"staffing" multi-crew ships

[DorianSkyphire]

So those with multi-crew ships. How do you plan to go about 'staffing' your ships? Especially for long haul missions where people might not have a chance to get off ship for a week or two (or longer).

Has anyone seen anything about the cost to hire the NPC hirelings, yet? Or how their loyalty will work?

 

[StdDev]

I think it might be a bit difficult to plan this type of thing out since nobody knows exactly how it will work.
I would imagine that paying for crew mates NPC or real is going to be based on a percentage of the take from the mission.

 

[DorianSkyphire]

I hope they release info soon, though it is unlikely. I want to operate an Endeavor, but not sure how many people will be interested in a few weeks in space doing research with a super collider, or deep space telemetry with the telescope array.. so I'm assuming I will be hiring a lot of NPC's.

 

[TheWoad]

There's no way of knowing how NPC crewing will work, but theorycrafting is fun. Maybe depending on what the desired job is (hauling, explo, etc.) there will be relevant NPC factions in which you can gain status/favor/reputation, thereby gaining access to more competent crewmen and/or discounted rates. Could also be some sort of loyalty system, where the more you use a certain NPC, the more loyal they become and the cheaper they get.

But really, who knows.

 

[Stevetank]

This topic relies on the understanding of the mission you want to do, how to arrange raid parties, and a few other things that we have no experience with in game mechanics.

Where are the people when you want to hire them?
When can they meet?
What are the plans for breaking off from the group?
Worst case scenario situations?
I could write 20 more....

Most importantly, this will rely on how people can log on and off. IE, I don't want TESTies stuck on my ships and I don't want to be stuck on theirs.

 

[GrumpyCat]

I think this a question for CIG to be honest. If they aren't able to get too many players into a single instance, they will have to compensate capital ships by making them easier to man with less people or npc's. Otherwise 1 javelin with a full 80 people on board would leave almost no room on the instance.

 

[Blind Owl]

Otherwise 1 javelin with a full 80 people on board would leave almost no room on the instance.

But would really allow you to dominate that instance . . .
:wink:

 

[Stevetank]

But would really allow you to dominate that instance . . .
:wink:

Sounds like room for 9 Vanduul Hunter Destroyers :)

 

[Blind Owl]

Sounds like room for 9 Vanduul Hunter Destroyers :slight_smile:

Sounds like room for Tank and Owl.

 

[Michael]

My knowledge so far :
- NPC will have a different kind of Level a Level 1 "engineer" will perform less good than a Level 3 "engineer"

- They want to make them gain experience while on a specific Job, so your L1 Pilot can become a good L3 engineer (I'm not sure if they also plan a decrease in skill so people can also forget skills when they are not getting used)

- There seems to be some kind of loyality System planned too. So your “self trained” L3 Engineer might be cheaper than a newly hired one

- It is planned to easily replace NPC by human if someone wants to fly with your ship. (What and however it is planned to do so)
[I'm assuming that you might spawn into that NPC character via some kind of invitation System (?)]

- You will pay a daily, weekly or monthly fee for your crew. (I'm not sure if they will count "logged in days" or real days)

Typical SC claimer: all plans are subject to change. All my knowledge might be wrong, i'm also reading between the lines a lot.

 

[CosmicTrader]

Has anyone seen anything about the cost to hire the NPC hirelings, yet? Or how their loyalty will work?

1. Each Package contains 1 character...
One character is your --> your playable character.
The remaining characters will be NPCs that 'work' for you. (Max = 4 or 5 maybe more)

2. As @DasWoelfchen stated, they will gain experience with each task that they perform.
We will pay them and they will suffer from stamina & fatigue just as we will.

3. RL players (our friends) will be able to 'occupy' one of these NPCs and thus control them.
---- We do not yet know the mechanics of this but it will be similar to inviting that person to join an NPC (like a Party).
Thus friends can play & crew together - When a player leaves, the NPC remains as it is yours and the AI then controls it.

4. Loyalty - Unknown exactly but we do know that you shall have to pay them & give them assignments etc.

We will also be able to hire NPCs of varying experience levels.
We should get more info in the coming months.

 

[Printimus]

So those with multi-crew ships. How do you plan to go about 'staffing' your ships? Especially for long haul missions where people might not have a chance to get off ship for a week or two (or longer).

Has anyone seen anything about the cost to hire the NPC hirelings, yet? Or how their loyalty will work?

I havent seen anything as of lately about cost of hiring NPC staff members, but with as many testies as we have, why would you hire robots to do the job?

I plan on having my fellow friends in Test assist me in staffing my ships as I plan on also helping them out as part of their staff too.

 

[Michael]

I think this might be Interesting:

 

[DorianSkyphire]

I'd be delighted to have human PC's on ship with me, but I never assume interest or ability to play through something long term in a game.

 

[DorianSkyphire]

For those interested, I posed the same question on the SC forums, here is the thread

https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/3/thread/staffing-multi-crew-ships

 

[maynard]

the long Alpha and Beta tests are because there are so many systems like this where the devs have no friggin' idea where the playability sweet spots are

 

[Thugari]

Have mop and bucket, will travel. I will crew any multicrew ship with test ( as long as I do NOT have to deal with sanitation.

 

[cmink]

1. Each Package contains 1 character...
One character is your --> your playable character.
The remaining characters will be NPCs that 'work' for you. (Max = 4 or 5 maybe more)

2. As @DasWoelfchen stated, they will gain experience with each task that they perform.
We will pay them and they will suffer from stamina & fatigue just as we will.

3. RL players (our friends) will be able to 'occupy' one of these NPCs and thus control them.
---- We do not yet know the mechanics of this but it will be similar to inviting that person to join an NPC (like a Party).
Thus friends can play & crew together - When a player leaves, the NPC remains as it is yours and the AI then controls it.

4. Loyalty - Unknown exactly but we do know that you shall have to pay them & give them assignments etc.

We will also be able to hire NPCs of varying experience levels.
We should get more info in the coming months.

I wonder if your extra characters turned NPC have to maintain loyalty to you. I'd hate to get spaced from my own ship by disgruntled "me's".

 

[BUTUZ]

Really it totally depends on whether CIG can implement the "MR ANDERSON" method for players to take over NPC bodies as and when they require. This is key - without it multicrew is not really gonna work properly.

"Hi you want to be my cabin boy?" "Sorry I am 3 squillion miles away and my mustang just pooped it's engine all over the floor" "oh ok then nevermind I'll hire an NPC"