Elite Dangerous AMA on reddit (multicrew)

[[VR] Mad Mike]

hopefully they do a full compile at the end and post on the ED forums. until then I have to say, this snippet for me is the biggest dissapointment of horizons so far.

I suspected as much but now confirmed.

multicrew is for human players only. no npc crewmates to hire (just ai control of your ship, which imo goes against the lore )

"Ship-launched fighters will have the option of an AI pilot on your side.

Multicrew is all about playing on a ship with your friends, and doesn't include AI."

 

[Deleted member 38366]

Well, good for those that play in groups... obviously not useful for the presumably large group that doesn't do that.

Don't know what benefits MultiCrew would offer though, so maybe it's something lone Players won't need or miss anyway.

 

[kiario]

I wonder how much content will be locked out for the solo players

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

Well, good for those that play in groups... obviously not useful for the presumably large group that doesn't do that.

Don't know what benefits MultiCrew would offer though, so maybe it's something lone Players won't need or miss anyway.

I really hoped we could hire crewmates, with the ai controlling the ship to a basic level but with the ability to hunt out more skilled crew, complete with salaries (unless they were slaves) as well as chances for them to die etc.

also would have added life to our ships once we get real avatars.. my python and clipper looks like the Mary Celeste at the moment

Frontier and 1st enc both had ships crew.

 

[Hadron-Higgs-Boson]

its pretty obvious that FD are not going to bother much with Ai and NPC driven content, they may come back to it later, but for now its clear this isnt the game they are making any more, the writing was on the wall when Wings launched really.

 

[Elenoe]

Not sure I understand because it makes perfect sense to me.

You are on your ship and all necessary ship functions are maintained by AI. You flight the ship, setup AI (and hopefully are able to flight one your own figters as well, but that would leave your ships pilot seat empty - not sure if that can happen).

And when (and only when) your friends are aboard they are there (with ability to control fighters). I don't see any need for AI NPC (while it might be nice to have, eventually, I don't see any reason to need them). They are not required for ship operation, as are not living people.

Also I don't see anything that needs to be cut from solo players. All content mentioned will work for them too the very same way (well, no other toons on aboard obviously, but that's what solo wolf means)

 

[[VR] Mad Mike]

You are on your ship and all necessary ship functions are maintained by AI..

My understanding was this was always placeholder...... it seems perhaps i was wrong, but if so, so is the wiki which details things like the banning of high level AI, as well as lists the minumum crew requirement of the larger ships in the elite lore.

unless the earlier games are no longer canon.

also, if AI IS meant to be capable of flying your ship then that negates the entire argument against why ships should not be able to be fully automated with a flight computer. (note i have not been in favour of autopilot myself either and still am not, but this means there is a huge disconnect)

 

[Deleted member 38366]

I really hoped we could hire crewmates, with the ai controlling the ship to a basic level but with the ability to hunt out more skilled crew, complete with salaries (unless they were slaves) as well as chances for them to die etc.

also would have added life to our ships once we get real avatars.. my python and clipper looks like the Mary Celeste at the moment

Frontier and 1st enc both had ships crew.

I'm in the same boat.
Hire NPCs and let them MultiCrew with you (with all associated cost overhead), just as having NPCs follow your Commands in upto 3 Ships you can provide them to fly along with you.
Increases in profits again could easily be limited by applying those overhead costs, so no 4x income by taking 4 Ships into performing the same task.

I'd really appreciate something like that. A little scaling (at the risk of dealing with Insurance as usual) but coupled with an ever-smaller increase in generated profits due to increasing overhead costs.
Main benefit would be you're not alone anymore with a limited bonus on Mission effectiveness (depending on what you do).

 

[jabokai]

Disappointing, again. Seems they've basically given up on AI - no NPC Wingmen, no NPC SRVs, no NPC copilots.

 

[Arubeto]

I really hoped we could hire crewmates, with the ai controlling the ship to a basic level but with the ability to hunt out more skilled crew, complete with salaries (unless they were slaves) as well as chances for them to die etc.

also would have added life to our ships once we get real avatars.. my python and clipper looks like the Mary Celeste at the moment

Frontier and 1st enc both had ships crew.

Couldn't agree more. I was very much hoping for NPC crews becoming a thing.

As it stands now, I will gain much less from the multi-crew feature than I hoped to. (not mentioning all solo players who won't even be able to use it at all)

 

[Harrius]

hopefully they do a full compile at the end and post on the ED forums. until then I have to say, this snippet for me is the biggest dissapointment of horizons so far.

I suspected as much but now confirmed.

multicrew is for human players only. no npc crewmates to hire (just ai control of your ship, which imo goes against the lore )

Really disappointing, tbh. Having a persistent crew on your ship would be a great rpg element. They could have stats that improve with experience, they could die (somehow), you could replace them etc.

I feel like they'll be needed when we can walk around our ships as well, if only for passenger missions. Imagine ferrying some rich people around on an Orca and you had no other crew to help out, it would be strange from an immersion standpoint. Maybe they'll get round that by supplying temporary 'cabin crew' when you accept such missions. Obviously this problem is a long way off.

 

[Riedquat]

Has he answered anything mildly challenging yet?, or is he just cherrypicking ?

 

[parva]

So the other seats in my ship will be always empty

 

[Retrograde]

It is a bit disappointing, but realistically I wasn't expecting NPC crews anyway. It would be very difficult to do well. How would you interact with them and how would they contribute to non-mission gameplay? NPCs would need depth and some autonomy to be more than glorified menu options or equipment upgrades (e.g. gunner = turret not confused by chaff). I enjoyed playing Consortium (all about NPCs on a space ship, try it), but it's a very different sort of game. I also suspect that script writing is not FD's greatest strength.

I still very strongly hope that we'll get NPC wings! We need this and it could add so much to missions.

 

[Spookyy]

Looks like FD still building the house.

 

[Bran Tse Mallory]

Sounds to me like Solo just got bent over the desk and..... At least we know now that the main focus of the game will be on mechanics that work in Open with some making it down to Solo mode. Not really a surprise though and it follows what i can now only describe as a pattern:

Wings - No AI - No solo play version - No hired help for traders
CQC - No AI - No solo play version
Multicrew - No AI - No solo play version - Not made clear while being used as a selling point for Horizons pre-orders (Terrible marketing to do this especially if trading standards gets wind)

I can tell FD now this is a huge risk - no other game calling itself an MMO has ever survived having 3 different modes of play that differ in what you can do in them. Personally I think this stinks of not having the manpower or knowledge to create these features.

One thing you can guarantee though is that the AI will still fly in wings in solo, especially those 3-4 Sidewinder/Eagle mobs... But you can't.

 

[The_Quasar]

So the other seats in my ship will be always empty

What is the point of empty seats?

What is the point of teaming up in, for example, a Python, when you can have 3 or 4 Pythons?

I enjoyed the way it was implemented in Frontier and First Encounters, it worked, and worked well.

For very many of us, wings and crews of players are a waste of effort for FD.

 

[who?]

I'm not even into VoiceAttack, but AI Multicrew with VoiceAttack could be very cool.

You bark out orders - "Rig for silent running!"... "Deploy weapons!"..... "Divert power to shields!"... "Target their powerplant!" - and see your crew beavering away at their consoles. I'd love it.

 

[jabokai]

What is the point of teaming up in, for example, a Python, when you can have 3 or 4 Pythons?

Good point. A few people will use it a few times, but I cannot imagine it becoming anything more than a largely unused curiosity.

 

[Tinman]

Disappointing, again. Seems they've basically given up on AI - no NPC Wingmen, no NPC SRVs, no NPC copilots.

Actually...he answered another question about launched fighters (which is a type of wingman) and there you will have the choice of AI control or piloting them yourself.