I just found out why we can't kill companions

[RycheMykola]

Haha. Great post OP!

 

I felt the same, I also was kind of ticked for hiring Gault too.

 

In a future patch, everyone's new companion will be HK-57 (foundry FP) from data-mined data.

[saminaobx]

Class A thread

 

Would read again

[Syylara]

I wish there were "generic" companions available through side quests and such that you could swap out with the other 5 if you didn't like them.

 

Unfortunately since the companions are horribly intertwined with dialogue choices and later points of class story, that option isn't feasible. Just one more example of where "story" and "choice" are actually irreconcilable. Since you have to be funneled/directed along the track to arrive at a predetermined point, you don't get real choices, just the illusion of choice.

[KMad]

I have to hand it to you, OP. You successfully dissuaded me from ever creating a BH. I was actually considering it because of Blizz, but after reading this... Not going to happen.

 

Noooooo! Blizz is pure win, and you can totally ignore Skadge. You'll be totally missing out if you let this guy talk you out of making a BH, trust me. The class is fun anyway, and seeing Blizz whip out a rocket launcher is just too cool!

[Brooklyn]

Very interesting

[grania]

That summed up my husbands feeling about blahh lah blah forced to take blahblooblah, as a bounty hunter. Too lazy to properly type out the spoiler. I'll let him read your post later, he'll be glad he wasn't the only one.

 

***

 

Thinking about this a little bit more and the subject of companions we can't stand. We bend over backwards to make them happy with gifts and careful dialogue selections, but they get to do and say whatever they want with zero repercussions from us. My companions gain and lose affection with me personally all the time; if I have a particular distaste for one of them there needs to be a way to express it - like the carbonite suggestion. Love that.

 

I don't bother sending companions with low affection for me out to craft anyway, and I certainly don't bother bribing disliked companions with gifts. Freeze them or throw them in the brig, imprison them somewhere off the ship or heck leave them in the cantina on Hoth I don't care. I can get them later if I need to.

Edited February 7, 2012 by grania

[JerokTalram]

Brilliant idea. BH even has a Carbonite Frozen victim in their cargo bay. As to the OP, nice read and agree completely.

 

Freezing Kira, would put a chill in my JK`s sex life.

[Briahlen]

Sure the game is buggy...but I still love it despite those flaws. I understand some issues have to be worked out. Some of the stupidly hard quests don't bother me. I know it will eventually be balanced. I don't even let Illium get under my skin.

 

 

However, I can't stand the fact I can't kill my companions if I so choose. I'm an adult, & I don't need BioWare protecting me from myself. If it's that large of a concern, add more droids as replacements.

 

I was so excited when I heard that companions could be lovers, friends, or enemies. That developer video made my day. It's so disappointing that it's not a reality.

 

There is a certain character in the Sith Warrior storyline I think you should be allowed to kill. Not being able to do so takes away from the story. It ruins the immersion you've created & leaves a cheapened shell of it's former self.

 

For my BH, I enjoyed all the companions....until Skadge. Not just the somewhat ****-like vibe he has going on when you first meet the psychopath. No. It's the whole kit-n-kaboodle. He's an idiot, crazy, & there is no way a tough as nails BH should be bullied.

 

This isn't just a matter of disliking a character. It comes down to how badly this takes away from the story.

 

Isn't story what drives a BioWare game?

[Kabloosh]

Thats how I feel about Quinn. I only kept him around because a healbot is OP as a tank specced juggernaut while leveling.

 

The whole confrontation you have with him and letting him off the hook was some of the dumbest writing for a Sith character I have ever seen. Let us kill off our guys and either give us multiple kits for the various other characters or allow us to replace them with some sort of Merc of sorts for their role.

Edited February 7, 2012 by Kabloosh

[Kaelshi]

Your post has convinced me. I am not sure killing off companions would be a good idea but I think maxing out possible companions with you and then giving you at least additional optional companions would enhance the game.

 

So in your case you get bowser - you hate him. By level 50 you have say 6 companion slots(I haven o idea I dont read further than where I'm at in-game and dont know how many companions everyone actually gets) but there are 7-8 possible companions for you to get throughout the galaxy. So you can look at Bowser and say - get off my ship. Perhaps for this chracter you can have the option to put him in an escape pod and pray no passing ship picks him up(since I dont think we will ever be allowed to actually kill them).

 

Then since you have an open companion slot you have to go back to the planet of a companion you did not get and either

 

A: do a quest to recruit them

B: Just ask them if you've already gone through story elements with them

C: Perhaps if they were previously part of your crew and you dumped them you have to do another quest to win them over again.

[grania]

C: Perhaps if they were previously part of your crew and you dumped them you have to do another quest to win them over again.

 

I like that, it would be nice if there were a mechanic in the game that allowed for the abandoning and reacquiring of companions. Killing them doesn't have to be the only option.

[Gerrard_Ennui]

Your post has convinced me. I am not sure killing off companions would be a good idea but I think maxing out possible companions with you and then giving you at least additional optional companions would enhance the game.

I always wondered why there werent Light and Dark Side versions of each companion.

 

Perform enough DS actions in the questline and you get the DS companion, enough LS and you get the good guy. That way, at least you'd be able to use a character who fit your playstyle and - oh wait. It would just mean more talking and more cutscenes. Skip it.

[Paganini]

Well put OP, I got a very similar feeling with Khem Val, especially later on in the story...

[PanikSpreder]

Good read OP - particular the spoiler section, that almost made me rage with you.

 

I think the solution is quite simple:

 

1. Reintroduce behavior kits for all companions so YOU decide what role they are.

2. Instead of killing companions, just send them on their way and make it possible to go back to planet X to get companion Y back into your crew.

 

Then nobody can complain about them loosing a companion and if you are mind-bend on only using one, thats your choice.

 

I would love to be able to only have Vette around as a healer and get rid of the others.

Edited February 7, 2012 by PanikSpreder

[FerrusPA]

People cant even be trusted to get the right gear from commendations and pvp tokens so how do you really expect bioware to keep up with people sending in requests for companions to be given back to players who killed them then realised that ow wait i now dont have those companions for crafting and gathering and possible future quest lines added to the game that requires specific companions on those class quests and cutscenes involved.

 

Do you want some magic roundabout where you kill one and they offer you a new companion to take its place. How many of these companions with different voice acting, cutscenes etc to be developed and implemented so that people who would kill there companions arnt inbalanced at a future date with any possible changes to how companions work and crew skills when they have fewer crew members then other players which would obviously give the player with more companions a unfair advantage.

 

If Bioware really wanted to they could easily replace dead companions with generic robots to send on missions. Then again why would I do missions if crafting in the game gives me no real advantage whatsoever?

 

If they had the balls to do it they would allow us to kill off our crew and simply lock all threads about "HALP I KILD MA DUDE" for being dumb. They're locking threads left and right already.

 

The real "but" here is the fact that BW are huge control freaks and fear nothing more than their players going off the path they created for us, be it in the form of quest progression, raid progression, gear or companions.

[MasterKayote]

Yup, extremely stupid decision on Bioware's part. Whats so hard about just letting us buy droids to take a dead companions place? You killed your pet? Youre feeling gimped? Buy this droid that does the exact same thing, and wears the same exact gear as the dead pet. Sure, youre out of being able to see the pets storyline (which is horrible anyway!) but so what? Youre not gimped. Hell, you can even give it the same gifts so you dont have to worry about the crafting bonuses. Best part, you can take them and you never have to listen to their garbage again! Simple!

 

Yet these so called experienced devs considered to be the best of the best RPG makers of all time, lacked the creativity for this? Bad enough I HAVE to use ANY pet, now youre making me keep the ones I hate? Way to fail!

 

And for the record, this was suggested in both, the beta forums, and the regular. Yet they still decided to go back on their word and give everyone the finger.

[Alpha-Llama]

cutscene

 

walk the plank out of your hovering ship into the sarlacc

 

oh and i agree with tha above post (the droid part)

Edited February 7, 2012 by Alpha-Llama

[MegaBubble]

Hehe, color me amused. Entertaining post.

 

Probably with killing companions is, if they're dead, they'll be dead 5 years from now. What if Bw comes out with an awesome new whatever that requires doing something specific with each of your five companions to complete? What about those particular missions you try to go on with a companion you like, but when you attempt to enter the instance you get "you must have X companion with you to complete this instance" - doh, you don't have him anymore. Or how about those major, chapter-ending arcs where all of your companions are there in a cutscene, each of them performing some particular task in your mission?

 

The problem is, killing your companion does more than just gimp your crafting. It causes ripples that affect a lot of other areas of the game that the game's developers and writers then have to consider, make adjustments for, and possibly exclude content ideas because of.

 

That's sucks about the BH companion though - I'd want him off my crew too.

[CeiLican]

That was a bloody awesome rant OP.

 

Well done.

 

/cheer!

 

Currently playing a BH.. lol, I can't wait to see this in person.

[Vyradder]

I'm still chuckling over that writeup...good one!

[maradigamer]

Easiest way to protect people from their own stupidity is to allow us to stuff a hated companion in Carbonite, and hang them from a wall of our ship. Then we don't have to hear them, or interact with them if we don't want to, and BW can always make it so said frozen carbonite has an interaction triangle above their heads when the storyline demands we interact with them, so we can thaw them out and suffer through whatever misery they are going to put us through, then re-freeze them and enjoy our liked companions.

 

Simple fix no? Well.. probably would take some coding, but even so.. it would go a LONG way to making some of this more palatable.

 

I like this idea.

 

I loved the rant, first class writing. It did make me think that Bioware got most things right as far as story and companions go. If they hadn't, no one would care that much about having to freight an obnoxious bore around.

[KuusouRumba]

Be glad you're not a Sith Juggernaut then.

 

 

No Sith with half an ounce of self respect would keep Quinn around after what he does in the story.

 

No Sith would keep half the warrior companions around. The only one I could really see being beneficial is Jaesa because she is so willing to be used.

[Maccaroth]

I have the same problem with

Kaylio and SCORPIO

.

 

 

Kaylio is behaving like a rabid dog. She is the only member of the crew I can't find a common ground. She has been laying to me about her friend and then she had a problem with me that I did what I thought was right! When she was the one who played games with me. She is on my ship, member of my crew and she should at least respect that. If not I'd gladly kill her, make her leave through the airlock or leave her on the first planet we stop by. It's in her best interest to not cross me. She is also bald and ugly.

 

SCORIO, on the other hand, is a droid that has sworn some kind of an oath to kill me. Why should I keep her around if she makes it clear that her intention is to kill her owner? I should be given an option to destroy her, especially that the class quest is done and her makers can't do anything to me or to make her rethink her priorities.

 

Edited February 7, 2012 by Maccaroth

[Tenceriker]

Amidst the discussions about companion characters, one thing that has come up more than once is why we no longer can kill our companions (one thing that had been mentioned before during development, but didn't make it to the released game.

 

The official explanation was something along the lines that they didn't want people to gimp themselves by lacking a companion they may need, or complaining after the fact, no matter how many warnings the "killing the companion option" came with. I was never too convinced by the explanation, as there are ways around the purely gameplay-related issues (like, for example, the "role kits" that were tested for companions to change their role at one point, among others).

 

At the end of the day I never gave it much thought, the companions were there and if you didn't like the big lizard or the annoying droid you could just leave them in the ship and have them run errands. I didn't think any of them were that bad really.

 

Then, yesterday, I found the reason why we can't kill our companions. My bounty hunter got Skadge.

 

I have voiced my displeasure before about the way the Republic has been written, and I thought the Republic-side Voss Quests took the cake for hair-tearing bad writing, but sweet merciful Force, Skadge!

 

[Rant and Spolier Mode On]

 

 

 

I had no idea this guy was going to be a companion when I first met him, because I've pretty much ignored spoilers and stuck to the game itself. The fact that I can't remember anyone running around with one of these should serve as an early warning.

 

Our first meeting during the early part of the Belsavis Class Quest turns out to be a sign of things to come, where I find out he's after the same bounty I am on the godforsaken planet.

 

If you don't know, by now I have completed the Great Hunt, where I've been hunting targets and every other hunter that came after my target on a regular basis. The fact that this guy is one mother****ing rude boaster whose first act is to threaten me and it all fizzles out without my hard-as-nails, trigger-happy champion of the great hunt Bounty Hunter ripping his ugly face off his skull confuses the hell out of me, but after previous experiences I can figure out he's going to at least be a recurring character for the quest line.

 

F-ing great.

 

Sure enough, this moron shows up, forces his way into every dialog option thanks to the overbearing writer, who I can only assume went through at least three IBM Class-M keyboards putting the "story"line together given the ham-fistedness on display, and on top of that makes a F-ing royal mess every single bloody time and still has the gall to get on my face about it when he fails to do his part on the supposedly "team-up" plans we come up with.

 

Actually, that bit is possibly well played, since I'd have to be a complete and utter moron to split the hunt with this denizen of the shallow end of the gene pool. Unfortunately, the only other choice on display was to leave the quest to rot (since I can't abandon it) and never ever progress past the point.

 

Hindsight is 20/20, and in hindsight that's actually an attractive option. If you haven't gotten that far yet with your Bounty Hunter, give it some serious thought.

 

Anyway, after a series of increasingly idiotic chest-beating Neanderthalian exchanges that I'm sure forced the guy writing them down to handle his pen with a chainmail glove so as to avoid cutting himself with his, only in his mind, razor sharp wit, and break another Class M keyboard while at it (hot-diggity damn I'm good, look at them manly lines!), the oversized slug belches out that he's coming with me, because dammit all I'm not getting to his target without him.

 

My options are:

 

1) Cool! Please come!

2) I still don't trust you, but you can come.

3) You better make yourself useful.

 

Champion of the Great Hunt, remember? Going after my own target. A very expensive contract to get my hands on an annoying Republic dog that I need to take down to get to someone who, at this point, has really pissed me off.

 

And somehow, I'm supposed to be happy as pie that some... thing I want to deface with a mallet is about to join me while claiming it's his target?

 

Like hell!

 

And that's when it dawns on me.

 

It can't be.

 

Surely, it must be a temporary thing.

 

He can't be a... companion, can he?

 

I choose at random one of the "yeah, sure, come along while I completely break character after establishing it for 40+ levels based on the quests created by the very same writers", and Mako proceeds to inform me that it's a stupid idea.

 

...

 

By Yoda, it's Voss all over again. Making even my companion see it and inform me of it while not giving me the option of shooting Bowser in the face was a nice touch too. Twist the knife a bit, will ya?

 

So, with Jabba's ugly trans-species son in tow, I get to the last quest area to finally find my target. A few lines of more braindead dialog later I have captured the guy (after having Bela Lugosi faceplant during the fight too), and frog-in-a-can tells me that he wants to leave the planet in my ship.

 

My options are:

 

1) Something I didn't see.

2) Something I didn't see.

3) HELL NO!!

 

I pressed 3 so fast I don't think the game had time to render the other two options before I did.

 

And what does the homeless snail say in response?

 

"Listen, I'm leaving in your ship, with or without you, got that?"

 

...

 

ARE YOU *********** KIDDING ME?!

 

This... This... This complete and utter writer's failure has been nothing but a character-breaking prop that missed the obvious "tough guys making witty over-the-top banter" target by twelve Parsecs, then you have the audacity of making him threaten my Bounty Hunter, and the options you give me to choose an answer from are:

 

1) Okay, I'm convinced.

2) Oooh, I really like your tough guy routine, please come.

3) OMG please don't hurt meh! D:

 

I literally stared at the screen for more than a minute in complete and utter disbelief.

 

This synapse-impaired oxygen waster should be DEAD. Like this:

 

1) Try saying that again. [Punch his face in until his tongue comes out of his ***]

2) I said no. [shoot him until all there's left is a pestilent greasy stain on the floor, wearing heavy armor]

3) Hey ugly, catch! [Throw live thermal detonator at him]

 

You have driven me almost at gunpoint down the Bounty Hunter path so that he's the Champion of the Great Hunt, is on a first name basis with mandalore, and is altogether someone who doesn't take **** from anybody, and I'm supposed to take a guy who's been getting on my **** all day, who's pushed himself on my hunt, and who now goes and threatens me to do something I have no business and no reason to do. And I'm supposed to take it and like it!

 

Thank you sir, may I have another?

 

Now I have a prop from Jurassic Park leaning against the wall by the bridge of my ship, to make sure I see its gosh darn ugly face every time I get to the galaxy map to go somewhere else, and who already made me want to punch my monitor in hopes of somewhat reaching him through the internet as soon as it opened its huge mouth on arriving to the ship for the first time.

 

And look, he's got a little quest icon on his head now.

 

...

 

"It's a bad idea."

 

That's what the little voice in my head is telling me. I believe it commonly goes under the name "Common Sense". It's a bad idea and it's going to make me want to punch someone. I shouldn't click him. Just ignore him. Ignore him. He's not there. Ignore him...

 

*Click*

 

Bowser: Hey, what's to do for fun in this ship?

Me: Mostly, pushing annoying people into the airlock.

Bowser: Haha! When do we play a round then?

Me: If you keep this up, very soon.

Bowser: Try it, wimp!

 

*Conversation Ends without a chance to actually push the ******e into an airlock*

 

...

 

"I told you it was a bad idea."

 

I want this... this... thing OUT OF MY FREAKING SHIP!

 

I don't care if it's going to "gimp" me.

 

I don't care if I don't have enough companions to run all possible missions/crafting/etc.

 

I don't care if my computer will chew my right leg if I do.

 

I don't care.

 

Don't care.

 

I don't want to see that protoplasmic waste of space in my ship, or on my list of companions, or anywhere else near me EVER AGAIN.

 

But I'm stuck with it. Because we can't kill companions. And now, I know why we can't.

 

Congratulations to whoever wrote this guy, you managed to top the Republic-side Voss writer. And I never thought it possible. /golfclap

 

 

 

 

[Rant and Spolier Mode Off]

 

I for one, support this rant.

[Baracca]

to the OP > this is the best post I think I've read on this forum ever!

 

you left me nothing else to say because you've said it and more!