Multicrew show allow owner to switch from the helm position

Should Crew Be Able to Take The Helm?

  • The owner should be allowed to give up Helmsman control to another player

    Votes: 425 81.0%

  • The owner should not be allowed to give up Helmsman control to another player

    Votes: 100 19.0%
  • Total voters
    525
  • Poll closed .

Olivia Vespera

Olivia Vespera
2.3 Beta Livestream has been released: Youtube link. Awaiting Q&A and Beta

Update 20-February-2017: Discussion topics should focus on the post-Dev-Update information and soon the post-beta information.
We should reaffirm if we the community are still interested in the ability to relinquish helm control. Voice your support or condemnation here.
Edward Lewis said:
The ship’s owner always takes the role of helm, piloting the vessel and operating fixed and gimballed weaponry. They also control NPC fighter pilots. There can be up to two additional crewmembers, depending on the vessel, who can perform roles to enhance the ability of the ship. Players can also simply come along for the ride, with the pilot in a mentoring role. The helm also retains control over distribution of power, navigation, and synthesis.

...The ship owner is always the helmsman.
Click to expand...

The issue and explanation
There's a lot to love in 2.3. From have 2 SLFs out at once, to finally having an in-game avatar to of course the well thought out multi-crew mechanic.
What I do have issue with is that the owner of a ship can't ever hold any other position except Helm.

There are 3 positions. Helm, Gunner, Fighter Con. The owner will always be the Helmsman. They can't switch from that position and kick back and relax and watch the action.
If friends want to explore together, they can't take turns flying the ship when someone gets tired.

Now I'm not saying:
  • Owner shouldn't have the authority to maintain control over their ship
  • Can't get regain Helm control when they want
  • There aren't inherent risks from letting someone fly your ship.
I'm saying at least give the Owner the choice to let someone else take the wheel. Let us be willing to take responsibility as a true captain should for the actions of their crew.

Summary of main talking points so far in this thread:
  1. We can't know or trust another player with control of our ship's helm. They might try to self-destruct it.
  2. There are probably network or underlying coded reasons for why the owner can't relinquish ship helm control that may have to do with the player being tied to the ship. The Developers probably saw the task as too difficult to implement within the timeframe required for 2.3 release.
  3. Explorers would benefit the most from this change.
The replies to these points have been, You should not let someone you don't trust, in the helm position or the self destruct option should be locked only to the owner. Furthermore, Griefers would still be able to exploit multicrew by shooting at stations with turrets or at your ship with your own SLF; and without developer response on the difficulty of coding multicrew to work the way we'd like, we can't assume that it's because it is difficult to code. Hopefully we can ask and find out about this during the Q&A.


Notes and expectation
Now I trust Frontier... quite a bit more than I think most do, I'm sure Frontier has a good reason for not allowing the owner to be anything other than a Helmsman. But I can't ignore the benefits that would come if one could switch from the Helm position.

I've not seen a thread about this yet but surely I can't be the only one. I'm hoping that enough folks support this, either because it'll benefit shared exploration or allow you to be a captain barking orders, that maybe Frontier might consider changing their mind...

In the end it's their decision and it would be nice to hear all your thoughts about this.
Let your thoughts on this be heard.
Other notable polls:
Do you expect to use Multicrew on a regularly, either as a crew member or as the ship owner?
Do You want Non-Combat Roles for Multicrew?

Edit 1: Added extra sentences and cleaned up formatting. Also added a poll.
Edit 2: added links to other notable polls for 2.3
Edit 3: Thread is unlocked Post-Dev-Update. Poll extended to april.
 
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Gryphorim

G
I know a few solo players who were hoping that turret control would come for them in 2.3. Even if it meant the ship flying a straight line while they used the turrets.
 

Alex Brentnall

Alex Brentnall
My personal hope is that the ability to command comes when we get space legs so I can walk/float around the bridge/ship. Or be on voice comms somewhere in the hull trying to fix damage or whatever else we can do whilst my crew fly (or whatever else) :D

*Boom, Clunk* "What was that noise?"...
"Uh, we lost a section of the port corridor and our cmdr has stepped outside!"....
"What!?!?"
 

cmdr_Havalok

cmdr_Havalok
I'm not sure I trust my friends to drive my car. No way they're getting behind the stick on mah ship!

Seriously though, I kind of see where the decision comes from as the comments above suggest, though I was personally hoping for 4 positions ( guess I can quit practicing my Scottish accent) anyone could switch thru. Maybe with spacelegs.
 

Maro-Val

Maro-Val
You are not the only one. While waiting for multicrew, this was the thing i was waiting most. To explore with friends and them having the ability to cover distances while i am not in front of the pc. Exploration trips on a single ship.. instead of that we have:

Come and see i found something nice.
Telepresence..
Ok was nice i ll go back to the bubble now, have fun. Call me if something else turns up.
 

Kaybe

Kaybe
I absolutely agree we should be allowed to relinquish helm command temporarily if we choose. Would allow us to do exploration together so as to allow one another to take breaks from all the jumping and honking.
 

Asp Explorer

Asp Explorer
It's certainly going to be interesting from a networking point of view.

I wonder if peeps will be "blobbed" with the Helm acting as the propagator, or if they will maintain separate entities within the instance.
 

Morbad

Morbad
Maro-Val said:
While waiting for multicrew, this was the thing i was waiting most. To explore with friends and them having the ability to cover distances while i am not in front of the pc. Exploration trips on a single ship..
Click to expand...

Same here. This really puts a damper on one of the major uses I had in mind, if these reports turn out to be accurate.
 

Snarfbuckle

S
Asp Explorer said:
Red Helm, standing by!

Red Gunner, standing by!

Red Fighter, standing by!

Thish ish Rehd Octohber, schtanding bhy.
Click to expand...

You know, on larger ships like the Anaconda and larger a captains position would fit.

A CIC improved sensor with more tactical data and "fleet" view and commanding the crew in what to do while tagging targets in levels of priority and what components to target.

- - - Updated - - -


Jukelo said:
Hardly a problem. Don't let someone you don't trust fly your ship.
Click to expand...

I do hope we can LOCK the ship functions tab since that should be CMDR only.
 
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Gunnet

G
It would have been a nice feature if multicrew had turned out to support activities other than combat. But from a strictly combat perspective, I can see why the player potentially paying rebuy would want to keep control over the helm.
 
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