Why aren't we getting new companions til Q4?

Elsonso · July 30

Syldras 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.

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?

I come with a story, but I might not stand in your house where you tell me to or stay in your cage.

Syldras · July 30

Elsonso wrote: »

I come with a story, but I might not stand in your house where you tell me to or stay in your cage.

Well, that's a pity. Visitors normally end up knowing too much, so it just wouldn't be reasonable to let them go. They could overhear me singing stupid bard songs sharing secret plans with my apprentice, or stumble across embarrassing bawdy novels a grimoire with sinister notes while illicitly rummaging through my bookshelves. This knowledge could endanger the whole House!

JemadarofCaerSalis · July 31

Syldras wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

I come with a story, but I might not stand in your house where you tell me to or stay in your cage.

Well, that's a pity. Visitors normally end up knowing too much, so it just wouldn't be reasonable to let them go. They could overhear me singing stupid bard songs sharing secret plans with my apprentice, or stumble across embarrassing bawdy novels a grimoire with sinister notes while illicitly rummaging through my bookshelves. This knowledge could endanger the whole House!

I don't come with a story, but if you have enough kittens and tea and bread, I will stand in the house, though it might not be exactly where you place me. Just look for the highest concentration of kittens...

Syldras · July 31

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

I don't come with a story, but if you have enough kittens and tea and bread, I will stand in the house, though it might not be exactly where you place me. Just look for the highest concentration of kittens...

We have plenty of tea. But what is a kitten? Do you mean a guar? Or is that some kind of cushion?

DreamyLu · July 31

I personally - and egoistically - would prefer that ZOS forget about companions for another while and use the budget for other things. There are 6 by now, so it's not like we miss choices.

It would be interesting to see global statistic about how many players use them continuously, or sporadically only or maybe even never. Based on what I see around me, a vast majority don't have companions when they run in PvE explorable areas. I see more players using companions in delves and dungeons.

As for me, I rarely use them. I take one just to ease my life (am lazy) once in a blue moon, or when I want to run a delve fast as the companion fixes foes on the way.

disky · July 31

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.

Guild Wars is/was an MMO and it also dealt heavily with a companion system. It's not unprecedented. Frankly, I'm not here to interact with players, I'm here to play an Elder Scrolls game.

ADarklore · July 31

Let's put it this way. How many of the total population play PVP? So to dedicate an entire DLC to PVP, they had to include an incentive for non-PVP players to buy it... hence moving Companions to be included with it. That's my thought anyway.

Mathius_Mordred · July 31

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.

If you don't like them you don't have to use them. I love my companions and so do many others. I wouldn't say I like this kind of passive-aggressive negativity.

Calastir · July 31

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've spent an eternity waiting at a World Boss / Harrowstorm / Public Dungeon in Blackreach: Greymoor Caverns and "plenty of people" never responded to group with me.

Without companions I'd lost out on a lot more time and content. I need companions.

Elsonso · July 31

DreamyLu wrote: »

I personally - and egoistically - would prefer that ZOS forget about companions for another while and use the budget for other things. There are 6 by now, so it's not like we miss choices.

It would be interesting to see global statistic about how many players use them continuously, or sporadically only or maybe even never. Based on what I see around me, a vast majority don't have companions when they run in PvE explorable areas. I see more players using companions in delves and dungeons.

As for me, I rarely use them. I take one just to ease my life (am lazy) once in a blue moon, or when I want to run a delve fast as the companion fixes foes on the way.

Some people mentioned equity with race and class choices for companions, but honestly, I am more interested in finding one that I don't have to stow in my backpack while I am doing something in the game that they don't like.

I use them for general support in combat, but I have to listen to them commenting and whining between combats. One is always active, even if I don't need them. I try to find the ones that comment more than whine. I don't mind listening to the comments as I wander around Tamriel. Well, at least not the first 10,000 times.

I expect that ZOS is just going to make them weirder, not better, so my expectation is that the 4Q companions will be interesting until I finish reading the patch notes about them.

Calastir · July 31

Elsonso wrote: »

Some people mentioned equity with race and class choices for companions, but honestly, I am more interested in finding one that I don't have to stow in my backpack while I am doing something in the game that they don't like.

Azander (great tank) and Sharp-as-Night (excellent healer) are both the most chill and neutral companions so far.

BlueRaven · July 31

Calastir wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Some people mentioned equity with race and class choices for companions, but honestly, I am more interested in finding one that I don't have to stow in my backpack while I am doing something in the game that they don't like.

Azander (great tank) and Sharp-as-Night (excellent healer) are both the most chill and neutral companions so far.

I had sharp out by mistake when I changed my appearance for an endeavor. 🙄

They all have their issues sometimes.

Elsonso · July 31

Calastir wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Some people mentioned equity with race and class choices for companions, but honestly, I am more interested in finding one that I don't have to stow in my backpack while I am doing something in the game that they don't like.

Azander (great tank) and Sharp-as-Night (excellent healer) are both the most chill and neutral companions so far.

Azandar's dislike of Arteum/Eyevea, coffee, and mushrooms makes him hard to travel with, at times. I use him as a healer though, not a tank. I prefer Isobel when I want a tank, and she is far easier to travel with than Azandar. With her, I just need to remember to backpack her if some odd quest sends me into a Refuge or requires me to do something shady. Outside of that, I can pick what I want, craft what I want, go where I want.

Sharp is not worth the effort to unlock, for me. I have no use for his particular skill set and he does not fit well with how I play. Every so often, I think I will go unlock him, just to have the complete set. I get to Gorne, which I can solo entirely, and stop and ask myself what the *** I am doing in here. He's not worth the effort.

The only thing that ZOS could roll out in 4Q that would get me excited is a "thief/assassin" that does not have Ember's quirk of freaking out if caught or seen and has manageable negative idiosyncrasies to deal with. I originally thought Ember would be suitable, but quickly realized she is up there with Bastian and Isobel in that respect.

TaSheen · July 31

DreamyLu wrote: »

I personally - and egoistically - would prefer that ZOS forget about companions for another while and use the budget for other things. There are 6 by now, so it's not like we miss choices.

It would be interesting to see global statistic about how many players use them continuously, or sporadically only or maybe even never. Based on what I see around me, a vast majority don't have companions when they run in PvE explorable areas. I see more players using companions in delves and dungeons.

As for me, I rarely use them. I take one just to ease my life (am lazy) once in a blue moon, or when I want to run a delve fast as the companion fixes foes on the way.

I've never touched them, and am more than unlikely to ever do so. I hate sidekicks.... for any number of good and sufficient reasons. I *might* be interested in a more active, more connective animal, but it would depend on if they were always in the way like the ones available now seem to be.

Elsonso · July 31

TaSheen wrote: »

I've never touched them, and am more than unlikely to ever do so. I hate sidekicks.... for any number of good and sufficient reasons. I *might* be interested in a more active, more connective animal, but it would depend on if they were always in the way like the ones available now seem to be.

Hmmm... There is nothing that says that Companions need to be "people".

Thinking... My expectation is that they will roll out a Demora as a Companion before they roll out an Animal. That said, they could certainly do a Fallout inspired "Dogmeat" style Companion. Depending on what sort of creature they used, getting all three roles to work might be a stretch, though.

Sadly, my main problem with Dogmeat in Fallout was that he always ran ahead and then blocked where I wanted to go. Don't remember which Fallout or which Dogmeat, though.

On PC, I used to use an addon that put the companions on "ignore" so I could not interact with them. Since moving to XBox, I am constantly starting a chat with them only to say Goodbye and reposition slightly to get at what they are standing in front of.

ESO has a ton of problems trying to figure out what is important out of the things in front of me. Long dead and cold bodies are more important than players in the Reticle when looking around, for example. If I want to see what level someone is, it is very hard because if that dead boss or mob is anywhere in my field of view, the game makes sure I know about it. The "activation box" for some quest NPCs is so large that it is hard to activate anything else if that NPC is too close to me. I was recently doing the Khenarthi's Roost final quest and had Sergeant Firion with me as a sidekick. I had to use a lodestone on five things, but she always ran up to stand right next to me, and interacting with her had priority over everything else in the world, even though she had nothing to offer.

So, yeah, some pet Companion would likely be standing in the way all the time demanding immediate attention. "I'll pet you later, but right now, I want to open this chest..."

Edit for additional comment at the end.

Syldras · July 31

ADarklore wrote: »

Let's put it this way. How many of the total population play PVP? So to dedicate an entire DLC to PVP, they had to include an incentive for non-PVP players to buy it... hence moving Companions to be included with it. That's my thought anyway.

As far as I know, it will be free.

Erickson9610 · July 31

Syldras wrote: »

ADarklore wrote: »

Let's put it this way. How many of the total population play PVP? So to dedicate an entire DLC to PVP, they had to include an incentive for non-PVP players to buy it... hence moving Companions to be included with it. That's my thought anyway.

As far as I know, it will be free.

The PvP update may be base game, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Companions themselves will be accessed in the same place. Maybe the two Companions will be added to different zones, whether they be base game zones or DLC zones.

I could see one Companion being added to some DLC zone like West Weald, Northern Elsweyr, or The Reach, and maybe the other would be added to base game content like the Infinite Archive or some base game zone like Stros M'Kai.

Syldras · July 31

Erickson9610 wrote: »

The PvP update may be base game, but that doesn't necessarily mean the Companions themselves will be accessed in the same place. Maybe the two Companions will be added to different zones, whether they be base game zones or DLC zones.
I could see one Companion being added to some DLC zone like West Weald, Northern Elsweyr, or The Reach, and maybe the other would be added to base game content like the Infinite Archive or some base game zone like Stros M'Kai.

Yeah, but the person I replied to said that ZOS includes companions to the "pvp dlc" so non-pvpers also have a reason to buy it (which means more profit for ZOS). Which is incorrect, as the whole thing won't be a buyable dlc.

It will be some "pvp feature" added to the base game for free (as you said), which might be a really minor thing, considering the promised q3 "housing feature" was rather disappointing to most players as well.

As for where they will add the companions... Good question. I do think they might indeed add them to the West Weald and make them only available for people who own that chapter, as another incentive to buy it (for those players who haven't yet). So, yeah, not "totally free", but not as "new buyable content".

xclassgaming · July 31

probably to give us pve players something since the update seems to mainly be PVP.

TX12001rwb17_ESO · July 31

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.

IncultaWolf wrote: »

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.

No we are not.

Erickson9610 · July 31

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.

IncultaWolf wrote: »

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.

No we are not.

We will get repeated Companion Races eventually. The Companions system isn't going to just stop once we reach 10 Companions.

JemadarofCaerSalis · July 31

Syldras wrote: »

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

I don't come with a story, but if you have enough kittens and tea and bread, I will stand in the house, though it might not be exactly where you place me. Just look for the highest concentration of kittens...

We have plenty of tea. But what is a kitten? Do you mean a guar? Or is that some kind of cushion?

A kitten is the young of a cat, which is an animal designed by nature or the Princes to be so cute that many people are quite willing to turn themselves into slaves and cater to their every whim. The kitten takes that natural cuteness and turns it up 1000%.

IncultaWolf · July 31

Syldras wrote: »

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.

Just a wild guess, this is my theory based off things I've seen

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.

IncultaWolf wrote: »

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.

No we are not.

And how do you know this? Like I said, the devs never said they wouldn't repeat races

Erickson9610 · August 1

IncultaWolf wrote: »

And how do you know this? Like I said, the devs never said they wouldn't repeat races

Actually, they even implied that they would consider repeating Companion races:

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

I’m positive there’s room to introduce another Argonian companion someday who doesn’t have slavery as a centerpiece of their past.

Syldras · August 1

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

A kitten is the young of a cat, which is an animal designed by nature or the Princes to be so cute that many people are quite willing to turn themselves into slaves and cater to their every whim.

A cat? Oh. I think I've already seen something like that once. Looked like an Alfiq, but somehow smaller. I'm not surprised they turn people into slaves. In fact, there is an Alfiq conjurer climbing the ranks of our glorious House right now, who I heard owns a good dozen of slaves (and probably her own tower in a year or so).

JemadarofCaerSalis · August 1

Syldras wrote: »

JemadarofCaerSalis wrote: »

A kitten is the young of a cat, which is an animal designed by nature or the Princes to be so cute that many people are quite willing to turn themselves into slaves and cater to their every whim.

A cat? Oh. I think I've already seen something like that once. Looked like an Alfiq, but somehow smaller. I'm not surprised they turn people into slaves. In fact, there is an Alfiq conjurer climbing the ranks of our glorious House right now, who I heard owns a good dozen of slaves (and probably her own tower in a year or so).

Yes, that would be a cat.

My cats would be living in luxury, but sadly none of my houses are grand enough for them. They refuse to live anywhere without adequate lighting to nap in, adequate corridor space for practicing their speed and turns, and adequate slaves to make sure their bowls are always filled and there are enough hands to give them belly rubs.

BretonMage · August 1

DreamyLu wrote: »

It would be interesting to see global statistic about how many players use them continuously, or sporadically only or maybe even never. Based on what I see around me, a vast majority don't have companions when they run in PvE explorable areas. I see more players using companions in delves and dungeons.

I agree they're not needed for overland questing, and perhaps with MYM on atm, more players are PVP'ing, but in my experience, the majority of players do use them, especially in places like Craglorn or at world bosses, or as mentioned, in public dungeons.

I mean, why would one say no to free DPS and enemy distractions? And if you find some of their personalities grating, you can always switch to one whose personality you like... which supports the argument for even more companions, so we can have more options.

katanagirl1 · August 1

BretonMage wrote: »

DreamyLu wrote: »

It would be interesting to see global statistic about how many players use them continuously, or sporadically only or maybe even never. Based on what I see around me, a vast majority don't have companions when they run in PvE explorable areas. I see more players using companions in delves and dungeons.

I agree they're not needed for overland questing, and perhaps with MYM on atm, more players are PVP'ing, but in my experience, the majority of players do use them, especially in places like Craglorn or at world bosses, or as mentioned, in public dungeons.

I mean, why would one say no to free DPS and enemy distractions? And if you find some of their personalities grating, you can always switch to one whose personality you like... which supports the argument for even more companions, so we can have more options.

Yes, having a tank with taunt makes some of the squishier classes I like to play much easier. Ones who don’t have shields or much healing for instance.

barney2525 · August 1

contract issues. Companion Union of Tamriel Excelsior is holding out for a cut of the gold from every chest found.

IncultaWolf · September 10

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.

IncultaWolf wrote: »

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.

No we are not.

Well, looks like I was right