I like the companions. and i joined them. but after the first time i joined them, i wasnt a fan of the whole becoming a werewolf,, so i always stop playing their quest line just short of that.

Same here.

Being that most of my characters and RP's are stealth/assassin based, I rarely justify doing their questline. My current character did it and went the other way and became a werewolf as opposed to the normal vampire lord. I'm actually enjoying it.

I liked the idea of the Companions very much, the warrior brotherhood, and its place as a truly Nordic institution, unique to Skyrim--as opposed to the other guilds we've seen before in past TES games. I generally enjoy the mix of NPCs who make up the guild, they're a diverse lot with some interesting interrelationships and growth potential. I liked very much the potential conflicts that surround the guild in the 4th era: the outward threat of the Silver Hand, the related inward politics and morality issues of their lycanthropy, the legacy of the Great War and the group's decline, the group's intriguing tradition of tolerance and how that factors in to some of these other conflicts, and also the under-discussed quandary of their sitting out the Civil War yet the PC as a potential participant. And I liked the lore potential of elements like the Skyforge, and the Underforge.

The problem of course is that most of all this potential was never realized.

(So yay for the Creation Kit, to mod some of this untapped potential in.)

I will say that I find at least some degree of the criticism the guild gets to be unwarranted. I find a lot of criticisms come down to unimaginative players importing their own pseudo-medieval ideas of honorable vs. dishonorable, rather than trying to understand what Nord culture might be like as a coherent system. Some of it is just players who wanted another Fighter's Guild because past TES games had Fighter's Guilds. And there's a general unwillingness to look beneath the surface and consider more interesting possibilities when it comes to some of the questions about the guild--sometimes people don't even seem to notice the questions are there. (For example: who sent Kodlak the dream that started him thinking about a cure, and why did they do so?) There's not enough potential realized, I don't disagree; but there is more there than many players give credit to.

I do lol what makes you think I don't?

I truly hate them. It's bad enough that they revere a demon that I utterly despise more than I've ever despised a character in a video-game. But then Bethesda forces Lycanthropy onto them, and write one of the most horribly paced plot lines for them as well. I don't mind Lycanthropy, per say, but I have little interest in them, and I hate that their idea of including it in Skyrim, had to be through a major faction quest-line and offering zero alternatives. So not only can an honorable character whom despises the unnatural, find themselves unable to join the Companions for their true love of Shor; But anyone whom simply wants to be a werewolf, has to join a faction that is supposed to revere Shor, not Hircine. And that is the only way anyone can become a Werewolf. Because of a poorly implemented, poorly paced, and poorly written plot device.

Only played their quest-line once.

I feel about the Companions like I feel with Skyrim and the Nords in general in this game, which can be summed up in a simple phrase: "Inadequate representation".

They're all right.

They have a few interesting members, but all in all I just like them for their Lycanthropy and for some characters Wuuthrad.

I feel pretty 'meh' about them. I liked getting work from them, but once I got to the point where they wanted a certain commitment from me I put their quests on hold and haven't been back. Their house is pretty cool though.

More or less meh to them, another group of historical nord warriors don't impress me. I hate werewolves so that annoys me. I actually was disheartened about them until the Dawnguard dlc came out because they are the only faction I really like besides the legion.

I believe that Bethesda's first attempt at making a replacement for the Fighters' Guild could have been A LOT better.

At least we got craftable Ancient Nord armor and Nord Hero weapons, the latter being quite possibly the best looking weapon set in the game IMO.

I did it one time, but have shied away since because it forces you to become a werewolf. I get that you can ragdoll people and what not, but werewolf form seemed kind of crappy anyway, compared to being able to use armor, weapons, magic.

The only reason why I would even consider joining them would be if I do a pure warrior playthrough. Even then, I prefer the Vampire Lord.

Same here. I actually thought he was going to die when I saw the Silver hand, and I was like "Wait.... wtf is that black stuf- *GASP"

Being an altmer mage did not care for them they are mercenaries that dealt with disgusting daedra foolishly well the foolish and disgusting part was before Andil submitted to bal.

Well overall seriously don't care for em can't play warriors so I only did em like once or twice plus they were not all that interesting.

I....Don't mind them much.

If I had the power to say

to a certain member then I'd like them lots.

EDIT- I've only done the quest line once. Never again.

Most boring, poorly written, and lazy guild in all TES from a gameplay perspective. As for the Companions themselves, bunch of Daedric worshipping crazies turning an honorable warrior society into something it's not and bending over to Hircine, and putting Ysgramor to shame with the entire nonsense plot that was, ironically, brought upon by themselves when getting involved with lycanthropy. Aw, Kodlak died? Let me get the world's smallest violin because you managed to piss off some bandits with "Silver Hand" slapped onto their names after you decided to become the lap dogs (literally) of Hircine.