Am I the only one who found most of the factions in Skyrim lacking? Mostly the Companions, considering their history I think they could have gone into a much deeper story line involving the Falmer. When I play the companions I just feel like I am fighting guys who if I had the choice I would join because I don't really care for being a werewolf. I did not feel for any of the characters and it just felt....lacking.
I agree the silver hand just seemed unorganized and as you said just a group of bandits. The fight just did not seem important enough I guess. While the thieves guild was "epic' in its own rite, it didn't feel too much like a thieves guild. Not too much stealing, or any kind of blood price. Maybe I just miss Oblivion's factions.
I feel they went the wrong direction with the companions. When you look at the other guilds (mage, thieves, brotherhood, etc) they all delve into the history of their respective guilds (some more than others) but the companions barely touch on their lineage outside of a few dialogue options; you reassemble wuuthrad but thats almost an afterthought. The entire questline revolves around being a werewolf (as mentioned, this should have been optional) which itself has absolutely nothing to do with the history of the companions.
The first time i played skyrim i chose to play as a nord twohander (in the thematic spirit of the game) and immediately joined the companions thinking it was going to be a huge part of the game. The entire secondary storyline of skyrim is about the civil war, the stormcloaks fighting over religious freedom ultimately against the elven thalmor. This backdrop is the perfect setting for a companions quest line, Ysgramor and the 500 drive the elves out of skyrim and become nord heros, using the legendary Wuuthrad. They could have woven the guild quest line aroung the civil war and have really explored the history of skyrim and the companions, perhaps delving into the philosophical debate of whether the companions were truly heros or genocidal/wrong (centered around saarthal and the night of tears). Instead we get a quest line about the companions being werewolves and debating if it's a curse or not (is this the hunter's guild now?).
I always felt there should have been a seperate quest line for lycanthropy (hello hunting guild!) and the companions should have been about the history of skyrim and the nord people.
P.S.
And why not include Yngol's tomb (and helm) into the quest line...and if i recall you dont even visit windhelm during the quest line, the city allegedly built by ysgramor himself (see how the civil war could have been tied in well?)
So very dissapointing
honestly, not using the lunar forge for anything (hell, the enchant doesn't even work on PC) is bad judgement...and not incorporating it into a werewolf storyline is borderline criminal. I didn't even think about it but you're totally correct, it could have been an excellent addition.
The Comapnions home is built around the skyforge (don't get me started on them not creating a storyline that includes this awesome bit of lore) and the companion's arch enemy, the silverhand, could have built their fortress around the lunar forge and used it's special properties to make them the best werewolf hunter's in Tamriel. INstead it's just some random forge in the middle of nowhere that is never mentioned and doesn't even work due to a bug.
Loved the comapions just hated being forced to be werewolf and even after your cured of lycanthropy guards still say about fur from your ears which is annoying and I thought there would have been better rewards like yrsgramors armor or something but no but other than that the companions are cool and I recreated kodlaks face perfectly on my char using a website its aweome!
The companions are my favorite faction because they are the only faction where you can actually be a member without getting involved in they're quest line.
[SPOILERS] You can just recover the fragment of Wuuthrad with Farkas and forget about them. They wont put another Quest in your "things to do" list as long as you don't acept any jobs.
The same thing is impossible with the thieves guild, or the brotherhood, or the college. You can't just become a member of those factions without hunting down the guild's traitor, finding a psijic ghost in a dungeon or becoming the Listener.[SPOILERS]
That's kinda useful when joining a faction fits your character's RP, but getting involved in it's main quest don't.
I agree, you can feel the power of being Guild Master with Thieves Guild. You get all types of merchants, a fence, friends, trainers, a strong base and all crafting tools near you. Also you get respected at least, unlike Companions. Dark Brotherhood is also good but meh 'not-so-great'.
Companions is the longest for me. You wait for them to talk, wait for Vilkas to walk punch him one or two times talk to him, take his sword to Eorleund and also talk to him and then give Aela her shield then walk with Farkas... Even DB is more short. Kill the beach, fast travel and talk to boy, go to inn, sleep for a hour, done.
The companions were okay in the sense that they were the Skyrim replacement of the Fighter's guild but the storyline sucked. It was all about wiping out the silver hand, who barely killed any werewolves and were just bandits, and curing Kodlak, which was simple and anti-climatic for the last quest in the storyline. The only good things were becoming a werewolf, for disease immunity mainly, and having access to 5 follower trainers and two others who were not all that good.
No, no and no again. When you enter the guild, they give you a job to steal a "honey farm" full of mercenaries, with will put you in your quest to find the traitor. About the brotherhood I i'm not sure with "guy" you are talking about. And about the college, you cast one spell, and they give you a mission to go to an Ancient Nord Dungeon in search of enchanted itens, with get yourself in the main quest.
As I said, you cannot just join them without getting another quest in your Active Quests list.
Of course, you can just ignore the College's one, but you will not me able to find the guy who teaches Alteration until you finish the quest.