Companion characters have been a constant presence in BioWare games for as long as I can remember, and IGN confirmed the presence of companions in Star Wars: The Old Republic in an interview with James Ohlen, lead designer of the Old Republic.
Much like in previous BioWare games, your first companion will come early on, and more will join as you progress. Based on the information BioWare provided, the player can also only travel with a limited number of his companions at the same time – reminiscent of recent titles by the company. All of this only makes me more hopeful for the Old Republic, strong characterisation and dialogue can only be good for the MMO genre!
James Ohlen provided three key examples of how companions contribute to the game; in conversation, in exploration and in combat. The first two cases are those of dialogue contributions by the companion, whereas the third is of course mechanical. All of this will sound very familiar to players of BioWare’s recent Dragon Age and Mass Effect RPG franchises. Again mimicking their own past products, BioWare is including a system to model a changing relationship with your companions, tentatively named the Affection system. As well as a standard “influence” model, Ohlen hinted that it may have ramifications regarding the light and dark sides of the Force.
However, there must of course be technical differences due to the unpausable multiplayer nature of an MMO. Ohlen accepted and agreed with this, stating that one manner in which the development team appear would be addressing it is by providing companions with clearly defined places within a party: “Each companion has a specific role, whether it be additional DPS, tanking, healing or crowd control.”
This design philosophy for companions is reinforced by the choices a player has in his companions, with each class having a different “stable”. Ohlen stressed that “the companions have been built to complement a class” so we shouldn’t see any players doubling up on buff bots or the like. This design seems promising to me, a blend of what BioWare does best in its singleplayer offerings with an understanding of the mechanics and necessities of a massively multiplayer environment.
Overall, I’m optimistic – BioWare have yet to disappoint, and they’re certainly talking the talk. Hopefully this fusion of player-centric narrative and massively multiplayer social structures will result in a true evolution of the MMO format. As always, feel free to disagree loudly in the comments.