Finding player crew for your multi-crew ship

[Esctasy]

Was wondering what everyone's opinion on this is.
If my math is correct, most players will have at least one multi-crew ship. Everyone will want to fly their ship, so who is left to crew?
$325M worth of ships exist, and there are years more to go, it's not unreasonable to assume 700M+ in ships by the time the game is released.
I realize there is 2.9M SC accounts, but I do not believe there are even close to 2.9M actual players. The verse will be so full of ships and not enough players to crew them.
So will most of these multi-crew ships be flown solo with npc? What's your take?

 

[Mich Angel]

Actually I've meet many Testies that are very comfortable just being a crew and some that actually prefer it.
Think we have a great mix of people that will easy fill most spots needed for any crew ship.
Sure I want to fly my ships but I jump on as crew to, equally enthusiastic...

And I have never had any problem to crew up a ship so far, or hesitated to jump on a ship as crew..
Get in voice chat and let peps know you intentions for the day, and there are always someone that tag along, I mean how's not up for some adventure.

So in short I say I see no problem with the multi crew, rather I seen the opposite.. and there are always a bunch around that like flying escort to..

Just ask and TESTies will merge, cause Test Squadron is Best Squadron.

CHEERS!


As a side note, how other org handle it I really don't care ha ha ha..

 

[StdDev]

You havent heard about our new Test Press Gang ?

 

[Bambooza]

Was wondering what everyone's opinion on this is.
If my math is correct, most players will have at least one multi-crew ship. Everyone will want to fly their ship, so who is left to crew?
$325M worth of ships exist, and there are years more to go, it's not unreasonable to assume 700M+ in ships by the time the game is released.
I realize there is 2.9M SC accounts, but I do not believe there are even close to 2.9M actual players. The verse will be so full of ships and not enough players to crew them.
So will most of these multi-crew ships be flown solo with npc? What's your take?

I have a feeling is going to be a mix of solo players with multi-crew NPC's. solo players in solo ships lots of ship that just sit in a hanger as they are just not that useful for what the player wants to do or are just to far away to retrieve. Ships that are waiting on insurance and players who are playing together doing what a MMO is for. Some of us just can't help ourselves and want to collect them all just for the sake of having them. Others have ships that they feel would be fun or allow them to do what they imagine they would like to do in verse once it becomes an option and will find out its not to their liking. While lots proclaim their just wanting to support the development of the game I would wager that most are secretly wanting to pay to win or get a leg up on their perceived progression and will be disappointed as we get into beta (hopefully that disappointment is transient and they realize just how much fun can be had living the dream even if there is no ship stepping stones to top tier)

So yes there are far more ships in a lot of player hands then they will ever realistically fly all the time (unless your test then your crashing them faster then they can be recovered by insurance). And a lot of multiplayer ships that players are going to be disappointed in due to them not being I Win juggernauts even with NPC crew. There has already been some butt hurt over the fact that dev this year reiterated that they do not expect capital ships to be profitable but more money sinks in their operation.

 

[Sky Captain]

CIG seems to have a lot rolling on NPC AI crew. If that works, its a different ball game. If not, I'll be your crew if you will be mine! Haha.

 

[vahadar]

Was wondering what everyone's opinion on this is.
If my math is correct, most players will have at least one multi-crew ship. Everyone will want to fly their ship, so who is left to crew?
$325M worth of ships exist, and there are years more to go, it's not unreasonable to assume 700M+ in ships by the time the game is released.
I realize there is 2.9M SC accounts, but I do not believe there are even close to 2.9M actual players. The verse will be so full of ships and not enough players to crew them.
So will most of these multi-crew ships be flown solo with npc? What's your take?

I am mostly heading towards NPC crew here. Got about 2 dozens package that will be made just for getting customized NPCs.

On average, i don't think most people would want to drop their own ships to play on multi-crew ships. At some point they need to get 100% fun out of playing the game, and multi-crewing is not always 100% rewarding. For example, you sit in a turret, but like half of the fight you have no enemy in sight, and so on.

I am betting on an average 4-5 people that would be available to crew the bigger ships i have, thanks to TEST number, just because many people do not have those bigger ships and would like to just hop on them to get some fun they wont have on their own.
But i doubt every owner of multi-crew ships here will get its crew slots filled just by asking in chat.

That's why, for ships like Polaris, Idris, Javelin, i bet we will see just around 20% of the ship being crewed by actual players.

And this is excluding call to arms operations of course, where number of players filling the crew slots is obviously higher, I am talking about your regular play session.

While lots proclaim their just wanting to support the development of the game I would wager that most are secretly wanting to pay to win or get a leg up on their perceived progression and will be disappointed as we get into beta (hopefully that disappointment is transient and they realize just how much fun can be had living the dream even if there is no ship stepping stones to top tier)

Here i have no shame admitting that when I buy more ships it is for pay to win, and getting a leg up above all. It is primarily based on calculations and maximizing what i can do with the little time i would be playing the game. I will not have the time to get those ships when i will be playing the game.

Then i have the development support in mind.

 

[DirectorGunner]

You would be surprised how many people do not want to fly and would rather be an engineer to keep your ship running, or a security escort or gunner.
Or an operator in an Orion. Or the many other jobs and game loops that will be in the PU.

 

[Blind Owl]

Why crash my ships when I can crash yours! Er, I mean, HELP crash yours. My logic is flawless.

 

[Devil Dog Hog]

Was wondering what everyone's opinion on this is.
If my math is correct, most players will have at least one multi-crew ship. Everyone will want to fly their ship, so who is left to crew?
$325M worth of ships exist, and there are years more to go, it's not unreasonable to assume 700M+ in ships by the time the game is released.
I realize there is 2.9M SC accounts, but I do not believe there are even close to 2.9M actual players. The verse will be so full of ships and not enough players to crew them.
So will most of these multi-crew ships be flown solo with npc? What's your take?

You just need a different perspective on this. See, its not about the ship, its about the friends and crew you hang out with and play with. The mission will change, and the right ship for the right job will vary, but the crew will stay the same. So as long as you have a good set of friends and buddies to play with, take your ship, or your buds ship, or someone else ship out for a spin.

 

[Texelis]

I will happily be a sacrificial red shirt

 

[Lorddarthvik]

I don't think this will be an issue. There are loads of ppl, myself included who are happy to go crew something bigger that they don't own or don't want to bother flying solo. I guess there will be more than one ship that is waay more productive when crewed by huumans (Mole, salvage and repair, science, farming..). I think in the long run, small semi-permanent crews will form for these ships. like raid groups in an MMO. Only in this case, on Wednesday night, the group will take playerA's Mole for a mining trip, and on Fridays they will take PlayerB's Endeavor farming ship for some 4.20. production runs, to keep things interesting and profitable for all.
When it comes down to it, it will all depend on how fun those multicrew gameplay loops will be to do in-person instead of relegating to AI crews.

 

[Sayora]

I have been wondering the same, while I know there are people who want to crew, I think most want to fly there own ships. With the exception of like special org events when you can really get numbers to fill those ships, I have always felt that most will be NPC crew and/or AI blades.

Which is why it's pretty important that CIG get them working right.

 

[Stevetank]

I have many unreasonably priced capital ships. So many that CIG gave me a pair of F8s. Even with all of these ships I still don't mind sitting in a turret. I really just want to be the engineer, ha.

When my friends pick ships with a turret like a Freelancer, Vanguard, or Cutlass, I often ask to ride with them. Sure, I could spend hours crashing my own ships before claiming them all in one massive insurance tidal wave, but I'm happy just sitting in a turret.

Tanks like turrets.

 

[AntiSqueaker]

I'm always happy to crew on someone else's ship as long as I get a fair cut of whatever we're doing.

But I think CIG needs to be more liberal with how "Agent Smithing" works- I really don't want to spend upwards of an hour trying to meet up with someone so we can then go travel to the place to then do the thing. And that's assuming you're in the same system!

It might be a minor suspension of disbelief but playability should trump that.

 

[Blind Owl]

You just need a different perspective on this. See, its not about the ship, its about the friends and crew you hang out with and play with. The mission will change, and the right ship for the right job will vary, but the crew will stay the same. So as long as you have a good set of friends and buddies to play with, take your ship, or your buds ship, or someone else ship out for a spin.

Yup, this! It's about the experience. Many of my ships may gather dust, but I buy to support the project. And because I like new shiny JPEGs in my hangar. But at the end of the day, this game is about all of you.

 

[Michael]

Currently i assume that out of those 3 Mio accounts 2 Million have a ship worth less than $100. (Starter pack or none).
Currently SC is still in a bad state as multiplayer for new players to hire up on your ship. I hope in the future we willk see that fixed. Which will make a lot more viable to just own a starter pack and play the game.

 

[atpbx]

I have no intention of having player crew, I also don't want to "pay to win" I want to fly around i the game in the ships I have purchased doing what I want to do WHEN I want to do it and for how long I want to do it for and beholden to nobody else.

If I want to use my Javelin for ferrying space cabbages between 2 space stations all day I really shouldn't have to rely on other people to make that happen.

 

[Citadel]

I will happily be a sacrificial red shirt

As long as we have members of the Org who are happy to crew other ships in whatever capacity they are happy playing, I think having surplus number of ships is more of a good thing than a negative. My thinking is that if we have multiples of large crew requirement ships from "Member X" and that gets destroyed or severely damaged, then we simply spawn the same ship from "Member Y" and get right back to the action. So whilst I myself have a couple large ships like the Polaris and Endeavour Hope it has always been my intention to allow full use of them to the Org, I'm perfectly happy to simply fade into the background on board as just "one of the crew" who also happens to be a doctor/medic which slots me in with the less expendable blue shirts

 

[AlpRider]

I'm very happy to be a gunner or any other role on my owned ships...particularly interested in the scanning aspect of the MSR or just co-pilot/navigation duty. I fly all the time when solo so why not do something else when with a group?

Even now when I pick someone up in the PU, maybe they need a rescue etc; I always have them fly because it's nice to be a passenger and enjoy the views (it's also nice to not be shot in the head and have my ship stolen)

 

[maynard]

the problem with hiring NPCs for crew is that they're like keeping horses for transportation

just as you have to feed a horse whether you ride it or not

you have to pay NPCs whether you're actively flying with them or not

and as a rule, TESTes are more entertaining than their NPC equivalents

even if you have to clean up after them someimes