120 réponses à ce sujet

[I SOLD MY SOUL TO BIOWARE]

It'd be better than me having to headcanon why either Alistair or Morrigan just buggers off immediately after recruiting Sten.

 

I always liked to imagine they were just setting up the party camp wherever you are in Ferelden at the time.

 

In the exact same spot as last time.

 

Every time. 

 

(I think the better question is, what were the companions you didn't take with you for the Deep Roads doing? If the Warden took as long as Maric and Loghain did in the book, he/she was down there for nearly a month. :S )

[CybAnt1]

An orgy, obviously. In a hot tub. Playersexuality my tukas. They're doing each other like rabbits when you're not there, laughing at how you think you're some lothario anyway. 

 

We know a few of them go for menage a trois, after all. 

[Nayawk]

I really do prefer the way the Mass Effect series and DA2 dealt with non-used companions. Everyone not on the MS ground team had a job *mutter*calibrations*mutter*. They were helping, moved about the ship, lived.  DA2 same thing, they lived, took jobs outside of your circle, helped when you needed them. 

 

But their systems work simply because of the type of story they were (high tech/fast travel) (static city/time progression) and wouldn't really have worked in DA:O.

 

That said they could have moved about a bit, not stood stock still in the same place for a year.  (I have installed a mod that makes them do so and believe me it makes a difference)

[Naesaki]

 

That said they could have moved about a bit, not stood stock still in the same place for a year.  (I have installed a mod that makes them do so and believe me it makes a difference)

What mod would that be?

[BabyFratelli]

The 9 companions isn't an assumption or speculation, it's confirmed on the official DA:I website. 

 

Anyway, it's not a big stretch to imagine what the companions we don't have with us would be doing without seeing it. Varric telling stories, Vivienne fashion policing everyone, Solas doing whatever it is Solas would do that's relevant to his personality (ranting about mage rights? twirling his staff in circles? shining his head?)...

 

Honestly though, I wouldn't want any of my companions making decisions on my behalf. Even ones I'd trust to make similar choices to mine (Like Varric or Leliana). Having them on standby as the Inquisitor's personal experts/guards/servants/whatever makes perfect sense to me. Bioware would have to implement all kinds of mechanics to make it work only to have people complain because they want to take a character with them somewhere but they can't because they sent them off on a mission earlier and they're not back yet, or "I can't believe Solas turned out to be evil and murdered a whole village of people while I wasn't watching looks like I'll have to re-load my game."

 

I also would imagine that story-wise, all your companions will be traveling with you (nearby, in a camp-like area, but you only have the three actually by your side) and it might be a bit impractical to keep sending them off and expecting them to find you when you've knocking about Orlais after leaving them to do something in Ferelden.

 

More trouble than it's worth.

[CybAnt1]

It all depends on how you count. DA2 page shows 9 companions, but ... if you don't count the DLC companions (Sebastian, Tallis) DA2 only has 8. (If you do, it has 10). 

 

Also, as you can never (at least after the intro) have both Bethany and Carver (them being mutually exclusive), technically there's really only 7. After Act I, where you're pretty much assured to have Bethany or Carver gone, somehow (until their possible Act 3 reappearance), there's only 6. 

 

If you count Loghain as the "secret companion," DAO has 10 companions. If you don't count him (as most don't recruit him, and he's only available at the end, anyway), and don't count Shale (who's DLC), then there's only 8. Some don't count Dog as he's not a humanoid/sentient, so then there's only 7. (We'll also ignore the redshirts like Jory and Daveth.)

 

I guess the familiar claim that "both DAO and DA2 had 9 companions" depends on how you count.   So I tend to wonder if the claim that there will be 9 means there will, in fact be 9 at launch, and a 10th as DLC ... etc, etc. 

[KC_Prototype]

Having sexy orgies I hope

[Mes]

Okay. The companions you don't take out hang at the pub, 24/7, until you call for their services. The longer you wait to take them with you somewhere, the more drunk and hence more useless they get. Bald Elf's magical powers after two days of being left and forgotten at the pub? Forget about it. He's lying on the ground singing bad Thedas pop music and ignores you while you battle bandits and darkspawn on your bloody own. 

[Iron Fist]

They are running the Inquisition Bakery and Pizzeria. 

[Maiden Crowe]

Anyway, it's not a big stretch to imagine what the companions we don't have with us would be doing without seeing it. Varric telling stories, Vivienne fashion policing everyone, Solas doing whatever it is Solas would do that's relevant to his personality (ranting about mage rights? twirling his staff in circles? shining his head?)...

 

That is not what I am talking about, I mean Mass Effect 3 had companions doing their own thing like Garrus and Vega swapping war stories and Joker courting EDI however the point is I am pretty sure that isn't what Shepard hired them for which I would also assume the Inquisitor diddn't recruit her companions to wait around home base telling tall stories or whining about the rights of mages while they wait for the Inquisitor to invite them on one of her missions, obviously the Inquisitor recruited them because they have some sort of skill or ability and having them just wait around when they aren't personally accompanying the Inquisitor would be a waste especially when their skills could be put to better use.

 

A war is not won on the back of one person alone, it takes many hands all doing what they can working together to achieve victory. 

[Lillian]

They are handling the paperwork and accepting messages for the inquisitor. They basically run a whole Inquisition office, complete with sitcom-esque typical office workers who are banding together to inquisite the world..... One signiature-received phone call-snarky comment to their coworkers-humorous shenanigan at a time.

[Maiden Crowe]

I more meant my question to be "Can you think of any reasons why it might be a good idea to not implement this type of system?"

 

Well you guys are the ones making the game so perhaps you should tell us why such a system might not be a good idea considering the type of game you are creating?

[TataJojo]

In DAO I would always headcanon that the companions I didn't take with me were setting up camp, hunting, buying food in the nearby village/town, etc and that there would be at least one or two who would follow the main group from a distance and pick up all the loot ( \o/ )... It kinda all made sense since the group is on a journey and constantly needs to adapt to their new surroundings and can't carry too much while travelling.

 

In DAII it didn't feel as right to me even though an effort was made to show they had lives outside fighting alongside Hawke. It came off to me more as "Does Aveline ever have the time to take care of her job as a Guard Captain ? She's always with me it doesn't make sense !"

 

In ME it feels weird that you're only taking two companions with you because unlike DAO you have a whole crew that can take care of the Normandy. In ME2 most of the missions happen on hub worlds so yeah I guess companions can chill out or take care of personal business on Omega, Illium, the Citadel while you go do your thing. ME3 same as ME1. Having the characters move around the ship and talk to each other is great ( ! ) but it makes downtime between missions seem believable and entertaining for the player, not seem like there's a logical explanation to why they don't help you on missions.

 

So, for DAI, maybe companions have things to take care of for the Inquisition, do party camp related things since you might be travelling a lot, and I hope we can have some of the more important story missions ( like 3 at major moments and the final one for example ) that set milestones have all the companions interact in some way in them.

[Rawgrim]

Hopefully, we get to pick our own friends this time. So maybe 3 with you on the mission, and 2 hanging about "at home", and the rest having left because our character told them to take a hike. For roleplaying reasons, it doesn`t allways make sense to be friends with everyone. That is one of the tings I enjoy, though. One of my characters could absolutely hate Sten, in one game, while another brings him along on missions all the time.

[chuckwells62]

In Origins the companions that didn't accompany you on an active quest simply loitered around Camp. In DA2, they chilled at their own residence. I'm fine with either option for Inquisition, but given what has been intimated the most likely scenario will be that they collectively hang around at the most recent "camp" equivalent. That will probably be in the best interests of an ongoing Inquisition!

[Tevinter Soldier]

I'd like to see a medium cop out of this idea.

rather then stay at a "camp" have the characters you don't take with you form a rear guard or scouting party.

 

for example if i have two missions one in Ferelden and one in Orlais.

 

i can send the other companions to scout various things at the location i don't go to, prepare for the quest. get troop numbers contact names etc. rather then going in blind.

 

some people may not want to do this and it can totally be up to them go in blind or get intel. Im leading an army damn it i shouldn't have to just walk blind into everything.

[dutch_gamer]

Well you guys are the ones making the game so perhaps you should tell us why such a system might not be a good idea considering the type of game you are creating?

And you are the one making the suggestion. I am of the believe that even gamers should have some understanding of game development before making a suggestion and they should come up with pros and cons to their own ideas instead of hoping for answers from a developer. We know what type of game Bioware is creating so I believe we can also tell if your suggestion is remotely worth it. And I am of the believe your suggestion is just not worth it. What they did in DA 2 and ME 3 is good enough, anything more or you are forced to manage all of your companions too often even when they aren't in your group or you are doing something mundane as sending your companions on some fake mission.

[Maiden Crowe]

And you are the one making the suggestion. I am of the believe that even gamers should have some understanding of game development before making a suggestion and they should come up with pros and cons to their own ideas instead of hoping for answers from a developer. We know what type of game Bioware is creating so I believe we can also tell if your suggestion is remotely worth it. And I am of the believe your suggestion is just not worth it. What they did in DA 2 and ME 3 is good enough, anything more or you are forced to manage all of your companions too often even when they aren't in your group or you are doing something mundane as sending your companions on some fake mission.

 

Perhaps if you had more of an imagination and open mind you would see the potential of such an idea, perhaps if you understood how gameplay elements could be used to add weight to elements of the story you would sing a different tune. Perhaps it is you who doesn't have as much of an understanding of game development as you think you do.

 

Now my understanding of the story is that the protagonist is supposed to be put in the role of the leader of a powerful organization that is supposed to stand between the world and it's destruction, now forgive me if I am wrong but I thought one of the perks of being the leader of a powerful organization is that you don't have to do everything yourself, you have many hands at your disposal meaning the organization as a whole is able to do than what is possible for just one person, your companions are part of that organization, you did not hire them to wait around at base doing whatever it is they normally do in their free time while you are out on a mission, you hired them because they have skills useful to the Inquisition, skills that they could very well be making use of even while not personally accompanying you on one of your missions.

 

Now that said the system that was in place in DA2 worked in DA2 because of the type of story Bioware was telling at the time however Inquisition is not DA2, your character is not just some lowly Ferelden refugee trying make a living in the city of Kirkwall with the help of a few friends, your character is the leader of an entire god damn army and one would think that Bioware would at least try to capture that aspect of the story in at least parts of the gameplay. Now I can definitely see why this idea would work given the context of the story and it certainly isn't an idea that would be impossible to implement, but that being said if you have a better idea of what game Bioware is trying to create then by all means tell me why this idea wouldn't work? If Bioware wanted to create a game where all you had to worry about is which enemy to hit with your sword then perhaps they shouldn't be telling a story that puts your character at the head of a large organization.

 

That said my understanding of how this idea would fit into the game is based on my limited understanding of the premise, I have a basic idea of gameplay currently in place and the story they are telling but the finer details and any other systems they might have in place are currently unknown to me, to know truly whether such an idea would work I would have to know what those are.

[SilkieBantam]

They're in their Pokeballs. Duh.

[Blackrising]

I am guessing they do what other normal people do when they got some free time. Relax, read, engage in their hobbies, go to the tavern, have bitchfights with other companions, stab books...you know, the usual.

[A Crusty Knight Of Colour]

understood how gameplay elements could be used to add weight to elements of the story

 

Long text aside, I do feel like there is a shortage of this on the forums. Perhaps at BioWare HQ itself.

[JCFR]

Yes, it's stupid to just take three along and leve the others standing in de Castel like cars in a garage.

iw ished, it would be possible to give those Charakters assignments while my party is o a mission.

For Eample: hire  or train new recruits for your military forces, scout areas, barter with traders or even meet political delegations.

 

Between every mission/quest you return to your caslte wehre some messages with requests wait like: a town is threatened by bandits a asks for help and you can send one or to companions with a few guards out. it could be even made tactical by having to gauge wich companion would be suited best like rogues are best in barteringoder planning ambushs, mages have the highest diplomatic skills and can dig up secrets and conspiracies and warriors are best to attack or defend certain targets. That way the gamer would have to measure, which request he wants to take according to the kind of mission, the needed class and the companion he wishes to have in his party. 

[rocsage]

scouting...and being useless like Fergus Cousland.

[AppealToReason]

The second you leave they all put on rave wear and GO NUTS!

 

But only when you're not there. Its like a Michigan J Frog thing.

[Monoten]

Perhaps you can send your other friends on "missions"? It would be a weird thought, that while the whole world is in peril that your other companions just sit around a bit chilling.