http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/star-wars-the-old-republic/video/6336319/star-wars-the-old-republic--developer-dispatch-designing-companions-exclusive-video-1?tag=updates%3Beditor%3Ball%3Bimg%3B1

enjoy

edit: there is apparently an interview with james ohlen to go with it

http://www.gamespot.com/pc/rpg/star-wars-the-old-republic/news/6336121/star-wars-the-old-republic-updated-qanda-companions?sid=6336121&mode=previews&tag=gumballs;img;2

also companions no longer have any bonuses torwards crafting professions.

a post made by david bass over on torocast's forum:

We had always said that crafting bonuses on companions would be extremely minor so you wouldn't have to choose to leave a companion you loved behind just to get the bonus.

What we discovered in testing, was that people didn't care. Even if a companion only had a +1 to a crafting skill, players would almost universally leave them behind to get that minor bonus. That was not what we wanted...we wanted you to bring the companions you preferred to play with at all times.

Thus, bonuses were removed.
http://www.torocast.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=6066

    I can understand WHY they made the change to companion crafting bonuses, but I do wish they had not done it.  If someone decides to play a certain way, let them.  Don't neuter the game to try and change the way they play.  Other than that, I am very much looking forward to getting into the stories BioWare created for companion characters when my friends are not playing and I am stuck soloing.

He said the full game is in place and they're only tweaking/polishing/debuggining. Any idea what this says about release date?

This is one of those rare times for me when I feel my hype meter rising too much and have to make a concious effort to not get overy excited for this game.

Not sure what it was but from my first mmorpg I gained a special connection to the classes that used pets.  In SWG I went through the mind numbing grind to become a creature handler and it was one of those moments in a games life that you'll always look fondly on.

Since then I've always atleast tried every class that had a pet class in any mmo I played but have always also enjoyed the depth and ease with which BW implimented companion characters seeing an updated system similar to what I know from other BW games like Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age or Mass Effect is going to be a really good time.

Originally posted by nomss

He said the full game is in place and they're only tweaking/polishing/debuggining. Any idea what this says about release date?

not sure this needs to turn into another release date thread, but i would take it to mean that if their stress testing goes well(meaning beta weekends) that they will hit their target window

I think it means that they are on course to meet teh target date. providing testing goes well on the new build and test weekends to stress test go well. 

I also think this was a cool update especially the video on the companion characters. 

Stephen reid has stated that a investors conference the company had to take into effect all possibilities so all the doom and gloom aobut sayigh game could slip to 2012 had more to do wiht ea accounting for all possiblities and not anythign to actually do with testing in the first place.

Beta weekends didnt happen one after another because they got a new build ready to test earlier then expected in my eyes. so that was good also. 

I can't believe at the end of the video he left that Jawa companion behind. HOW COULD HE???? lol.

Given the amount of work behind every single companion, it makes me wonder that adding new companions is a tremendous, big undertaking, something that can't be done fast. While I don't want to discuss the topic at large, I must say it makes the promise to add "Same Gender romance" companions soon after launch a bit hard to believe.

Otherwise, I am glad so much work went into these companions, I think they are really a good idea.

Originally posted by Elikal

Given the amount of work behind every single companion, it makes me wonder that adding new companions is a tremendous, big undertaking, something that can't be done fast. While I don't want to discuss the topic at large, I must say it makes the promise to add "Same Gender romance" companions soon after launch a bit hard to believe.

Otherwise, I am glad so much work went into these companions, I think they are really a good idea.

Well every class is getting 5 companions. So I would think you would have both male and female companions already. So adding in the options may not be too bad, just a lot of VO to polish. Also, they could add a 6th companion to every class for late game, or a content pack that would add to your story.

It looks to be a fun ride with the story and these companions. It will be interesting to see how many skills each companion gets. It looked like the entire 12 bind spots were full for the companion. It will be nice to just set the skills you want for your companion and not have to worry about both your skills and theirs while fighting.

Nice thanks for the link!

Vette: "It doesn't even hurt anymore"  after being shocked so many times by the PC. 

*Sigh* looks like another alt i have to roll (Bounty Hunter) to get Blizz.

Looking better by the day, still not where I would like to see it though.

So it was great to see more about companions. I rewatched the video in HD and for those who think the graphics are sub par I highly recommend watching this video in as high a def as you can handle. This game is looking fantastic. You may or may not like the artistic style but this game is easily on par with other upcoming MMO releases in graphics quality.

Originally posted by dougmysticey

So it was great to see more about companions. I rewatched the video in HD and for those who think the graphics are sub par I highly recommend watching this video in as high a def as you can handle. This game is looking fantastic. You may or may not like the artistic style but this game is easily on par with other upcoming MMO releases in graphics quality.

   I will admit the companion system is interesting.Especially with a sassy chick with an attitude by your side.The voice ovbers seem to be the key to this game.However , the graphics even on full HD are extremely bland.I wouldn't even consider the gra[hics on par with alot of games out right now.Another thing I noticed is how stiff and generic the combat looks.Maybe that will change.But the graphics are not even as good as alot of triple A games out now.IDK , it does seem to be a good story driven game.But combat and graphically it looks very blah.Maybe its just me.

Originally posted by korndog22

Originally posted by dougmysticey

So it was great to see more about companions. I rewatched the video in HD and for those who think the graphics are sub par I highly recommend watching this video in as high a def as you can handle. This game is looking fantastic. You may or may not like the artistic style but this game is easily on par with other upcoming MMO releases in graphics quality.

 

   I will admit the companion system is interesting.Especially with a sassy chick with an attitude by your side.The voice ovbers seem to be the key to this game.However , the graphics even on full HD are extremely bland.I wouldn't even consider the gra[hics on par with alot of games out right now.Another thing I noticed is how stiff and generic the combat looks.Maybe that will change.But the graphics are not even as good as alot of triple A games out now.IDK , it does seem to be a good story driven game.But combat and graphically it looks very blah.Maybe its just me.

Ya its just you.

Grahpic is definitely coming a long way since the beginning.

Originally posted by Elikal

Given the amount of work behind every single companion, it makes me wonder that adding new companions is a tremendous, big undertaking, something that can't be done fast. While I don't want to discuss the topic at large, I must say it makes the promise to add "Same Gender romance" companions soon after launch a bit hard to believe.

Otherwise, I am glad so much work went into these companions, I think they are really a good idea.

I estimate that they'd have to add at least 16 more companion characters to the game to include SGRAs, that's a lot of companions.

I'm not sure how long we'd have to wait for SGRA companions after launch, it could be 6 months to a year if they start working on them after the game ships. However, I think it's very probable that they've already started working on them since at the moment they aren't creating new content for the game, just doing polishing, adjustments and bug fixes (for example, the writers have already finished all the writing they need to do for what will be released at launch. It's also why they are using the writers for media relations I think.) Hopefully, SGRAs will be in within the first six months.

Also, they have 5 companions per class so about 40 companions, that's a lot! I hope they add more conmpanions throughout the game's life.

Very nice. I'm very interested in how the tactics will play out. I definitely wanna get Blizz as a companion. Sand people FTW. The only thing that really bugged me was seeing space aliens wielding pseudo lightsabers & energy swords. Shouldn't they just have blasters? It didn't seem to make sense having a non-jedi tank with a lightsaber.

Oh wow, that was so awesome.

"It doesn't even hurt anymore!" *big bambi eyes*

Poor Vette! I honestly felt a surge of compassion by just watching that clip.

Crap ... I think I'll never be able to play an empire character with only Dark Side choices.

Also loved Blizz. The rocket launcher looks so cool on him.