First off, I don't usually like playing with a companion (unless its a dog) but there AI should be massively improved in Skyrim. NV's companion system was good, but it could use a little polish. I don't want to have to constantly rush enemies that I know they can't handle in order to save there lives.

I hope they're optional in all instances. If given a choice, I usually don't let companions tag along (unless it's a well-designed element of the game like KOTOR or Mass Effect).

Maybe I'd make an exception for a dog in Skyrim, though, as long as it followed set commands.

Honestly, at this point I'd like to see them stop wasting time on meat shields er cannon fodder uh "companions" and focusing on something...well...something they actually stand a chance of accomplishing. Every attempt I've seen so far was laughable in some way- whether laughably weak so it's only a matter of (very little) time before they're gone, laughably overpowered to keep them alive thus making you the companion tagging along as they tear through everything, and consistently laughably stupid: "Oh look an entire army of [Daedra/Super Mutants/Minotaurs/Albino Radscorpions]- Companion Smash, Chaaarge!!"

Seriously...there comes a time to realize you just need to give up and work on something else, and in my opinion that time has come with regard to Bethesda and companions. :shrug:

Barring that, optional by all means, so I can opt out of any further experiments.

I would much rather have shallow, totally optional companions like in Fallout 3 (which I didn't use), than the more-developed FO:NV companions - who, because they had so much "development" (plus, a number of attached sidequests), I felt forced to use even though I disliked it.


When I want to run a group, I'll play an RPG designed around having a party. Companions in Beth games are more like a never-ending "escort" quest. :ahhh:

It's not like Bethesda doesn't know what we want from companions. Look at the well developed companion mods for Oblivion -- companions would be infinitely more effective if they'd just copy over Companion Neeshka. I'm hoping they've looked at these modded companions and figured out what made them so popular - it was the many dialogue options allowing you to customize their behavior.

I thought the system in Oblivion was cool, where you could have a mage, an assassin, a warrior from battlehorn and a KotN guy with you, until I ran into a highwayman and let them take him out. One Khajiit vs 4 guys and it ends with me having to kill the guy because he SOMEHOW took no damage from the 4 guys he killed like flies. In F3 however, we had a limit on 2 companions (But I used the glitch to get everyone) and nothing could touch us. A small army using everything from flamers to sniper rifles and I never had to lift a finger, especially with Fawkes mowing everything down as is. NV companions were the same but were weak as hell, which meant you had to constantly baby them. One deathclaw when you are'nt payingalot of attention on hardcoe= all your friends are dead. Personally, heres what I would like to see-

No limit on companions (I was told they did this in F2) that level with you. So at lvl 1 they are a lvl 1 and are as weak as you are. Have each companion unique, one is good at repair, one is a beast with a bow, another is really good at carrying stuff, etc. and make it more difficult to get them. Say the orc with a specialty with axes could be a merc you hire for 2000 gold or something. A few non combat companions would be great to so long as they had skills. A medic or a fisherman for example, or a hunter. IF you could set up camp in the wilderness these guys would be able to really shine.

In those games you can directly control your companions, so it doesn't really count since no TES game will ever allow you to do that.

You could have done a poll that actually fit this topic. E.G., should AI companions have better AI, a wider variety of directions to follow etc.

No AI companion will ever measure up to a real local co-op companion, of course. . . but they could certainly be better than they were in Obliivion. I often had to cast a spell of calming and invisibility on companions to keep them from getting themselves killed. It was annoying, and if they could have been ordered to remain concealed unless attacked, it would have helped alot.

i love companions, in TES4, CM companions are one of the coolest mods out there!

i love them in NV, they had a story.

3 things i would like. even if brakes inmertion.

1o able to summon them, and let them have a map marker. for those times you dont know where they are or they get stuck in the world.

2o A Personal Story, you know a couple (1-3) quest, at least some of them.

3o Make them esential, AI will never be smart enogh to keep them alive all the time and Loading every time they die is Awefull.
(man if there are some hardcoe Setting please let it be with check boxes so i can have my conpanions esential).


I love companions, they add to game a lot of flavor, specialy well done ones.

When I played World of Warcraft I would use the random dungeon group finder and a lot of the time I wish the players had the AI of Oblivion NPCs.... it was painful.

agreed, sometimes the Escort quest NPCs were better then most of the people I got grouped with. I woulda understood if it was low lvl new players, but lvl 80's that can't do their classes job? Come on now.

I like the concept of companions but the thing is, I play stealth so I never use them, and even if the companion AI is better, having a companion following me around just gets in the way. It would be nice to have the option to hang out with them when I'm not breaking into someone's home, dungeon diving, or on a assassination mission, and do just fairly normal non-adventuring stuff.

ahha erm Fawkes tore everything up in fallout 3 GOTY i was like gettin my gun out and .. well would you look at that theres blood all over the place and theyer all dead and Fawkes just walks up to me says that was easy

Yeah, someone else said something like this...



Oh yeah, it was me.

I don't quite understand why tactical pause can't be implemented?
Something similar was done in ME and it worked well
Each character should have quickslots they can use directly in combat (on their own or by you command)
quickslots could be customized when enemies are not near through special menu
4 characters who tag along and can support you and intercept enemy or two.
Of course during stealth missions they shouldn't go with you, or on rare occasions they could serve as distraction

It can be done, but I don't think that it will be.