Star Wars: The Old Republic is the A.I. companion that each player will receive

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One of the most intriguing features of Star Wars: The Old Republic is the A.I. companion that each player will receive. In a new developer blog, BioWare's William Wallace explained how these companions have undergone changes through testing.

At first, companions were completely autonomous. They did their own thing and players had no say over them whatsoever. However, in time BioWare realized that players wanted some control over these characters, just as - for example - a hunter controls his pet in World of Warcraft.

Companions, therefore, have a series of A.I. toggles. You can leave them at their default settings if you'd rather not micromanage. However, more advanced players will have the ability to fine-tune their companions' behavior in a variety of ways. Here are some example provided by Wallace:

• Players may choose to disable some area-of-effect abilities when using crowd control or when fighting tough single enemies.
• Players may activate special modes or stances for their companion, causing them to focus more on damage or tanking, or on a single target versus groups of enemies.
• Players may want to manually activate buffs and powerful special abilities on long cooldowns, as opposed to letting the companion pick when to use their most powerful attacks.

Companions will be formidable enough allies to stand in for other players if needed. For example, let's say you're doing a 4-player Flashpoint (a group adventure) and someone leaves. In most MMO's, that might bring the run to a screeching halt. However, in Old Republic, one of the players in the party can summon their companions in order to fill out the group.

"But don’t start dreaming about conquering the galaxy with an army of companions at your side just yet – Star Wars: The Old Republic is a massively multiplayer game, and as such it is a social experience as much as it is a story-driven BioWare role-playing game," said Wallace. "While the majority of content in the game can be mastered by a player and their companion, some group content is a different matter. Flashpoints often require human coordination to successfully overcome challenges."