Companion Conversations need to Unlock Automatically

[urborror]

Game gets slammed by people saying it doesn't feel like a Bioware game--partially because your companions feel dead. Companions were the lifeblood of KOTOR and Mass Effect, and yep--for most players (check the numbers,) they are indeed dead. And this was so fixable, since every companion has much potential dialogue sitting in the game files.

 

I ran a couple stories up to 50 last year and barely experienced any of the companion dialogues, which Bioware invested a lot of money in. They are locked up. Imagine a system where you had to bribe Liara in Mass Effect to have her talk about her daddy issues--it's preposterous. And then even if you do unlock a companion dialogue or mission, you might be at the wrong level. Solution? Having the conversations auto-unlock at the proper level...companion affection would still determine crafting skills (or remove companion affection altogether, since nobody wants to be told their friend doesn't like them because they're nice.)

 

Bioware story stuff was always supposed to interest people in the story. "Earning" the story through a horrible game mechanic means most people just don't see the story. Every class thus feels more homogeneous and less unique.

 

Spamming gifts at companions is a waste of time/money (my money goes to buying gear.) People will say it's not hard to get companion dialogues, but 1)I'm the biggest fan of the story portions of the game, 2)I've never spammed gifts at companions to see dialogues in any playthrough I've done, except Jaesa I think, for love. And I'm sure the numbers reflect that--if players are doing it, it's for romance.

[darklordpotter]

I think probably most players that bother spam gifts for the +10 presence bonus TBH. DAO had a similar affection system - albeit without the MMO trappings and I don't recall people massively objecting to it apart from the infamous "Morrigan disapproves" of course.