What would you think of having some of the most loved side characters as followers?

Hygiliack · October 26

Now, I searched the forum and couldn't find any post talking about it this way so.

Some people like some characters a lot, some characters are thought of as annoying by most(Tanlorin and Mirri, I'm looking at you) so this would make it better as most people know those characters already.

My idea would be, for example, characters like Eveli, Raz, Gwendis, Varandis, you know, all of those characters that are applauded to be brought back later on, and that fans love(in general, I know not everyone like some characters, but in general they are loved) to be added as companions, with constraints, similar to those of current companions

Want my wife Eveli as a companion? Need to finish Wrothgar and Blackwood to be able to get her... want Varandis? Need to finish the main quest line and Skyrim to get him

They will add Eveli to another zone as a main character? There would be an awesome chance at immersion there, new chapter that she is a part of arrives, you switch to Eveli, and she is like "Hey, so this came up and we need to go to X zone" and if need be once there she is like "Hey, so, I need to take care of some things, please meet me in X city/town once you are ready" and then she unsummons and you need to use another companion until you finish the main questline, with her as a character.

I'd say that wouldn't be that hard to implement but no need to say it, it is already there, you have a companion mission, they ask you to go to X place and, for example, you arrive to Marbruk, to the area where her friends are, and she unsummons and her NPC self appears, so it is already there, could be done, and would make us fans of some characters jump with joy(And I mean, getting a Alifiq, or a Senche-raht as a companion would also be awesome AND unique)

That would avoid the devs getting all bummed at us not liking characters as it happened with Tanlorin(Shame she is one of the best damage dealers and has the most annoying childish blood burning comments among all the companions.. tree flessh my hairy behind), Ember(I thought everyone loved her, I do, my favey, but I have read many hate comments about her) or Mirri(Whom I also love haha)

So, what'cha think about this? Would you like to have Raz or Eveli or the like as companions?

ESO_player123 · October 26

From the story perspective, wouldn't they all have more important things to do than follow a player all the time ?

SilverBride · October 26

I wouldn't want any of them as Companions, but would love them as houseguests.

Syldras · October 26

I'd like to see some quest npcs becoming companions, but I generally feel that the "fan favorites" are overused. They seem to increasingly rely on throwing those into stories, whether it actually makes sense for the story or not, possibly believing that the players will find it awesome then no matter what. I'd rather see more care going into the quests themselves - interesting creative storylines, no plot holes or lore mistakes, believable character development, characters that feel like actual people instead of one-note clichés.

Castagere · October 26

It has been talked about before. It will never happen.

tomofhyrule · October 26

I am so tired of seeing the same "fan favorites" in every other zone. It's so clear that the devs are using fan favorite characters as a replacement for good writing - they show up in a zone that there is no reason for them to be in, and then the entire story seems to be about how cute and funny they are with their modern MCU writing.

I groan every time I hear something like "Oh, Raz is back! Again! And now you can flirt with him!"

Please no. Those characters have been butchered and Flanderized enough. The point of a Companion is that you are learning about them as they open up to you, not that you already know everything about them already. Not to mention that most fan favorites have already died once or twice in their own stories (but magically got better so you can still fanboy/fangirl over them)

Danikat · October 26

The problem with making any story characters, especially major or reoccuring ones, into followers is then they can't participate in the story ever again, because it would mean having them in two places at once. This game isn't set up like something like Mass Effect or Baldur's Gate where your party members can also give you story quests and I definitely can't see ZOS being willing to take away a companion they've just given you because they're needed as a story NPC (especially now they're selling them in the crown store).

I suppose they could make it so any time they're involved in a quest the companion version is reduced to a [Your name's follower], but I assume that would defeat the point for people who like the idea.

And as other people said it would be pretty hard to explain how they've had time to learn about or get involved in any new events before you did if they're trailing around after you all the time.

Syldras · October 26

Danikat wrote: »

I suppose they could make it so any time they're involved in a quest the companion version is reduced to a [Your name's follower], but I assume that would defeat the point for people who like the idea.

I'd be fine with the companion auto-despawning when coming across a zone quest about them - or not even that, I'd also be fine with sending them away myself in that situation. Can't be worse than the clone situation we already have now.

Danikat wrote: »

And as other people said it would be pretty hard to explain how they've had time to learn about or get involved in any new events before you did if they're trailing around after you all the time.

That's already a problem with companions quests now, if you have them around all the time and then they suddenly tell you about some things happening to them or some discovery they made, because you've levelled them enough for the next companion quest to be triggered.

That said, I think some side quest npcs might be interesting for this (mostly because I'd be interested in learning more about them and somehow don't see that happening through future side quests we might get - or most probably not get) - I don't like the "fan favorites" much. Especially since it most often seems to be the same character "type" more or less, and it's one I generally don't appreciate much.

Its_MySniff · October 26

No more companions. We have enough.

Hygiliack · October 26

Its_MySniff wrote: »

No more companions. We have enough.

What are you talking about? We are missing Nord, Bosmer, Orc, Redguard, and if you are generous, Maormer, Dremora, Saints and Seducers.

Hygiliack · October 26

Oh, not redguard, there is the arcanist, but still, Nord Bosmer orc still missing.

LunaFlora · October 26

this has been requested for 4 years and been dismissed by zos.
it is not happening.

from the 2023 Companions Q&A:

Q: I know early on when the Companion system was announced that one of the devs claimed they'd be fully new characters instead of old characters from sidequests. Are there any thoughts on diverting from this?Secondly, has a non-humanoid companion ever been thought of? Perhaps a non-humanoid Daedra, or a wild animal (dual wielding Warden bears anyone?) or even just a doggo! It'd be interesting to see ESO writers come up with interesting stories for taming an animal, or binding/"befriending" a Daedra!

PD: We are very interested in exploring and expanding the types of companions we introduce over time but there are a number of thematic and technical challenges associated with certain directions. Making companions of existing characters runs into situations where you can have an active companion on a quest involving another version of themselves. This gets even trickier as we often have characters reappearing in new content (and sometimes meeting a final end), all of which complicates companion use further. Having companions be newly introduced characters gives an opportunity for both us and the players to form a new relationship without preconceptions or past experiences coloring or limiting the dynamic.
Non-humanoid companions are an interesting avenue to explore, but in many cases would radically limit the amount of customization and combat options available, so it’s something that will take more investigation and potentially even expansion of the system to fully realize.

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/comment/7937639/#Comment_7937639

if zos changed their minds on this and did do it,
Sure of course ideally it would require you to first complete every quest the character was in before.
But sadly it would likely exclude them from returning in future zone or dungeon quests due to now being your companion forever, which is not very fun. The current companions have not received any new quests yet so there would be no guarantee for any new quests at all.

i love recurring characters, they are fun to see again every so often. i am happy to see Cariel return in u48 for the first time since base game Reaper's March.
i believe it is better for characters like her, Raz, Naryu, Skordo, Za'ji to have years of breaks than stay with you forever.

Gabriel_H · October 26

They are loved because we don't spend much time with them. Familiarity breeds contempt.

Morvan · October 26

Hygiliack wrote: »

Its_MySniff wrote: »

No more companions. We have enough.

What are you talking about? We are missing Nord, Bosmer, Orc, Redguard, and if you are generous, Maormer, Dremora, Saints and Seducers.

You forgot Azandar, we have a Redguard.

Unholy_Holywarrior · October 26

i would rather have my alt characters as occupants of my various homes...

Hapexamendios · October 26

Most loved is a very subjective topic. I find Eveli to be irritating. Some people line Darien too, I don't.

BretonMage · October 27

I'm a bit tired of them, personally. Most of them aren't inherently interesting characters, and some of them are downright annoying (or even sleazy). We should just have more well-written companions, with a variety of personalities. Most players seem to enjoy Zerith and Sharp, for example. Azandar is on the quirkier side, but he's definitely interesting.

If players like some recurring characters so much, how about this: At the conclusion of a questline, we can find the major characters from that quest gathered at a story-relevant place where we can have deeper conversations with them. Or even just interact with them and have them talk like our houseguests do. Like a post-quest gathering, but permanently there, at their main residence. (This would be a good way to refresh our memory about the quests too, because by now I've forgotten what many quests are about.)

katanagirl1 · October 27

Danikat wrote: »

The problem with making any story characters, especially major or reoccuring ones, into followers is then they can't participate in the story ever again, because it would mean having them in two places at once. This game isn't set up like something like Mass Effect or Baldur's Gate where your party members can also give you story quests and I definitely can't see ZOS being willing to take away a companion they've just given you because they're needed as a story NPC (especially now they're selling them in the crown store).

I suppose they could make it so any time they're involved in a quest the companion version is reduced to a [Your name's follower], but I assume that would defeat the point for people who like the idea.

And as other people said it would be pretty hard to explain how they've had time to learn about or get involved in any new events before you did if they're trailing around after you all the time.

The companion quests are a lot like the loyalty quests from Mass Effect in my opinion.

tsaescishoeshiner · October 27

I would prefer to see a new zone main quest where your received one of the characters as a Companion. Since the Companion quests have been more personal and less save-the-worldy, I think this could potentially improve the zone quests. It would also allow them to have more interactivity and attachment to the main quests, and some life beyond it.

They don't need to be a primary quest character—they could be secondary, like the helper characters you meet for one quest of a zone story.

wolfie1.0. · October 27

Hygiliack wrote: »

Now, I searched the forum and couldn't find any post talking about it this way so.

Some people like some characters a lot, some characters are thought of as annoying by most(Tanlorin and Mirri, I'm looking at you) so this would make it better as most people know those characters already.

My idea would be, for example, characters like Eveli, Raz, Gwendis, Varandis, you know, all of those characters that are applauded to be brought back later on, and that fans love(in general, I know not everyone like some characters, but in general they are loved) to be added as companions, with constraints, similar to those of current companions

Want my wife Eveli as a companion? Need to finish Wrothgar and Blackwood to be able to get her... want Varandis? Need to finish the main quest line and Skyrim to get him

They will add Eveli to another zone as a main character? There would be an awesome chance at immersion there, new chapter that she is a part of arrives, you switch to Eveli, and she is like "Hey, so this came up and we need to go to X zone" and if need be once there she is like "Hey, so, I need to take care of some things, please meet me in X city/town once you are ready" and then she unsummons and you need to use another companion until you finish the main questline, with her as a character.

I'd say that wouldn't be that hard to implement but no need to say it, it is already there, you have a companion mission, they ask you to go to X place and, for example, you arrive to Marbruk, to the area where her friends are, and she unsummons and her NPC self appears, so it is already there, could be done, and would make us fans of some characters jump with joy(And I mean, getting a Alifiq, or a Senche-raht as a companion would also be awesome AND unique)

That would avoid the devs getting all bummed at us not liking characters as it happened with Tanlorin(Shame she is one of the best damage dealers and has the most annoying childish blood burning comments among all the companions.. tree flessh my hairy behind), Ember(I thought everyone loved her, I do, my favey, but I have read many hate comments about her) or Mirri(Whom I also love haha)

So, what'cha think about this? Would you like to have Raz or Eveli or the like as companions?

Given how often some of them keep popping up they might as well be companions. That said, given how often they pop up in the story it would make some conversations kinda imersion breaking without changes. especially if they decide to kill off one of the characters in the story. Or they play a major role in future story.

So while it would be cool, i think having companions not be major story characters is the better option.

Jaimeh · October 27

Though I understand the appeal this would have for many players, I'm not a big fan of the idea because it would be a disservice to the personalities and backstories of the NPCs involved, as they have their own goals, ambitions, affiliations, and so on, and it wouldn't make sense if they could be at the Vestige's beck-and-call at any given moment. It would also interfere with when we would have to meet them in future quests. For instance, Razum-Dar is the Eye of the Queen, a very important and hands-on role, it wouldn't make sense for him to carry out his work while also accompanying us all over Tamriel at the same time, and if he was featured a future quest, and we had to solve a problem for him, it would be be clumsy plot-wise, despite the added dialogue and unsummoning proposed by the OP. Also, the Vestige is supposed to be the wandering adventurer who doesn't have a concrete role and the one who is meant to help these NPCs when they share a common interest, not the other way around. If all these characters, who are competent and recognized in their own concrete roles would drop everything for the Vestige, it puts a spotlight on the Vestige that doesn't mesh with their traveler persona. Yes, they are the unofficial hero of everything, but Count Verandis helping them kill a world boss makes no sense for either character.

TX12001rwb17_ESO · October 27

ESO_player123 wrote: »

From the story perspective, wouldn't they all have more important things to do than follow a player all the time ?

Given that the world literally seems to revolve around the Vestige...then unlikely, following you would be the pinnacle of their existence.

Monte_Cristo · October 27

Recurring characters wouldn't work as companions, as they're likely to make more appearances in the future. One off characters would make more sense. For example: Lashgikh from the Obsidian Scar public dungeon. She's only seen in that dungeon, and is never seen anywhere outside after completing the quest. So you could make her a companion, with the requirement that you complete the dungeon quests before doing her recruitment quest.

Moredhel83 · October 27

Hygiliack wrote: »

Its_MySniff wrote: »

No more companions. We have enough.

What are you talking about? We are missing Nord, Bosmer, Orc, Redguard, and if you are generous, Maormer, Dremora, Saints and Seducers.

I'd love to have a (male) Nord companion alongside me as I explore, hunt and stalk stuff in Skyrim, Wrothgar, and more southern regions on my rugged old Nord ranger/hunter warden character.

But OT: I'd absolutely love it if Naryu could become a companion. Fun, flirty, and deadly with a blade. Could easily make her my murderous wifey, that's for sure.

Ursadoom · October 27

I do wish that they would have more quests in the future tbh. Their story sorta being done and over once you do their quests is a bit of a bummer if you like the character and would like to see more with them.

Bethgael · October 27

I'd rather not. Story NPCs need to stay "in the hands of the writers", so to speak. As a story-based/RP player, it would break immersion hugely to see an NPC running around with a player in a zone they're not supposed to be in while I'm doing quests for them in another zone.

I'm happy for companions to be an entirely new animal.

Also, this:

Jaimeh wrote: »

Though I understand the appeal this would have for many players, I'm not a big fan of the idea because it would be a disservice to the personalities and backstories of the NPCs involved, as they have their own goals, ambitions, affiliations, and so on, and it wouldn't make sense if they could be at the Vestige's beck-and-call at any given moment. It would also interfere with when we would have to meet them in future quests. For instance, Razum-Dar is the Eye of the Queen, a very important and hands-on role, it wouldn't make sense for him to carry out his work while also accompanying us all over Tamriel at the same time, and if he was featured a future quest, and we had to solve a problem for him, it would be be clumsy plot-wise, despite the added dialogue and unsummoning proposed by the OP. Also, the Vestige is supposed to be the wandering adventurer who doesn't have a concrete role and the one who is meant to help these NPCs when they share a common interest, not the other way around. If all these characters, who are competent and recognized in their own concrete roles would drop everything for the Vestige, it puts a spotlight on the Vestige that doesn't mesh with their traveler persona. Yes, they are the unofficial hero of everything, but Count Verandis helping them kill a world boss makes no sense for either character.

NPCs are not player ciphers. Let's not make them so. In a game where the quality of the writing has gone backwards a titch, this would be the worst story mistake they could make.

Bethgael · October 27

Unholy_Holywarrior wrote: »

i would rather have my alt characters as occupants of my various homes...

Agreed. Been asking for this since 2020.

magnusthorek · October 27

Very, very few names come to mind but, I'd definitely want Naryu Virian as a Companion

Lucasl402 · October 27

Too many followers already, WAY, WAY too many. pets, companions, quest givers....sometimes I wonder if the game isn't broken when I see someone roll by with three sorc pets, a regular pet and a companion and banker all at the same time.

whitecrow · October 27

As much as I would like to spend more time with Gwendis and Adusa, it would interfere with the stories. I know you have tried to think of a way to make it work but I don't think it would. I also think it would cheapen them as characters.

Rogue_Coyote · October 27

Raz and Miss Benele, please.