[Suggestion] Please Make Fennorian, or a Vampire, a Future Companion

NotaDaedraWorshipper · March 16

Companions are newly made characters, not already existing ones. Even less so ones that appear multiple times in several questlines.

As for an original vampire companion I would have nothing against one as long as they are added after we have recieved companions of missing races. I think they should give companions of each race with matching culture before mixing and experimenting, so the basics are done. So to speak. After I'm down for vampires, werebeasts and whatnot as long as they are well done and written.

As for a vampire I would prefer they are not part of Ravenwatch at all. Ravenwatch appear way too much all over Tamriel in ESO imo, making it feel much smaller and less populated than it is, which too many things already do. There are so many vampire clans and strains that exist in lore but which have very little information that would be interesting have a little more of.

TX12001rwb17_ESO · March 16

I just hope if a Vampire companion functions like Tanlorin does that the other skills are not something completely against the idea of Vampirsim like Warden or Templar, IT HAS TO BE A NIGHTBLADE.

LunaFlora · March 16

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

I just hope if a Vampire companion functions like Tanlorin does that the other skills are not something completely against the idea of Vampirsim like Warden or Templar, IT HAS TO BE A NIGHTBLADE.

i think a Nightblade Vampire is likely to happen for one companion at least, because it's a stereotype.

But Warden and Templar aren't completely against the idea of Vampirism. Despite their association with Y'ffre and Stendarr (and other Aedra) it's obviously not required to worship them to be these classes.

And if you don't want a Vampire companion to be a Warden or Templar, what about Werewolf companions?
Werewolves are also Daedric in origin, but Warden fits them quite well due to the Animal Companions skills.

Characters' classes are their choice and Vampirism and Lycanthropy are curses so their story quests could be about why/how they got the curse or the consequences of it to their life.

Necromancer is another stereotypically evil class, like Nightblade, and yet Zerith dislikes Vampires, plus he's anything but evil.
And Mirri, a Nightblade, hates it when you use the Blade of Woe and worships the Tribunal.

really don't expect Warden and Templar to be left out when we get Vampire and Werewolf companions, or even humanoid Daedra companions.

flaxegg · March 16

LunaFlora wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

I just hope if a Vampire companion functions like Tanlorin does that the other skills are not something completely against the idea of Vampirsim like Warden or Templar, IT HAS TO BE A NIGHTBLADE.

i think a Nightblade Vampire is likely to happen for one companion at least, because it's a stereotype.

But Warden and Templar aren't completely against the idea of Vampirism. Despite their association with Y'ffre and Stendarr (and other Aedra) it's obviously not required to worship them to be these classes.

And if you don't want a Vampire companion to be a Warden or Templar, what about Werewolf companions?
Werewolves are also Daedric in origin, but Warden fits them quite well due to the Animal Companions skills.

Characters' classes are their choice and Vampirism and Lycanthropy are curses so their story quests could be about why/how they got the curse or the consequences of it to their life.

Necromancer is another stereotypically evil class, like Nightblade, and yet Zerith dislikes Vampires, plus he's anything but evil.
And Mirri, a Nightblade, hates it when you use the Blade of Woe and worships the Tribunal.

really don't expect Warden and Templar to be left out when we get Vampire and Werewolf companions, or even humanoid Daedra companions.

This. According to UESP "Despite the fact that Templar magic was often referred to as Aedric or divine in nature, it was certain that the ability to use these spells had little, if anything, to do with the faith of the wielder, and just like regular magic, required an appropriate approach and aptitude.In fact, certain Templars were known to defy the Divines and follow Daedra, such as Molag Bal, and retain their powers... The term 'templar' was considered a fancy title with little relevance to magic educators."

Too lazy to look it up, but I'm sure they've made sure that Wardens are the same way, just like Arcanists are connected to Apocrypha but can operate in defiance of Mora, etc.

Hollyniss · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

I just hope if a Vampire companion functions like Tanlorin does that the other skills are not something completely against the idea of Vampirsim like Warden or Templar, IT HAS TO BE A NIGHTBLADE.

i think a Nightblade Vampire is likely to happen for one companion at least, because it's a stereotype.

But Warden and Templar aren't completely against the idea of Vampirism. Despite their association with Y'ffre and Stendarr (and other Aedra) it's obviously not required to worship them to be these classes.

And if you don't want a Vampire companion to be a Warden or Templar, what about Werewolf companions?
Werewolves are also Daedric in origin, but Warden fits them quite well due to the Animal Companions skills.

Characters' classes are their choice and Vampirism and Lycanthropy are curses so their story quests could be about why/how they got the curse or the consequences of it to their life.

Necromancer is another stereotypically evil class, like Nightblade, and yet Zerith dislikes Vampires, plus he's anything but evil.
And Mirri, a Nightblade, hates it when you use the Blade of Woe and worships the Tribunal.

really don't expect Warden and Templar to be left out when we get Vampire and Werewolf companions, or even humanoid Daedra companions.

This. According to UESP "Despite the fact that Templar magic was often referred to as Aedric or divine in nature, it was certain that the ability to use these spells had little, if anything, to do with the faith of the wielder, and just like regular magic, required an appropriate approach and aptitude.In fact, certain Templars were known to defy the Divines and follow Daedra, such as Molag Bal, and retain their powers... The term 'templar' was considered a fancy title with little relevance to magic educators."

Too lazy to look it up, but I'm sure they've made sure that Wardens are the same way, just like Arcanists are connected to Apocrypha but can operate in defiance of Mora, etc.

Yep, the way I see it is; magic is magic. Any type of magic can be used for good or ill. It's a tool. My Templar is a High Elf vampire who is a priestess of Auri-El who was cursed by Molag Bal. My Arcanist has no connection to Mora, she's just a mage who uses different methods.

Erickson9610 · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

TX12001rwb17_ESO wrote: »

I just hope if a Vampire companion functions like Tanlorin does that the other skills are not something completely against the idea of Vampirsim like Warden or Templar, IT HAS TO BE A NIGHTBLADE.

i think a Nightblade Vampire is likely to happen for one companion at least, because it's a stereotype.

But Warden and Templar aren't completely against the idea of Vampirism. Despite their association with Y'ffre and Stendarr (and other Aedra) it's obviously not required to worship them to be these classes.

And if you don't want a Vampire companion to be a Warden or Templar, what about Werewolf companions?
Werewolves are also Daedric in origin, but Warden fits them quite well due to the Animal Companions skills.

Characters' classes are their choice and Vampirism and Lycanthropy are curses so their story quests could be about why/how they got the curse or the consequences of it to their life.

Necromancer is another stereotypically evil class, like Nightblade, and yet Zerith dislikes Vampires, plus he's anything but evil.
And Mirri, a Nightblade, hates it when you use the Blade of Woe and worships the Tribunal.

really don't expect Warden and Templar to be left out when we get Vampire and Werewolf companions, or even humanoid Daedra companions.

This. According to UESP "Despite the fact that Templar magic was often referred to as Aedric or divine in nature, it was certain that the ability to use these spells had little, if anything, to do with the faith of the wielder, and just like regular magic, required an appropriate approach and aptitude.In fact, certain Templars were known to defy the Divines and follow Daedra, such as Molag Bal, and retain their powers... The term 'templar' was considered a fancy title with little relevance to magic educators."

Too lazy to look it up, but I'm sure they've made sure that Wardens are the same way, just like Arcanists are connected to Apocrypha but can operate in defiance of Mora, etc.

Another example is how Vykosa and Balorgh from the Wolfhunter DLC use their lycanthropy in defiance of Hircine, or otherwise disrespect Hircine within his own realm.

Also, I totally expect a Templar Werewolf or Templar Vampire at some point. That juxtaposition between a Class that expects them to be one way and their Curse which has them be another way is a good opportunity for a Companion's storyline.

And please don't give us the stereotypical Bosmer Warden Werewolf. I don't mind an Altmer Nightblade/Necromancer Vampire, because they'd use their Vampire skills alongside their Nightblade/Necromancer skills and look the part, but when transformed a Bosmer Warden Werewolf is neither a Bosmer nor a Warden; they're just a Werewolf at that point.

BretonMage · March 17

Hollyniss wrote: »

For those that don't want a vampire companion, you could always choose not to recruit or use them.

And miss out on a companion? Why?

And regarding your point about Fennorian/male elven vampires, many of us have been waiting patiently for a male high elf companion, and not everyone appreciates vampires. To be honest, with the amount of content that has already been devoted to Astarion, I think it would be more unique to design another type of companion vampire.

Zerith, for example, is an excellent example of a unique necromancer; a character that doesn't play into stereotypes at all, and provides a refreshingly interesting companion story. I think there was a point I was afraid ZOS would design a rather stereotypical evil high elf necromancer, but what we got was fantastic.

I'd love to see them do something interesting with a werewolf as well.

flaxegg · March 17

BretonMage wrote: »

Hollyniss wrote: »

For those that don't want a vampire companion, you could always choose not to recruit or use them.

And miss out on a companion? Why?

And regarding your point about Fennorian/male elven vampires, many of us have been waiting patiently for a male high elf companion, and not everyone appreciates vampires. To be honest, with the amount of content that has already been devoted to Astarion, I think it would be more unique to design another type of companion vampire.

Zerith, for example, is an excellent example of a unique necromancer; a character that doesn't play into stereotypes at all, and provides a refreshingly interesting companion story. I think there was a point I was afraid ZOS would design a rather stereotypical evil high elf necromancer, but what we got was fantastic.

I'd love to see them do something interesting with a werewolf as well.

Was tempted not to respond to this, because honestly, I don't really care if we get a vampire companion or not, but I am very baffled by this perspective that all companions have to appeal to everyone, when even now that's not the case. In fact, very few of the companions are interesting to me, and as a result, I don't use them. I don't begrudge people having "naive enthusiastic mage #5,002"" or "generic fantasy knight-type character #7,015"" in their games, because I know that appeals to a number of people and makes the game better for them. Just not me, and that's fine.

I also think a character type's existence and popularity in a totally different game (only vaguely related because they're both in the medieval fantasy genre), is questionable reasoning for a claim that said character type must be excluded from this game.

BretonMage · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

Was tempted not to respond to this, because honestly, I don't really care if we get a vampire companion or not, but I am very baffled by this perspective that all companions have to appeal to everyone, when even now that's not the case. In fact, very few of the companions are interesting to me, and as a result, I don't use them. I don't begrudge people having "naive enthusiastic mage #5,002"" or "generic fantasy knight-type character #7,015"" in their games, because I know that appeals to a number of people and makes the game better for them. Just not me, and that's fine.

If you don't use companions, then it's understandable that you would have a fairly neutral opinion on this. But as someone who was actually looking forward to a high elf companion (as others have as well), I would be upset if they made them a vampire. Some of us might like vampires, others might not, which is why I had mentioned earlier that I would hope if they ever introduced a vampire companion, that they would be curable. Serana was curable, after all, as are vampire players, so it would fit very well into the TES world.

I also think a character type's existence and popularity in a totally different game (only vaguely related because they're both in the medieval fantasy genre), is questionable reasoning for a claim that said character type must be excluded from this game.

Astarion is the poster boy of one of the most popular RPGs in recent history, any handsome elven vampire companion that follows cannot help but recall him. Perhaps ZOS might be happy with that, but I reiterate that it will not be unique.

NotaDaedraWorshipper · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

Too lazy to look it up, but I'm sure they've made sure that Wardens are the same way, just like Arcanists are connected to Apocrypha but can operate in defiance of Mora, etc.

The whole Arcanists doesn't have to be connected to Mora thing doesn't actually make sense and is contradicted multiple times in lore and by ZOS. Arcanists are the one class which has a strict and connected source to their powers, which is Hermeaus Mora. Not Apocrypha but Mora. Saying it's just connected to Apocrypha and not Mora as ZOS did on their introduction simply doesn't work because Apocrypha is Mora. It wouldn't exist without him. The Prince is the realm, the realm is the Prince, and any notion of separating the two is a farce. So in some way they will no matter what be connected to him.

Now we players can of course roleplay and imagine our arcanists are something else, not an arcanist, and simply use the appearance of the class for it. Like someone using a warden and not seeing their character as one or connected to nature in any way, but mainly use it to portray a mage who use destruction magic in ice form.

flaxegg · March 17

BretonMage wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

Was tempted not to respond to this, because honestly, I don't really care if we get a vampire companion or not, but I am very baffled by this perspective that all companions have to appeal to everyone, when even now that's not the case. In fact, very few of the companions are interesting to me, and as a result, I don't use them. I don't begrudge people having "naive enthusiastic mage #5,002"" or "generic fantasy knight-type character #7,015"" in their games, because I know that appeals to a number of people and makes the game better for them. Just not me, and that's fine.

If you don't use companions, then it's understandable that you would have a fairly neutral opinion on this. But as someone who was actually looking forward to a high elf companion (as others have as well), I would be upset if they made them a vampire. Some of us might like vampires, others might not, which is why I had mentioned earlier that I would hope if they ever introduced a vampire companion, that they would be curable. Serana was curable, after all, as are vampire players, so it would fit very well into the TES world.

I also think a character type's existence and popularity in a totally different game (only vaguely related because they're both in the medieval fantasy genre), is questionable reasoning for a claim that said character type must be excluded from this game.

Astarion is the poster boy of one of the most popular RPGs in recent history, any handsome elven vampire companion that follows cannot help but recall him. Perhaps ZOS might be happy with that, but I reiterate that it will not be unique.

I tried to word this carefully, because I don't want to come across as saying that your feelings are invalid or that it wouldn't be okay to be disappointed, and I apologize in advance if I come across as too harsh anywhere.

I do use companions, but only the couple that interest me. The vast majority do not, clash with my play style, etc., although I do love the idea of companions in general. Do I wish the companions were more tailored to my personal taste? Sure, but that's not a realistic expectation imo, in a game with such a diverse player base. I do think having a vampire be curable, or at least this being a point you can bring up to the companion, whether or not they as a character are for it or against it (and possibly having an effect on your relationship, etc.) would be cool, but the companion system (and most other RP-related things, honestly) is very surface-level in this game, so I feel this is probably unlikely.

And honestly "elf vampire" is a pretty high level to start calling things stereotypes, copies, etc., as that is nowhere even close to a complete character concept. IMO that's similar to saying that because BG3 has a pretty popular, middle-ish aged male human wizard character that Azandar is too derivative for this game.

There's a lot more to a character than their race and affliction (or lack thereof, etc.) I would argue we already have a near-dupe of Astarion's personality as a companion already. Just give Sharp some vanity, and you've got yourself at least like 90% of an Astarion. Even their backstories have close parallels.

There are plenty of directions they could take an elf vampire that is not "Astarion" territory, and because we have Sharp, I'd think it'd be pretty likely that the character would be different in important ways. Vampires are a part of elder scrolls lore, and we already (in this game) have so many human male companions, it would make sense if it was an elf of some sort (honestly, a bosmer would be kind of funny, given that everyone in this thread has wished for dunmer or altmer).

Plus, even if we get an elf vampire, doesn't mean we won't get other, non-vampire elves. We already have two khajiit companions, after all. One's is an undead (?) necromancer-paladin and the other is naive, enthusiastic mage #5,324. There's something for everybody. (<-- meant to jokingly illustrate the potential for different characters, not literally saying everyone's happy)

flaxegg · March 17

NotaDaedraWorshipper wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

Too lazy to look it up, but I'm sure they've made sure that Wardens are the same way, just like Arcanists are connected to Apocrypha but can operate in defiance of Mora, etc.

The whole Arcanists doesn't have to be connected to Mora thing doesn't actually make sense and is contradicted multiple times in lore and by ZOS. Arcanists are the one class which has a strict and connected source to their powers, which is Hermeaus Mora. Not Apocrypha but Mora. Saying it's just connected to Apocrypha and not Mora as ZOS did on their introduction simply doesn't work because Apocrypha is Mora. It wouldn't exist without him. The Prince is the realm, the realm is the Prince, and any notion of separating the two is a farce. So in some way they will no matter what be connected to him.

Now we players can of course roleplay and imagine our arcanists are something else, not an arcanist, and simply use the appearance of the class for it. Like someone using a warden and not seeing their character as one or connected to nature in any way, but mainly use it to portray a mage who use destruction magic in ice form.

I agree, I was taking this from this lorebook, where it mentions "it's worth noting, too: Hermaeus Mora's "portfolio" among the Daedric princes plays heavily into the mystic metaphors used by these casters, but that's entirely a function of the arcanist relationship with the realm of secrets—not the squid-faced prince himself. In point of fact, several arcanists I interviewed recently expressed a deep distrust or even hatred of the Prince of Knowledge. While others verged on a cultist's zeal for the Inevitable Knower."

I agree it's nonsensical, though, since a prince has so much power over the realm, it seems that if Mora didn't want you to have the power he could absolutely cut you off, turn it against you, etc., but I was just saying what the lorebook said, I'll let the people who care more about arcanists and the lore argue over whether it can be taken seriously lol

SilverBride · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

There's something for everybody.

No, there isn't.

I've always wanted a handsome male companion that could also be my character's love interest and life partner. I'm not talking about roleplaying romantic scenes or anything like that. Just a romantic partner to explore the world with and their houseguest form to come home to.

Bastian does not appeal to me at all, physically or personality wise. Azander is handsome enough but too quirky. And I'm not interested in Khajiit or Argonian.

We've told them multiple times what many of us are looking for but we keep getting the opposite.

flaxegg · March 17

SilverBride wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

There's something for everybody.

No, there isn't.

I've always wanted a handsome male companion that could also be my character's love interest and life partner. I'm not talking about roleplaying romantic scenes or anything like that. Just a romantic partner to explore the world with and their houseguest form to come home to.

Bastian does not appeal to me at all, physically or personality wise. Azander is handsome enough but too quirky. And I'm not interested in Khajiit or Argonian.

We've told them multiple times what many of us are looking for but we keep getting the opposite.

Haha sorry for striking a nerve. That was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek statement, not to be taken literally. Shoulda added an emoji or something to make that clearer, mb

coop500 · March 17

SilverBride wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

There's something for everybody.

No, there isn't.

I've always wanted a handsome male companion that could also be my character's love interest and life partner. I'm not talking about roleplaying romantic scenes or anything like that. Just a romantic partner to explore the world with and their houseguest form to come home to.

Bastian does not appeal to me at all, physically or personality wise. Azander is handsome enough but too quirky. And I'm not interested in Khajiit or Argonian.

We've told them multiple times what many of us are looking for but we keep getting the opposite.

This is true. There isn't really a good classical handsome male companion yet, in my opinion.

spartaxoxo · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

I agree it's nonsensical, though, since a prince has so much power over the realm, it seems that if Mora didn't want you to have the power he could absolutely cut you off, turn it against you, etc., but I was just saying what the lorebook said, I'll let the people who care more about arcanists and the lore argue over whether it can be taken seriously lol

One of the neat things about Elder Scrolls lore is that what is true to canon is not easily defined to make room for players to plausibly head canon all different sorts of scenarios. Is that author completely bonkers or is that author right? Well, that depends on how you think of your character. It gets a bit ridiculous at times, as in this case, but it also leaves a lot of room for players to roleplay and imagine the scenario they prefer.

flaxegg · March 17

spartaxoxo wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

I agree it's nonsensical, though, since a prince has so much power over the realm, it seems that if Mora didn't want you to have the power he could absolutely cut you off, turn it against you, etc., but I was just saying what the lorebook said, I'll let the people who care more about arcanists and the lore argue over whether it can be taken seriously lol

One of the neat things about Elder Scrolls lore is that what is true to canon is not easily defined to make room for players to plausibly head canon all different sorts of scenarios. Is that author completely bonkers or is that author right? Well, that depends on how you think of your character. It gets a bit ridiculous at times, as in this case, but it also leaves a lot of room for players to roleplay and imagine the scenario they prefer.

Yeah, and the fact that it keeps referring to "metaphors" also leaves room for interpretation (unless there's a generally accepted definition in the lore, again, I'm not that into it). Is it literally pulling power directly from Apocrypha (like DnD warlock style) or is it more like taking inspiration from it or something and it's just another style of magic?

Still feel like Mora could crush you like a lil bug if you are pulling directly Apocrypha, but also I don't care enough to have strong feelings about it one way or the other.

Hollyniss · March 17

@BretonMage, I get it. I'm not wanting a replica of Astarion, I only mentioned him due to his popularity as a vampire companion with all of the cool and immersive interactions you have with him because he's a vampire (like him actually being able to feed from you or turn you into a vampire, depending on certain choices). If I want to have Astarion in my group, I'll play Baldur's Gate 3. I would just like a vampire (I've always loved vampires) character with the same kind of immersive options. I don't want the vampirism to be an afterthought. Just like I wouldn't want the were (werewolf, werebear, wereboar, werecrocodile, ect) aspect of a companion to be an afterthought. I'm also not against being able to cure them. Just as I think it'd be cool if you could turn your companions into vampires or werewolves (for better or worse).

I just hope that the companions (vampire or otherwise) will be well-written or more three dimensional in the future. With more interactions as well. As the companions we have are kind of disappointing (for me anyway). Sharp-as-night and Zarith-var are probably my favorites as I found them far more interesting than the others. Bastion is okay, he doesn't bother me. The rest, however, really annoy me lol. I only have them because I'm a completionist...

@flaxegg I really hope it won't be a Bosmer male, lol. I still have PTSD from Oblivion (Adoring Fan). Besides I'm not a fan with how the males look. I's hard to make a male Bosmer look good. You can make really pretty or cute females, but the males...lol. They also seem to have a hard time making compelling Bosmer characters in general. Most seem to be stereotypical perky tree huggers. When they can actually be quite brutal. I've just always liked the Dunmer and Altmer (favorite races). But if they came out with a cool Breton vampire or surprised me with a really cool Bosmer (that looked good) vampire I wouldn't complain.

flaxegg · March 17

Hollyniss wrote: »

@BretonMage, I get it. I'm not wanting a replica of Astarion, I only mentioned him due to his popularity as a vampire companion with all of the cool and immersive interactions you have with him because he's a vampire (like him actually being able to feed from you or turn you into a vampire, depending on certain choices). If I want to have Astarion in my group, I'll play Baldur's Gate 3. I would just like a vampire (I've always loved vampires) character with the same kind of immersive options. I don't want the vampirism to be an afterthought. Just like I wouldn't want the were (werewolf, werebear, wereboar, werecrocodile, ect) aspect of a companion to be an afterthought. I'm also not against being able to cure them. Just as I think it'd be cool if you could turn your companions into vampires or werewolves.

I just hope that the companions will be well-written or more three dimensional in the future. As the companions we have are kind of disappointing (for me anyway). Sharp-as-night and Zarith-var are probably my favorites as I found them far more interesting than the others. Bastion is okay, he doesn't bother me. The rest, however, really annoy me lol. I only have them because I'm a completionist...

@flaxegg I really hope it won't be a Bosmer male, lol. I still have PTSD from Oblivion (Adoring Fan). Besides I'm not a fan with how the males look. I's hard to make a male Bosmer look good.You can make really pretty or cute females, but the males...lol. They also seem to have a hard time making compelling Bosmer characters in general. Most seem to be stereotypical perky tree huggers. When they can actually be quite brutal. I've just always liked the Dunmer and Altmer (favorite races). But if they came out with a cool Breton vampire or surprised me with a really cool Bosmer vampire I wouldn't complain.

LMAO. It's always possible the adoring fan was secretly a vampire and chooses someone every era to follow around. In all seriousness, though, I do hope everyone gets what they want eventually. The vampire-people get their vampire dunmer or altmer and the non-vampire-people get their non-vampire high elf man/woman (I guess because we technically already have Tan who is neither).

EDIT: specified high elf for non-vamp bc i forgot mirri existed, oops

SilverBride · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

There's something for everybody.

No, there isn't.

I've always wanted a handsome male companion that could also be my character's love interest and life partner. I'm not talking about roleplaying romantic scenes or anything like that. Just a romantic partner to explore the world with and their houseguest form to come home to.

Bastian does not appeal to me at all, physically or personality wise. Azander is handsome enough but too quirky. And I'm not interested in Khajiit or Argonian.

We've told them multiple times what many of us are looking for but we keep getting the opposite.

Haha sorry for striking a nerve. That was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek statement, not to be taken literally. Shoulda added an emoji or something to make that clearer, mb

It gave me a good segue for my rant.

Hollyniss · March 17

SilverBride wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

There's something for everybody.

No, there isn't.

I've always wanted a handsome male companion that could also be my character's love interest and life partner. I'm not talking about roleplaying romantic scenes or anything like that. Just a romantic partner to explore the world with and their houseguest form to come home to.

Bastian does not appeal to me at all, physically or personality wise. Azander is handsome enough but too quirky. And I'm not interested in Khajiit or Argonian.

We've told them multiple times what many of us are looking for but we keep getting the opposite.

Same! We're not asking for explicit scenes or anything like that (a hug or a kiss would be fine, but nothing more than that), but a romanceable companion would be nice. Makes things a little less lonely in games. I've just always been a sucker for romance, lol. And yeah, I wouldn't romance ANY of our current companions either. Due to personality as well as appearance. I'm also not into Argonians or Khajiit (from a romantic perspective for obvious reasons, lol). I've always liked Elves (except for Bosmer for reasons I've stated earlier).

@coop500 Yeah, they seem to be allergic to making attractive characters (BOTH genders). Let us customize their appearance at least if they're unable/unwilling to make characters look good.

I'd like more interactions with our companions in general (romance or otherwise). Right now, they're just kind of...there. Once you do their quests, that's it...and they say pretty cheesy things when they do say something or react (with a "there's nothing we can't achieve as long as we're together" attitude)... We have a roster of Disney sidekicks...I want a companion who's a friend or a romantic interest...not a cheerleader. As I've said before they should take inspiration from other games that actually do companions right. They should also take a look at other games' companions to see what sort of companion seems to be popular with people...

If they do come out with a male vampire companion please look like these;

Was disappointed that Mannimarco didn't look like this in game, lol

Not my artwork! Found them on Google.

flaxegg · March 17

Hollyniss wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

There's something for everybody.

No, there isn't.

I've always wanted a handsome male companion that could also be my character's love interest and life partner. I'm not talking about roleplaying romantic scenes or anything like that. Just a romantic partner to explore the world with and their houseguest form to come home to.

Bastian does not appeal to me at all, physically or personality wise. Azander is handsome enough but too quirky. And I'm not interested in Khajiit or Argonian.

We've told them multiple times what many of us are looking for but we keep getting the opposite.

Same! We're not asking for explicit scenes or anything like that (a hug or a kiss would be fine, but nothing more than that), but a romanceable companion would be nice. Makes things a little less lonely in games. I've just always been a sucker for romance, lol. And yeah, I wouldn't romance ANY of our current companions either. Due to personality as well as appearance. They seem to be allergic to making attractive characters (BOTH genders). Let us customize their appearance at least if they're unable/unwilling to make characters look good. I'm also not interested in Argonians and Khajiit (from a romantic perspective for obvious reasons, lol). I've always like Elves (except Bosmer for reasons I stated before).

I'd like more interactions with our companions in general (romance or otherwise). Right now, they're just kind of...there. Once you do their quests, that's it...and they say pretty cheesy things when they do say something or react (with a "there's nothing we can't achieve as long as we're together" attitude)... We have a roster of Disney sidekicks...I want a companion who's a friend or a romantic interest...not a cheerleader. As I've said before they should take inspiration from other games that actually do companions right. They should also take a look at other games' companions to see what sort of companion seems to be popular with people...

Customizable appearances would be cool because also then you can have a companion that looks different from all the other Azandars and Isobels and Sharps running around. Even if they wanted to make it mandatory to keep important features (like Zerith's eyes or whatever), I think this would be such a good option to have.

Razmirra · March 17

We've yet to see a burly Orc companion (gender doesn't matter) in the roster, maybe that will change in the future.

Hollyniss · March 17

@flaxegg Yeah, I really wish they'd do that. Apart from race and gender (and Zerith's eyes and Tan's tattoos) we should be able to customize what they look like. Tailer them to fit our preferences as they are our Indvidual companions. It'd also help lessen the duplicates running around...

BretonMage · March 17

flaxegg wrote: »

There's a lot more to a character than their race and affliction (or lack thereof, etc.) I would argue we already have a near-dupe of Astarion's personality as a companion already. Just give Sharp some vanity, and you've got yourself at least like 90% of an Astarion. Even their backstories have close parallels.

If they were to introduce an elven vampire companion, I didn't think they would have Astarion's personality, tbh. Too flamboyant, too recognisable. I don't really see Sharp and Astarion as that similar personality-wise either, aside from their trauma backstories and their cultivated instinct for survival.

In any case, I feel that ESO already has attractive vampire personalities in the form of House Ravenwatch. Earnest, conscientious, morally upright etc. Anything less than a Verandis figure would be a step down, wouldn't it? Unless they did a 180° and gave us an evil one like some have been asking for.

Regarding a cure, it could be written in as a part or end of their personal quest, and choosing a vampire path or non-vampire path could result in different ultimates. That might be fun and suitably gamified, without complicating things too much.

flaxegg · March 17

BretonMage wrote: »

flaxegg wrote: »

There's a lot more to a character than their race and affliction (or lack thereof, etc.) I would argue we already have a near-dupe of Astarion's personality as a companion already. Just give Sharp some vanity, and you've got yourself at least like 90% of an Astarion. Even their backstories have close parallels.

If they were to introduce an elven vampire companion, I didn't think they would have Astarion's personality, tbh. Too flamboyant, too recognisable. I don't really see Sharp and Astarion as that similar personality-wise either, aside from their trauma backstories and their cultivated instinct for survival.

In any case, I feel that ESO already has attractive vampire personalities in the form of House Ravenwatch. Earnest, conscientious, morally upright etc. Anything less than a Verandis figure would be a step down, wouldn't it? Unless they did a 180° and gave us an evil one like some have been asking for.

Regarding a cure, it could be written in as a part or end of their personal quest, and choosing a vampire path or non-vampire path could result in different ultimates. That might be fun and suitably gamified, without complicating things too much.

Fair enough, you're free to agree or disagree with me as you like. As I said before, I feel pretty neutral about a companion being a vampire or not, so there's really no reason for me personally to continue this debate (although I will say I like morally grey characters, so honestly my own preference might be somewhere in between "Verandis Ravenwatch" and "completely evil") (although I doubt this game will ever give us evil companions, since we can't really even play evil characters very well in the story quests atm).

Good point about the cure choice being part of their quest btw, didn't occur to me before, but that would be well within their ability to do.

Erickson9610 · March 17

It wouldn't make sense to be able to cure or infect Companions. They'd have to be stuck with their curse (or lack thereof) because while their appearance and rapport (progress in their storyline) is character-specific, their actual abilities are account-wide.

To elaborate, imagine there's a new Companion who gets bitten by a vampire during their introductory quest. They join you as a Companion afflicted with vampirism — no problem yet. They have some Vampire abilities they use in combat and they have the Stage 1 skin always applied.

What happens if you were to cure them? They lose the Stage 1 skin and their Vampire abilities, naturally. Hopefully their Vampire skills weren't replacing one of their Class skill lines. But what happens if you then swap to a different character and interact with this Companion?

If on character A this Companion is a Vampire, and on character B this Companion is not a Vampire, then what happens to the account-wide Companion build if Vampire abilities are slotted on their ability bar? Would the Vampire abilities be missing or unusable while on character B where the Companion is not a Vampire? Why would anyone want to disable some of their Companion skills while on certain characters?

Surely, since Vampirism and Lycanthropy play into the combat system, and Companion builds are account-wide, that means their curses (or lack thereof) must persist between characters. But that means curing a Companion would mean they'd need to be retroactively cured on all characters — even where it doesn't make sense in the Companion's story for that to be the case. Imagine a story about a Vampire Companion who isn't even a Vampire at that present moment!

Needless to say, Companions being a mix of account-wide and character-specific complicates things that relate to both account-wide and character-specific things. The implementation of Vampirism and Lycanthropy must account for how the combat skills are saved account-wide.

flaxegg · March 17

Erickson9610 wrote: »

It wouldn't make sense to be able to cure or infect Companions. They'd have to be stuck with their curse (or lack thereof) because while their appearance and rapport (progress in their storyline) is character-specific, their actual abilities are account-wide.

To elaborate, imagine there's a new Companion who gets bitten by a vampire during their introductory quest. They join you as a Companion afflicted with vampirism — no problem yet. They have some Vampire abilities they use in combat and they have the Stage 1 skin always applied.

What happens if you were to cure them? They lose the Stage 1 skin and their Vampire abilities, naturally. Hopefully their Vampire skills weren't replacing one of their Class skill lines. But what happens if you then swap to a different character and interact with this Companion?

If on character A this Companion is a Vampire, and on character B this Companion is not a Vampire, then what happens to the account-wide Companion build if Vampire abilities are slotted on their ability bar? Would the Vampire abilities be missing or unusable while on character B where the Companion is not a Vampire? Why would anyone want to disable some of their Companion skills while on certain characters?

Surely, since Vampirism and Lycanthropy play into the combat system, and Companion builds are account-wide, that means their curses (or lack thereof) must persist between characters. But that means curing a Companion would mean they'd need to be retroactively cured on all characters — even where it doesn't make sense in the Companion's story for that to be the case. Imagine a story about a Vampire Companion who isn't even a Vampire at that present moment!

Needless to say, Companions being a mix of account-wide and character-specific complicates things that relate to both account-wide and character-specific things. The implementation of Vampirism and Lycanthropy must account for how the combat skills are saved account-wide.

I'm a one-character type of person, so I admit I don't really understand the companion system as well as I might otherwise (and also I do not program games, obviously), but can't you make companions hate you enough that they're disabled on a character? So couldn't ZoS just make a vampire and non-vampire version which get enabled or disabled according to player choices? The abilities would probably be somewhat different, sure, making it somewhat of a mechanical choice for those who really care about those things, but that doesn't necessarily mean one would have to be "worse" than the other.

spartaxoxo · March 17

Erickson9610 wrote: »

It wouldn't make sense to be able to cure or infect Companions. They'd have to be stuck with their curse (or lack thereof) because while their appearance and rapport (progress in their storyline) is character-specific, their actual abilities are account-wide.

IDK if from a technical perspective is possible but they could give them a class kit and a vamp kit. And which they can use depends on their curse state. Although, I don't know if that's possible. And even if it was, if it would be desirable as such a companion would probably need more leveling than others.

It would probably be easier to just treat a vamp like Tan's unique class and have the curse replace a class skill line. And make it so they can't be cured.

spartaxoxo · March 17

Hollyniss wrote: »

flaxegg Yeah, I really wish they'd do that. Apart from race and gender (and Zerith's eyes and Tan's tattoos) we should be able to customize what they look like. Tailer them to fit our preferences as they are our Indvidual companions. It'd also help lessen the duplicates running around...

Companions are meant to be static characters like Lyris, not our own individual summons.