I want well developed, well personalized companions in Skyrim. After listening to the Special Edition Podcast with Todd Howard I became scared that they are just going to go with bulk instead of story. Personally, I want well developed story lines for companions, even if that means only 5-10 companion options. Mr. Howard seemed to suggest they are going with many, many companions with less story and personality than deep characters. I, for myself, don't want this. Howard said the companions are going to become your friends, but I can't see how a companion with little character can become any real feeling friend.

What does everyone here think? Do you like the direction they are going or do you agree with me and want a more Fallout approach to it with deeper personality and good back story? Please share!

Just because there are many companions doesn't mean they will have less story behind them.

Where are you getting that from?

Still some like that bro don't worry. Also does anyone else get the feeling that there are going to be a lot more NPC's in Skyrim compared to OB and MW. :mohawk:

From the podcast:



This concerns me as well, but depending on how the game is designed, it might make more sense to have more cannon fodder helpers than story-driven companions (outside of quest essential companions, that is.)

He got it from the Podcast from Game Informer asking Howard questions. One of his answers was about companions and how there will be a few that will have backgrounds and stories, but many will be handled by Radiant Story and to have as many as they do is to--paraphrasing but close to his words--sacrifice some depth. This means that it will likely be like many of the Radiant Story quests, which are generated by a set of templates--also from Howard.

I don't really have a problem with this. Some of the companions might seem cookie cutter after a bit, but from what he said some will have depth. I would assume only a handful and maybe some that are integral or play a big role in the main quest. Outside of that, I don't really care.

Kinda depends which Fallout we're talking...Bethesda's Fallout 3 had companions. They were so shallow I spent about 10 minutes with one of'em and spent the rest of my time in FO3 solo. Fallout: New Vegas, by Obsidian, had companions as well. But unlike FO3, I find the New Vegas companions interesting. Well...several of them anyway, a couple are "meh" and there's one big blue one that makes me think "Adoring Fan, Mk II" but the bottom line is I usually travel with one.

So from where I sit, the real question seems to be "lots of Bethesda-style minimum-depth companions, or a few other-developer style well-written ones?" And in answer to that, I've consistently given Bethesda's a shot then ignored them before and if they're done the way Bethesda seems to do them consistently I'll do so again. If they actually create some that don't seem like their typical fare, that might change.

I'm happy with what came out of the podcast. My preference is for a more group based combat style so more 'companions' (or people I can get to fight with me) is better.

Ah, I see.

It appears that they are going for a more "hired mercenary" type character that you can hire or recruit, but they become friends with you as you go. This is why there is less story, because they are more or less hired guns.

gameinformer special edition podcast with Rodd Howard, lead designer on Skyrim. words from his mouth almost.

Fixed that for ya.

I definitely believe Skryim is going to become a much more populated, real word. I think we can expect MANY more npcs than ever before, even Fallout New Vegas.

Well it's not exactly like we've ever even had permanent followers with a backstory before. I mean, who did we have in Oblivion? Castellan Athon? Yeah, he had a real backstory on him.

lol thank you

A few could have interesting stories. The Todd said there would be more, most of them probably resorting to little more than cannon fodder. There may be a few dimonds in the rough though. Who knows. I mostly only have em around to hold my stuff in NV anyway, and if they can't do that like they couldn't in Fallout 3, I just go solo.

Mass Effect / Dragon Age anyone?

I suppose I am really wanting a game that i can lose myself in, sorta like a really good book, only visual; and in really good books, the main character always has great supporting friends and allies, as well as well developed enemies [ (game reference: Mass Effect 1) (book reference: Harry Potter) ]. So i am wanting great friends in skyrim. I want friends with back stories and stories i helped right for them. by that i mean good quests to go along with well developed companions. that's just me though. I don't want a squad of people who don't care anything about me or my mission (game reference: Mass Effect 2).

side not: I freaking hate Mass Effect 2's "build your team" crap! absolute bull. all i had was a bunch of people who owed me a favor, while all my old companions had been written into irrational loonies. thanks a lot Bioware!

Personally, while I'm a big fan of the whole Baldur's Gate 2/Mass Effect 2 companion development, I wouldn't mind having less developed companions for a more choices in companions. Just give me something similar to Arcanum or Chrono Cross; they don't have to have a quest nor that have to be extremely developed, but at least give them a background and have their personalities and not be generic Dark Brotherhood assassin. This will give me a choice whether to pick companions that will fit my character.

I wanted lots of Bethesda-like shallow companions so I can ignore them and go solo, as I feel that is what TES should feel like. I'm happy with what we heard from Todd.

Glad I'm not the only lone wolf. Never cared for companions because of the simple fact of crappy AI. But who knows maybe this will improve in Skyrim.

Hopefully they take lessons from the people that've modded their games. I wasn't really impressed by their implementation of them in Fallout 3. And Obsidian improved on it but it still wasn't up to par. They felt like people that'll jump at the first chance to join you and then mindlessly follow. No goals of their own save one tiny sidequest, if any.

No, I guess they will be more like fallout 3 but many will also be temporary companions and we all know how to exploit it in Oblivion. Here they might leave if you start to treat them as free bodyguards.
Hopefully we bet better tactical control, a redraw and attack button would be nice. Perhaps even some common sense: In sneak mode wait for me to attack first unless discovered, do not attack enemies who are far stronger than you, if they atack you try to keep your distance.
Clover; melee attack on groups of albino radscorpions is not a good idea.

It must just be me, but when I saw the title of this thread I wondered if the OP was talking about how well "developed" the companions could be...ahem.

Judging by the picture of the tavern wench...quite well developed i`d say... :blink:

Meh, I like the idea that you can just hire some additional manpower every once in a while, and I wont have to load my game if one of them dies. I don't want companions with epic storylines, but some personality is never a bad thing.

Bethseda should take a leaf out of Bioware or LucasArts (at their peak) for writing characters. If anyone played Grim Fandango I hope they'll agree that that game had the best companions out of any game in existence - the ending with Glottis almost pushed me to tears!

as for Bioware, i think the original KotoR had the best plot and best characters in all the Star Wars games ever made. I just wish they would go and make a KotoR 3! and none of this MMO junk.

Agreed, as much as the universe and the gameplay will be impressive, all it takes is a couple idiots running around out of character to break the immersion. MMO's and RPGs certainly don't mix together (unless they're in a private server).

Bioware is the best RPG developer out there. Sorry Bethesda, you still take the trophy in the sandbox RPG genre. I'm hoping Skyrim will see a substantial improvement in the quality of writing, dialogue and meaningful characters. Every other aspect of the TES games have been close to impecable, but the plots itself always falls short when it comes to the emotional level. Morrowind had decisively a better script, I found really difficult to connect emotionally to any of those characters in the same way you do in Knights of the Old Republic.

When Martin dies in the invasion of the Imperial City, I was just like "cool", but we never to really have enough time (or conversation options) to care for him. Characters are very formulaic, they fulfill their roles and go back to their daily schedules. I think Bethesda has a lot to learn from the games like Dragon Age Origins, to mention a recent one. Even if you're not allowed to walk around with more than one or two party members, you should definetly have that campfire experience with a couple of friends you get to know and care about.