COMPANIONS

@Sarizaddi

I like the way you're thinking on this. My thought was:
1) They could have a bunch of NPCs that would join you based on your quest or w/e. Much like Ultima VI. These could be heavily written into the story.
2) There could be some Diablo II style hirelings (Or GW1). "I'll send one of my rangers to help you out."
3) My thought was that they could actually sell you a companion slot in the cash shop. This person goes through much of the character creation process and is "yours" just like and alt to name and gear and whatever. There might even be some solo story content where you role play this character into the world.

 

I am not looking for companions to assist with combat, that is a bonus not what I am looking for though.


I want the iolo's who add to the story, I want the dupres etc...I want there strength and weaknesses in character.

I don't want a simple henchman, part of the charm that is ultima is the companions. I know this is hard for the UO crowd to understand but they were what made ultima, ultima. I don't want or need a simple warrior follower that I have no emotional connection too. I want to care that these guys are following me.

 

I would enjoy NPC companions, aside from story considerations, just to extend the gameplay in several ways:

1. You wouldn't have to be a jack-of-all-trades in order to do solo mode, could get someone specialized to join your party.

2. It would provide easier defense against PKs if you want to go out in dangerous areas but still defend yourself. Most NPCs found in regular towns obviously won't join criminal characters, although maybe a few would.

3. You could use their backpacks to store loot and bring it back to town. Yes, one of the purposes of party members in single-player Ultimas was to use them as mules. Nothing bad about that

4. There's a nice feeling about parties setting down to camp and playing music, even if you want to play solo. You could also have one of your NPCs watch while you sleep.

If every player has access to NPC party members in the game, honestly I don't see how they can have that specific personalities, they'd have to be generated a bit, as to not duplicate party members.

 

The real question will be, how will they work for PVP?

I think if you pull to SPO you should be able to find unique npcs.

 

I mean, since I can't edit the last one...if they can spend so much time on the PVP problem spend some time on those that want the single player online game.

 

If we cant get Iolo and Dupre to be our companions,
How about David R. Watson and Greg Dykes?

Mr. Watson could be Bard that plays the Lute and makes Crossbows,
Mr. Dykes could be a Paladin that runs up bar tabs and tries to sell you Ducks

Anyways, it made me sad that in Ultimas 8 and 9 you were always on your own. Even if I get an NPC that tags along, maybe has a few good lines of dialogue, has some personality to make me care about his/her well-being. Would I like more? Sure! but I would be more or less happy with something basic to start with

 

I'm also a big fan of companions. I really enjoyed finding them and building my party in the previous games. If you happen to be playing solo, I think playing with an NPC party would be fun. I think the trick is how having companions interplays with the multiplayer aspect. No two players ought to run into each other and see the other player has the same companions. I think that would shatter the illusion of the world by highlighting the technical limitations. If there is some creative and cost effective way to have an almost unlimited number of unique companions that feel real, I think that would be best. Perhaps randomized names, clothing and conversations, with the conversation portion probably being the most challenging thing to pull off.

 

@rune_74

I have had a variety of experiences with Companions in PvP, and they are usually not breaking. When a Companion is a Healer type, the healing is usually not fast enough to make or break a person's survival against a PvP opponent. When the Companion is given towards combat, the damage they do usually does not greatly impact the battle. Other than that, Players ignore agro table abilities which tends to be a lot of what Companions do for a player in combat, help deflect some of the battle to themselves so the Player lives longer. It can be effective in PvE, but usually non-issue in PvP.

Plus to consider most games simply leave them out completely from PvP, ranging from not being able to bring them in or summon them into PvP zones, to despawning into nether when you flag for PvP, and even some cases where Companions auto-die or get perma-stunned while you PvP / during PvP.

@ this Conversation

The more I consider my Ultima experiences, from playing Ultima IV on and playing years in UO, but also as I consider my large breadth of MMO experience...I have come to the conclusion that Companions are quite nearly a must. Having vs. not having them can certainly be a contributing factor to the make or break of a game, but just as much is whether it is done right or wrong.

Taking U6 for example, I thought Companions were right, even if I mean they were right for the time. As time has progressed, the quality and options available should very well progress, too, adding new options, fleshing out what was done right in the past to be even better going forward. Being able to hop in Sherry's body to go thru mouseholes and unlock doors was excellent, so why NOT keep the same possibilities in SotA? If the goal is to have one character to be yourself, but then they place arbitrary restrictions on what all you can be or skills you can know, then how about Companions with skills, that you can inhabit their bodies to use certain skills? After all, what good is having a Companion that is a cook, for example, if they can never be used to cook?

Then U8, U9, not having Companions hurt the experience. Granted, not having to worry about where they were or what they were doing or keeping them alive frees a person up some, but being utterly alone made certain parts of the game grindingly difficult. I think they teach the lesson that Companions are directly linked to game difficulty, and can have a stark impact on game enjoyment.

Then UO, for example, Companions were done wrong. They were hired for a pittance of gold, but for the most part were not very smart about how they followed you, followed commands that we more or less made for animals, they were almost completely ineffective in combat, and half the time may not even do what they were told ("I will not commit murder!"the follower says...but dude, I'm being killed by a Brigand, so it's not MURDER, it's called coming to my DEFENSE!)

That said, I think all should be used as stepping stones, knowledge gained from all sources to provide something that really does enrich the game. Companions, in my mind, are a must for Ultima. And not just a must, but a should be done well.

 

Most peoples here seems to want NPC companions. I personally enjoy to have some in different games aswell. In Skyrim as example i have always a companion.

For SOTA, the single player mode at least must have some. And if we have then already some, they could be implemented in the game aswell. But the balancing has to be right. That a player is running around with 1 or 2 NPC companions is fine, but not that everybody is running around with dozen of NPC companions.

For Hirelings, that woudn't be a problem, it would just become to expansive, for Companions, who follow you because of personal reason, they have to be some way to keep the number lower.

 

I like the notion of companions for the single player mode. It is also a large part of what drew me to the original Ultima games. I think a set number of fleshed out companion NPCs would suffice, and think it would be really interesting if they had their own personalities, and perhaps even reacted in their own ways to various situations, rather than be entirely player directed.

I am less certain about companions for the multi-player aspects of the game. This is just me, but I had rather be required to interact with actual players when it comes to multi-player, though I tend to be a something of a loner who occasionally teams up with friends. It seems to me that companions might take away some of the player-to-player interaction. Just my opinion.

 

Guild Wars had a nice hybrid system where you could team with other players, or bring NPC henchmen with your party (or a bit of both). With the 3rd expansion they added improved companion NPCs with deeper stories/personality, improved AI and customisation.
Something like that would be perfect for me. Playing with other people is great but I don't think one should be forced to, even in the multiplayer persistent world.
I'd love the NPC's to have personalities and lives on par with the classic Ultima companions.

 

Hello everyone, like all of you I too like the idea of companions helping your avatar out. one of most Fun things about being in a RPG world is all different personalities that other npc and people bring to your group to liven up the adventure and were it goes form begging to end. or to the next place in the story of life.

So to make things short i hope they do indeed put companions in there to help you out.

 

Companions / Followers: In the Ultimas, the reason any of your friends agreed to follow you was because you were on a quest that they too were interested in helping out with. Part of it was reputation, because you were the Avatar, or because of the king.. it seems to me that story elements in SotA could easily allow for alliances to be forged, but perhaps at first it will be you volunteering to follow another on a quest, which in turn might help you to build your reputation.

I'm with you all in the joys of playing with companions. I don't know how to seamlessly implement them into a multiplayer setting, but I do know that I'd rather have them - even if it means knowing that everyone else is choosing from the same pool of followers and there are many duplicates in the world - than not have them at all.

 

I like the idea of taking a friends NPC along as a companion if they are not online as RG said in one of the early videos but I like the idea of mass effect type companions as well. Companions which are story based and who you WANT to interact with rather than diablo type

 

Companions are, in my opinion, one of the great things that have begun to get added to MMOs. Granted, at this point I only know of Star Wars: The Old Republic that does it, but they do it well. Add in taking of animals and you have a third member of your party. It's great for solo players like myself who don't want to feel left out of things. There could still be especially challenging dungeons or quests that could require a larger group, but that would be ok.

One thing though about companions. I want them fleshed out, with back story and side quests. This would mean that everyone would basically be getting the same companion. It always bugged me that everyone around me in SW:TOR had the same person following them around as I did. I would love to see the option to rename them at the very least, as well as change out their equipment and maybe even take them to the New You salon to change their look a little.