In a fit of good sense, Bioware decided that players should be able to have a companion by their side to help them out in their time of need. And today, they gave us a bit more information on how these characters would work and how they evolved. This is their story.
Their first thought was just to let these companions be there to help in the fighting by offloading some of the work from your shoulders onto theirs. Each has his own special talents and abilities that come in handy in various situations. For instance, a Wookie might help fight with his strength. But a lot of people wanted better control over these guys, but others didn’t.
And so they decided to put in a system by which players can select how they will control their companions. It ranges from complete autonomy with no micromanagement whatsoever to pretty good control with several settings that you can make. This is especially true in the fighting.
Companions can be told to use a special attack or to hold back rather than just going off on their own and using whatever they think is best for the trouble. You can set it so that it disables the area effect, which is useful in giving a wider berth for which the companion can fight. Also you can instruct the companion to take up a certain stance, so that you can get them to focus on what you need the most.
Also Bioware said that they would allow companions to be used in group quests, but they would not be as effective as a real player would. For instance, if you had a four person quest, and you wanted to try that with just two players, you could substitute in the two companions, each belonging to one of the players. This would give you four questers, but you may still have trouble completing the quest that requires that many, but you may be able to get away with it. A three person quest with two people and one companion would have a better chance. In other words, don’t think that you will be able to save the galaxy without a few friends as the game is setup to be very group oriented and companions are a poor substitute for true players.
One reason they say they are including this feature is because if someone has to leave during a quest, it could end the quest for the other players otherwise. This way, a companion can take their place so that you can at least attempt to finish the quest. You may not succeed, but at least you have a chance.
Star Wars: The Old Republic is still scheduled to come out on December 20, 2011 right before Christmas.
