I've been getting quite some requests to add Lots of New Companions, a mod that adds - just like the name suggests - a lot of new companions to the game. There are more than 60 new companions in there.
When I had a look at them myself, I wasn't that impressed by their dialogue, so when I add new companions, I'll write that myself. But that takes time. This also raises the question this topic is all about: is it desirable to have that many new companions? If not, how many do you prefer? Or do you think the current amount is more than enough?
In the poll I've set some broad ranges you can vote for. You can always specify your choice in the topic, or say what kind of companions you'd like to see added.
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In the week before Christmas there are two favorite choices: adding just a few (1-5), and adding quite a lot (40-70). That's a huge difference. Let me try to sum up some arguments I've seen and that I can think off:
It's up to you, the voter, which arguments are more important. There's no good and wrong: only honest opinions.
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After letting this poll run for over a month, I finally made my decission:
I'll start with creating a few new companions - altough I don't know yet when I'll start doing this. Once this is done, I'll have a look if it's possible to create a choice at the start of the game, allowing you to choose between a few or many companions. If this is not possible, I'll stick with the few I'll have created by then. If it is possible, I'll start to slowly work on more companions, but won't implement them untill they're all (or at least most of them) are done: the results of this vote say that people are really not waiting for an amount in between the few and the lot.
I locked the voting now. I thank you all for your votes, ideas and opinions.
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When I had a look at them myself, I wasn't that impressed by their dialogue, so when I add new companions, I'll write that myself. But that takes time. This also raises the question this topic is all about: is it desirable to have that many new companions? If not, how many do you prefer? Or do you think the current amount is more than enough?
In the poll I've set some broad ranges you can vote for. You can always specify your choice in the topic, or say what kind of companions you'd like to see added.
[edit]
In the week before Christmas there are two favorite choices: adding just a few (1-5), and adding quite a lot (40-70). That's a huge difference. Let me try to sum up some arguments I've seen and that I can think off:
- Crowded taverns: some taverns might be as crowded as the starting one when you select 'let all npc's start in the first tavern'. This could of course enhance the feeling of a busy place, but it could also hinder with other npc's like book merchants, drunken people, bards and of course hirelings.
- Uniqueness: With less npc's than taverns, discovering one is a privelege and gives those companions you did find a special place among your ranks. With many companions available, the uniqueness of them wares off. On the other hand, it can be very frustrating to look all over the country for a few more npc's.
- Relations: Currently, the companions like one person and dislike two. When I add just a few more, the circles of who (dis)likes who can be adjusted with some minor effort, preserving basically the relations as they are in native, with some minor adjustments. When I add 60 new companions, these relations will be drastically changed to suit the new situation. If I discover a way to add more likings/dislikings to a companion, I surely will do that with such a large group (by the way, these relations can be disabled in the mod menu).
- Vassals: Who needs to convince other lords to join your kingdom when you can just hire 70 companions, turn them all into vassals, letting them recruit armies and follow you to blitzkrieg all over Calradia? This can be a bit gamebreaking. On the other hand, it can definately help you in your early and struggling days of an independant kingdom.
- Immortal army: Adding a lot of new companions will allow players to create an immortal army that can level as good as the player. The fact that this is possible can be gamebreaking, and can spoil the fun. On the other hand, you don't have to recruit them if you don't want to, and can still play with a few if you prefer.
It's up to you, the voter, which arguments are more important. There's no good and wrong: only honest opinions.
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[edit2]
After letting this poll run for over a month, I finally made my decission:
I'll start with creating a few new companions - altough I don't know yet when I'll start doing this. Once this is done, I'll have a look if it's possible to create a choice at the start of the game, allowing you to choose between a few or many companions. If this is not possible, I'll stick with the few I'll have created by then. If it is possible, I'll start to slowly work on more companions, but won't implement them untill they're all (or at least most of them) are done: the results of this vote say that people are really not waiting for an amount in between the few and the lot.
I locked the voting now. I thank you all for your votes, ideas and opinions.
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