Has MultiCrew gone the way of the Dodo too?

[Ignition]

I think criticism of Sandro for saying if it isn't used, we won't develop it further is a bit rich. He was being completely frank with us on that one, and that is refreshing. Then he gets damned for saying it

Things clear... It gets damned because the multicrew is UNDERDEVELOPED and barely playable since the usefulness and fun is very limited. We can't even share missions HAHAHAHA.

So, if they expect to develop it further if enough people play with it then they should forget completely about multicrew and focus on fixing the lack of gameplay and mechanics, instead of "we throw a bone here so they can have fun with the bare minimum" because thats was the mentality since release AND EVEN before. It doesn't work like that unless you want to deliver a crappy game.

Things clear please.

 

[Bit.Slade]

Even WITH gameplay I dont really want spacelegs. I bought a spaceship game - not a walking simulator.

To be fair, no you didn't. You bought a game that has always been meant to have space legs, among other non-spaceship things. Go take a look at the Kickstarter/early videos where Braben talks about the future of the game and you'll see that ED was not meant to be a game where you're forever locked into a seat. We may not get it for a long time, but they do want that type of gameplay for Elite. So, as others like to say so much on here, if that sort of gameplay bothers you, maybe the game isn't/won't be for you.

 

[Enderby]

Space legs? Have you seen what they have 'added' so far?

What makes you think space legs if it happens will be anything other than underdeveloped and underwhelming? I mean, really lol!

 

[Cpt Spaulding]

I'm currently grinding for the Modeswitchvette. There's no multicrew for that yet.

 

[verminstar]

I'm not sure if Multi-Crew (Combat) is dead, but I can say for sure that in exploration it's unusable. As an explorer who doesn't carry heat sinks, I almost always had my ship's seats open for others. It was a fun way to pass the time and interact with other players. It wasn't perfect, but pre 2.3.10 people could join my ship and stay connected (usually) for a few hours before the inevitable bug caused a disconnect. Following the patch, it's a small miracle if anyone can connect to my ship and remain connected for more than ONE hyperspace jump.

If this is the way multi-crew is working for other roles, then yes, I think the concept will languish into oblivion and get left in the dust of retreat.

I might have been happy enough to give others the tour when Im out on walkabouts, but its hard being a solo player. Now thats not from the perspective of a solo mode player, its from the perspective of someone who is the very definition of a lone wolf player with no m8s...in the game anyway. I remember saying as much many months ago, not entirely sure when, but that was before I heard about it not getting NPC.

However, that aside, theres really not much fer anyone to do in mc while out n about...theres precious little enough fer the explorer at the best of times, and trust me when I say that 2 pairs of mark 1 eyeballs searching a planet fer ED version of "volcanoes" really aint an experience to relish. And lets not mention how much fun it would be if they could fly some these canyons I found that absolutely nobody else in the game knows about, in the SLF

One really needs hobbies out here...the mind tends to wander sometimes and slf and srv makes fer many fun and utterly hilarious moments that absolutely nobody can share...unless its on youtube and thats just not the same...not really. And the scenery. Oh my...

But thats all they can see really...the scenery which admittedly is one the best parts of the game fer me personally, but Im weird...and more than a little insane sometimes...and argue with meself sometimes...and talk too much cos I get lonely sometimes...

Which is just a damned shame that mc wont be what it was hoped it could be...15klys to jacques...this game is more stressful than marriage was...both of them...

 

[Aussiedroid]

I'm not sure I have seen another ship open in Multicrew before when I have looked. I have only looked a couple times though, and friend said that you cannot join from Solo so, seems a bit cumbersome to me to flick out to Open just to check the queue. I rarely do combat stuff though so was just trying to see what it was like.

 

[GG7]

Most of us said over and over again that this feature needed NPC CREWS to be VIABLE!

Frontier ignored us during the 6 months leading up to this feature roll out.

The amount of activity the feature is seeing (more like the LACK of any) is exactly what we warned Frontier would happen if this was a PwP only that relied on matchmaking to make it happen.

Not only are most totally not interested in the current feature, those that are are put off by the amount of time it takes to get crews together, and keep them together once onboard.

Oh well... Maybe if they ever decide to salvage this unused feature that obviously took a lot of work to build, they will finally listen and add NPC crew capability. The numbers that will try it out will far exceed the highest adoption rate yet graphed with human players only.

 

[kofeyh]

There was actually a lot of interest in multicrew in beta. Until Frontier bowed to pressure over a truely daft decision to make a huge change to payouts based on speculation alone. As soon as that happened, people realised it just wasn't good time investment.

Even with the partial rollback of that (when it became quite clear that it was a knee jerk response to speculation) one of the biggest uses, helping show others the game and introducing new players to content was rendered obsolete.

We now have Frontier introducing pilot faction bounties that will probably drive more people into solo, making MC even more redundant. I just don't know what Frontier are trying to achieve at this point.

And the endless complaints about NPC crew; if they took up to 30% each, then you'll lose 60% of anything you get from any activity with a full compliment, just as we do now with fighter crew. Who in their right mind is going to do that? What - you think they'll work for free? lol

 

[Spacecat]

I just tried it again last night. First session went ok but second session, took on a wing of two ships and both me and my new fighter pilot got blown up, lol. Embarrassing.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

There are very few pretty girls to hire for 2% anymore. That's what killed it.

Let's be blunt: they want players to buddy up, and cough up the fees to play. Somehow, Elite has a quite unique group (not everyone) of unsociable people, who do not sit on couches together, trying to kill everything in sight.

 

[GG7]

There are very few pretty girls to hire for 2% anymore. That's what killed it.

Let's be blunt: they want players to buddy up, and cough up the fees to play. Somehow, Elite has a quite unique group (not everyone) of unsociable people, who do not sit on couches together, trying to kill everything in sight.

Fees? What fees are you talking about?

Sure...Frontier has their store where they sell ship skins, kits and other vanity items, but they don't charge players for access to specific features. And though some have a problem with their store, it is nothing approaching something like GTA 5 Online, where the game's economy has actually been nerfed/depressed to force players into spending real money on micro-transactions to be able to pay for all the "Free DLC" features in-game.

As for the Elite community... It is definitely an older demographic. But before anyone writes off older players... Lets not forget that most of them were playing online multi-player games when many here were still in diapers.

You can only take so many decades of typical MP sessions before you wake up one morning and say "I'M DONE!" "I just want to relax and enjoy the experience!" Without a bunch of annoying randoms screwing up the gameplay, spamming my headset with barking dogs, obnoxious commentary and/or crappy, distorted music!

ED is the perfect game for veteran gamers who have been at this hobby for 40+ years and counting.

All the more reason why the lack of NPC crew mates sealed the fate of the current Multi-Crew feature long before it ever made it into the game.

 

[Ziljan]

I'm not sure I have seen another ship open in Multicrew before when I have looked. I have only looked a couple times though, and friend said that you cannot join from Solo so, seems a bit cumbersome to me to flick out to Open just to check the queue. I rarely do combat stuff though so was just trying to see what it was like.

Hmm. That's a good point. There is no real reason why a Solo player shouldn't be able to join Multicrew is there? The risk is the same for Open crew members: nothing. And letting Solo and PG dip their toes into Open without risk might generate more interest in both Multicrew and Open. Seems like a win win, and would give an actual purpose to Multicrew over Wings.

 

[CMDR Spadino]

Don't get me wrong I love this game, but Frontier had a golden opportyunity to enrich the game by adding NPC crew and also NPC wings, here somes examples just off the top of my head.

• Developing NPC careers
• NPC management & ordering
• NPC back stories with link missions
• NPC wing missions where you fly your ship
• NPC wing missions where you fly NPC ships or crew them, like Naval or police missions.

Ok, we have SLF which is the step in the right direction, but just imagine the game possibilities if had a fully fleshed out NPC crew & wings feature and not just for combat. Even to the point that Frontier could introduce ships that can ONLY be flown by mutlicrew, NPC or players (Panther Clipper) .

Going this way, I'll pay again for the game.

 

[Witcher 7]

I tried it last night again in a friend's Anaconda and the game kept freezing and kicking me out. I also couldn't get into the Gunner position probably b/c friend didn't have any turret guns Anyways, I decided to log out and back in and then don't remember freezing or dropping out again ... So, it appears multi-crew or network issues have not been completely fixed?

Tis bit of shame multi-crew hasn't been taken on by more players given it's one of the main features of 2.3 ... if only Frontier enabled sharing of benefits among crew members for non-combat activities as well - e.g., exploration, mining, etc

 

[joshman72nd]

its more a feature for people like me who have friends wondering around the other side of the galaxy and want to shoot things without coming back all the way....

works best in conflict and hazard zone.

 

[hunvagy]

There was actually a lot of interest in multicrew in beta. Until Frontier bowed to pressure over a truely daft decision to make a huge change to payouts based on speculation alone. As soon as that happened, people realised it just wasn't good time investment.

Even with the partial rollback of that (when it became quite clear that it was a knee jerk response to speculation) one of the biggest uses, helping show others the game and introducing new players to content was rendered obsolete.

We now have Frontier introducing pilot faction bounties that will probably drive more people into solo, making MC even more redundant. I just don't know what Frontier are trying to achieve at this point.

And the endless complaints about NPC crew; if they took up to 30% each, then you'll lose 60% of anything you get from any activity with a full compliment, just as we do now with fighter crew. Who in their right mind is going to do that? What - you think they'll work for free? lol

And they also removed the sharing of discovery data from MC, which at least for me was another nail in the coffin. I was disgruntled but okay that we can't share the giant SRV hangar of my Conda to have everyone disembark, or that I can'T use the SRV at all. Had fighters, probably could have entertained my friends on a joint exploration trip somewhere. But with the game repeatedly kicking people on long journeys, crashing their game AND not giving them the data at all I just shelved it as another butchered idea due to perceived exploits. Meanwhile the real exploits are alive and well

 

[Sunleader]

I've been trying to embrace this new feature. Equipped my boat for a small gunner role, and opened a seat. After hours of gameplay I think 2 commanders have joined my ship only to exit again shortly after without any kind of comms.

And if I look to see if others have a MultiCrew opening on their ship? Not a single one.

Has MultiCrew already gone the way of the Dodo, much like CQC and PowerPlay?

Currently Multi Crew is Useless and actually Worse than Playing alone.
Due to the Forced Locks on the Ship Multi Crew poses a large Risk and actually weakens a Ships Combat Capacity.

Using Fighters for Multi Crew is Rubbish cause you can just make a Wing with Vipers or other Ships which are way Stronger than the Ship Spawned Fighters.

And with the Absurd Penalties on Profits it makes no sense to use Multi Crew at all.
Because not only does a Normal Wing gain you much more Profits without incurring Penalties.
But Wings also actually share most Profits whereass Multi Crew is incredible Limited and pretty much only shares Trade and Bounty Profits.
Multi Crew does not even share Mission Progress etc which means even here Wings are better.


So yes.
In Total Multi Crew has or will soon. Follow the way of the Dodo.

Honestly said. Seeing the Stupid Penalties on Multi Crew compared to Wings.
The only Rational Explanation I can come up with for the decisions FD made here. Is that Frontier does not want anyone to use Multi Crew and thus has placed it under heavy Punishment.....

 

[Aussiedroid]

Hmm. That's a good point. There is no real reason why a Solo player shouldn't be able to join Multicrew is there? The risk is the same for Open crew members: nothing. And letting Solo and PG dip their toes into Open without risk might generate more interest in both Multicrew and Open. Seems like a win win, and would give an actual purpose to Multicrew over Wings.

It would be more accessible, which would be a positive. More flexibility to jump between such things would be awesome.

I have thought the same thing with CQC as well as Multicrew. If I could queue up in the game as I am doing missions or something, I would surely play more CQC between other tasks. Going out to wait in a queue, I only last a couple mins before getting bored and exiting.

 

[Witcher 7]

Hmm. That's a good point. There is no real reason why a Solo player shouldn't be able to join Multicrew is there? The risk is the same for Open crew members: nothing. And letting Solo and PG dip their toes into Open without risk might generate more interest in both Multicrew and Open. Seems like a win win, and would give an actual purpose to Multicrew over Wings.

My basic understanding of P2P networking, Solo, private groups and Open plays are segregrated into their own restricted networks where when a player logs in under one mode they are connected to that network/instance and cannot switch into another instance without logging out and back into a different mode/instance.

However, this shouldn't prevent a normally Solo player logging in Open Play to multi-crew with the ship owner (friend) in Open for a risk-free experience b/c if the hosting ship is destroyed, the owner bears the re-buy cost, etc., right?

 

[CMDR ColD_ZA]

For me, Multicrew is pretty useless in its current state.

• No Multicrew Mixed with wings
  • Many times I have been in a wing and had a slot or 2 open in the wing and wanted to let a friend join... sorry cant...

• Limited stuff to do in Multicrew... Shoot Turrets, or fly little Fighter...
  • what about a role to manage the AMFU in combat or some of reddit\u\ToCoSo's suggestions

• Cant SRV while in Multicrew
  • Lots of potential lost there with Co-op base assaults and potential new 2 seater SRVs

• Cant Use Outfitting while in multicrew
  • In GTA V Online I can drive my car into Los Santos Customs and outfit it with a buddy in the passenger seat...
• Can't even properly use Mining Turrets as whilst in gunner they auto lock on the fragments stop firing at asteroid
  • What about a Mining and prospecting Ship Launched fighter, or letting 2 people take the Gunner role.... 1 For the mining lasers, and the other to fire 360 degree prospector limpets at nearby rocks.

And the general bugs and lack of visual sync (hyperspace jumps and supercruise drops, I'm looking at your) have dissuaded me from using multicrew.

And therein lies the problem. "if the feature is popular we will develop it further"... Don't develop a lemon and then expect us to make lemonade...