Slave to your companion

[Clova]

Just thought I'd share this. My BF, when he saw my Consular with Qyzen, hated the idea of pets and was reluctant to play. Then he created a Jedi Knight and got T7. Instant reversal of opinion!

 

A robot companion saved my marriage! (or merely being able to play SWTOR together )

 

I personally love Corso, Qyzen, and MQ. I certainly cant imagine this game without them.

[Wolfeisberg]

I'm surprised you even notice your companion, I barely notice they are even there. I know they are there helping me, but they never get in the way. /shrug

[crushingbush]

Exactly Amonet! Lol And I'm not attacking companions. People are getting on here and defending them as greatest thing ever...great!! All I'm saying is I want the option to play solo without having to use them,

[EllipticSmile]

The companions really emphasize how weak your character really is when you don't have one out. Fighting the last boss of my story line should be an epic 1v1 battle... thanks for those heals Talos.

 

There is a guy on Hoth who you fight, and in the dialogue he talks about it being 1 on 1. You know what I did? I dismissed my companion and beat him by myself, just to play along.

 

You just want something to ***** about. Go play another game if companions really bother you so much. This is not the game for you.

Edited January 12, 2012 by EllipticSmile

[crushingbush]

There is a guy on Hoth who you fight, and in the dialogue he talks about it being 1 on 1. You know what I did? I dismissed my companion and beat him by myself, just to play along.

 

You just want something to ***** about. Go play another game if companions really bother you so much. This is not the game for you.

 

 

You work for Bioware? lol Hey you an admin?

[Hingster]

maybe for some classes the Companion is not so needed but like i said i leveled a sith mara and i have no doubt that they would have to turn up my dps or reduce my damage taken by alot to do the class quests. and i know for a fact at this point in time there will be some people leveling a sith mara with a healer and cant do the class quest because the fight has to go good rt from the start Edited January 12, 2012 by Hingster

[Ansultares]

Point is the game is based around the companions. They affect your story, they are literally the crafting system in the game, they are part of your class quests, they have their own quests, they also are important for combat, they get armored by you and everything. Its simply something that is ingrained into the game itself. Complaining you don't want companions in this game is like complaining that you see Gandalf in Lord of the Rings Online.

 

Its simply part of the game. I understand if you disagree with it, but I wouldn't buy Diablo 3 and then go "*** This has demons and hell and satan???" Bioware was never quiet about the amount of 'companion use' you'd have in this game before it was released.

For starters, don't lump responses together; you act like I started this thread, or that I've even made a complaint on the order of "whaaawhaa I'm a slave to my AI driven companion whaa."

 

All I've said is that it's a great single-player mechanic, but so out of place in an MMO that it shouldn't have even made it off the concept board (much like BW's implementation of space combat, but for different reasons).

 

If this is a feature that subsequent MMOs copy and use as blindly as BW copied and used ezmode quest trackers or heavy instancing, then it's a terrible omen for future MMO development.

 

You know where companions would be right at home? Post-BC WoW. I hear hand holding is all the rage in Azeroth.

 

I get your point that they can't be removed from this game. They're as ingrained as the incredibly linear, and therefore incredibly boring, story line. But developers have proven time and again that they'll mindlessly copy features from other games if those features are received successfully in other games.

 

Companions in this game, as great as they are in a single-player RPG such as KotoR, as ingrained as they are into this game, are tied directly into the linear, hand-held storybook feel of this game, the same impression that you'll see repeated time and again over the next few months as this MMO experiences the same population swings every other major MMO since WoW has experienced.

 

While you may not measure this game's success on the basis of how many millions of active subscribers it can maintain, BW probably factors that more heavily, and EA measures success entirely by that single metric. So even if you're content to watch me leave for D3, you'll be upset when BW pushes patch 1.X off because EA started cutting back on their budget. I watched it happen with WAR, and there's no reason at all to think it won't happen here.

 

Even if you think companions are a good feature, as I do, you should be fighting tirelessly to let BW and the industry know that it's not a good feature for the genre.

[Protoplast]

I did but, wasn't the point I was trying to make posting this thread, Because I do think its a great game but I hate having pets and always avoid those classes in other MMO's. However you are pretty heavily reliant on the pets in this game with every class.

 

Your companion is not a pet! THEY'RE REAL PEOPLE.

 

 

Except for Vette... lol slave.

[crushingbush]

Whaaaaa companion AI?

 

I said I simply want the choice to have a class that isn't reliant on pets! Lots of games have pets classes and classes without pets and seem to be able to manage.

[Hingster]

i believe that the companion in the game is their simply to mask a design flaw in the game most people like them because its a type of game advantage to have them up but some will totaly hate the Companion as i do Edited January 12, 2012 by Hingster

[Staavis_SC]

My gripe about companions (at least on Jedi) is that they show me up...CONSTANTLY.

 

T-7? That little snarky trash can holds aggro 10x better than my Guardian. And he kills his opponents quicker too!

 

Kira? Oh how I loathe Kira! She can Force Jump all the frickin time, she kills about 2-3 mobs to my 1, and not only that, she rubs it in my face too, with comments like "I'm about to break your record boss!" For crying out loud, she is supposed to be my Padawan! Instead, I end up feeling like a Padawan still swinging a dorky training saber!

 

Qyzen? Well, he isn't so bad, except that if he doesn't get told to tank the mos for me each and every time, I die. I literally can not survive without him. I think he knows it too. I think I have caught him laughing at me behind my back, because he can stand there and take a beating, but without him, I'm a pile of goo on the ground.

 

Why do our companions have to be better than us?

[RamataKahn]

Even if you think companions are a good feature, as I do, you should be fighting tirelessly to let BW and the industry know that it's not a good feature for the genre.

 

But it is a good feature.

 

And lol at "fighting tirelessly"

[TyHeaton]

Really unfortunate you can't choose to have a companion, game is difficult enough you have to have one, because I really hate having to deal with one.

 

And its not bad enough you have to use one or die, but you are completely reliant on them to keep you alive, so basically this game forces you to rely on AI to play. Just sucks this is the route Bioware chose leaving the player with no real choice in the matter..putting your play in the hands of AI.

 

The AI seems pretty good from my experiences. Other than my companions irrational fear of elevators I've yet to see anything game breaking.

[Jett-Rinn]

I have zero issues with being a Slave to Kira.

[Jaxxar]

I just want my droid dismantled, that is all.

[DuceHason]

Really unfortunate you can't choose to have a companion, game is difficult enough you have to have one, because I really hate having to deal with one.

 

And its not bad enough you have to use one or die, but you are completely reliant on them to keep you alive, so basically this game forces you to rely on AI to play. Just sucks this is the route Bioware chose leaving the player with no real choice in the matter..putting your play in the hands of AI.

 

I'm sorry (no I'm not) I cannot stop laughing at this post. I sent mine off to do things, and keep on fighting on. I'll use them if I feel I need to (Elites for the most part), other wise if I really want a hand *Guild Chat - Hey anyone want to group up? Meet me at blahblahblah* off we go!

 

If Bioware gave you NO choice as you say, there would not be an option to dismiss your companion when you are NOT in a group. So yeah keep on keeping on!

[Cyrvan]

For starters, don't lump responses together; you act like I started this thread, or that I've even made a complaint on the order of "whaaawhaa I'm a slave to my AI driven companion whaa."

 

All I've said is that it's a great single-player mechanic, but so out of place in an MMO that it shouldn't have even made it off the concept board (much like BW's implementation of space combat, but for different reasons).

 

If this is a feature that subsequent MMOs copy and use as blindly as BW copied and used ezmode quest trackers or heavy instancing, then it's a terrible omen for future MMO development.

 

You know where companions would be right at home? Post-BC WoW. I hear hand holding is all the rage in Azeroth.

 

I get your point that they can't be removed from this game. They're as ingrained as the incredibly linear, and therefore incredibly boring, story line. But developers have proven time and again that they'll mindlessly copy features from other games if those features are received successfully in other games.

 

Companions in this game, as great as they are in a single-player RPG such as KotoR, as ingrained as they are into this game, are tied directly into the linear, hand-held storybook feel of this game, the same impression that you'll see repeated time and again over the next few months as this MMO experiences the same population swings every other major MMO since WoW has experienced.

 

While you may not measure this game's success on the basis of how many millions of active subscribers it can maintain, BW probably factors that more heavily, and EA measures success entirely by that single metric. So even if you're content to watch me leave for D3, you'll be upset when BW pushes patch 1.X off because EA started cutting back on their budget. I watched it happen with WAR, and there's no reason at all to think it won't happen here.

 

Even if you think companions are a good feature, as I do, you should be fighting tirelessly to let BW and the industry know that it's not a good feature for the genre.

 

Frankly I am tired of this attitude and all that resemble it. Stop with the "good single-player concept" already, its a frivolous argument to begin with. Think about what "MMORPG" stands for Massively Multiplayer Online Roleplaying Game. Just because so many of the complainers on this forum have been weened on WoW does not make it the standard by which all MMORPG's should be defined. Bioware has ALWAYS been about story-driven games and how importantly companions play into that.

 

Companions are not pets!

 

A pet is a mindless NPC that serves no purpose beyond biting or hitting an enemy. Do not claim that that is the same case here in TOR, as has already been pointed out they play a pivotal role in the story and even in crafting, something no pet class in any game can claim to do. And THAT is why they are not completely optional. But if you want to do content alone you can out-level despite claims here stating otherwise, but you don't have to take it so far as to grey-out the quest, one level in this game can make an enormous difference. Just because Bioware decided to try something different from other MMORPG's does not make it any less an MMO or a viable alternative to what other games have tried.

 

I am tired of all these non-experts coming on forums toting around like they know all the details about the MMORPG genre when they haven't a clue. TOR is an MMORPG because you still are playing with thousands of other players (even though it seems many on here appear oblivious to that fact) and it most definitely qualifies for the RPG aspect as well. I personally look forward to every companion I get and what they can offer, if you don't that's fine, but then go play something else and stop crying about it on here.

[Tahana]

I hear WoW is losing sunscribers so I'm sure they have lots of server space available for you. Laters!

 

I hear Rift is turning a bunch more servers into Trial servers, forcing people to consolidate onto a remaining few. What does that have to do with how the OP feels.

 

@OP, I am not sure if you are into PVP or run the dungeons. But it is very easy to out level the planets within the game and you can conqueror the content without one. Many of the elites aren't so elite after a level or two higher then them.

 

Peace.

[SoupyNuggs]

reading thru the posts in this thread, i love how companions have turned into this feature that bioware invented and therefore bw is accountable for whether u nerds approve or disapprove of them.

 

i mean, really? what the OP said about "having your life in the hands of a companion" can be applied to every final fantasy game, chrono trigger, dragon age... the list goes on and on. it's like crying about basic features like... having a mount. "oh the game is so massive that i have to have a mount, f*ck you bioware!". just really, really dumb logic behind these complaints.

 

and those of you who agree with the OP, i need to know: what do you do when youre playing that you sit there and in your head, you think "man i really hate this companion who heals me and helps me kill NPCs and crafts things for me". just defies the entire fleet of rational thought.

Edited January 12, 2012 by SoupyNuggs

[Cyrvan]

reading thru the posts in this thread, i love how companions have turned into this feature that bioware invented and therefore bw is accountable for whether u nerds approve or disapprove of them.

 

i mean, really? what the OP said about "having your life in the hands of a companion" can be applied to every final fantasy game, chrono trigger, dragon age... the list goes on and on. it's like crying about basic features like... having a mount. "oh the game is so massive that i have to have a mount, f*ck you bioware!". just really, really dumb logic behind these complaints.

 

and those of you who agree with the OP, i need to know: what do you do when youre playing that you sit there and in your head, you think "man i really hate this companion who heals me and helps me kill NPCs and crafts things for me". just defies the entire fleet of rational thought.

 

Thank you.

[SoupyNuggs]

it's like the trolls ran out of things to complain about since bioware is rolling out the bug fixes day in and day out ... oh i guess i need to complain about random features like companions, or how i think there's too much snow on hoth, because too much snow hurts the mmo genre!

 

someone hand me the handbook on how to make an mmo, oh wait there is none, the entire genre is less than a dozen years old. and u QQers sure arent the experts on the subject of "genre purity". get off your basement high horse and save people like me the time of having to sift through your tears for constructive criticism on these message boards

[Nexiis]

I hate the fact that as a sith sorc. I constantly have to cater to my companion or they have to cater to me. Either I am busy constantly healing and bubbling Khem Val as he tanks, one of the DPS companions or I am waiting on my healing companion to take care of me.

 

It slows me down. If I want to use a different companion it is very difficult. I stopped using Khem Val and his gear became very very outdated. Once I whipped him out again, he was almost useless in the terms of how useful a companion should be.

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having something to lean on during more difficult battles, but at the same time I could account quite a few of my deaths due to the slow responsiveness of a companion falling back from combat, or throwing out heals correctly. When called to me, they stroll over as if there is no urgency.

 

As my level has increased, my companion characters seem to get more frustrating. During boss character fights on the story line, I usually have to pop my bigger cool downs and such because my companions do not DPS enough, and need healing constantly. While I am not DPSing I slowly notice I fall behind in the fight and end up dying.

 

Companions can be useful in rare situations, I think soloing would be very very difficult. I don't group because finding people are hard. Guilds seem to be difficult to find. The /who system needs work or has had my patience to figure it out. So grouping up is difficult for me when others are difficult to find, and very unreliable, just as the AI companions.

 

Damn I'm sorry this is so long. lol

[Cyrvan]

@SoupyNuggs

 

I like you.

[SoupyNuggs]

I hate the fact that as a sith sorc. I constantly have to cater to my companion or they have to cater to me. Either I am busy constantly healing and bubbling Khem Val as he tanks, one of the DPS companions or I am waiting on my healing companion to take care of me.

 

It slows me down. If I want to use a different companion it is very difficult. I stopped using Khem Val and his gear became very very outdated. Once I whipped him out again, he was almost useless in the terms of how useful a companion should be.

 

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy having something to lean on during more difficult battles, but at the same time I could account quite a few of my deaths due to the slow responsiveness of a companion falling back from combat, or throwing out heals correctly. When called to me, they stroll over as if there is no urgency.

 

As my level has increased, my companion characters seem to get more frustrating. During boss character fights on the story line, I usually have to pop my bigger cool downs and such because my companions do not DPS enough, and need healing constantly. While I am not DPSing I slowly notice I fall behind in the fight and end up dying.

 

Companions can be useful in rare situations, I think soloing would be very very difficult. I don't group because finding people are hard. Guilds seem to be difficult to find. The /who system needs work or has had my patience to figure it out. So grouping up is difficult for me when others are difficult to find, and very unreliable, just as the AI companions.

 

Damn I'm sorry this is so long. lol

 

 

yeah i only skimmed through this but let me summarize for everyone with a tl;dr:

 

"i dislike companions because i dont know how to play this game"

[Thorkir]

I levelled without my companion until the mid-thirties. At that point, fights began to get progressively more difficult, to the point that I was unable to finish them successfully alone.

 

Of course, you should use your companion for class quests, some of them are much harder than average.