You DO know that stories about werewolves and vampires were around hundreds of years before Twilight, right?

Double Burn! [censored] the pixies

not true , i did i think one quest and suddenly i go from a worm to a memebr of the circle.

The writing for progression in every guild is crap so it doesnt count

I think of it is Beth's way to paying tribute/homage to the popular Oblivion mod: CM Partners.

But you can't get by the choice to do any more missions.

What? I can still do missions after i remove the wolfiness. Aela, Vilkas, and Farkas still give out Contracts

This, but as I seldom play 'Evil' I've only done the DB with one character.

The Companions are hired werewolf thugs, beating people up for money and saving peoples tails (for money) if they get in trouble. Apparently the root of their honor is being paid to do your dirty work.

I agree, I wasn't impressed with them and equally hated the WW part.

I think Trebor meant that you must opt into Lycanthropy in order to finish out the main questline. If you don't, it gets stopped in its tracks. After it's done, yeah, you can cure yourself and continue on with radiant quests forever, but you can't bypass the beast blood and just be a "junior" member indefinitely. I've tried to put it off as long as possible by doing whatever random jobs I can get from Farkas and Vilkas, but sooner or later nobody will give me any work until I talk to Aela and when I do I get co-opted into her vendetta against the Silver Hand.

oh ok, you dont have to use the lycan beats mode so it really should not be a problem

I've never had a problem with it, I don't think I ever used Beast Form except by accident, lol, and I always cured myself as soon as I could get around to it. I've never had an objection to it on "moral" grounds because it's something my PC can choose to use or not, and I don't have to commit any heinous (IMO) acts in order to survive as a werewolf, like I feel I would if I were a vampire. I still don't like that I can't spend more time working my way up to the point where I'm actually invited to join the Circle, but I think that happens when it does because the Proving Honor quest exposes their little secret to the PC and as far as Aela and Skjor are concerned you either have to join then or else. But you don't seem to get a lot of time to work your way up to Proving Honor either, I think the most radiant quests I've ever gotten prior to that is two or three.

Thats what mercenaries are in real life....
Minus the WW...

> The Companions are hired werewolf thugs, beating people up for money and saving peoples tails (for money) if they get in trouble.

That's also what the Fighter's Guild does.

(Unless you're in Morrowind, in which case they also kill townspeople and government officials who are inconvenient to their criminal masters; I can't see the Companions being willing to go that route.)

This go round I actually enjoyed the Hired Muscle quest as my target was Belethor. How I enjoyed beating the crap out of him!

My first time with that quest I didn't like it because the target was Hod and that character followed Ralof out of Helgen.

Overall I look at the Companions as a bunch of overrated thugs. "Let's raise our mugs and sing of our great deeds...of beating up peasants and townspeople!"

If I'd known I could beat up Belethor and get away with it - AND GET PAID! - I would've kept reloading until I got the opportunity.

Instead I had to go beat up Mjoll. And she's always so sweet!

Speaking of creeps, I met Sibbi Black-Briar for the first time last night. OH DEAR LORD. "Well heelloooo there. I can always make time for the lay-deez..."

So yeah I made him give me the key to the Black-Briar stash and then I went and ratted him and Louis out to Maven and then I went and got Frost and while I was there I killed all her mercenaries and took their nice armor and stole all the gold from the strongbox. I have a mod that lets me "brand" any horse as mine, so Frost should no longer register as Stolen... but I still don't know how much trouble I'm in and I don't care because I think I just managed to double-cross two Black-Briars at the same time, so: lulz.

I liked the wolf bit, it created a political rift in the Circle.

I agree, but they keep talking about honor. Why? Some of them (the new bloods) are pretty straight forward about it. They get paid, they beat up or kill things. But the Circle are all talk about honor and tradition and Ysgramor this and that. But then even Aela says that the Companions show up to solve problems ... if the money is right.

I guess you could say they are famous mercenaries. But I really don't see where all the honor is Kodlak talks about. Even the Arena in OB seemed to have more honor than these guys, let alone the OB Fighters Guild.

I think part of the "honor" thing is that when they go to solve a problem, they meet it head on in broad daylight (figuratively speaking) with a weapon drawn and no subterfuge. They're not sneaking around in the dark waiting to stab someone in the back who never saw it coming.

And also because the things they are doing are, by the custom and laws of the time, perfectly acceptable and certainly legal. Rescuing someone who has been kidnapped by criminals, cleaning out a den of criminals, cleaning out a den of wild animals that are attacking travelers... they may be doing them for money but they are things that should be done and need to be done. As for the Hired Muscle quests, unarmed brawling is clearly an acceptable way of settling a dispute according to Nord tradition, it's pretty obvious nobody sees it as dishonorable under any circumstances.

The Companions are not accepting money to go commit the murders of random people who just happen to have made an enemy with the right connections. That to them would be dishonorable.

It makes me giggle when they go on about how I bring glory and honor to the Companions, blah blah blah, and ends the little speech with a greedy "and GOLD!"

Agreed. The way Vilkas says that is especially hilarious.

The thing that was a let down about The Companions was the length of the questline :/

I don't understand why people hate the fact that they are werewolves, I thought that was cool, having said that I do think they should have had two branches for that questline, one where you become a werewolf, and another where you do not. I also liked how you find out about their secret early on, but I think it should have taken more time before you become a werewolf.

To me it's more about the pacing. They should have had the Silver Hand striking at you a few times before you found out that the reasons they target the Companions is because they're werewolves. And I agree that there should be separate questlines for becoming a werewolf or not.

That is a cool idea, they should have done that, have the Silver Hand attack you a few times before you know they are werewolves, so you have to put the pieces together and figure it out. I think they could still let you figure out they are werewolves, and have Kodlak die so you become Harbinger, but change some other stuff around for that questline.

Speaking of the Silver Hand attacking, when the Silver Hand attack Jorrvaskr and kill Kodlak, do none of the other Companions who do not know about the Circle being werewolves question why the Silver Hand, who are werewolf hunters, are attacking Jorrvaskr? TO me this would be a dead give away and the Circle would be exposed to pretty much everyone.

I don't "hate" it.... I just think it was ill-advised to make this sort of "thou MUST" imperative part of a faction questline. I don't myself play weres or vamps - sorry, just NOT my thing, never has been never will be. So finding out early on my first toon that in order to actually complete one of the major faction questlines required me to go somewhere not ever in my choosing (no, I don't care that it can be "cured" later, that's not the point) was a huge letdown.