I don't really need or want companions in the game.
Were there "companions" in Oblivion? I know there were quest PCs that you could get to follow you for their quests. You could then go off and do other stuff and they would still follow you but I never considered them companions like you got in Fallout 3.
As for people complaining about what's not in the game. That is inevitable. I have been coming to this forum off an on for a very long time, since before Morrowind was released, and the one thing I have seen before the release of every single game is people complaining about design decisions.