At PAX East BioWare mentioned that companions are not currently allowed in flashpoints, raids, or warzones. Previously it had been stated that they'd be available in every part in the game, but—at least for now—BioWare is testing this content without them. We don't know what route they're going to ultimately take, but their comments have brought the debate about companions back to the forefront of Star Wars: The Old Republic discussion.
In addition to their other uses, BioWare advertised companions as a means to make up for a lacking role in a group. If you form a four-man group for a flashpoint but without a tank or healer, you could juggle your companions around so that everybody brought tanking companions or healing companions as appropriate. These companions wouldn't fill player slots, but they'd offer some help. BioWare then made a comment that there were NO areas of the game that companions were barred from, confirming companions for endgame raiding and PvP at least at the time of that comment. I could dig up links supporting both of those claims, but it would be a wasted effort. Wasted, because as of PAX East 2011, we know that these two items are no longer true:James Ohlen: "So right now, and this is something that can change through testing and feedback, but right now we're aiming to not allow companions into endgame raids and flashpoints."
Crowd:
Daniel Erickson: "And that is sort of the reason why."
James Ohlen: "We're also ... currently not allowing them in warzones."
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PAX East 2011: "BioWare Meet And Greet" (via gljvd on YouTube)
So flashpoints, raiding, and warzones, eh? Isn't that pretty much all significant instanced content in the game (i.e., not just an instanced room with a quest giver)? That kind of sucks for those who were excited for companions. The reasons given for BioWare making this change in the game testing were, first, that this approach is popular, and second, that companion AI isn't smart enough for competitive content. I think an obvious third reason can also be added: companions complicate balance issues. Even as someone who likes the idea of companions, I can admit that these are valid reasons to restrict them, but I'd like to break down how this new approach will affect play.
Pros:
The biggest pro for removing companions from instanced content is because pets cause wipes. Pets and pet classes tend to have a bad reputation in endgame MMO content, because pets can—if mismanaged—do silly things like pull aggro off of the tank, pull additional groups of enemies due to bad pathing, or run out to shake hands with a pulled mob, stopping him half-way across the room and forcing the group to fight in a dangerous position. None of these problems are insurmountable for a careful player, but the added complication has caused many a group to wipe because of an inattentive pet-class player or an unresponsive pet. People who sit down to roll a pet class may not know what they're getting into or how complicated to master these classes can be. Now compare that to companion characters, who aren't just extensions of our classes, but are like another character with a whole other class following us around. So understanding and utilizing a companion is even more complicated. It has no ability overlap with our class, and in the most recent TOROcast playthroughs, even Musco was overwhelmed by the number of abilities player character's already have. Add the responsibility of a companion to that and you get an extremely over-complicated mess.
To simplify things, BioWare made it so we have less involvement and control with our companions than the usual pet. That they're supposed to be more like "friends" we're grouped with than a pet. Unfortunately, that comes with its own set of problems, because bot AI is dumb. If companion control is insufficient, suddenly every player is followed around by the dumbest pug-group member ever in all competitive content. If that's the case, then you'd better believe I wouldn't want companions along. Providing solid control over companion behavior would alleviate this issue, but then you're back to an overcomplicated mess. Either way, BioWare has problems to contend with, and it's far simpler to cut companions from competitive content than try to balance everything for a golden mean of control vs. simplicity.
Other than PvE content, keeping companions out of PvP warzones is probably for the best because nobody wants to be killed by an NPC that's not even being controlled by a player in "player-vs-player" content. It just doesn't make sense. And there's a difference between NPC guards spawning to defend an objective—which is generally acceptable if not overdone—and somebody being followed around by a furry wall of concentrated rage that can uppercut you into the nearest star. As competitive as PvE can get, the direct competition in PvP requires players to be in full control of the match. In this case, pet classes are actually better than companions because they are a vehicle of player control, not something extraneous to the player that can influence the outcome of the match. And that's assuming that the companion even follows you around. Even in Rift PvP where I play a pet class—Necromancer—I had a devil of a time keeping track of my pet until I shifted around my macros—and this is a serious problem when the bulk of your DPS is tied up in your pet—but it was clear that I was in control of my pet and that its abilities and my abilities only worked together. I can't imagine a game where I might not be able to pull my companion/pet out of a fight to help me or where somebody else's companion might kill me when its owner isn't even around.
Oh, and one minor note but still a "pro," with companions left out of instanced content the immersion-breaking presence of duplicate companions will be avoided for those portions of the game.
Cons:
My biggest "aw, damn," over the loss of companions is losing their contribution to the narrative in flashpoints. Granted, the conversational cut-scenes at the beginning and end of the Taral V instance at PAX East were probably the least important parts of the experience, but it would've been nice to have companions there to drop in their thoughts on the conversation. One of my favorite parts of BioWare games is the inter-companion bickering and asides they have with each other during conversations and sometimes even when you're just walking around or riding a suspiciously slow elevator. Combat concerns aside, I will miss having companions there for that. When I decide to choke out some fools who have failed me for the last time, I want HK-47 to stand at my side and nod in approval.
Another concern is for the solo player. Now, maybe I'm misunderstanding what "flashpoint" is, but aren't any narrative instanced content segments considered "flashpoints?" For example, the Taral V flashpoint seems like a "world story" flashpoint, but the "Kill the Captain" flashpoint we'd been shown previously had only two players and seemed to be a class narrative flashpoint for the Sith Warrior. Does the restriction against companions in flashpoints mean that the Sith Warrior would've been going solo if he didn't have the Bounty Hunter along for the ride? That seems like a big problem, because for many classes the companion will be necessary to solo properly.
Then there's the problem of rounding out your group with all three roles. This can't really be considered a negative as we never saw if companions effectively solved the issue of "LF healer," and "LF tank," or not—or even if these concerns were valid in SWTOR to begin with—but it would've been nice if it had worked properly. However, there are a few reasons why this isn't a major issue for me, namely that this game has so many healing-capable classes and it sounds like rolling without a healer isn't much of an issue. Six of the eight classes—six of sixteen advanced-classes—have healing specifications, and BioWare has outright clarified that healing isn't as critical as in other MMORPGs.Georg Zoeller: "We cannot tell you definitively that a group without a healer will do just fine in 'most all' encounters.
"However, groups without healers will be able to play the majority of the game's content and not feel like they are at a significant disadvantage, especially if they are careful in how they play.
"Remember every class has access to an out of combat self-heal ability, as well as a revive ability (for use on fallen comrades). Be careful, and you'll stay alive."
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SWTOR.com/community: "want to escape the hype and get another perspective?"}
Unaffected:
It's important to note the items that this doesn't affect at all. This does not affect any non-instanced content. Meaning the open-world soloer, the open-world PvPer, and the open-world boss raiding content will all involve companions and they'll still have their time to shine. For the day-to-day quests, companions will be there making your life easier. It's important to remember that companions are there first and foremost to guarantee you a group, and if instanced content is group content, they're not really necessary.
Companions will also still be important for progressing the narrative—offering their own side-quests—and for crafting via the Crew Skills system. It should also be remembered that the testing for this feature is ongoing, and they could easily change their minds again before release.
I am bummed to hear that the scope of companion characters is being limited. I thought that they were a really innovative piece of the game and a big selling point for SWTOR. I lament the conversational asides and quips from companions that we'll be missing out on as they cool their heels back on the ship. That said, I understand BioWare's reasons for considering this approach and I think that some of the negative backlash I've seen on the official forums over this decision is ridiculous. Companions will still be incredibly important to this game, and we have to trust BioWare is testing to see how well they're working or not working in instanced content and designing appropriately. Besides, the nice thing about instanced content is it means that BioWare can choose to implement companions on a case-by-case basis. They could do companion-allowed instances without allowing them across the board, and they could even allow you to queue for companion or non-companion versions of the same content, balanced appropriately. Time will tell.
What do you think about companions being barred form the major instances in SWTOR? Is this a good thing or a bad thing? Comment below or discuss here!
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