Improved Companion Interactions

[MasterArroShaan]

Hey All!

 

So I recently finished the Sith Warrior class line - of course, that means I decided to marry Vette. (Vette 4 Life).

 

However...

 

Though I know that the marriage is an event that is active and occurred (and I got that adorable email from her for our 'Anniversary') it just seems...well...anticlimactic.

 

After romancing her from the beginning with marriage in mind as the end game, it seems less important as it really should be. Clicking on her still prompts the same responses, same old Vette that talked the same way when I first met her on Korriban.

 

So what am I suggesting?

 

I am suggesting that there be improved interactions with companions based on your relationship with them. If you never decide to take Vette's collar off she repeat the same thing until you finally decide to remove the torture device.

 

There should be different prompt responses based on relationship with the character. (This goes for all companions, not just Vette. I'm only using her as an example because marriage is a very big thing and would definitely indicate some significant changes in dialogue).

 

Here are a few examples of Vette's current responses (if you have taken her collar off and even after marriage).

 

"Alright! Don't be so pushy"

"What? What did I do?"

"You are so weird"

"Whatever you say"

"I don't really want to talk right now"

 

and worst of all...

 

"What? Are you worried I'll leave you?"

(Not really, considering we just got married and all. What gives?)

Honestly, the responses present a stalemate atmosphere, as if there was no relationship, making the whole romance seem smaller than it should be, despite the epic mood and settings in which it occurs.

(Yes I know that Vette is pretty sarcastic, but still).

 

In reality, it's not a big issue, but I am suggesting BioWare should try and implement more subtle things with companions just to enhance the depth of the relationship that the player has formulated with said companion.

 

Things such as being able to converse with your companion (not really companion missions, just normal conversations similar to what a married couple would have), and also being able to physically interact (I do not mean using the custom emote command) such as hug and/or kiss your companion with maybe a small animation. I realize this might require Vette's voice actor (Catherine Taber) to come back in and do extra voice acting, but in my mind it would be really worth it.

 

There is a chance that I am suggesting something to realistic for a game, but I really think that this would be great for any player, even more so for hard-core RP'ers. It would definitely add a good level of depth to an already amazing story-based game.

 

Here is a list of some improvements I've managed to come up with. I will update this as new ideas come.

 

-New companion missions based on emails that companions send to you (these missions don't have to be huge events, thought they could be. Preferably like honeymoons, anniversary's, vacations, trips, etc; or just normal conversations like a couple would have).

 

-More companion emails on different subjects.

 

-Being able to physically interact with your companion, such as being able to hug/kiss them with an animation that is visible without going to a cutscene. (the rate at which your companion would agree to participate could be based on influence level).

 

-Special events, such as anniversaries and vacations, would have cutscenes, interactions, and missions. These would be fairly simplistic, but would add a lot of depth to the companion as well as furthermore connect the character with his/her companion.

 

-Different prompt responses when clicking on companions based on relationship with your companion.

 

(For those who don't know what prompt repsponses are - it's the dialogue your companion says when you right-click on them.)

 

EX: I will use Vette for this example. The current prompt responses are listed above. These are some new ones I am suggesting just as an example to explain what I mean.

 

"Hey, handsome."

"Just can't get enough of me, huh? Don't worry, it's mutual."

"I love you!"

"Remember that last vacation? We should totally go again some time!"

"You know, I love that you always want to talk to me."

"Kinda busy right now. Later, yeah?

"Marrying you was the best decision I ever made. That'll never change."

 

***NOTE: This may be a little cringy. But I really think that this would make the marriage with Vette seem more realistic; and not only Vette, but other awesome romanced companions as well, rather than keeping the initial prompt responses.***

 

***UPDATE: Now, Vette has sent me an email about having children. I can't even begin to explain how many missions, cutscenes, events, so on and so forth, would occur because of this. The sad part is this --

 

Have we even enjoyed the marriage? Eachother? Have we kissed? Slow-danced? Went out on dates? Had intimate times? Gotten to know every single bit of eachother, from big things like backstory to small things like favorite foods? Unfortunately, the answer is inconclusive - it's all up to the imagination. Is imagination a bad thing? No. But it is a bad thing that things which CLEARLY happen in a marriage are things my character, who married this companion, never gets to SEE OR EXPERIENCE. Even more so, the player, who has willingly chosen to take the leaps to get close to his/her companion is deprived of so many things that should already be a given.

 

I know that this game has one-nighter cutscenes (as much as I disprove of them), so why not focus more effort into creating NEW things (such as the things I suggested be created and put into action) that would further enhance a relationship my character has been in since the time I pressed 'start game' rather than making a bunch of "any spaceport in a storm" scenes? (as Vette would call it)

 

In the end, it's up to BioWare/EA to listen to SWTOR players, but my philosophy is this: if you never suggest something it will definitely never happen.

 

For this reason and others, I will put as much effort as possible into this thread and idea as I can until the developers or someone who can implement these things notices, and acts.**

 

What do YOU think?

Edited January 20, 2017 by MasterArroShaan

[Sorrai]

I would love to see more in-depth interaction with companions, including special dialogue and additional story scenes with whomever you choose to romance.

 

One of the inherent problems that developed with KotFE and KotET was the dev team's decision to let the majority of class-story romances go by the wayside in favor of focusing on their main cast of characters: Lana, Theron, Koth and Senya. Because of that, most players who married one of their class story companions have been kept in limbo with regards to their spouse's fate. Despite several class story companions who returned and played a role in the events of KotFE and KotET, there are many still unaccounted for. We are presently left wondering what happened to the others and, also, whether or not the Devs intend to bring them back. If they do, will it be in the form of continued Alliance Alert missions? It would seem the most logical format so I would hope that's what they intend to do.

 

I think it's a shame that the Dev team decided to change course on their original vision for KotET. My understanding is that they were getting criticism for the story being bogged down by too many "filler" chapters, so they decided to trim the fat and just cut to the chase by focusing on the main plot and disregarding the remaining companions. If that is true then I think it was a poor decision. I would have preferred they added as many additional story chapters/Alliance Alert missions as necessary so ALL class story companions could get their featured moment. That being said, I also wasn't keen on the idea of having to level multiple alts through the same story over and over.

 

Unfortunately, the consequence of the Dev team consolidating all 8 class stories into a single generic story about the Outlander's fight with the Eternal Empire is that it ultimately diminishes the replay value. Despite KotFE and KotET's emphasis on story choice it is still essentially the same story with just a few different variations. Personally, I can probably run through the Outlander storyline about 4 or 5 times before I start getting burned out and lose interest and begin to see it more as a leveling hurdle for my army of alts.

 

I wonder what lies in store for the future of SWTOR? Now that their story experiment is over I can only hope they will shift their focus back to other, long-neglected content, especially GSF and Operations. I would also love to see the addition of new Strongholds, more Flashpoints, a variety of quality-of-life improvements and especially the return of all those neglected companions who were kept out of KotET! If the Devs ever decide to produce more story content I would really love them to revert back to original format and produce more content for each of the 8 classes again. I would love to see a mature and talented writing team build on what was done before and go to a deeper level with all 8 character classes, including more nuanced and dynamic interactions with their original companions.

[MasterArroShaan]

Thank you so much for the response! I completely and totally agree. By focusing their energy on not only introducing the newer companions and characters to the players, they also decided to force these new characters onto the player. By doing so, it did indeed push aside the other companions who we all knew and grew to love. I believe that there is still a chance to improve this, if the devs wanted. It would be extremely easy to alter the story-line and instead of forcing the newer characters on the player, we have the choice whether we want to explore their stories, or we'd rather just be aquaintances and instead focus on our beloved companions, such as Vette.

 

I really do believe that improving companion interactions would draw a large amount more players into the story and allow them to be more connected to the story line and to their companions.

[Limariko]

I consider the lack of Companion interactions after marriage more of a Bioware issue than one just with SWTOR. Pretty much every romance in a Bioware game considers it all done and over once marriage happens. It's kinda sad since there's so much more they could do with interactions after marriage.

 

The little in-game mails are nice but just feel like a small effort compared to what they could do like additional dialog, more in-game mails or even little side missions together.

[MasterArroShaan]

I completely agree. There is so much room for improvement when it comes to companions, improvements that could make the game that much more intereststing to players. I have not played other games by BioWare but I still believe that they could fix this. The cost for implementing changes would be significantly irrelevant to the end result, which could EASILY make more players subscribe, especially players who enjoy the story more than other end game things (such as myself).

 

I agree with the mail. I find it adorable honestly, and I feel there could be more of them, as well as them being linked with missions, as I suggested in my orginal post.

Edited January 18, 2017 by MasterArroShaan

[dr_mike]

From previous threads, some of us see that they're only doing changes if it affects their bottom line. Be that giving subscribers a reason to continue to subscribe, buy stuff from the cartel market etc.

 

Considering the effort and the money it takes them to bring in voice actors and actresses and considering there's currently a voice actors strike going on with EA being one of the companies their union is striking again, this is probably not going to happen.

[MasterArroShaan]

It's a shame that the voice actor strike is ongoing at the moment. Hopefully they do get a pay increase, because voice acting is a beautiful form of art and should not be easily disregarded and labeled as unimportant. In my mind, the voice acting makes this game.

 

I believe, thought, (after the strike has resumed and their pay is increased, because it's really fantastic work that deserves a higher rate of fund) that these improvements can still be made. It's really worth asking and continuing to post about, because it presents itself more often to any devs who might be lurking in the forums. Honestly, this suggestion could happen - could happen in a week, a month, a year, or it could never happen at all. However, if you never ask, then the answer will have a 100% chance of being no.

Edited January 19, 2017 by MasterArroShaan

[Xina_LA]

Eventually, I hope they go back and add side scenes with our romance options and companions.

I honestly think they would affect the "bottom line" in a positive way. I play SWTOR for the story more than anything.

Not just any generic story, but my personal story.

[MasterArroShaan]

I completely agree. The changes I suggested and just changes to companion interaction in general would definitely increase their bottom line. By enhancing the story furthermore they would entice more players who enjoy story-driven games to subscribe, because they want the full experience of those improvements, interactions, and other things. It would also, I believe, keep current players continuously subscribed, because the companion interactions could be a VAST amount of content added for not only end game but for mid game content and even some early game content (which would DEFINITELY get F2P players to subscribe).

[Plk_Lesiak]

From previous threads, some of us see that they're only doing changes if it affects their bottom line. Be that giving subscribers a reason to continue to subscribe, buy stuff from the cartel market etc.

 

Considering the effort and the money it takes them to bring in voice actors and actresses and considering there's currently a voice actors strike going on with EA being one of the companies their union is striking again, this is probably not going to happen.

 

Maybe, but also possibility of getting missing companions back is keeping some people in the game IMO. If they don't touch on the subject in the coming stream or promise some other interesting bits of story content I will most likely unsubscribe. So it's not like they can't make money off bringing Jaesa or Kira back, I think it would make enough people excited to cover the costs of a few recording sessions (it's not like they have to record a ton of dialogue from every character to make the reunification happen).

 

I also still hope they could return romance companions through class missions - that would make the interations with player character and voice acting required for each much more managable, even without half-silent alliance alert format (which for companion your PC have married would be quite horrible TBH, it would completely drain it from emotion appropriate for reuniting after 6 years).

 

The VA strike is mostly likely the biggest obstacle here - but probably don't cover all the missing love interests.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Plk_Lesiak

[Lunafox]

I support this, I would love to see the romantic relationships improved with the companions and their comments and scenes with you.

 

Only the Jedi Knight's romance with Doc really does justice, in that they have the chance to have an actual wedding ceremony, whereas others are just hinted at. I'd like to actually see some weddings happen. Like someday a wedding to Theron would be nice, and other romanceable characters as well.

[MasterArroShaan]

Thank you so much for the support! I completely agree with you. There are SO many things that could be built upon and improved when it comes to a player's relationship with his/and or her companion(s). Though I haven't played the JK story, I do know that Vette and the SW have a private ceremony of the marriage, but no actual wedding (Which would be an AMAZING improvement for not only the SW but other classes as well - to actually see the marriage). I am really, REALLY hoping that a Dev will see this and relay it to his Dev buddies, because this idea is full of a near-infinite amount of potential.

[Fygee]

I think this is an amazing idea, and its something that's been sorely lacking in the game. For a game that's very story driven, and also developed by BioWare, I've always been surprised how relationships between characters tend to be explored less than they should be. Not just romantic ones, but in general. They use emails to fill in the gaps, but that just feels phoned in to me.

 

At the very least, I would think that it should be at the same level of quality that Mass Effect is for that.

[MasterArroShaan]

Thanks for the support - I completely agree! It would definitely add a layer of depth to an already amazing story-based game...if only they would listen. :? Edited January 25, 2017 by MasterArroShaan

[Darth-Rion]

Hey All!

 

*SNIP*

 

What do YOU think?

 

Oh sweety... you're a little bit late to the party with this one... like, three expansions too late.

Don't get me wrong, as much as I enjoy flirting and romancing Lana... I want Vector back ;_;

But it's just not gonna happen at this point. Our class stories are a long forgotten dream and with them, our (former) romances.

[MasterArroShaan]

With all due respect...

 

First of all, don't call me sweety - thanks. Second off, I believe that the suggestion box is a place for suggestions, and as long as that is true, I will continue to attempt to grow this thread and also start others. Honestly, your point is noted, but no offense - I really don't care. It's not too late until the game closes it servers and shuts down it's websites with a big "goodbye" note left on the CEO's office desk - so while I acknowledge the fact that you think it's too late, I must respectfully and completely disagree. I won't shut down a good suggestion because of one opinion telling me that it's "too late".

[Tragamite]

110% in on this. I know I posted on the forums about this kind of thing before and I totally agree that clicking a comp should be responded to based on the affection level earned by your toon.

 

I was thrilled to jump back into my marriage with Vette after 5 years. But I've only seen any romance with her once since that reunion. I definitely think our small talk would be more friendly and comfortable now that we've been together for a while.

 

This does make me consider a new suggestion though...

[MasterArroShaan]

Hey! Thanks for the support. Completely agree with everything you said - there should definitely be some changes. By all means! If you have a new suggestion, link me to it and I'd be happy to hop onto the thread and help grow it.

[Vego_Mohenjo]

I agree with this idea completely.

 

As an aside (and SPOILER ALERT HERE)... my Agent gets married on Voss, but never sees his wife again. I like my characters to log off at "home," and Iblis' home would be on Voss, with his wife. It would be nice to be able to see her again.

[Darth-Rion]

With all due respect...

 

First of all, don't call me sweety - thanks. Second off, I believe that the suggestion box is a place for suggestions, and as long as that is true, I will continue to attempt to grow this thread and also start others. Honestly, your point is noted, but no offense - I really don't care. It's not too late until the game closes it servers and shuts down it's websites with a big "goodbye" note left on the CEO's office desk - so while I acknowledge the fact that you think it's too late, I must respectfully and completely disagree. I won't shut down a good suggestion because of one opinion telling me that it's "too late".

 

Would you prefer Honey? Honestly, it's a great idea and I'm totally behind it, but at this point, it's just not going to happen. We've been asking for this since Rise of the Hutt Cartel, along with returning to our own class stories.

Now, IF it were to happen... we'd need all the romance companions returned, which from what I understand, we're still a good few short and they'd need a good reason to fit into the overall story.

Again, I really would love it but considering the direction the game has taken since RotHC... Lana and Theron are the go to companions if you want long term romance / interactions.

There isn't enough funding for the devs to throw around to update 16 (romance options) - 40 (overall) interactions. I wish there was, but there isn't.

[Tragamite]

Hey! Thanks for the support. Completely agree with everything you said - there should definitely be some changes. By all means! If you have a new suggestion, link me to it and I'd be happy to hop onto the thread and help grow it.

 

Here's what I posted...

http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=912586

[inCelesphere]

I always felt even just the smallest thing like being able to /hug emote your companions with an animation would be nice, or to give a little kiss to the ones you married would be nice. But yes, to have some acknowledgement of relationship would be nice rather than, "try to be more careful" or something else equally reserved for anyone else.

 

Companions are special, they make you that much less lonely in your adventures and I personally plan my characters around which ones will be the most active with them, appearance unification, personality, etc. Even the fact that companions' customised outfits' don't unify colours in cutscenes spoils immersion a little (it is the single thing I would like to change about the game - that and to allow free reign to ALL companion customisations for ALL classes across both factions.)

 

Companions make the game!

 

(Blizz is life)