Future companions - would integration in story quests make sense?

Nemesis7884 · April 17

I think it could be more interesting if future companions are integrated in the story quests - e.g. for example with the upcoming new Thieves Guild story questline and then at the end one of the characters that has been an integral part can become your companion?

The benefit would be that you have a much closer relation ship developed to that specific npc over the quest line which i think makes the companion much more interesting and meaningful...

The disadvantage of course is that this npc is still "around" in that specific area / storyquest... but im not sure how relevant that is since your most likely not going to visit there with the character that has run through it?

JimT722 · April 17

I think it makes sense for them to have their own story and be disconnected from the main stories. they are designed to share in your adventures not really be a driving part of them.

I want them to add more companians. like right now would have been a great time for a werewolf companion.

LunaFlora · April 17

that likely would prevent that character to be able to participate in sequel stories.
No idea if ZOS would ever want to make zone story characters into Companions, but if they did that with multiple characters they could not use them in the same story later because you can (currently) only summon 1 Companion.

Personally, i want more Companions too and one from the Thieves Guild would be awesome.
i am planning on going through the new Thieves Guild story with Ember or Tanlorin, it would be annoying if i could not do that in future stories anymore because one of the story characters has also become a Companion.
And i like that Companion quests are focused on them and not groups of people like zone stories.

Monte_Cristo · April 17

It'd make more sense to use minor characters for this. The example I'd like to see is the orc from the Rivenspire public dungeon quest. She stays inside the dungeon after the quest and is never seen or mentioned in any other part of the game. Having her join you wouldn't conflict with anything afterwards.

Syldras · April 17

LunaFlora wrote: »

that likely would prevent that character to be able to participate in sequel stories.

They could just make the companion character automatically despawn if the same character is encountered again in a later quest (or questline) in some zone? Or even if not, the player could just do it themselves (unless they want to experience the quest with two Mirris or Isobels - it's their choice)?

Having to see two versions of the same character at once for some seconds (until despawning your companion version) really can't be more immersion-breaking than having dozens of them running around in towns right now (unable to equip a helmet, so you clearly see it's Azandar or Zerith, just with 12 different costumes).

Nemesis7884 · April 17

I just feel if you would interact with a future companion over a longer questline it would become more meaningful than just quickly picking them up with a limted one time quest...

AScarlato · April 17

I'd just be happy if they had ongoing relationships with all the companions VAs and gave them all comments on new content, or going back to add comments for those that don't have any reactivity outside their main zones/quests.

LunaFlora · April 17

Syldras wrote: »

LunaFlora wrote: »

that likely would prevent that character to be able to participate in sequel stories.

They could just make the companion character automatically despawn if the same character is encountered again in a later quest (or questline) in some zone? Or even if not, the player could just do it themselves (unless they want to experience the quest with two Mirris or Isobels - it's their choice)?

Having to see two versions of the same character at once for some seconds (until despawning your companion version) really can't be more immersion-breaking than having dozens of them running around in towns right now (unable to equip a helmet, so you clearly see it's Azandar or Zerith, just with 12 different costumes).

i do not have immersion concerns, never mentioned that in my post.

Yes the relevant companion could indeed probably be despawned and be replaced by a regular npc.
i do not disagree with the post, i just struggle to imagine it i guess. if we could summon multiple companions at the same time it would probably be easier

tomofhyrule · April 17

If an NPC is heavily involved in a questline, then logically they can’t also be a companion.

Let’s say that you get them as a Companion after that line. Sure, that would make sense because all of the Companions have an unlock quest and then you get to use them afterwards. But then that would mean said Companion would not be available to that character until after the questline is done… so now instead of needing one long quest to unlock them, you have six. Is making the process to unlock a Companion longer really something many people want?

If they were still involved in a quest later, like if the line got a sequel story, then you have to deal with the fact that you could possibly have two of the same NPC walking around. Yes, we already have 15 Bastians at every dolmen, but you can’t do anything but see them and they’re even named as “so-and-so’s Companion.” But for a solo player to be able to interact with two of the same NPC standing next to each other is a lot more destructive to immersion. (And yes, you really should be able to put helmets on them if you want)

The point of the Companion questlines is to get to know them. As such, the need to get to know someone before they join isn’t a problem since the point of their quests is that you will learn about them and their life.

If any NPC were to be turned into a Companion, the best one would be some non-relevant NPC who’s related to a line but not a central figure. That way you can still have a line with them, but they can also put in a bit of code that if you go into their hall with them as an active Companion, then the standard NPC is disabled for you (like the end-of-chapter parties do if you have a relevant Companion active). That would still give you some interaction with the association there, possibly new dialogue (or letters if the VA is unavailable) with existing characters, but also allow the standard Companion plot to play out without awkwardness.
The example I’d use: if we were to ever get an Artificer Class, a perfect Companion would be Ugron gro-Thumog. He’s only sitting in the Antiquitarian’s lodge and has one tongue-in-cheek line about being an Orc who can fight (because Orc) but likes to study history, so if he were an active Companion he could be disabled from the hall for you without affecting anything. He’d then still be able to have some interactions with the other Antiquitarians, most of his correspondence is from codices so for all anyone knows he could absolutely be right next to you digging things up, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to get him to fit in the world. Plus, if he had a perk that increased lead drop chances… well, everyone would go for that instantly.

Nemesis7884 · April 17

tomofhyrule wrote: »

If an NPC is heavily involved in a questline, then logically they can’t also be a companion.

Let’s say that you get them as a Companion after that line. Sure, that would make sense because all of the Companions have an unlock quest and then you get to use them afterwards. But then that would mean said Companion would not be available to that character until after the questline is done… so now instead of needing one long quest to unlock them, you have six. Is making the process to unlock a Companion longer really something many people want?

If they were still involved in a quest later, like if the line got a sequel story, then you have to deal with the fact that you could possibly have two of the same NPC walking around. Yes, we already have 15 Bastians at every dolmen, but you can’t do anything but see them and they’re even named as “so-and-so’s Companion.” But for a solo player to be able to interact with two of the same NPC standing next to each other is a lot more destructive to immersion. (And yes, you really should be able to put helmets on them if you want)

The point of the Companion questlines is to get to know them. As such, the need to get to know someone before they join isn’t a problem since the point of their quests is that you will learn about them and their life.

If any NPC were to be turned into a Companion, the best one would be some non-relevant NPC who’s related to a line but not a central figure. That way you can still have a line with them, but they can also put in a bit of code that if you go into their hall with them as an active Companion, then the standard NPC is disabled for you (like the end-of-chapter parties do if you have a relevant Companion active). That would still give you some interaction with the association there, possibly new dialogue (or letters if the VA is unavailable) with existing characters, but also allow the standard Companion plot to play out without awkwardness.
The example I’d use: if we were to ever get an Artificer Class, a perfect Companion would be Ugron gro-Thumog. He’s only sitting in the Antiquitarian’s lodge and has one tongue-in-cheek line about being an Orc who can fight (because Orc) but likes to study history, so if he were an active Companion he could be disabled from the hall for you without affecting anything. He’d then still be able to have some interactions with the other Antiquitarians, most of his correspondence is from codices so for all anyone knows he could absolutely be right next to you digging things up, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to get him to fit in the world. Plus, if he had a perk that increased lead drop chances… well, everyone would go for that instantly.

but thats a super easy fix if you simply - what should have been done all along - unlockable account wide...
honestly i find also the current system a huge pain that i have to run through every single companion questline with every single companion...this sould be optional and if you unlock a companion once you can use him/her on all characters...

tomofhyrule · April 17

Nemesis7884 wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

If an NPC is heavily involved in a questline, then logically they can’t also be a companion.

Let’s say that you get them as a Companion after that line. Sure, that would make sense because all of the Companions have an unlock quest and then you get to use them afterwards. But then that would mean said Companion would not be available to that character until after the questline is done… so now instead of needing one long quest to unlock them, you have six. Is making the process to unlock a Companion longer really something many people want?

If they were still involved in a quest later, like if the line got a sequel story, then you have to deal with the fact that you could possibly have two of the same NPC walking around. Yes, we already have 15 Bastians at every dolmen, but you can’t do anything but see them and they’re even named as “so-and-so’s Companion.” But for a solo player to be able to interact with two of the same NPC standing next to each other is a lot more destructive to immersion. (And yes, you really should be able to put helmets on them if you want)

The point of the Companion questlines is to get to know them. As such, the need to get to know someone before they join isn’t a problem since the point of their quests is that you will learn about them and their life.

If any NPC were to be turned into a Companion, the best one would be some non-relevant NPC who’s related to a line but not a central figure. That way you can still have a line with them, but they can also put in a bit of code that if you go into their hall with them as an active Companion, then the standard NPC is disabled for you (like the end-of-chapter parties do if you have a relevant Companion active). That would still give you some interaction with the association there, possibly new dialogue (or letters if the VA is unavailable) with existing characters, but also allow the standard Companion plot to play out without awkwardness.
The example I’d use: if we were to ever get an Artificer Class, a perfect Companion would be Ugron gro-Thumog. He’s only sitting in the Antiquitarian’s lodge and has one tongue-in-cheek line about being an Orc who can fight (because Orc) but likes to study history, so if he were an active Companion he could be disabled from the hall for you without affecting anything. He’d then still be able to have some interactions with the other Antiquitarians, most of his correspondence is from codices so for all anyone knows he could absolutely be right next to you digging things up, and it wouldn’t be a stretch to get him to fit in the world. Plus, if he had a perk that increased lead drop chances… well, everyone would go for that instantly.

but thats a super easy fix if you simply - what should have been done all along - unlockable account wide...
honestly i find also the current system a huge pain that i have to run through every single companion questline with every single companion...this sould be optional and if you unlock a companion once you can use him/her on all characters...

Account-wide unlocks for Companions would make the desire for NPC companions problem *worse* though.

So now, instead of getting through the entire DB questline to unlock Kor as a Companion (after which he just stays in the sanctuary so you could do the trick where you deactivate the NPC while he’s out), you can end up having Kor follow you while you start the line, where you… need to talk to Kor for the quests, but not that Kor. And then later for one of the quests, you get to have Kor as a follower while Kor is following you. All while Kor doesn’t even acknowledge the existence of Kor next to him. But then Kor gives you different dialogue than Kor does, and the quest tells you to deal with Kor and then Kor doesn’t seem to have much relevant to say.
Go ahead, figure out which Kor was the NPC and which was the Companion. Because if the NPC is involved in the quest, you can’t dummy them out, so you will have to deal with two of them who are both interactable and different.

Again, that’s a bit more immersion breaking than “hey that other player has a nameless Companion that sure looks a lot like my buddy Sharp, but I can’t talk to that Sharp lookalike over there, so he’s probably nobody important.”

Syldras · April 17

tomofhyrule wrote: »

If they were still involved in a quest later, like if the line got a sequel story, then you have to deal with the fact that you could possibly have two of the same NPC walking around. Yes, we already have 15 Bastians at every dolmen, but you can’t do anything but see them and they’re even named as “so-and-so’s Companion.” But for a solo player to be able to interact with two of the same NPC standing next to each other is a lot more destructive to immersion. (And yes, you really should be able to put helmets on them if you want)

If I have Companion Mirri active and come across a Quest Mirri standing somewhere for another questline, I send Companion Mirri away (which takes less than a second), summon Azandar instead and then play the questline with Quest Mirri. For me, that looks like such a non-issue. Sure, it needs a tiny bit of suspension of disbelief, but not any more than having other players' duplicate companions run around, or being able to pull a companion character out of your pocket at every random location, or being able to send them back into the void at any time. They don't even have their own homes, after all.

tomofhyrule · April 17

Syldras wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

If they were still involved in a quest later, like if the line got a sequel story, then you have to deal with the fact that you could possibly have two of the same NPC walking around. Yes, we already have 15 Bastians at every dolmen, but you can’t do anything but see them and they’re even named as “so-and-so’s Companion.” But for a solo player to be able to interact with two of the same NPC standing next to each other is a lot more destructive to immersion. (And yes, you really should be able to put helmets on them if you want)

If I have Companion Mirri active and come across a Quest Mirri standing somewhere for another questline, I send Companion Mirri away (which takes less than a second), summon Azandar instead and then play the questline with Quest Mirri. For me, that looks like such a non-issue. Sure, it needs a tiny bit of suspension of disbelief, but not any more than having other players' duplicate companions run around, or being able to pull a companion character out of your pocket at every random location, or being able to send them back into the void at any time. They don't even have their own homes, after all.

And this is the slippery slope. Sure, this is solved by putting the onus on the player to just choose not to use Mirri to do Mirri’s quest. But is that a good solution?

Technically, every problem in the game can be solved by the player being imaginative enough. “Oh, it’s fine that we don’t have hard overland, because I can just light attack once every three seconds and then the boss dies slowly enough for the dialogue to finish!” “Oh, it’s fine that the writing is sub-par, since I can just let my imagination rewrite the story so my character isn’t a brainless moron and the twist villain actually is someone surprising!”
…but that’s unsatisfactory. Expecting players to use their creativity to fix the problems doesn’t mean they aren’t problems.

whitecrow · April 17

Syldras wrote: »

tomofhyrule wrote: »

If they were still involved in a quest later, like if the line got a sequel story, then you have to deal with the fact that you could possibly have two of the same NPC walking around. Yes, we already have 15 Bastians at every dolmen, but you can’t do anything but see them and they’re even named as “so-and-so’s Companion.” But for a solo player to be able to interact with two of the same NPC standing next to each other is a lot more destructive to immersion. (And yes, you really should be able to put helmets on them if you want)

If I have Companion Mirri active and come across a Quest Mirri standing somewhere for another questline, I send Companion Mirri away (which takes less than a second), summon Azandar instead and then play the questline with Quest Mirri. For me, that looks like such a non-issue. Sure, it needs a tiny bit of suspension of disbelief, but not any more than having other players' duplicate companions run around, or being able to pull a companion character out of your pocket at every random location, or being able to send them back into the void at any time. They don't even have their own homes, after all.

This would not work for me at all.

Syldras · April 17

tomofhyrule wrote: »

Technically, every problem in the game can be solved by the player being imaginative enough. “Oh, it’s fine that we don’t have hard overland, because I can just light attack once every three seconds and then the boss dies slowly enough for the dialogue to finish!” “Oh, it’s fine that the writing is sub-par, since I can just let my imagination rewrite the story so my character isn’t a brainless moron and the twist villain actually is someone surprising!”
…but that’s unsatisfactory. Expecting players to use their creativity to fix the problems doesn’t mean they aren’t problems.

I wouldn't exactly call sending away a duplicate character an act of creativity. In the end, this (or auto-unsummoning, which could cause other problems if the companion disappears against a player's will just from walking by too closely at some trigger point) are the only solutions would ZOS ever decide to introduce quest characters as companions.

Everyone needs to make their own decision if that bothers them - then they could individually decide not to use that companion character, for example. Or if they're okay with that short moment of duplication, because getting a zone npc as a companion feels worth it to them. I know in my case there are a few characters I'd love to see as companions (in particular Revus Demnevanni, but I could also think of a few others), so I would not mind a small compromise at all.