Overly Positive

Out of all the info that has surfaced about TOR so far (and you can get to Moon Over Endor if you want the full overview from Ayane as usual) the actual TOR Exhaustive Q&A from IGN is probably the best and most comprehensive of the limited information that Bioware is releasing right now about TOR. There’s a ton of info in it, but one of the things I wanted to cherry pick for today’s post was about “companions”, NPC characters who will join you on your journey through the world of Star Wars: The Old Republic:

“IGN: What can you say about companions right now?

Dallas Dickinson: I think what we’ve said thus far (apologies for this being cryptic because we haven’t talked in detail about the companions and how they work), is that if you’ve played BioWare games, you have some sense of how our companions are going to work. They’re going to become party members, they’re going to become people with special contributions to your story or your gameplay and you’re going to be able to make decisions that can influence them and their loyalty that will unlock some content or potentially close down some content for you. It’s going to make your experience unique, so you and I can both play as a smuggler and you will have a completely different experience, at least in part, because of how you treat your companions.”

This is an interesting development because we haven’t really heard this much detail about companion characters before. The thing that immediately comes to mind is how much easier this makes for an individual player to play solo through the campaign of the MMO. Many times the “pet” classes are the ones that have the added benefit of having something NPC-controlled that they direct. This seems to be a massive expansion on that concept, giving everyone the ability to have NPCs, but also bringing in the KOTOR-style consequences of making decisions and their attitude towards you. There’s a certain kind of appeal to having your own sort of crew, and a myriad of possibilities that open up with using your companion characters and your toon to talk to others with companions of their own.

In a sort of Dr. Who-like interaction, your companions will join with you and affect how you progress through the campaign. Considering the depth of the story that Bioware is currently marketing harder than any of their other features, it sure seems that it will be a welcome addition to the overall experience you’re going to be having. Imagine if you have a companion that sticks with you through thick and thin, who might save you or affect the choices available to you when interacting with certain NPCs. Or perhaps you might betray a companion, and ruthlessly close off an opportunity to advance their loyalty to you. With the supposedly constantly branching storyline in front of you, the game experience might change with repeated play, something which will be great for TOR’s longevity.

Companions seem to be the latest in the line of unique additions Bioware is making to their game that they are attempting to transplant from their previous successful single-player RPG franchises. Whether or not is a right or correct strategy will depend on the execution – but it’s no secret that the Companion mechanic has netted huge success in Bioware’s games of the past. MMOs are a different beast, but if this is any indication, this particular beast has more faces than just your own. It’s exciting stuff.