Followers in Skyrim

[sinnerman69]

When I get tired of lazy talkative companions I turn to conjuration spell's like Conjure Dremora Lord

[Promiser]

Promiser, I think the reason that Hadvar and Ralof don't free you immediately, even though it seems logical that they would, is to prevent you from wandering around Helgen while Alduin is attacking. By keeping you absolutely helpless and unable to interact with anything the developers insure that you'll be in the right place to escape the city. With nothing else to do but follow Ralof, initially, you'll follow him. The game then channels you to the point at which you'll get the option to follow Hadvar, instead, but he still won't free you until you're inside the keep.

 

This is just the developers attempting to make this quest "people-proof", and I don't see any other way they could have done this and still give you a good view of the destruction that Alduin was causing all around you.

 

In response to this... I still think this is a pretty lame cop out. If you play through that scene again, there is nowhere you can go that having access to your hands would let you escape. The only problem I see with it is somebody declaring a war of attrition on Alduin. And if you can kill Alduin with a level one spell, at level one, with no armor, then more power to you, but it would have been just as easy to Have the players not start with the spells from *censored* and put them in that first room (In one of those chests in the barracks or on the table next to Gunjar). That solution would force you to punch Alduin to death, and I'm almost certain that would be impossible. Even for a Khajiit.

[Ragicka]

All I expect from followers:

 

1. Don't die.

I started the game with Lydia who very quickly turned me off the whole idea of followers. I was expecting her to back me up but somehow I ended up being her body guard. Which was made all the more difficult since she insists on getting in the way of my shots. After finishing an epic battle, she almost always gets killed. Reload.

 

2. Don't kill me.

I always end up with arrows, ice spikes etc in the back of my head. And how many times have I been crouched at the top of a chasm when Lydia comes charging up from behind and knocks me off the edge? I'm beginning to think Lydia wants me dead. Reload.

 

3. Carry my stuff.

And no attitude. That's the least I can expect. "What's that Hopalong? Hold onto this loot and wait over there, way over there." But be careful what you give her. I made the mistake of handing over a staff of chain lightening. Never again. Good guys, bad guys. Chickens. No one was spared. Reload.

[Promiser]

Good guys, bad guys. Chickens. No one was spared. Reload.

 

I laugh for probably 10 minuets straight at this. I made the mistake of giving J'Zargo a Staff of Fireballs. "Oh a table covered in small valuable items that you'll never find if they're moved? Here, let me hit that with a fireball."

[ladygothica]

i hated using followers at the beginning, but now i play on hardest settings, with more spawns and deadly dragons, i have followers, but only my own that i made, that way i know what they can do/http://forums.nexusmods.com/public/style_emoticons/dark/thumbsup.gif

[gsmanners]

If you play Dragon Age: Origins, you'll see a game designed with companions in mind. And even in that excellent game, they get damned annoying sometimes. In Skyrim, your followers are obviously (again) a distant afterthought that they put almost no effort into. You didn't honestly expect them to be enjoyable, did you?

[Perraine]

If you play Dragon Age: Origins, you'll see a game designed with companions in mind. And even in that excellent game, they get damned annoying sometimes. In Skyrim, your followers are obviously (again) a distant afterthought that they put almost no effort into. You didn't honestly expect them to be enjoyable, did you?

 

I loved DA:2 for that ... If you take control of one of your companions, the main PC will almost always make the comment "We do an awful lot of walking" ... And their was one female companion (who shall remain nameless) who made a very quick, quite comment about you (the player) "touching" her ... Lol ...

 

Oh and as far as Lydia dying all the time goes ... The console and "setessential" is all you need ... Though she has gotten better now that she actually levels properly (sort of) As one of the first NPC's you meet in Skyrim, the poor girl was stuck at level 3 or 5 or something before Bugthesda fixed her, so have a heart!

[DreamKingMods]

The thing about Skyrim is, there's not much sense that anyone is aware of what you're doing, or what you have done. And by default, the vanilla followers only make that feeling worse. Take Mjoll along on a Thieves Guild quest? No problem! Talk to Aela after just helping Farkas cure his lycanthropy? No response! In my first Skyrim playthrough, I found that the followers really dulled the drama of the game's storylines due to their lack of reactions to player choices. Which is a shame, because there are a lot of interesting gray areas that the follower characters could comment on.

 

That's why when I decided to make a follower mod, rather than making a new follower from scratch, I picked one of the vanilla followers who I thought should have the most to say--Aela--and have been trying to give her voice to say the things I thought her character would say.

[scottmack]

I made the mistake of handing over a staff of chain lightening. Never again. Good guys, bad guys. Chickens. No one was spared. Reload.

 

I found that utterly hilarious, a good laugh was had.

 

That's why when I decided to make a follower mod, rather than making a new follower from scratch, I picked one of the vanilla followers who I thought should have the most to say--Aela--and have been trying to give her voice to say the things I thought her character would say.

I just found you Aela mod I think I'll be using her along with Atvir Dres from now on :thumbsup:

[Ragicka]

I laugh for probably 10 minuets straight at this. I made the mistake of giving J'Zargo a Staff of Fireballs. "Oh a table covered in small valuable items that you'll never find if they're moved? Here, let me hit that with a fireball."

Ah yes, J'Zargo. "Here, test these fire scrolls out." he says. :facepalm:

 

 

I made the mistake of handing over a staff of chain lightening. Never again. Good guys, bad guys. Chickens. No one was spared. Reload.

 

I found that utterly hilarious, a good laugh was had.

 

 

 

I kid about Lydia, really. She's awesome but I keep her at home now. Followers are very useful especially at the start of the game. They distract enemies and they alert me to danger. I agree that more immersive and topical dialog would be nice but wondering about the scripting that would have to go into that. Not to mention the voice acting. It sounds like a big job but I'm sure it can be done.

 

Another feature I'd like to see more of is facial expressions. The best follower mod I found, so far, is Willow. Besides the fact that she's unkillable and levels with the player. She also displays a range of emotions that surprises me. Happy, angry, sometimes she looks like she's going to cry. I've never seen this in other followers. Unfortunately, the author pulled the mod. Which is a shame because he/she did an excellent job.

 

Another feature I'd like to see are additional commands like set up camp, cook dinner, take a break, scratch my back...