Companion Characters for CoX

[TC]

Title. I've played a lot of MMOs over the years and tinkered with a bunch of different pet/companion systems in games. For it's pets, CoH does a pretty good job, MMs are cool and the pets function great... but I think there's potentially a big missed opportunity here, and to show that opportunity I want to look at another game's companion system.

 

I'm a big fan of Star Wars: The Old Republic (SWToR) for it's gameplay and story telling, but also for it's companion system that puts narratively driven characters into cutscenes and, more importantly, into the combat and the atmosphere. This increases immersion greatly by including companions in your missions/escapades/whatever because, well, most protagonists in a story typically have companions. In CoH, in a sense, we already have a base system design for having a companion. The pet system in CoH functions similarly to that of SWToR's companion system. Of course companions in SWToR don't always talk, but many times they do, even to story characters in cutscenes, further increasing immersion.

 

CoH pets... currently do not offer much in the way of immersion, in that they do not add to your story. Maybe some unlocked pets do offer some, but not the way a companion can. And in CoH, while we don't have voice actors and what-not, we do have kick-ass bios, a kick-ass character creator, and a much more... "create your own story" vibe than SWToR's rollercoaster style storytelling. And since we don't have a pre-determined story with companions involved, companions would need created by players. I know what you're thinking; in CoH, you can currently create custom companions for custom mission arcs in AE, and potentially get your companion-driven immersion there. To an extent, this is true. AE could serve the entire purpose of what I want to propose. But also, it can't, as the characters you create in AE aren't "pets" and can't truly join you in the world for your adventures... but I think they could be, and why stop at limiting them to AE?

 

I'm not sure how technically difficult this would be, but I see the "pet system" in CoH used in multiple places successfully and can't help but feel it's entirely possible. The difference between this pet system and others (MM/Lore/Vanguard HVAS/etc.) is that it instead of a predetermined pet, it would pull a "custom character" (created similarly to AE) thus creating a unique companion. My main reason for wanting this system is atmosphere, immersion, and role-playing. I don't know about anyone else, but my characters are created in a universe where my other characters exist. They're mentioned in each other's bios. I want to see my heroes and villains in the world while playing my other heroes and villains, and I can do that by "teaming up" with them (companion system). However, I also think it would add depth to the game and additionally help struggling players. Obviously there could be balance questions, but I think they're easily solved by simply disabling the companion feature while on a team, reducing XP gained while a companion is out, etc. The only real concern I have is if everyone has their companions out in a place where there's already a lot of players, this might cause problems.

 

Tl;dr CoH has a good pet system that could be expanded in a way to allow for unique, customizable companions for player characters.

 

As a disclaimer, I don't think this system is something that should be top of the priority list. But based on systems currently in the game I think it's very possible and something that would be cool to have down the line. Thoughts, suggestions, feedback are welcomed. 

Edited October 4, 2020 by TC

[krj12]

Not sure I'd want a companion with me on every mission, and to be honest I think it would greatly detract from the pet classes already in the game.

 

Just a few observations:

1.   We already get incarnate pets.   Wish we didn't, but it's there.

2.   There are lots of mission arcs where signature characters join you in certain missions.  Again,  having a companion all the time would make these missions

just a bit less special.

3.  You can already create npcs in AE missions which can follow and buff you.

 

 

 

[Saiyajinzoningen]

not to mention we have masterminds which specialize in companions and controllers somewhat less so. IIRC you can buy npc's companion powers at the p2w vendor although they are slightly expensive. That being said i do miss the OG sidekick system and level pacts. Maybe the devs will create a sidekick arc where u train up a hero/Villian in your image? A pervasive arc that gives u a mission every 5 levels or so where you either teach or help your sidekick. At the end of the mission they level and you train them up. while im having this nice daydream lets also allow players to design the sidekicks costume 2. lol

[TC]

16 hours ago, krj12 said:

Not sure I'd want a companion with me on every mission, and to be honest I think it would greatly detract from the pet classes already in the game.

 

Just a few observations:

1.   We already get incarnate pets.   Wish we didn't, but it's there.

2.   There are lots of mission arcs where signature characters join you in certain missions.  Again,  having a companion all the time would make these missions

just a bit less special.

3.  You can already create npcs in AE missions which can follow and buff you.

 

 

 

Agreed on the incarnate pets, they almost always break character theme. The companions wouldn't be a feature you keep on, it would be up to you when to have one out. You could do whatever you like with them, it would be a summon power, so it wouldn't affect any missions you didn't want it to. Also, the most important part about AE; that's my point. Why not just let your companions you create in AE join you in the rest of Paragon? IMO it would be an easier feature to develop that has a lot of interesting immersion/gameplay uses and it's already possible/balanced in AE.

[TC]

7 hours ago, Saiyajinzoningen said:

not to mention we have masterminds which specialize in companions and controllers somewhat less so. IIRC you can buy npc's companion powers at the p2w vendor although they are slightly expensive. That being said i do miss the OG sidekick system and level pacts. Maybe the devs will create a sidekick arc where u train up a hero/Villian in your image? A pervasive arc that gives u a mission every 5 levels or so where you either teach or help your sidekick. At the end of the mission they level and you train them up. while im having this nice daydream lets also allow players to design the sidekicks costume 2. lol

Listen lets start with baby steps okay? This is a really awesome idea but I think we're a ways off of that lol. I do think that as development for the game opens up, we'll see more new stuff. Will be really interesting to see where the game is in 10 years.

[krj12]

The only thing I wouldn't want is to see this game turn into another Guild Wars 1.  In that game, everything was balanced around the fact that you had companions....

resulting in a very weak character that really couldn't do anything solo, with very few exceptions.