Why is everyone wanting all companions back

[wangxiuming]

I empathize with people who want their love interests back, but honestly, I feel like there are too many companions. I would rather explore meaningful relationships with a smaller set of characters than have 40+ pokemon waiting around in a cargo bay to spout a few lines of combat dialog. Edited November 22, 2016 by wangxiuming

[Eshvara]

I don't care about the old companions, but I do think they should return for those who liked them. I wont really lose any sleep over it if they don't though.

[Deaconik]

I empathize with people who want their love interests back, but honestly, I feel like there are too many companions. I would rather explore meaningful relationships with a smaller set of characters than have 40+ pokemon waiting around in a cargo bay to spout a few lines of combat dialog.

 

There are no meaningful relationships with the new ones. You missed your cantina dialog and BAM! No relationship.

 

Also your new companions won't appear in Chapters 10 - 15 and have only few minutes here and there.

 

And I don't get why you need to get them all. I did only missions for companions I care about, I killed/refused others or just didn't do the alert.

 

You won't have 40+ companions unless you are obsessed with it.

[Nothing_Shines]

At minimum, every class should have gotten back their romanceable companions in KOTFE/KOTET. Instead of filling the Alliance with all those worthless, babbling, non-customizable losers from the 50 billion Alerts, they could have had the 19 original romanceables come back over the course of the 25 chapters and brought the other 23 non-romanceables in through Alerts (this latter bit they essentially did).

 

Elara - The Imperial defector should have been back with Aric (C-11)

Jaesa - The conflicted/fallen Jedi should have been back for the Force trials (C-12)

Ashara - The conflicted/fallen Jedi should have been back for the Force trials (C-12)

Andronikos - The actual pirate should have been back with Vette (C-13)

Risha - The pirate princess should have been back with Vette (C-13)

Akaavi - The Mandalorian should have been back with Torian (C-14)

*Raina - The Imperial intel specialist should have been in the Imperial cell with the admiral (C-15)

*Corso - The merc with a soft spot for damsels should have been in the Zakuulan cell with the singer (C-15)

*Nadia - The alliance leader should have been in the Republic cell with the politician (C-15)

 

That leaves just six to fit into KOTET's story:

 

Kira - Child of Vitiate

Doc - A-hole Doctor

Felix - Disgruntled Soldier Guy

Mako - Bounty Hunter Tech

Quinn - Slimy Weasel Airlock Ballast

Vector - Creepy Bugman

 

I would have had Khem be the Dashade trapped on Yavin 4 after having been tricked by Acina and had Talos be looking for Khem because of Khem's connection to the SI.

 

I would have had Gault be originally running guns to Kaliyo's operations on Zakuul before she went full-on terrorist and he's the one Hylo puts you in contact with that leads into C-10. Zenith would also be working with Kaliyo, since he's already a terrorist/freedom fighter.

 

Lord Scourge would have to come in alongside Kira since they both have a vested, personal interest in ending Valkorian/Vititae.

 

I'd have GEMINI need the AI expertise of Tharan and Holiday to get back up and running, which would allow for a replacement in kind of SCORPIO.

 

It all could have been done is the point. Oh, well. Headcanon.

 

*This set-up would have also made the choice of who gets an escape pod actually mean something.

Edited November 22, 2016 by Nothing_Shines

[tummiswtor]

why? I haven't used a single original returning companion since I got the new ones its neat using a different on on each and every toon

 

I bet people mostly are interested what they did in last 5 years.

[wangxiuming]

There are no meaningful relationships with the new ones. You missed your cantina dialog and BAM! No relationship.

 

Also your new companions won't appear in Chapters 10 - 15 and have only few minutes here and there.

 

And I don't get why you need to get them all. I did only missions for companions I care about, I killed/refused others or just didn't do the alert.

 

You won't have 40+ companions unless you are obsessed with it.

 

My point was that if I had the option to choose between having more meaningful interactions with a smaller set of characters, or having superficial access to all the previously available companions, I would choose the former.

 

I made no comment on the existing level of interaction as it is currently. I also said nothing about who the smaller set of characters would include. They can be old or new, as long as they have something interesting to contribute to the experience.

 

Simply stated, I would prefer quality of interaction with companions over quantity of companions. In an ideal world, we would be able to have meaningful relationships with all 40+ original companions as well as the new ones. I'm assuming that's not possible, or the devs would have done it. Therefore, personally, I would prefer the devs spend time focusing on making a smaller set of characters interesting and fun to engage with, rather than focusing on bringing back 40+ companions who we can't do all that much with.

[Deaconik]

My point was that if I had the option to choose between having more meaningful interactions with a smaller set of characters, or having superficial access to all the previously available companions, I would choose the former.

 

I made no comment on the existing level of interaction as it is currently. I also said nothing about who the smaller set of characters would include. They can be old or new, as long as they have something interesting to contribute to the experience.

 

Simply stated, I would prefer quality of interaction with companions over quantity of companions. In an ideal world, we would be able to have meaningful relationships with all 40+ original companions as well as the new ones. I'm assuming that's not possible, or the devs would have done it. Therefore, personally, I would prefer the devs spend time focusing on making a smaller set of characters interesting and fun to engage with, rather than focusing on bringing back 40+ companions who we can't do all that much with.

 

I didn't write you wrote it. But my point is that right now we spent 4 years with our loved or hated companions and they took them to replace them with ... those.

 

Someone you love for 4 years was taken away and people want them back. And because people are different they loved different companions thus they're asking for the return. And since we are paying customers...

 

Anyway, they won't do the "quality over quantity" because they don't care. Look how quality was the romance in KotFE. So, the return of companions should be a thing because they cannot do quality work.

[rortegas]

I choose one of my Legacy characters, my JK, to be the Outlander. I kind of understand the galaxy'd changed a lot these five years and maybe some of my old companions may not be available anymore because I don't know what happened to them while I was in carbonite. Maybe some of them died, or gave up or are just having a bad/good time far far away. It is part of life and a Jedi must learn to let them go when the time comes. Edited November 22, 2016 by rortegas

[JediAkemi]

At minimum, every class should have gotten back their romanceable companions in KOTFE/KOTET. Instead of filling the Alliance with all those worthless, babbling, non-customizable losers from the 50 billion Alerts, they could have had the 19 original romanceables come back over the course of the 25 chapters and and brought the other 23 non-romanceables in through Alerts (this latter bit they essentially did).

 

Elara - The Imperial defector should have been back with Aric (C-11)

Jaesa - The conflicted/fallen Jedi should have been back for the Force trials (C-12)

Ashara - The conflicted/fallen Jedi should have been back for the Force trials (C-12)

Andronikos - The actual pirate should have been back with Vette (C-13)

Risha - The pirate princess should have been back with Vette (C-13)

Akaavi - The Mandalorian should have been back with Torian (C-14)

*Raina - The Imperial intel specialist should have been in the Imperial cell with the admiral (C-15)

*Corso - The merc with a soft spot for damsels should have been in the Zakuulan cell with the singer (C-15)

*Nadia - The alliance leader should have been in Republic cell with the politician (C-15)

 

That leaves just six to fit into KOTET's story:

 

Kira - Child of Vitiate

Doc - A-hole Doctor

Felix - Disgruntled Soldier Guy

Mako - Bounty Hunter Tech

Quinn - Slimy Weasel Airlock Ballast

Vector - Creepy Bugman

 

I would have had Khem be the Dashade trapped on Yavin 4 after having been tricked by Acina and had Talos be looking for Khem because of Khem's connection to the SI.

 

I would have had Gault be originally running guns to Kaliyo's operations on Zakuul before she went full-on terrorist and he's the one Hylo puts you in contact with that leads into C-10. Zenith would also be working with Kaliyo, since he's already a terrorist/freedom fighter.

 

Lord Scourge would have to come in alongside Kira since they both have a vested, personal interest in ending Valkorian/Vititae.

 

I'd have GEMINI need the AI expertise of Tharan and Holiday to get back up and running, which would allow for a replacement in kind of SCORPIO.

 

It all could have been done is the point. Oh, well. Headcanon.

 

*This set-up would have also made the choice of who gets an escape pod actually mean something.

 

Totally agree on Elara being with Jorgan in Chapter XI and Akaavi being with the Mando'ade in Chapter XIV. Those two failing to happen are ridiculous.

The rest of your suggestions would have been way more interesting than what we got... and made Chapter XII worthwhile for the tech classes

[gaelicvixen]

I'm among the crowd that wants them all back because you can customise their look, because I like having my character's husbando/waifu at their side in cutscenes, and because I'm far more vested in the original companions than I am the nameless horde of aliens waiting for me to save their people from a Star Fortress.

 

Seriously, all those weird languages make for nice flavour in a cantina but ye gods! Learn Basic or ****.

 

Storywise, too, it makes very little sense that we've not heard a single WORD about any of them. Theron and Lana are both, in theory, trying to find them all and at this point, I'm beginning to question their competence. And doing things like putting Lokin on Alderaan or having Torian

just go off and leave Mako alone without even making sure they can holocall each other

also made no sense imo, so getting the companions back would tie up some very annoying loose ends.

[Tippor]

Because some of us LIKE the old companions.

[Tippor]

Reading though this thread reminded me of one of the things that just ticked me off royally about KotFE and I'm sure KotET will be exactly the same. Having companions at all in KotFE is completely useless. You can't use the one you want, when you want to use it. The game switches your companions for you throughout it. I hate that. Hate it with the heat of 1000 suns. Also, during some of the fights, it doesn't matter who you're using because they can't do the fight with you, you're alone for the fight. Like with Arcann in ch.16. No thank you, if I wanted to play the game like that, I'd dismiss my companion myself.

[kodrac]

Reading though this thread reminded me of one of the things that just ticked me off royally about KotFE and I'm sure KotET will be exactly the same. Having companions at all in KotFE is completely useless. You can't use the one you want, when you want to use it. The game switches your companions for you throughout it. I hate that. Hate it with the heat of 1000 suns. Also, during some of the fights, it doesn't matter who you're using because they can't do the fight with you, you're alone for the fight. Like with Arcann in ch.16. No thank you, if I wanted to play the game like that, I'd dismiss my companion myself.

 

*Insert .gif meme of dude nodding his head*

[JediQuaker]

Why is everyone wanting all companions back

I don't want ALL companions back, just certain ones. In particular, Kira, Nadia, Risha, Elara, Mako, and Jaesa. Most of which were romantic partners/spouses, but Risha is just for curiosity about whether or not she became the ruler of her people.

[Gomla]

why? I haven't used a single original returning companion since I got the new ones its neat using a different on on each and every toon

 

Mainly because we're not all you.

[Xina_LA]

I want all the companions back because I want a good story.

 

For some characters, such as former romances, it doesn't make sense that they would stay out of contact forever, assuming they're still alive and free. With everything that has happened, the identity of the Outlander is known far and wide. Wouldn't old companions at least send a message?

 

Of course "back" doesn't have to mean back on Odessen. Perhaps they died or joined the Eternal Empire. Whatever their fate, there needs to be closure. The stories must have a solid ending. Dangling threads are very unsatisfying.

[phalczen]

At the minimum, I want each class to have their companions back. But there are also companions who would interact in interesting ways - Risha and Vette, or Qyzin and Mako for a couple of examples, or how about Scourge and Sith Warrior as an example of interesting companion and player class interactions

 

The Jedi Knight PC does acknowledge that they've seen Kaliyo before when they meets her in the transit tunnel in Chapter 10 (she and Doc were acquainted). But, there are several examples like the ones you mentioned, and I just don't think the Developers have time to create cutscenes and record voice overs for mini side quests for all these companions moving forward, especially in light of the VA strike. They've said as much in the special five year anniversary episode of Ootini Cast this past weekend. They can produce a better quality story if its focused on one story, that of the Outlander. versus the umpteen stories they'd have to do for every one of those side interactons. For example, let's look at Risha and Vette:

 

They'd need a special set of custscenes if the PC is a SW

A special set of cutscenes if the PC is smuggler

male SW PC who married Vette and flirts with Risha

male Smuggler PC who married Risha and flirts with Vette

male SW PC who didn't marry Vette but romanced her and flirts with Risha

male Smuggler PC who romanced Risha and flirts with Vette

A set if the PC is a totally different class and is completely unaware of the backstory

Seven different voiced cutscenes right there! Because you better believe if they didn't account for at least those seven possibilities, someone on the forums would be complaining that the game didn't acknowledge their character's history.

 

The devs stated on the podcast, and I think on the recent dev stream too, that they spent a lot of time, in retrospect probably too much, on the backstory of companions like Aric Jorgan or Kaliyo when they introduced them into KOTFE for the benefit of PC who might not know those companions, to the detriment of the actual story.

 

So, my take on companions? I don't want any more of them brought back if it takes away from development in something else that has a broader appeal. Let's face it, we're not going to get a bunch of new subscribers or returning players re-subbing just because they can romance Lord Scourge. Anyone who thinks that's going to save the game or secure the game's future is deluding themselves. I apologize if that sounds insensitive to other people's playstyles, but its reality.

 

Now, that being said, there may be some companions, like Scourge, who have such a deep connection to the Emperor that they might enhance the central narrative being told. Like SCORPIO, who plays a central role, his presence might be employed to move a common thread through the story and thus wouldn't take away from development. But T7? Was T7 included simply because T7 has been present at major events in galactic history in the same way that Artoo and Threepio were? What has T7 done since he went around Asylum with you in Chapter 8?

 

Look at the return of Rusk, Lokin, Talos, 4X/Pierce, Guss, Blizz, Bowdaar, Broonmark, Skadge ... these are filler at best and distractions at worst. Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining that we had some additional content to fill the void in-between chapters. I was happy to have them. But I got the impression from the last dev stream and from the ootinicast that these alliance recruitment missions were more work than it might seem, so much so that they had to mask the removal of the PC voice-overs with the "throwback to KOTOR-style" conversations. Maybe I'm wrong, but it seemed like Charles almost regretted those in hindsight. If that's his view, shared by others on his team, then maybe we are better off without those companions and focusing on making the story as compelling and engaging as possible.

 

Or, you know, having time to focus on those MMO bits that no one on the dev team wants to talk much about until January.

[Mubrak]

I doubt Kaliyo and Aric will ever get any more story highlight, because there would have to be two versions of that story, one with the companion living, one with them dead. So essentially they're now the same as any companion you get back from the terminal, and well, the same they were ever since Makeb.

 

Many of the remaining companions already come with such issues, others simply aren't that interesting on their own to have any story that makes sense. IMO BW should simply bring it to a conclusion. Tell us there will be no story of them returning, and then allow us to either get them back from the terminal, or bring their tale to an end, and learn what happened to them so our characters can go on with their life. (Wouldn't mind finding out that Mako is now a mother of three, Risha queen of Dubrillion, and DarkJaesa living next cell to ZashKhem in some asylum.)

[Neshira]

Probably because they were emotionally invested in those companions. Some people actually play this game as an RPG not just a grindfest and like their companions and story.

[nhsknudsen]

I hate everyone of the new companions.

 

Their voice lines

The inability to kit them out in some of all the cool looking gear from all the crates I've giving Lanas Alliance etc.

[CorellianWannabe]

why? I haven't used a single original returning companion since I got the new ones its neat using a different on on each and every toon

 

Because I did a lot of grinding to get their influence up and have no desire to do that all over again with their pet NPC Lana?

[Zharky]

i was so happy to get Vette back.. only issue is they have stopped the story line for companions.. i seriously hope they bring it back.. i miss interacting with them on your ship.. i miss the companion side missions.. i miss having to go through the conversations with them in order to boost yer rep with them.. i realize this is kinda jumbled together but i am sure most understand this.. I hope they bring this back.. i love this game.. but it is getting kinda boring having to keep creating new chars just to get this interaction =(

[SithKoriandr]

i was so happy to get Vette back.. only issue is they have stopped the story line for companions.. i seriously hope they bring it back.. i miss interacting with them on your ship.. i miss the companion side missions.. i miss having to go through the conversations with them in order to boost yer rep with them.. i realize this is kinda jumbled together but i am sure most understand this.. I hope they bring this back.. i love this game.. but it is getting kinda boring having to keep creating new chars just to get this interaction =(

 

Knowing the Warrior gets Vette back, is one of the reasons I'm running a new Warrior with 100% Vette on working my way up to KotFE. Of course, having done it with Quinn (once I got him) and Jaesa (once I get her) helps in that choice too

[NakodaTheJedi]

I personally just think having a million companions is silly but at the same time I can give each toon my fav companion that fits them but it's just annoying to scroll you one and summon it out.

[Rheshalea]

I personally just think having a million companions is silly but at the same time I can give each toon my fav companion that fits them but it's just annoying to scroll you one and summon it out.

 

That doesn't say anything about the actual companions, only about the crappy companion interface. There should have been a way to manually sort the companion list to the player's liking from the start. Also a way to hide the annoying blinking Companion alert button...

 

Anyway, the reason I want my old companions back is because I actually care about them. My characters spent years with them. THEY are the "family" my characters care about.

Having said that, I don't want ALL companions on ALL characters. I'm not going to grind X amount of warzones to get Pierce on my Inquisitor, but in case I feel like doing some WZs, I do have the quest. My warrior will go get Pierce just because he's "free".