Trid: I prefer to have some kind of party in most of the games, the problem with Skyrim for me is (and the whole Elder Scroll) that companion are pain when you play sneaky character, so in the end, it depends what type of character I play.
This hit the nail on the head for me. i virtually use "sneak" mode 100% of the time outside the cities. WAY too often the companions are just fully incompetent at sneaking or insist on melee when you want to range, get hit with your spells,arrows etc. (one truly annoying "feature" of Skyrim is that companions almost always seem to square up in front of you while fighting enemies, almost as if they are trying to SHIELD those enemies from your attacks)
That said though, I did have a lot of fun with some of the companion mods " Vilja in skyrim" comes with a whole series of questline. Then there is the Drow woman that I can't recall the name of, she's really bitchy and sort of mean to you, even though she is a love interest, I enjoyed her a lot as well. When fighting with these companions, you just have to adjust your play style (or make them some godlike +sneak gear)
And there is the option (at least with UFO, been using that so long I don't remember the base settings) to tell them to avoid combat.
