I never really used companions in OB or Fallout 3 simply because the AI wasn't good enough to make them usefull. Now, this could change with Skyrim and the magnetism will be there to stop us from accidently hitting our companions. Personnaly, I would love to play trough most of the game with companions, as long as they don't get in the way all the time

As long as they're truly optional (unlike, say, FO:NV, where they had alot of quests hanging off them), so that those of us who don't want some NPC getting in the way don't have to use them.



(It's like an escort quest that never ends..... gah! :banghead:)

Of course.

I don't use companions, but I don't care if they add them. I just don't want to see companions be required to complete the game.

If I do get a companion, it will be an animal of some kind, but it won't be for fighting along side me.

I'm finding FONV very difficult. Deathclaws and Cazadores really tear me up. If they get to me, I die in two hits from a Deathclaw. I feel as though they designed mobs around the fact that you'd have companions with you. It makes the game not fun when you don't. I'm constantly loading and saving, trying the pick mobs off one at a time.

let's face the facts:

Most players do not use companions because their COMBAT A.I. svcks. In TES games, this is the worst and annoying feature (at least for me).

If Skyrim will have a very good COMBAT A.I. will be 10/10, if not only 9/10... We spend 20-25% of the time playing TES fighting, so will be inexplicable that BGS will not improve combat A.I. this time.

I'm not interested in combat companions, but I would like friend/pet companions. An animal who'd have the sense to keep out of the way when when I'm fighting. Someone I could ask to rub my shoulders at the end of a rough day ...

I would hope that some quests require a companion whether the player likes it or not ; Whether the task just requires two to complete, or that the quest giver does not trust the PC, and sends an agent of his own along with them (One that must return too, or cause further distrust :chaos:).

Wont accept the chaperon(?)... no Quest for you! :laugh:

**Edit:
Consider the quest in Conan:The Destroyer; where Conan must take Bombaata along. (and in this case... Its the main quest. :chaos:)

I don't like companions because they spoil the fear factor. Creeping through a dungeon alone is a lot more nerve jangling than coming up against a giant spider with half a dozen buddies. Especially as companions always seem to have magical powers of perception. In my first FO:NV play through Boone and Ed-E charged off and cleared out vault 22 before I stepped across the threshold. It ruined the suspense a bit.

I like companions, but they never seem to be quite right. New Vegas took a good step, but they still seemed generic. They need a lot more depth, tie them into a main quest apart from their own quest line- get the player to care about them by making them known. Cater to all tastes, some people want a macho barbarian, some a quiet assassin type, others might want a bubbly personality (is that a word? xD) girl, or maybe the cute petite sort. There needs to be a wide variety so people who may not be the sort to like the 'party girl/boy' could have access to the 'good boy/girl' instead, or maybe the shy type, the wiseass (Alistier ftw! xD) type.

New Vegas did a good job, but i think it could be better. I never felt attached to any of my companions, because i never found any real compatible personality to match my tastes in people..you had a piss dunk coy girl who likes to get into fights, a gay scientist who isn't good for much apart from making himself constantly known that he is, an emu sniper, an annoying girl who acts out of character despite her past with the brotherhood, a super mutant of all things who has a brain tumor of a problem in the head, and a ghoul...i hate goals even though he was pretty likeable....for a ghoul...friggin maggot farms..and a weird dog.. The only one i liked was Rahul and even he had his problems...he was a zombie for one...

I like companions for romance's sake. I want a companion like the girl in the tavern. When I do something heroic (ie running for my life from a spider's web) she will reward me as she sees fit.

* she will not involve in my fights. She will be there as cheerleader. Her support arsenal will be chants, kisses and boobs.

Im not a fan of using companions, but its one of the most popular mods. So clearly some people like them, so why not let them be in the game.
Its not like the, "don't like it, don't use it" arguement doesn't work here.

I'm not sure I would want more than one or two companions, probably just one. Frankly, I don't have them along for their combat skills, so when given the option, I set them to maximum defense. However, if they do get involved in combat, I would hope that they could at least defend themselves.

The real problem is that companions are going to necessarily require a great deal more character development than a standard NPC - since you are going to be with this companion for a long time.

It's no surprise that Vilja (Emma's companion for Oblivion) has more spoken dialog than pretty much all of the rest of the Nord females combined. Unfortunately, I don't see Bethesda aiming for that level of companion, so frankly, I'd rather they just make sure the hooks are in place to support better third-party mod companions - much the way adding companion sharing, and companion logic, in Tribunal made companion mods a LOT better in Morrowind.

So, I expect lame companions in vanilla - probably little better than meatshields - but I'm hoping the hooks in the CS will allow for much better companions to follow.

Why would M'aiq want companions? They just follow you around all the time, get in the way, and talk, talk, talk. Besides, companions always scare away the fishes, and M'aiq likes to catch fishes.

I use them for fun.Like making them fight guards or killing them in funny ways.

I like the idea of companions. What I have experienced from TES, to date, does not really fulfill my wants.

Yes, good companions can be assets. But for them, I look to games like DA:O, etc.

I have, however, used some of Lady Emma's companion mods, and found those experiences to be quite positive. I look forward to seeing what she comes up with for Skyrim, if anything. If necessary, I will create a special character just to take advantage of her imaginative creations.

I am also curious to see what the creative minds of the TES team will do for Skyrim's elite companions.

I wouldn't mind using fighting companions as long as (like others) they were optional.

One additional caveat. I would be able to change the way they fight by giving them simple instructions.

1. Always attack if something is threatening.

2. Always warn me of threatening enemies.

3. Only warn me when appropriate. (if warning me would alert enemies)

4. Attack only after I attack.

5. Only attack when I say so.

I personally don't like companions, but that might be because of my loner wolf nature.
Still, this is something that really won't be in my way and won't be forced on me and therefore doesn't bother me.

Hope not

^ This

I'm one of the few who actually likes having companions and if other people don't like them then they shouldn't use them. No need to get rid of them just to ruin the fun for those of us who actually enjoy that feature.

if they make them like new vegas companions then definitely yes. never had any issues with them. ive played several companion mods for oblivion and they worked well enough albeit they still ran in front of you on occasion. i liked talkietoasters mod where you could click on a locked chest and the companion with the highest skill would open it for you if you werent a alteration or lockpick skill character.

companions also make the gameworld more organic and believable. if i want to play a super character that fight dozens of enemies at a time without taking any damage then ill go play assassins creed. i mod my game so that my health is roughly equal to other npcs health and i have increased damage all around so that it only takes a couple of hits to kill me. when im fighting multiple enemies i would be dead in seconds without the companions i was using. i hate games that are easy and let you pwn everything in sight. its just stupid game design.

the extra quests like NV had are a nice bonus as well. the only downside that NV companions had is that a couple of them were a bit uberpowerful, especially boone and when the girl got power armor and a displacer fist thingy she was a wrecking ball. that stuff was easy enough to change in the GECK.

what i want to see in the skyrim companions is someone i look at and go "holy [censored]" how did you do that. companions should have skills that are unique to them. if im a warrior character i want to be impressed with the mage companion i hired who is using spells i will never be able to use. if im a mage the warrior guy i have with me should have special attack unique to him as well.

Most RPG's I've played has had companions in them so it'd definitely be a plus in my book but no we don't really "need" it.

I like companions only if they have backstory, a lot of dialogue and romance like in the games of Bioware. If they are just "yes sir" henchmen with no personality and no rich dialogue, I don't need them, I prefer to do the killing alone.

I can't remember how many times I had to reload in Oblivion when ever I had to take someone with me on a quest. Eventually they would get in my way and I would accidently cut them down and suddenly everyone is calling me a murderer and the guards all wanted to arrest me! I would immediately cringe as soon as the quest put someone following me around because I knew what would happen, often I would just let the the mobs kill them so I could move on alone and avoid the murder charges.

Hence the need for improved companion AI. All of the issues mentioned could be resolved by giving the companions helpful hints on how to not get in your way during combat - including the ever popular "get out of the way, hide in a dark corner, and don't come out until you stop hearing screaming and swords hitting things" admonition.

Fallout 3 and to a greater extent New Vegas style companions would be perfect for Skyrim. No need for romance plots or convoluted dialogue. All you need is some simple tactics instructions, companion share, some random traveling dialogue and maybe a unique quest for each more complex companions.