I don't know about you, but I think I liked the Fighter's Guild more.
I'm not saying The Companions are bad, I know they're suppose to be something different entirely.

But they're suppose to serve the same purpose. I just liked moving up, and ranking up in the Fighter's Guild.
Doing tasks, I felt like I was actually part of the Fighter's Guild.

I didn't feel like I was part of The Companions.. My two favorite characters both died, which was wierd, seeing as they were the only ones in The Companions with original voice actors.

Not saying The Companions are bad, I liked them and their whole thing with the werewolves and the silver hand.
It just felt... short, and not too ' guild-ish' to me.

What do you guys think?

Also, yaaay. 100th post.

I just started playing Oblivion again, so I'll check out the Fighter's Guild, since I never did during my only other playthrough of the game. I did like the Companions though, even if I do think that some of the stuff could have been more detailed.

Companions would have been great if the radiant quests were done with more detail and the Silver Hand were actually a rival faction akin to the Blackwood Company instead of just bandits who have some hate on for Werewolves that nobody understands. Also.. more lore on the actual original Companions would have been.. nice.

Probably Skyrim's biggest disappointment for me.

Fighter's Guild. I don't like having to become a [oh-what-could-it-be-oh-no-spoiler] in order to advance in the warrior faction.

Skyrim is my favorite TES game out of all of them but I like the Fighters guild more. Perfect TES game=does not exist.

One of the things I enjoy most about skyrim was the shift from the generic feel of the previous games to the more realized and fleshed out story sections of skyrim. The move from fighters guild, or mages guild, to the companions, with history and lore and personalities, and the college with similar aspects. Always bothered me.

I actually do agree with this. It just so happens that the Companions aren't my cup of tea. =(

For that reason, with better pacing, the Skyrim factions could have been incredible. All of 'em.

If i wanna go with lore then the companions, if gameplay then the fighters guild. the companions quests svcked ass, the questline was too short and boring. i merely felt that i belonged to a guild, the only cool thing about it was the werewolf thing and a few characters. and two of them died, before we had to chance to interact with them as we like. the companions were much more mighty in lore, being found by Ysgramor, being the the legendary Nord warriors of Skyrim, having honor and all these stuff.
in skyrim they were like a common low life mercenaries. they only killed cause they liked it and cause of the money that came out of it.

I like more the Fighters Guild for the only reason that they′re not werewolves.

I prefer the Fighters Guild myself.

Yeah, the Fighters' Guild felt more fleshed out. The Companions' questline was way too short if you ask me.

The Fighters guild actually felt like it had a presence. I can barely tell The Companions even exist unless I see their mead hall.

Yeah, it's like they claim they're all that, but they only have one Guild, and no one seems to talk about them.
Unless they're acknowledging that you're in it.

Honestly, I think all of the quest lines were too short.

I prefer the Companions in terms of history and culture. I prefer the Fighters Guild in terms of storyline.
The Companions had a lot of potential, but IMO it was mostly wasted. The storyline was rushed, the characters not given enough time to become loved, and the decisiion.

And it really pains be, because a big change is so simple. Allowing us to continue with radiant quests rather than the main quests - including after refusing the decision - would provide a lot of longevity to the storyline, and allow us to improve the pacing of the guild a bit ourselves. Bethesda's decision against this baffles me.

A lot of design decisions baffled me that seemed so obvious. Example, the Winterhold town. They explain the collapse and being swallowed by the sea. First thing I did was jump into the ocean to see if I could explore the sunken ruins. Such an obvious piece of awesome, but nowhere to be found.

I think the Companions really should actually be a part of the Fighter's Guild. Basically, nothing changes with how they are now in Skyrim, but they simply have the paperwork and are therefore official. They fill the same function, anyway.

That way, Bethesda has lease to give the Fighter's Guild a unique feel for each future TES game. For example, if a game involved Hammerfell the official Fighter's Guild there would actually be a holy temple of the god Ebonarm. It actually was that way in Daggerfall.

I prefer the much more civilized Fighters Guild.

I like the idea of the Companions but the structure of the Fighter's Guild.

i liked the the fighters guild more. i hate being forced into something

I like the Companions the most.
The fighters guild quests in Morrowind and Oblivion were OK, but far too dull overall.
Which is mainly because of my flaws rather than the quests being dull, uninteresting and poorly executed.
The Oblivion jab at the old ratstomp trope and the continuity with Morrowind was amusing however.
I didn't like the Blackwood company at all, especially the forced bit.
Blackwood, Blackwater, oooooooh subtle! *sarcasm*
Morrowind had some interesting bits such as the fighters guild being legally sanctioned to bring booze to miners in the mine.
A nice touch I feel.
The whole Cammona Tong infiltration bit in Morrowind was interesting but it isn't my cup of tea.
I have to skip a lot of quests if I want to be "good" or at least not outright malevolent.

The Fighters Guild felt more like mercenaries only interested in money and killing while the Companions felt more like a band of brothers, friends.
The initiation ceremony in Skyrim is something I love to bits and felt lacking in Morrowind and Oblivion.
As the factional/doctrinal dispute within the Circle, pro Beastblood and pro Purity.
The undercurrents and subtlety, mmmmm.... lovely...
What can I say, I am a svcker for metaphysics.
Kodlak, I admire him.
I can't say the same for any of the other fighters guild leaders.
I admire Hannibal Traven in the Oblivion Mages Guild though.

The fact that the Companions actually go out and do things on their own was both a surprise and totally sweet.
I am so used to faction member NPC's just staying in the same spot and I being the only one who does any work at all.
Imagine my surprise when I saw Vilkas, Farkas and Njada roaming the Skyrim wilderness.
"Hey, Vilkas, what are you doing here?"
"Going to hunt a dragon, want to come along?"
"Yeah, absolutely!"
And we did.
It was awesome.

I also like how you can do quests after the main questline.
Morrowind had literally nothing to do after every quest had been done.
Oblivion had changing the Guilds priorities and the GuildMaster chest, which is something and was a step in the right direction.
Radiant quests isn't a perfect solution but it is way better than the earlier versions.

Bear in mind my cultural bias.
I am Swedish and love vikings, heroism, camradery and mead so Skyrim and the Companions is a game more suited to my tastes.
Favourite city and player owned house in Oblivion, Bruma.
Favourite Morrowind expansion Bloodmoon.
I am extremely biased.

I much preferred the Fighter's Guild. The Companions was a bit disappointing if I'm honest, mainly due to the quests. The structure of the companions was ok with me as was the things it forced you to become, but if the quests aren't as fun as the fighter's guild, well, I struggle to like it as much. The characters were okay in the companions but so too were the ones in the Fighter's Guild.

I think this is more a comparison of the guild quest lines between the two games. Oblivion did them much, much better. As you pointed out you rose through the ranks, doing jobs ect and the main quest is gradually revealed to you. In Skyrim you're thrown immediately into the main quest and go from recruit to guild master in one jump. This is lazy, uninspired and much less satisfying.

To actually compare the guilds themselves, I think the Companions are a little bit more interesting. They have more of a history (at least more of a history presented in the game). The Fighter's Guild seems a bit generic somehow.

They definitely seem generic. Maybe it's the name?

Fighters' Guilds tend to be pretty lame regardless of the game.