Why hasn't frontier ever responded to killing our SLF NPC's?

[biohazard15]

Not me and many others who are not yet 'Elite' in combat rank. Unfortunately, the SLF steals 50% of your combat rank.

Yeah, there's that.
However, Elite combat rank does not give any special privileges when compared to trader or explorer Elites. Any of three would unlock Shinrarta. Thus, no need to rush it. Personally, Elite combat rank is the only thing I haven't yet achieved - I have other two Elites, and both Admiral and King. I'm currently at 73% Deadly.

 

[-VR- Max Factor]

REMOVE ALL THE CONSEQUENCES

http://www.2oceansvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/misc-all-the-things-l.png

Come on OP, the game is already 99% consequence free.

Do you really need to remove the LAST thing that might force people to think while fighting an NPC?

The thing is, is that consequences should provide good gameplay opportunities. Losing your SLF pilot does not. It is just an annoyance.

 

[Zieman]

The thing is, is that consequences should provide good gameplay opportunities. Losing your SLF pilot does not. It is just an annoyance.

That's why I never use mine, they're just for Harmless decoration.
I just wish that I could take them with me to my ship, so I could see them doing nothing on the spare seats on the bridge (or pick one to do nothing on the spare seat, if the ship I fly has only one spare seat).

 

[zombieapocalypse]

I wouldn't mind so much if the support team could retrieve your pilot.

But they can. I lost my Cutter due to a glitch (I logged into the game and immediately my docked just Cutter blew up!!!), and the support team not only refunded my rebuy but also revived my SLF pilot. I was very grateful! I love Harry.

 

[zombieapocalypse]

The thing is, is that consequences should provide good gameplay opportunities. Losing your SLF pilot does not. It is just an annoyance.

Yeah, but technically, you could make exactly the same argument about rebuy cost. Though I do agree with the sentiment in general.

 

[Frenotx]

REMOVE ALL THE CONSEQUENCES

http://www.2oceansvibe.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/misc-all-the-things-l.png

Come on OP, the game is already 99% consequence free.

Do you really need to remove the LAST thing that might force people to think while fighting an NPC?

I see this, "bah just removing all the consequences" argument a lot, but it doesn't make sense to be. Why should I lose more dying in my keelback (months of fighting to train up a an NPC pilot) than I lose dying in my vastly more expensive python? The consequence of losing an NPC pilot is wildly disproportionate to the rest of the consequences in game. I don't want it to be risk free: just make them add more to the rebuy of you want to keep them. Call it a "hazard bonus". Still a consequence, but now it's actually consistent with the rest of the risk / reward factors in the game.

 

[Cmdr Eagleboy]

Issue is you can't ever lose your crew NPC member. So it basically removes need for ever choosing another one.

However I suspect when more detailed NPC comms comes, we might see NPC members leaving because of lack of pay, not being aligned with their political beliefs or legal issues, etc. Then most likely escape pods for NPC crew members will appear.

At the moment this system is...weird...and yes, I believe it will change when we will be able to lose NPC crew members other way than death.

 

[777Driver]

But they can. I lost my Cutter due to a glitch (I logged into the game and immediately my docked just Cutter blew up!!!), and the support team not only refunded my rebuy but also revived my SLF pilot. I was very grateful! I love Harry.

Good to hear, there have been reports from others that they couldn't retrieve the SLF. In that case leave things as they are.

 

[V'larr]

Hello Frontier,

Instead of killing our NPC's when the ship is destroyed, can you just have them loose a level instead?

I would find even that to be too punishing.

If the current state of affairs wasn't that Engineers enables my ship to be quite undestructible (as I will always have plenty of speed and hitpoints to effect a getaway if necessary), I would be raising a bigger stink about NPC deaths.

I just see many bigger fish to fry at the moment.

edit:

I see this, "bah just removing all the consequences" argument a lot, but it doesn't make sense to be. Why should I lose more dying in my keelback (months of fighting to train up a an NPC pilot) than I lose dying in my vastly more expensive python? The consequence of losing an NPC pilot is wildly disproportionate to the rest of the consequences in game. I don't want it to be risk free: just make them add more to the rebuy of you want to keep them. Call it a "hazard bonus". Still a consequence, but now it's actually consistent with the rest of the risk / reward factors in the game.

I apparently need to go around sprinkling rep more often, 'cuz I never seem to be able to rep your posts anymore.

 

[Frenotx]

I apparently need to go around sprinkling rep more often, 'cuz I never seem to be able to rep your posts anymore.

Heh. Appreciated. Just mention the content elsewhere or otherwise bump them. The majority of the stuff I write is stuff I want FDev to see and consider, so the more exposure the better! Just want to see Elite be the best game it can be. So much potential for greatness.

 

[imaner76]

As I lost my NPC pilot the other night due to a station fireing at me, I felt real loss. Been with me since he was a Novice, sure he was a little odd and would sometimes just fly away. But he always came back. That was, until the "incident"....

RIP Leon House o7

 

[V'larr]

@Aashenfox - Can you provide a link where it says 50%? I did a bit of research and never saw 50% mentioned. It's not like Elite rank is difficult anyway, you can shoot Elite Eagles and Sidys up to Elite..

See the thread in my signature for the info on that. It's *any* wing/crew member and is divided even further for every additional member beyond the first.

Heh. Appreciated. Just mention the content elsewhere or otherwise bump them. The majority of the stuff I write is stuff I want FDev to see and consider, so the more exposure the better! Just want to see Elite be the best game it can be. So much potential for greatness.

I'm so with you there.

 

[valbarr]

i had a crewmember who died to some gankers, after getting to dangerous. so i vowed never to use them again, but eventually i cracked, ive got one to deadly now, But i only use crewmembers in Solo or private group, if they die because I take on too manyh npcs etc, then its my fault, and i can just about live with that. but if your in open and you going about your business and a group of 2 or 4 in a wing, decend on you, you have zero chance of surviving, other than combat logging of course, its not my skill at fault but the game mechanic, so i would like them to not perma die, but since they do, and i or any of us, have zero influence over what frontier does or doesnt do, i have to live with their system, so as i said, solo or group play only for crewmembers, even though its under protest that that is the case, just means im less likely to be in open, which i would prefer, shrug.

 

[babelfisch]

They have said nothing, absolutely nothing.

I do agree that something should be done about crew members but you are wrong that they said nothing about it. Wether you like their response or not is a different topic though...

BTW please don't ask, I don't remember if it was during a livestream or a forum post and I can't be bothered to look for it. Just accept that I don't make it up.

 

[Susanna]

"Balance".

Bull! If you can supposedly survive ship destruction via the ship rebuy screen, which is handwavium for an escape pod being provided, then why cant we wave our hands a little bit more and have two escape pods to included the SLF pilot as well???

A LOT of time is invested in ranking up a SLF pilot. I'm talking many many hours. Mine is currently Deadly ranked up from Harmless. Losing such a game asset is a Royal Pain in the butt as happened to my previous pilot when fighting Goids. Upshot is that you don't use your pilot where there is a SLIM chance of loosing the ship, rendering them a lot less useful because you don't want to use them when you most need to use them!

This sucks in my book.

So please Explain away the balance of this to me.... And this sort of thing is supposed to deter combat logging is it??? Where is the Balance now?

 

[CMDR Ofan]

They dont die, they use an escape capsule just like you, but the contract is over due to your incompetence. They immediately go and spend the 500,000,000 Cr you have paid them on a Conda, biscuits, and dancing girls.

Off topic, I would like it if after I pay them enough (as I have paid mine vast amounts of money) I had the option to discharge them as a fighter pilot, buy them a ship and call them as an SOS once every 24 hours to join me as an NPC in an instance and they go once I leave or get destroyed. I realise it's probably a balance nightmare but what else am I training these fools up for, other than to serve as my guns.

 

[Susanna]

Off topic, I would like it if after I pay them enough (as I have paid mine vast amounts of money) I had the option to discharge them as a fighter pilot, buy them a ship and call them as an SOS once every 24 hours to join me as an NPC in an instance and they go once I leave or get destroyed. I realise it's probably a balance nightmare but what else am I training these fools up for, other than to serve as my guns.

Lets be realistic here. SLF pilots are really a means of FDev siphoning money back out of the ED economy... Mine has taken a quarter of a Billion credits off me!

 

[Watcher]

I don't think crew should automatically lose a level but I do think there should be able to recover them via escape pod - this would take some effort to do..
There are lots of things to do here that I and others have gone on about at length.
Maybe you can collect them if you act fairly quickly. If you don't perhaps they can find their way back to you after sometime, perhaps they could seek 'revenge' if they feel you messed up and didn't come looking for them. Perhaps you could put you a rescue bounty for their return. Perhaps they might sometimes lose a level, choose to retire or require some sort of cool down on being available if you do get them back, perhaps you could optionally fire them then we possibilities of revenge or perhaps you could let them go and provide a severance package to mitigate that. Perhaps old pilots could come back and offer you missions, become NPCs you might hear about at stations or something. So many things you could do with this! And then all the not getting killed stuff of having mission related stuff, perhaps some NPCs object to certain activities and quit or generate missions on occasions related to their back story or otherwise decide they might like to retire and have a change of pace. Maybe they get bored if you aren't making much use of their services...

Anyway..

Suffice to say I would like to see NPC crew expanded upon

 

[imaner76]

but if your in open and you going about your business and a group of 2 or 4 in a wing, decend on you, you have zero chance of surviving, other than combat logging of course,

I don't consider that combat logging. If a wing of players attack me for no reason I'm not getting killed. Call me what you like, I didn't ask for it so I'm not sitting there to take it simply for their amusement. In fact I think if you've not deployed your hard points and leave there shouldn't even be a timer. I even have a voice attack command for reset to private group. Only used once but I was in a ship with no weapons and was exploring.

If I am in a battle and things start looking bad and I or they log out, that's combat logging in my book. But I've noticed I get left alone in a Corvette.

 

[Frenotx]

Bull! If you can supposedly survive ship destruction via the ship rebuy screen, which is handwavium for an escape pod being provided, then why cant we wave our hands a little bit more and have two escape pods to included the SLF pilot as well???

A LOT of time is invested in ranking up a SLF pilot. I'm talking many many hours. Mine is currently Deadly ranked up from Harmless. Losing such a game asset is a Royal Pain in the butt as happened to my previous pilot when fighting Goids. Upshot is that you don't use your pilot where there is a SLIM chance of loosing the ship, rendering them a lot less useful because you don't want to use them when you most need to use them!

This sucks in my book.

So please Explain away the balance of this to me.... And this sort of thing is supposed to deter combat logging is it??? Where is the Balance now?

This is the problem. It's a disproportionate risk. There certainly are some games where very long-earned stuff is constantly on the line (eve online comes to mind), but that's not how Frontier decided to make their have. They went for a far more lenient death penalty. While you may lose some heart-pounding tension with that direction, it DOES allow players to take on greater risks, and generally be more adventurous. Dying sucks, but it generally only sets you back a few hours worth of credits. NPC pilots are a huge risk, though. It takes a lot of time, credits (paid to them during training) and COMBAT XP (they take half) to train up an NPC pilot. An Elite NPC pilot is a bigger risk than the biggest rebuys in the game if you consider all the resources it takes to train them up. If we completely lost our ships when we died (no insurance) then MAYBE it would fit. In Elite as it is now? Absolutely not.