In the original iteration of SWTOR, companions, like in KOTOR, had stories, backstories, had lives aside from just travelling with you. This was done to fantastic ability, and aside from class stories, was one of the items most favored by a majority of the fans at the time.

However, since then, development on companion stories and interactions came to a dead stop, unless they were lucky enough to get a "role" ala Torian, Vette, and Gault in the larger story. To make matters more complicated, you now had a system put into place in the alliance contacts that was essentially a "rent a bot" - no real story, no feel for these companions, nothing. And the companions who WERE a part of the original story in that and since - well, you get a cameo and then I think there is a SWTOR dev named Ursula who rips out their voice ala The Little Mermaid because we never hear from them again (oh poor unfortunate souls)!

So here's the thrust of my gripe:

SWTOR was LAUNCHED promising personalized stories, choices that matter and deep companion stories.

Since launch when EA lost their nerve, they killed class stories continuing, stopped development on companion stories, and instead have either tried to only give players the bare minimum (Makeb, only 2 faction stories) or gone off on some pretty stupid ideas like dropping a single player video game with lazy level design and more time spent on the cinematics right into the middle of an MMO, regardless of whether it makes sense or not (KotFE & KotET). The only exception was Shadow of Revan, which at least gave us a class feel again in the bonus quests.

However, since Keith took over, I feel like the ship is being righted. I know in MMO development, plans made can take a year to launch. With Onslaught development entering the final stages, I think NOW is a good time to bring this back up, as planning for "what's next" in terms of an expansion should be taking place now.

So let me say this - "what's next" should be the return of companion stories. Losing class stories was a huge blow for the player base when it happened (I still remember how uncomfortable Eric looked at the Chicago cantina back in the day trying to dodge that question on if class stories would be continuing, since it was the #1 concern of the community back then, and RIGHTFULLY SO). Don't continue to take the companion stories as well.

Give them their voices back. Give us story people more time to spend with them. 5 years or more in-game time passed - there's a lot to catch up on...

In the original iteration of SWTOR, companions, like in KOTOR, had stories, backstories, had lives aside from just travelling with you. This was done to fantastic ability, and aside from class stories, was one of the items most favored by a majority of the fans at the time.

 

However, since then, development on companion stories and interactions came to a dead stop, unless they were lucky enough to get a "role" ala Torian, Vette, and Gault in the larger story. To make matters more complicated, you now had a system put into place in the alliance contacts that was essentially a "rent a bot" - no real story, no feel for these companions, nothing. And the companions who WERE a part of the original story in that and since - well, you get a cameo and then I think there is a SWTOR dev named Ursula who rips out their voice ala The Little Mermaid because we never hear from them again (oh poor unfortunate souls)!

 

So here's the thrust of my gripe:

 

SWTOR was LAUNCHED promising personalized stories, choices that matter and deep companion stories.

 

Since launch when EA lost their nerve, they killed class stories continuing, stopped development on companion stories, and instead have either tried to only give players the bare minimum (Makeb, only 2 faction stories) or gone off on some pretty stupid ideas like dropping a single player video game with lazy level design and more time spent on the cinematics right into the middle of an MMO, regardless of whether it makes sense or not (KotFE & KotET). The only exception was Shadow of Revan, which at least gave us a class feel again in the bonus quests.

 

However, since Keith took over, I feel like the ship is being righted. I know in MMO development, plans made can take a year to launch. With Onslaught development entering the final stages, I think NOW is a good time to bring this back up, as planning for "what's next" in terms of an expansion should be taking place now.

 

So let me say this - "what's next" should be the return of companion stories. Losing class stories was a huge blow for the player base when it happened (I still remember how uncomfortable Eric looked at the Chicago cantina back in the day trying to dodge that question on if class stories would be continuing, since it was the #1 concern of the community back then, and RIGHTFULLY SO). Don't continue to take the companion stories as well.

 

Give them their voices back. Give us story people more time to spend with them. 5 years or more in-game time passed - there's a lot to catch up on...

Ummm

Don't look now ... but I'm right there beside you on this one. Remember the other thread ? Companions being returned with a meaningful role. Some have termed them as being "bricked" .. I call companions current activity as a little more than a block of wood !

IMO... companions need expansion ... not subdued into a nearly comatose state !

I would absolutely love more time and scenes with companions, especially ones that build story and connection and don't involve deadly danger. Relationship scenes, mysteries, celebrations, exploration, learning more about their history and what they did while we were gone, that sort of thing.

I also wish we could hear their location-triggered comments during the class story but... alas... they lag too far behind us now.

And on the topic of companions, if they didn't show up as holographic stronghold decorations, but as physical people (unless it's your active companion), that would be great, too.

Yes. I miss having conversations with some of the companions from the class stories. Not just LIs. My Sith Warriors miss talking to Vette even though she's not their LI. My bounty hunter misses hearing from Mako for the same reason. I'd love to hear whatever Blizz is up to.

I hope they won't forget the KOTFE era companions too. For some of us the relationships with characters like Lana and Theron were more meaningful than the class story companions and we don't want to lose them. I've long wished that the KOTFE contingent had separate conversations and personal missions (not related to the main story) the same way the class story companions did.

Yes. I miss having conversations with some of the companions from the class stories. Not just LIs. My Sith Warriors miss talking to Vette even though she's not their LI. My bounty hunter misses hearing from Mako for the same reason. I'd love to hear whatever Blizz is up to.

 

I hope they won't forget the KOTFE era companions too. For some of us the relationships with characters like Lana and Theron were more meaningful than the class story companions and we don't want to lose them. I've long wished that the KOTFE contingent had separate conversations and personal missions (not related to the main story) the same way the class story companions did.

I absolutely am including them as well.

However, the one area they painted themselves into a wall with was introducing all those contacts in KotFE. My impression is that the original companions need to be included in your character's story. Those who aren't a part of the original list, but you can romance then are layered into that list. The rest are weaved in and out of the story.

Frankly, another idea I had is, because much of what made the class stories so good were the companions we came across and the adventures and interactions we had with them, why not use companion stories also as a player's "class story"?

From a story perspective, the most fun part of this game is the relationships you build. So why couldn't you further explore the class through the eyes and interactions of your companions, and then also have the "faction" story for each side?

I absolutely am including them as well.

 

However, the one area they painted themselves into a wall with was introducing all those contacts in KotFE. My impression is that the original companions need to be included in your character's story. Those who aren't a part of the original list, but you can romance then are layered into that list. The rest are weaved in and out of the story.

 

Frankly, another idea I had is, because much of what made the class stories so good were the companions we came across and the adventures and interactions we had with them, why not use companion stories also as a player's "class story"?

 

From a story perspective, the most fun part of this game is the relationships you build. So why couldn't you further explore the class through the eyes and interactions of your companions, and then also have the "faction" story for each side?

Got it. Whittling the 'meaningful interactions' down to the character's original five (or whoever they've chosen to keep from that original five - some of my toons have chosen to boot one or more) + LI seems like a reasonable and manageable approach. I'd also include whoever the toon chose to save from the Vette/Torian decision since that seems like such a pivotal moment.

They did paint themselves into a corner. I personally love having some of those companions on all of my characters (I love that everyone can obtain Talos Drelik for instance) but when you have 25+ companions available to every character now, there's no way to possibly keep up meaningful interactions with all of them.

Setting aside the resources required, I agree completely. I certainly have my complaints about some of the vanilla companions, but in the class stories, they were unquestionably your companions. And the interactions helped cement the idea that they specifically wanted to follow your character and be loyal to you, as well as showing a depth to who they are and what they are about (and in some cases, being a romantic partner).

KOTFE made a mess of that. Sure, you have companions who have some level of interaction and potential romance, but they aren't your followers. They are companions who flit in and out of your life for various purposes. It doesn't feel personalized and you wait who knows how long in the story to get all of your old companions back.

I'd be happy with even 1 out of 5 of your vanilla companion set having some new dialogue. At least give us 1. But it's just utter silence, both in gameplay and in conversation.

I have quite a lot of characters and very few taken through KOTFE to odessen, much less all of it and KOTET. There's just so little motivation to. On top of not enjoying the combat gameplay, I don't want to deal with my companions disappearing. And knowing I've reached a point in the story where they are now empty vessels. It's just depressing. I'd almost rather they not be available at all than have them available in such a silent fashion. It doesn't actually feel like they came back. Just like they were made available to you in combat again, through a brief story mechanism.

(Edit: I also find some of the alerts to be tedious as hell, but that's a whole other topic.)

In the original iteration of SWTOR, companions, like in KOTOR, had stories, backstories, had lives aside from just travelling with you. This was done to fantastic ability, and aside from class stories, was one of the items most favored by a majority of the fans at the time.

 

However, since then, development on companion stories and interactions came to a dead stop, unless they were lucky enough to get a "role" ala Torian, Vette, and Gault in the larger story. To make matters more complicated, you now had a system put into place in the alliance contacts that was essentially a "rent a bot" - no real story, no feel for these companions, nothing. And the companions who WERE a part of the original story in that and since - well, you get a cameo and then I think there is a SWTOR dev named Ursula who rips out their voice ala The Little Mermaid because we never hear from them again (oh poor unfortunate souls)!

 

So here's the thrust of my gripe:

 

SWTOR was LAUNCHED promising personalized stories, choices that matter and deep companion stories.

 

Since launch when EA lost their nerve, they killed class stories continuing, stopped development on companion stories, and instead have either tried to only give players the bare minimum (Makeb, only 2 faction stories) or gone off on some pretty stupid ideas like dropping a single player video game with lazy level design and more time spent on the cinematics right into the middle of an MMO, regardless of whether it makes sense or not (KotFE & KotET). The only exception was Shadow of Revan, which at least gave us a class feel again in the bonus quests.

 

However, since Keith took over, I feel like the ship is being righted. I know in MMO development, plans made can take a year to launch. With Onslaught development entering the final stages, I think NOW is a good time to bring this back up, as planning for "what's next" in terms of an expansion should be taking place now.

 

So let me say this - "what's next" should be the return of companion stories. Losing class stories was a huge blow for the player base when it happened (I still remember how uncomfortable Eric looked at the Chicago cantina back in the day trying to dodge that question on if class stories would be continuing, since it was the #1 concern of the community back then, and RIGHTFULLY SO). Don't continue to take the companion stories as well.

 

Give them their voices back. Give us story people more time to spend with them. 5 years or more in-game time passed - there's a lot to catch up on...

I Agree with Basically all of this.

Without the meaningful companions SWTOR becomes the same as every other game and infact Lesser then some of the newer games (SWTOR set a precedence other game companies recognized as story boosters but now SWTOR itself is lagging behind in its own race). As the mechanics of SWTOR now many adventures don't even necessitate the *Help of the companion and their story/ Immersion benefits were ended with the reunions so really.... not much reason to even Drag them around.

Considering BioWare's Story background, What made SWTOR and its stories excel above the rest (Review sites) and special to its players the Companions should start playing some form role going forward in SWTOR. I don't care anything about new figures with no character and replacing meaningful "Companions" with cardboard stand-ups just adds more names to a list of "Who gets money spent on them". Lana already had a name and somewhat of a following and she burnt out earlier then the Zakuul story could end so how long could a characters last with ..

1, No Following

2, No Character

3, No Direction beyond a few updates

4, No Interest in the player base already sore on Missing Preferred comps and still sore over the Lana issue.

Instead of *Investing on new unwanted figures, Fix the originals and start them again, With character.

I absolutely am including them as well.

 

However, the one area they painted themselves into a wall with was introducing all those contacts in KotFE. My impression is that the original companions need to be included in your character's story. Those who aren't a part of the original list, but you can romance then are layered into that list. The rest are weaved in and out of the story.

 

Frankly, another idea I had is, because much of what made the class stories so good were the companions we came across and the adventures and interactions we had with them, why not use companion stories also as a player's "class story"?

 

From a story perspective, the most fun part of this game is the relationships you build. So why couldn't you further explore the class through the eyes and interactions of your companions, and then also have the "faction" story for each side?

I agree.

That said .. as someone else has pointed out ... we now have how many total companions. I also agree that would prefer to not go back to our original set group. I like the idea of keeping several of our newly acquired companions (since the advent of KotFE ).

My latest concern regarding companions is not being able to select the ones we believe to be the best choice for any particular part of the story. However, with the last few episodes (including JUS) .. we have zero choice. A companion is selected for us. I know that from time to time that is necessary ... BUT hopefully not through the entire story (again as with JUS).

Perhaps one solution might be for each player to select 5 - 7 as a core group (or inner circle ) . I'm not sure how practical that is or if it would actually help.

I'm just throwing some ideas out..

Also... over all I kind of like where this thread is going ... good thoughts !

However, since Keith took over, I feel like the ship is being righted. I know in MMO development, plans made can take a year to launch. With Onslaught development entering the final stages, I think NOW is a good time to bring this back up, as planning for "what's next" in terms of an expansion should be taking place now.

 

So let me say this - "what's next" should be the return of companion stories. Losing class stories was a huge blow for the player base when it happened (I still remember how uncomfortable Eric looked at the Chicago cantina back in the day trying to dodge that question on if class stories would be continuing, since it was the #1 concern of the community back then, and RIGHTFULLY SO). Don't continue to take the companion stories as well.

 

Give them their voices back. Give us story people more time to spend with them. 5 years or more in-game time passed - there's a lot to catch up on...

I don't have the same faith in Keith that you do. With the dibbles of story we've had since he took over I haven't seen anything to suggest that he has any more interest in maintaining the story's integrity than his predecessor or in revitalizing class flavor or companion interactions. Mostly we've gotten little boxes checked off a to do list with no care or substance. I hope I'm wrong and Onslaught is much better than I think it's going to be, but my hope and optimism got squashed awhile ago.

What I want to see, in addition to meaningful interactions with more than one or two companions, are a lot of little fixes. Fix the mouths on returned companions. Let returned companions trigger the same environmental dialogue as they did in vanilla. Fix the skin issues that default Vector and Scourge have and that were introduced with some returned companions like Lokin. Give the rest of the companions gear slots that don't have them like Nico and Paxton. Put a toggle on companion decorations so we can choose holo or not holo versions. Add a ton of new customizations for everyone! (And for the love of god make as least some of them attractive...)

And my big #1 right now is fix the bug that is deactivating terminal retrieved Quinns and Dornes when I start JUS! I won't take any more characters through until I get them reactivated on the characters I did take through and the bug gets fixed so no other characters lose access to them. At this point I don't think I trust Bioware enough to take any existing characters through Onslaught.

I don't have the same faith in Keith that you do. With the dibbles of story we've had since he took over I haven't seen anything to suggest that he has any more interest in maintaining the story's integrity than his predecessor or in revitalizing class flavor or companion interactions. Mostly we've gotten little boxes checked off a to do list with no care or substance. I hope I'm wrong and Onslaught is much better than I think it's going to be, but my hope and optimism got squashed awhile ago.

 

What I want to see, in addition to meaningful interactions with more than one or two companions, are a lot of little fixes. Fix the mouths on returned companions. Let returned companions trigger the same environmental dialogue as they did in vanilla. Fix the skin issues that default Vector and Scourge have and that were introduced with some returned companions like Lokin. Give the rest of the companions gear slots that don't have them like Nico and Paxton. Put a toggle on companion decorations so we can choose holo or not holo versions. Add a ton of new customizations for everyone! (And for the love of god make as least some of them attractive...)

 

And my big #1 right now is fix the bug that is deactivating terminal retrieved Quinns and Dornes when I start JUS! I won't take any more characters through until I get them reactivated on the characters I did take through and the bug gets fixed so no other characters lose access to them. At this point I don't think I trust Bioware enough to take any existing characters through Onslaught.

So, there are 3 reasons I have faith in Keith, from a story perspective.

1. Majority of fans hated Zakuul and wanted to get back to Imp vs Rep. We're getting Onslaught.
   
2. Darth Malgus was never meant to die in the original False Emperor. The original dev team stated they always intended to bring him back (before EA fired or ran off all the Class Story advocate devs), and Malgus was brought back under Keith's direction, righting a wrong.
   

But from a story standpoint, I am seeing things that lead me to believe this game is going in the right direction. They may integrate class story into the main one (which is fine - better than nothing), but it would be good to use companions to define your characters further through your adventures with them, as per vanilla.

That said, I fully support a pass to fix companions. I love the environmental dialogue, and miss it.

So, there are 3 reasons I have faith in Keith, from a story perspective.

 

1. Majority of fans hated Zakuul and wanted to get back to Imp vs Rep. We're getting Onslaught.
   
2. Darth Malgus was never meant to die in the original False Emperor. The original dev team stated they always intended to bring him back (before EA fired or ran off all the Class Story advocate devs), and Malgus was brought back under Keith's direction, righting a wrong.
   

 

But from a story standpoint, I am seeing things that lead me to believe this game is going in the right direction. They may integrate class story into the main one (which is fine - better than nothing), but it would be good to use companions to define your characters further through your adventures with them, as per vanilla.

 

 

That said, I fully support a pass to fix companions. I love the environmental dialogue, and miss it.

I agree that we need to see a return to the dialogue we once had with companions. I would also like to see the little colored triangle above their heads for some of those conversations as well. It gives a better opportunity to change the environment if needed.

I do believe we are seeing some positive change in direction. IMO ... Hearts and Minds is a reflection of what you are talking about.

So, there are 3 reasons I have faith in Keith, from a story perspective.

 

1. Majority of fans hated Zakuul and wanted to get back to Imp vs Rep. We're getting Onslaught.
   
2. Darth Malgus was never meant to die in the original False Emperor. The original dev team stated they always intended to bring him back (before EA fired or ran off all the Class Story advocate devs), and Malgus was brought back under Keith's direction, righting a wrong.
   

 

But from a story standpoint, I am seeing things that lead me to believe this game is going in the right direction. They may integrate class story into the main one (which is fine - better than nothing), but it would be good to use companions to define your characters further through your adventures with them, as per vanilla.

 

 

That said, I fully support a pass to fix companions. I love the environmental dialogue, and miss it.

You have given me hope:)

So, there are 3 reasons I have faith in Keith, from a story perspective.

 

1. Majority of fans hated Zakuul and wanted to get back to Imp vs Rep. We're getting Onslaught.
   
2. Darth Malgus was never meant to die in the original False Emperor. The original dev team stated they always intended to bring him back (before EA fired or ran off all the Class Story advocate devs), and Malgus was brought back under Keith's direction, righting a wrong.
   

 

But from a story standpoint, I am seeing things that lead me to believe this game is going in the right direction. They may integrate class story into the main one (which is fine - better than nothing), but it would be good to use companions to define your characters further through your adventures with them, as per vanilla.

 

 

That said, I fully support a pass to fix companions. I love the environmental dialogue, and miss it.

Considering that we had time and resources put toward a NiM Operation for the sole reason that Keith (and I guess his guild) wanted it in the game, followed by ham-fisted attempts to force people to play that NiM to get gear/mats, I don't have the same faith in him you do.

In the past two years we've had minimal story and very lackluster companion returns that have sometimes completely avoided all continuity and established story for the characters. When people asked for 'class flavor' they responded by putting class-specific NPCs in Nathema, and killing off every single one of them. How many NPCs did we lose in that little bloodbath? 20?

We've had numerous attempts to gate gear behind group activities only (ie, the 258 weapons) and Oricon Part II (Iokath's story ending in an Op).

We now have characters that are supposed to be the galaxy's leaders and are reduced to meeting with droids in a bar to get their next mission.

So I really don't have much faith that 6.0 is going to be anything more than the same old, more characters dead, and more frustration. I hope I'm wrong. I've been reading the Stuff We Can't Talk About Too and it has not left me with the same hope.

Considering that we had time and resources put toward a NiM Operation for the sole reason that Keith (and I guess his guild) wanted it in the game, followed by ham-fisted attempts to force people to play that NiM to get gear/mats, I don't have the same faith in him you do.

 

In the past two years we've had minimal story and very lackluster companion returns that have sometimes completely avoided all continuity and established story for the characters. When people asked for 'class flavor' they responded by putting class-specific NPCs in Nathema, and killing off every single one of them. How many NPCs did we lose in that little bloodbath? 20?

 

We've had numerous attempts to gate gear behind group activities only (ie, the 258 weapons) and Oricon Part II (Iokath's story ending in an Op).

 

We now have characters that are supposed to be the galaxy's leaders and are reduced to meeting with droids in a bar to get their next mission.

 

So I really don't have much faith that 6.0 is going to be anything more than the same old, more characters dead, and more frustration. I hope I'm wrong. I've been reading the Stuff We Can't Talk About Too and it has not left me with the same hope.

Then we just want different things from the game.

Just as a point of reference, I believe Keith took over about 1 year and 3 months ago or thereabouts. And giving that I told you that it takes about a year or so for plans to come to fruition in an MMO, much of your complaints are actually the fault of the producer before Keith.

You are complaining about gear yet they are completely overhauling it in onslaught.

And besides my hopes are from a story perspective. Before I preemptively whine I want to actually play how the system they Envision works.

Then we just want different things from the game.

 

Just as a point of reference, I believe Keith took over about 1 year and 3 months ago or thereabouts. And giving that I told you that it takes about a year or so for plans to come to fruition in an MMO, much of your complaints are actually the fault of the producer before Keith.

 

You are complaining about gear yet they are completely overhauling it in onslaught.

 

And besides my hopes are from a story perspective. Before I preemptively whine I want to actually play how the system they Envision works.

You didn't need to tell me how long things take - I do know how games work all on my own, you know.

Keith has been here a bit longer than that, AFAIK, just after or before Iokath was released in spring 2017. At least two years. They did scrap Season Three of KOTET under the last guy, but the shoddy companion returns appear to have been done after that. The fact that the NiM was put in the game solely because he wanted it was confirmed at one of the dev livestreams or talks - the others said that they weren't even going to do it.

Which isn't to bash him at all but to say that I don't have faith that compelling story is at the forefront of the devs' goals in any way, evidenced by the near-complete lack of it.

What I want from the game is rich and consistent story, content that is inclusive of all play styles, and companion interactions. What we've received in the game since 2017 has been a handful of very inconsistent story shoehorned into flashpoints and two-minute companion returns, plus characters getting killed off left and right.

Other than Copero and Hearts & Minds here's thus been nothing that I've seen in the past two years, under the current leadership, that makes me feel at all hopeful. As I said, I hope 6.0 will be wonderful and make me eat my words, but I'd be very surprised if it's not another bloodbath that only includes companions so they can be killed off, and throws the PC into yet another bizarre situation.

You didn't need to tell me how long things take - I do know how games work all on my own, you know.

 

Keith has been here a bit longer than that, AFAIK, just after or before Iokath was released in spring 2017. At least two years. They did scrap Season Three of KOTET under the last guy, but the shoddy companion returns appear to have been done after that. The fact that the NiM was put in the game solely because he wanted it was confirmed at one of the dev livestreams or talks - the others said that they weren't even going to do it.

 

Which isn't to bash him at all but to say that I don't have faith that compelling story is at the forefront of the devs' goals in any way, evidenced by the near-complete lack of it.

 

What I want from the game is rich and consistent story, content that is inclusive of all play styles, and companion interactions. What we've received in the game since 2017 has been a handful of very inconsistent story shoehorned into flashpoints and two-minute companion returns, plus characters getting killed off left and right.

 

Other than Copero and Hearts & Minds here's thus been nothing that I've seen in the past two years, under the current leadership, that makes me feel at all hopeful. As I said, I hope 6.0 will be wonderful and make me eat my words, but I'd be very surprised if it's not another bloodbath that only includes companions so they can be killed off, and throws the PC into yet another bizarre situation.

I would also keep in mind that there are a number of things going on...

1. a major update in the works (that does not happen over night ... More than likely several months in the planning let alone actual production.

2. Changing directions is not easy. But doable. IMO ... I was OK with KotFE / ET... but at some point in time it was going to come to an end. The most logical answer to "what next" would be a return to another conflict of Republic vs Empire. IMO... in that context comes another question: [ note: please.. respectfully requesting for everyone to save the debate for this topic for a separate thread]... What about the Alliance. IMO... it will eventually need to either change or simply fall by the way side .. and the commander moves on to another chapter in their life ( one way or another). Transitioning can be tricky. We've already seen a brutally abrupt way to demonstrate how NOT to do it... I'd prefer to see how this team does things before being overly critical.

3. The only things that I have seen that throws up a caution flags ..... (and frankly I have no idea who was behind these sections ) those might be:

A. From Iokath on most if not all companions were bricked (aka turned into blocks of wood) with no options to include an other companion in the story.

B. Tau was not only the central character in JUS ... but the ONLY companion that was even playable during the story (as far as I could tell). This follows the same format as a traitor among the Chiss. Still very similar to "A" .. probably more line an extension of that idea.

Bottom line is that for the most part almost all of our companions are blocks of wood that we have little to no real interactions with.

As far as I can ascertain from OP ... this is the whole point. And if I understand their point through out the remainder of this thread.. they are making this point and a request with the understanding that it is their that the team under it's current administration and guidance is capable and up to the task.

I agree with their point of view ... save one point. Just exactly how many "suggestions" will be taken from the players and turned into a part of the game ?

1. PvP areas ?

2. Companions ?

3. Content ?

4. Crafting ?

5. Gear acquisition ?

6. New Class introduction ? (yes !! Not only is it possible .... but this might be the single best time in a log time to do it !!! )

7. Game mechanics ?

8. Strong Holds ?

9. ???

Keep in mind this is just a short list. BUT !! IMO .. if the right people want it bad enough it can and WILL happen !

I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings, but I think over the years, and the lack of companion development is a clear answer by BW as to how they see this. It is too expensive to produce, it is a lot easier and more profitable to just keep adding reskinned junk to the CM. The whales keep buying it, and there is little to zero effort.

I really don't have much confidence in them bring back or expanding on existing companion stories, or even new ones. If I were you, I would expect more of that crap "kotor" text based conversations rather then actual voiced, quality content

[*]Darth Malgus was never meant to die in the original False Emperor. The original dev team stated they always intended to bring him back (before EA fired or ran off all the Class Story advocate devs), and Malgus was brought back under Keith's direction, righting a wrong.

Have you got a source for he was never meant to die? Fact is, he did die, Bringing him back is not "righting a wrong". It is simply lazy. He should have stayed dead.

Companions - There HAS to be a better way than this to get them talking again

Me: So, Iresso. Long time no see.

Iresso: ...

Me: Something wrong?

Iresso: ...

Me: Are you still down because of that whole computer-in-your-brain thing or whatever? That was ages ago.

Iresso: ...

Me: Can't you hold a normal conversation like everyone else? What's wrong, light saber got your tongue?

Iresso: ...

Me: Fine. [Whips out holocommunicator] Hey Scorpio?

Scorpio: [appears on holocommunicator] You are interrupting my re-integration with Iokath. This had better be important.

Me: You can get back to that later. Right now, report to the hangar bay on Odessen, and bring your...toys. I need you to get Iresso talking.

Scorpio: Not worthwhile, but may prove interesting nonetheless. On my way. [cuts off holocommunicator]

Iresso: I'm talking! I'm talking! See? All talk! I can talk! Yadda yadda! TALKING!

Have you got a source for he was never meant to die? Fact is, he did die, Bringing him back is not "righting a wrong". It is simply lazy. He should have stayed dead.

In a way I agree... In a way I don't

IMO ... it's ... well it's Star Wars. Bringing something to life (more or less) after death. It's not a novel concept..

Heck.. they did the same thing on B-5 YEARS ago....

As far as the whole good/bad thing goes... we could debate that from now until they turn the lights out on SWTOR and it would never be conclusive.

Me ... I'm more or less somewhat dispassionate with the "back from the dead" Darth Malgus. Could be better .. could be a lot worse !

Me: So, Iresso. Long time no see.

Iresso: ...

Me: Something wrong?

Iresso: ...

Me: Are you still down because of that whole computer-in-your-brain thing or whatever? That was ages ago.

Iresso: ...

Me: Can't you hold a normal conversation like everyone else? What's wrong, light saber got your tongue?

Iresso: ...

Me: Fine. [Whips out holocommunicator] Hey Scorpio?

Scorpio: [appears on holocommunicator] You are interrupting my re-integration with Iokath. This had better be important.

Me: You can get back to that later. Right now, report to the hangar bay on Odessen, and bring your...toys. I need you to get Iresso talking.

Scorpio: Not worthwhile, but may prove interesting nonetheless. On my way. [cuts off holocommunicator]

Iresso: I'm talking! I'm talking! See? All talk! I can talk! Yadda yadda! TALKING!

[/animated ROFL emote]

Nicely done !

[Hmmm what happens if we juice "Iresso" with 220v ??? ]

I have a suggestion. Give all level 70 characters a quest which says,""Running the Alliance has exhausted you. Go to your starship and take a nap". You click on your bed in your ship. Cutscene of you laying down. Screen goes blank. Next scene: your character wakes up screaming. Your companions come running to make sure you are not being murdered.. You realize you just woke up from a nightmare.

Nothing from Shadow of Revan onward actually happened.

I have a suggestion. Give all level 70 characters a quest which says,""Running the Alliance has exhausted you. Go to your starship and take a nap". You click on your bed in your ship. Cutscene of you laying down. Screen goes blank. Next scene: your character wakes up screaming. Your companions come running to make sure you are not being murdered.. You realize you just woke up from a nightmare.

 

Nothing from Shadow of Revan onward actually happened.

Lmao.