NPC's should be payed a flat wage.

Lucian667

Lucian667
If I get a job assembling cars at a factory or flipping burgers at McDonalds, does the manager take me aside and tell me that I'll be earning X% of the entire company's gross profits, even on days when I'm not actually working? Or do I just earn a fixed, flat wage based on the number of hours I actually do work?

Why the hell does my fighter pilot earn 12% of everything I ever make, even when I'm cruising around in a Cobra III with no fighter? It makes zero sense. They should be earning a flat salary and only then when they're actually flying that fighter. Exactly who thought this would be a good idea and why were they not laughed out of the brain-storming session at FD that spawned it?
 

Taranis Dekker

Taranis Dekker
We hire mercenaries, and they're on a retainer.

edit... I don't like them earning a % on transactions or events they're not involved with, either. If they're not onboard my active ship, they shouldn't be paid.
 
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Susanna

Susanna
I think fdev needed a way of siphoning some of the cash out of the game. Giving npc's a hefty cut of any profits seemed a good way to do just that. As I don't play in Open, I don't bother with npc crew. Problem solved :cool:
 

Bobbydylan

Bobbydylan
Problem is, if you have NPC crew, and (like me) you stop playing the game for months on end, you could come back to a vastly reduced bank account. Having them take a cut of the profits means they only make money when you're making money.

Think of it less as employees, and more of Partners who've invested their time in your business.
 

Lucian667

Lucian667
Susanna said:
I think fdev needed a way of siphoning some of the cash out of the game. Giving npc's a hefty cut of any profits seemed a good way to do just that. As I don't play in Open, I don't bother with npc crew. Problem solved :cool:
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You're probably right about the reasoning, but unfortunately knowing the reason doesn't make me feel any less like I'm being mugged and robbed at gunpoint by horrible game design decisions, if anything it makes it worse knowing that its likely premeditated and not some sort of dumb design error that was never caught.

I'm likely going to end up getting rid of my NPC pilot. I dont really want to, but honestly I feel like I'm being played for a massive sucker by FD with being forced to pay them literally millions for doing absolutely nothing most of the time.
 

Agony_Aunt

Agony_Aunt
Don't see why people get upset about this, its only a few %. And its not like making money is hard. By the time you are thinking about crew, getting money shouldn't be an issue.

Just don't hire them at expert. Train them up from Harmless for reduced %.
 

Conch

Conch
im fine with them making so much money, if they can do something with it.

it would be awesome to train em up to Elite and then be able to set them free in a system and give them a ship, or they buy one of their own money.
then make it a random chance that when you are in trouble in that system, your old crewmember pops in to give a helping hand, like the good old times :p
 

Lucian667

Lucian667
Conch said:
im fine with them making so much money, if they can do something with it.

it would be awesome to train em up to Elite and then be able to set them free in a system and give them a ship, or they buy one of their own money.
then make it a random chance that when you are in trouble in that system, your old crewmember pops in to give a helping hand, like the good old times :p
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Yep, totally agree, I'm just not happy paying for them when they're sitting in the passenger lounge doing zip.
 

Lucian667

Lucian667
Conch said:
is it still a thing that they earn money while not being used?
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Yeah and I wouldn't mind so much if it was just a flat wage or something, but having my pilot siphoning off 12% of everything I make while she's cooling her heels in the passenger lounge, possibly for weeks at a time, is a bit much. Makes me feel like I'm being ripped off.
 

Conch

Conch
Lucian667 said:
Yeah and I wouldn't mind so much if it was just a flat wage or something, but having my pilot siphoning off 12% of everything I make while she's cooling her heels in the passenger lounge, possibly for weeks at a time, is a bit much. Makes me feel like I'm being ripped off.
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yeah i know what you mean.. altho i cant complain about my credits situation.
 

Watcher

W
Personally I'd like to see the opportunity to negotiate a bit.
So you could end up with a flat rate or a percentage, that might impact initial hire cost (if any). Perhaps some exit conditions? They could renegotiate perhaps or just leave if they feel the terms are unfair later...
So a layer of NPC management :) Also more back stories and mission and other stuff happening around them.

Have to have a way to make this a bit easier for people who don't care for it though.
 

Lucian667

Lucian667
askavir said:
Would you be waiting exclusively for some boss to need you, if you didn't get paid while you're waiting?
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Honestly I dont have a serious issue with paying them while they're waiting, just paying them 12% of anything I earn while they're waiting. Waiting and doing absolutely nothing should be *very* low paid work, like I said in the OP, they should get a flat wage for employment, not a significant % of my earnings, they're employees, not partners.
 

ZeroAi

ZeroAi
Lucian667 said:
If I get a job assembling cars at a factory or flipping burgers at McDonalds, does the manager take me aside and tell me that I'll be earning X% of the entire company's gross profits, even on days when I'm not actually working? Or do I just earn a fixed, flat wage based on the number of hours I actually do work?

Why the hell does my fighter pilot earn 12% of everything I ever make, even when I'm cruising around in a Cobra III with no fighter? It makes zero sense. They should be earning a flat salary and only then when they're actually flying that fighter. Exactly who thought this would be a good idea and why were they not laughed out of the brain-storming session at FD that spawned it?
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I think the prices are high considering they're just pilots who don't do much.

AND, you know they never show up on the bridge! When was the last time you got paid for not showing up?

Come on FDev, give our NPC's avatars and put them in our cockpit!

Oh, and more chairs please - we need as many chairs as the # of supported MC (per ship) + the # supported NPCs (which is currenty 1)

PS - Can we also get SLF for the Python? And a Four fighter bay? And NPC at the helm in MC?

Thanks!
 

Rakaposhi

Rakaposhi
Lucian667 said:
Yep, totally agree, I'm just not happy paying for them when they're sitting in the passenger lounge doing zip.
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Well, they might not be doing anything, but they also aren't allowed to get another job. Think of them like soldiers or firefighters, who technically spend very little of their time actually fighting in wars or fighting fires. You wouldn't consider paying them only when they're on active duty. You have to pay them to always be ready when needed.

You could pay NPCs a wage, but then it would be crippling to some players and chump change to others. A % of money seems like the best solution. They are, after all, a powerful weapon on top of your existing hardpoints. We should have to pay for that.
 

Lucian667

Lucian667
Just showed my npc fighter pilot the door since they now want 13% of anything I make whether they're flying my fighter or not. During her career she siphoned more than 5 million from me, that's about 1 million actually spend doing her job and 4 million+ spent chilling in the crew lounge watching re-runs of Gilligan's Island. Decided to take Agony Aunt's advice and hire a newbie harmless pilot and train them up. I really didn't want to though, this is just bad game design FD, I want to keep my experienced pilot but you make me feel like a complete sucker for doing so.
 
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Ervig

Ervig
The only thing I really REALLY dislike is paying my NPC pilot while he or she is not in my ship. Or make it a 2% while not employed or something. Makes me not wanna use them.
 

Crank Larson

Crank Larson
Lucian667 said:
Why the hell does my fighter pilot earn 12% of everything I ever make, even when I'm cruising around in a Cobra III with no fighter? It makes zero sense. They should be earning a flat salary and only then when they're actually flying that fighter. Exactly who thought this would be a good idea and why were they not laughed out of the brain-storming session at FD that spawned it?
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Because that is the cost of being able to retain someone else's services exclusively. You can get a harmless pilot for 2%. You get what you pay for. Makes perfect sense - if you don't want to pay their fees, don't hire them.

Ervig said:
The only thing I really REALLY dislike is paying my NPC pilot while he or she is not in my ship. Or make it a 2% while not employed or something. Makes me not wanna use them.
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But the NPC is unable to work for anyone else while signed up with you, hence you have to pay them.
 
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