow your weapons, my friend. We've won." while I'm still killing the other one.

The game as intended is most characters flee or attack a murderer! The whole point, if you choose to play that way, is not getting caught or face the consequences. Likewise, you should have to hide such activities from most companions and the rapport loss should be greater than it is, especially for Bastian and Isobel.

It would make sense to have an assassin, DB, or similar character who does not object, but from yours and others’ comments, it does seem there is interest in a character without either disapproval of anything or commentary. How about a dog? The mabari hound in Dragon Age was great, and there would be a trade off of less (no?) equipment to worry about but less customization and skill lines (no guild lines to grind either) and could make a fine tank or damage dealer.

A dog would be cool. Id rather have a wolf skin for the Warden.

Yes, I agree that Bastian should oppose things like murder, theft, or anything morally questionable. The rapport loss for those activities are fine. They makes sense.

I'm lactose intolerant and I've never once thought to myself "that person just made a cheesecake. I dont want to be their friend!"

A thieves trove? Theft, sure, but its a box hidden behind a log in the middle of nowhere. How does he even know its stolen and why is that not okay but being in someone's house and taking their belongings, as long as its not flagged as stealing, somehow okay? Or that heavy sack that someone stuffed 5 kuta runes into and left. Any chest.

Ember and fishing. If I ever need to find my cat all I need to do is open a can of tuna, and BAM! There they are. A more realistic conversation with a cat would be more like "hey, servent! slot the CP to catch fish faster or I'll knock the coffee pot off the counter while you sleep."

I think the suggestion in game is that you make food not just for yourself but your companion. It's why Mirri gets excited about the player making drinks and Isobel about sweets. I think, as someone who's also lactose intolerant, if my friend kept giving me cheese related dishes when I'd explicitedly expressed my reasons for not wanting them - yeah that would get a side-eye from me which is what -1 rapport really is. It's flavour rapport and you'd have to make a whole load of cheese for it to matter on the rapport meter.

Is a good addition to the character? Not particularly and it does feel like at times that someone at ZOS thought lactose intolerance was a really hilarious addition to an already weirdly curated reaction list...buuut some players get way too worked up about the cheese thing.

As for the thieves trove, well that one's easy, it's a thieves trove left for members of the Thieves Guild. Bastian has dialogue about hating the criminal guilds so it's entirely within character that he wouldn't support someone recieving stolen goods from the Thieves Guild. It literally has the Thieves Guild mark on the top of the trove and as a character who's been travelling Tamriel for a few years he'd probably be aware of its significance.





As for Ember - she is all about being busy. She doesn't like standing around fishing and doesn't like reading (in her dialogue) probably for the same reason. She's just not really the standing about type.

It's probably worth mentioning that companions aren't a large part of my gameplay and most of the quirks I find, well, humorous. I'm certainly not asking ZOS for anything and nobody should take anything that I say about that as valid criticism.

That said, I dont make that food for me, and thus not for Bastian either. I make food with cheese in it for daily writs. So really I should have said "my buddy made cheesecake for someone else! we're not friends anymore!" I cant think of a single dish that I make for my characters that use cheese.

Bastian can not like the Thieves Guild all he wants, but why is he okay with me taking things in someone's home? And if someone took the time to stash the ring of whatever in a chest, it's probably valuable to them, and more importantly, it isn't mine.

Ember is just odd, and a bit Ironic since cats spend half of their lives sleeping/resting if not more. She seems like she was the answer to the criticism that come with the first two. The fishing thing doesn't bother me, in the least. Mostly because we share the sentiment about fishing in a video game, and it's fine with something that's a bit niche really. On the other hand, she's the sneakiest of them all, or at least the only one that I am aware of that gives me rapport for activities with the Thieves Guild. Still, I find it better to put her away during those activities because unless I do dailies or grind XP/rapport, I stand to lose as much as I gain with her out.

Michaelkeir wrote: »

LalMirchi wrote: »

While I would also like an "evil" companion I reflect on the Vestige in-game being a hero, i.e. a good person who is not evil.

Apart from optional Dark Brotherhood murders and stealing our hero is innately good so I doubt that a truly evil companion will ever be introduced.

I have to respectfully counter with my “vestige” is evil who just happens to do good things “or is forced to do good deeds due to game limitations”. He feeds on the innocent, kills them, and steals from them. Shoot i sometimes go on a murder spree just for my own personal enjoyment. Im 100% sure I’m not the only one due to how many assassins I run into doing my steal and kill sprees. So an evil companion or at the very least a companion who isn’t against my steal and kill sprees would be welcome.

Perfect example would be someone like Elam Drals. He’s a member of the dark brotherhood so I know he’d be ok with me killing, and he loves food so he’d gain favor when I make dishes. He’s not pure evil, but he’s ok with killing innocent. Win/Win.

Dr_Con wrote: »

No evil-doer perceives their own actions as evil. So through contemporary means of a cliche-villain, no we do not need an "evil-themed" character. The notion of a "Dark" character also misses the mark. Is someone implying they want a Goth character? How do you write out a character who is "Evil." The simple answer is, you don't. Most to all of the characters in even the Dark Brotherhood release are in some ways caricatures of "Evil-doers" who just rationalize the things they do as being normal, so while they attempt to ground the characters, it results in characters that use the DB for their own purposes, or are so blinded by religious dogma that they are unlikable or lack verisimilitude. Bethesda in this regard misses the mark in Oblivion, as the people at the DB hideout, too, are caricatures. What is needed are companions that expand the world of Elder Scrolls rather than explore a fantasy side of one's self. In the respect of world-building, their attempts at a companion system have missed the mark past the first release (tbh it misses the mark here as well, but they did something in respect to system-building). More careful storytelling and exploration of the world and magic rather than NPC-exposed history should be the focus with every addition they place into the game.

So no, a "Dark" character isn't needed. A character who allows us to see the darkness of the world through a different lens would be more appropriate. A shadowscale companion who needs to rescue his/her village & hist from the inside from a spiteful egg-sibling? A wood elf necromancer who unwittingly revives an Aedric being at the cost of potentially unraveling existence? A blind monk whose handicap has more finely attuned their moral compass to see both good and evil as being the same halves to a whole, rather than different sides of a coin? These stories write themselves.

Araneae6537 wrote: »

If they were like Elam Drals, sure. Someone like Amelia Crowe, who’s practically giddy about murder, ugh, no.

Half of the companions are okay with stealing and, in my opinion, all those that ZOS has introduced so far should be against murder. It does not fit with what I have seen of her character in her unlock quest for Ember to be okay with murder

phaneub17_ESO wrote: »

You think you do until you don't. You're only thinking of one aspect of an "evil" companion, but in order to make them believable to their behavior is to also apply it to their personality, speech, and what constitutes their dislikes as well. If you're an emotionally sensitive person, an "evil" companion could really hurt you IRL hanging around them long enough even with Minimal speech.

Some examples:

You pay your Bounty to a Guard/Fence
"You have money to splurge, why not give me some?"
"What a waste, you could have spent that on me!"

You open a treasure chest
"Half of that belongs to me you know"
"Well? Aren't you going to share?"

Companion near-death
"YOU IMBECILE!! What are you doing? HELP ME!"

Defeats powerful enemy
"<Maniacal laughter> another weakling beneath my feet"
"Did you see me out there? No help from you"

Summon Companion
"Oh, its you... "
"What now, can't you see I'm busy?"
"I know I know, you can't bear to be without me"

Random
"Servant, I'm tired let us rest here and fetch me something to eat"
"I tolerate your presence only because your face isn't that revolting"

You attack/aggro mobs
"How stupid can you be?"
"At least do something this time will you?"
"Let me show you how its done!"