I find it surprising that after all this time (since Morrowind), bethesda still find it hard to make decent Followers.

Now Skyrim`s Followers aren`t that bad, probably the best default Followers... I like how they make little comments like `Oh look a cave` and `I don`t like this...` and you can tell them to do certain things (although sometimes they won`t for no reason).

But there are still Mod Followers i`ve used that I`ll never forget because they do so much more and are much more immersive both in Oblivion and FO3.

I still can`t forget one companion Follower who had multiple speech responses to all kinds of things. She fought sensibly and didn`t just run into the middle of a fight. She properly integrated into most parts of the game to the point you thought Bethesda made it. You put her in sneak mode she stayed in sneak mode, even when waiting (which Skyrim`s Followers fail at).

I dunno, but Bethesda should by now be showing what they can really do with Followers instead of giving us mere shells of bag carriers.

Just saying.

p.s. Forgive my typos..

So use the followers from the mods if you like them more.Thats what mods are for.

I had Erandur as a follower for awhile and he would make comments about the cities I went to and had unique things to say about forts/caves that had to do with his past. Maybe certain followers are just more open about that kind of stuff than others?

I think his point is that Bethesda should have made followers on the caliber of mod followers. If the previous game's followers were worse than mod followers, and Skyrim is supposed to be an improvement upon the form, then why not make followers that are on-par with mod followers from Oblivion/Morrowind? As it is, Skyrim followers are somewhere in-between - better than Vanilla Oblivion followers, but much, much worse than mod Oblivion followers.

There aren`t any really good ones yet. But rest assured, when the Kit is released, we`ll start seeing them.

But that isn`t the point. The point is Bethesda should`ve done better with Followers now considering what they know Modders can do and knowing their program best of every one. FPSframe 52 understands.

Yes that is the point, that after all these years they didn't take a hint. well barely, see because you can "tell" your followers do do things like pick up items or sit or sleep or even wait etc etc, whats the problem? they don't stay, why did they get up out of a chair or bed when you're out of command mode? meh a novel fix is in order.

The mods have the luxury of being able to focus solely on creating a follower using pre established tools. To build one from the ground up along with everything else in the game is a bit tougher than some think.

Wasn't there a companion mod written by Terry Pratchett? Not surprised it's not up to par with that tbh.
I agree with your point though.

If Bethesda had to do all the things people here want to see in the game, it would have taken them ten years to complete it and the game would have been a lot more expensive. Followers are just unimportant.

Seriously? That would be so cool.

I can just see the headline:

SKRYIM: FOREVER

Coming Soon^TM

I agree with the OP. There's progress, for sure. But there's still much work to be done. For one, let the followers ride horses, Beth. Dang. Two, let us have more than one follower. It's not game breaking or a terrible thing to have two or three. Have some areas with five or six wolves instead of just two or three, if that's the concern.

Sometimes I'll run into the companions out and about, and I'll follow with them for a bit until they instantly teleport back to Jorrvaskr, a mere fifteen seconds. Then I sigh and continue on with what I was doing originally. The civil war questline was nice, getting to fight with a group (whichever side chosen). And the main quest has a brief but excellent moment of a group outing.

MOAR BETH! MOAR! Tehehe.

(I gotz planz for the CK)

I'd say less important, instead of unimportant.

I feel like they specifically left the companions simple for two reasons: first because it would have been a crap ton of work to make them ALL sophisticated and exciting as well as add more dialog which would fill up the game, as well as they wanted to leave room for modders.

Never did use Vilja myself, only saw videos, but it was stuff like that which would have been amazing.

Has anyone here used Vilja, what did you think of her?

For those who doesn't know who Vilja is, take a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gb0H-jN6OiM.

Once again, it's a case of Bethesda improving greatly upon the original but the fanbase saying it's not good enough.

As someone already pointed out, it's a lot easier to mod a game than it is to build a game from scratch. Modders have the luxury of having all the coding done and written at their disposal. Bethesda had to spend years writing it. Modders can concentrate solely on one specific game mechanic and area of play. Bethesda had to build the entire game. Modders have the luxury of the community offering them specific advice and suggestions after hundreds of hours of gameplay in a complete game world. Bethesda started the game five years ago, and could not discuss specifics without releasing key elements of the story and gameplay, which would have ruined the experience for many gamers. They also had to design many things for the game without having a complete game world to test them initially.

Same could be said about those house DLCs and basically most (if not all) of the DLCs Bethesda makes nowadays.

I think it has to do more with Bethesda giving a short amount of time to complete a project and definitely money.

Well sure, if they spent another two years on Skyrim I'm sure it would be more fleshed out. But comparing it to Oblivion, the followers are pretty damn good IMO.

This is probably it. The problem is that it becomes a two edged sword with Bethesda leaving stuff out because `modders will do it`.

It`s one reason why we have no 1st person view on horseback, I think.

However, i do understand that Followers made by Modders have the advantge of time and love in the making of them- Modders are not ruled by making money.

Excellent! I hope her author makes a companion mod for Skyrim too. She had her own horse too, so you could still ride while you ahd her with you.

Also Willow for New Vegas was excellent. Actual characters with background stories, quests and personality.

Aha, cool then, I heard she spoke over 3000 lines of dialog, pretty amazing. Had something unique to say for almost every place and quest in the game?

As for New Vegas, even that had some pretty good companions out of the box, each with a backstory and their own personal quest.
Even something as being able to tell your companion which kinda of combat style they should use would have been useful in Skyrim.

Other than the mods, did Oblivion even have followers? I don't remember any.

New Vegas did a great job with followers. Shame Bethesda didn't take notes.

^ Pretty much this. Commercial ventures have budgets and deadlines and shareholders to appease. I'm grateful Bethesda works with the modding community.

Completing guild questlines in Oblivion rewarded one with followers, but Skyrim makes them common early on.

My point was if followers are your thing no matter what Bethesda does mods will focus on it.

I usually play as a lone wanderer me against the world type so it is not a huge deal.Luckily you have mods that will "fix" this for you.