Originally posted by Kirshak:

In my opinion, this game really need some companions. Just having other warriors with a basic snap system that allow them to just instant sit or stand up on our boats, or teleport to our location if too far away (like using the Portals). Or maybe it is just me desperate for some company. Even if it's just one or two companion maximum, I think it's going to be an amazing addition, especially for the ones that build beautiful houses and camps. I have seen too many communities rise and fall, each time I log into our servers were we've spent days gathering and building our camps, and see it deserted it makes me sad. And ultimately the server shuts down, as there is no point in renting anymore.

Those NPCs could have a simple predefined set of classes, like warrior (sword+ shield) or archer (bow+ arrows). Or a more advanced RPG like system, allowing us player to decide what those NPCs will wear and thus define what role they are going to be. Creatures path finding is really good now, wolves and enemies can use stairs and enter our buildings, so I don't think having those NPCs stuck somewhere is a problem. If the terrain is not transformed in sharp cliff of course.

However, now that I writing those lines, each time I find an abandoned village, I think of those as our camps, were players used to gather and have a vibrant life in there, before vanishing into nothingness.

Yea from my experience the human companions that you can play with tend to have terrible AI.