Do nothing vampiric ninja SLF pilots stealing credits from CG turn in

[amadeus1171]

Is this working as intended? The amount contributed towards the community goal is calculated after the NPC's take their cut.

Why should those with NPC's have to work harder than those without? Why are we being punished?

 

[Lightspeed]

I agree it's an issue that should be revisited: payments for active and inactive crew.

If the NPC is present with you in the ship and helps to protect you in some way, fair enough.

If the NPC is idling their time in another ship at some distant port, then you should pay a retainer that is less than the fuller amount paid for an active pilot.

 

[Stealthie]

Is this working as intended? The amount contributed towards the community goal is calculated after the NPC's take their cut.

Why should those with NPC's have to work harder than those without? Why are we being punished?

If you're letting your SLF pilot soak up credits without doing anything to earn them, that's nobody's fault but your own.

And if you're not happy with what your SLF pilot earns, sack 'em.

 

[Schmack]

I am ok with the payment to them, not ok with the CG deduction from your contribution. You still killed those ships, turned in those bounties or bonds, then paid your crew. You should not be penalized for having to pay out to your own crew.

Just like FD though, create something cool then dissuade players from using it through punitive actions.

 

[rrobes]

Fire 'em.

 

[fsdraconis]

I am ok with the payment to them, not ok with the CG deduction from your contribution. You still killed those ships, turned in those bounties or bonds, then paid your crew. You should not be penalized for having to pay out to your own crew.

Just like FD though, create something cool then dissuade players from using it through punitive actions.

This is actually been a problem from the start with the entire game. There is only, getting paid for the job done or getting punished for not doing it right. "Oh I dinged his paint" == bounty punishment. Hey, those tourists you got, someone wants you to sell them into slavery. Decline. Do you get rewarded for doing the right thing? Nope, never. Not anywhere in the entire game does anyone actually award you for going above the minimum. They, offer to pay you for doing a little more. Nothing, but, punishment game play. So, you get an ok turn out when you do your job. Yelled at for not doing it right.

Which is literally how I treat Fdev because this is the way they treat me. If they do their job. Then they did their job. But when they screw up. Well, it sure isn't a pat on the back from me.

 

[Bryan K]

Several months back, somebody put in a ticket asking about this. The response they got mentioned a “shore leave” function where the NPC crew would not be paid. Apparently nobody told the QA department that this feature doesn’t exist.

Naturally, FDev have said absolutely nothing on the subject since. Not sure where their finger is, but it definitely ain’t on the pulse of the community.

 

[Cmdr. Numa]

And if you're not happy with what your SLF pilot earns, sack 'em.

As inefficient as they are, I probably should. In CZ they have their rare shining moment where they actually kill something they kept off my back, but most of the time they just explode, leaving me with their employment cost and the fighter restock and offload the aggro of whatever killed them onto me. Hardly the fault of the pilts though, fighters need a buff. Still keeping mine around for fun. Though if something like shore leave would be implemented, I'd train up more than one happily.

 

[Stealthie]

As inefficient as they are, I probably should. In CZ they have their rare shining moment where they actually kill something they kept off my back, but most of the time they just explode, leaving me with their employment cost and the fighter restock and offload the aggro of whatever killed them onto me. Hardly the fault of the pilts though, fighters need a buff. Still keeping mine around for fun. Though if something like shore leave would be implemented, I'd train up more than one happily.

Oh, I agree.

In this week's CG, I keep hearing my SLF pilot saying "We've lost the fighter Commander" and I find myself thinking "What'd ya mean by 'we'? I haven't lost anything and I'm seriously considering taking the cost of replacing all those Taipans out of your wages!"

For the most part, all NPC SLF pilots do is work as a decoy but I guess we all know that and we choose to use them anyway, cos they're another thing that we can "develop" as we play.

As well as some kind of "standby pay", it might be nice if there was some kind of "transfer market" for SLF pilots too, so we could take on a newbie for Cr20k (or whatever it is), train 'em up to Elite and then sell their contract to somebody else for, say, Cr50m.
Wouldn't really help offset what they leech off us as we play but it would, at least, help you feel like there was a reward for doing it.

 

[Alex Brentnall]

Can't believe I find myself agreeing with Amadeus but damnit he's right. I fully agree and its total bull.

I fully accept my personal profits being cut, I have money so I have 2x pilots and thats fine, even the shore leave I kinda get. But with a Dangerous, a deadly and a harmless pilot I'm working 19% harder just to stay in the top 10% here and I feel cheated. If I drop out the top 10% it is entirely the SLF pilots fault as i've been on the wire the past 3 days.

Frontier you need to come look at this for the Q2 update.

 

[UFO Reality]

Is this working as intended? The amount contributed towards the community goal is calculated after the NPC's take their cut.

Why should those with NPC's have to work harder than those without? Why are we being punished?

I think the devs did it on purpose that SLF gets a percentage of overall profits to help balance the game.

I do find that the SLF pilots ranked above expert to be more useful and worth the investment in combat based gameplay.

An SLF is cheaper than insurance as it gives you some defense and extra attack.

Its all just balance.

It is annoying when they are inactive and still get a percentage so I do agree about the retainer idea.

The devs or persons doing the coding probably couldn't be bothered to include that in as it seems anything that gets added to the game has either fans or critics.

 

[Ian Skippy]

Is this working as intended? The amount contributed towards the community goal is calculated after the NPC's take their cut.

Why should those with NPC's have to work harder than those without? Why are we being punished?

If you hire people, you need to pay them. I dont like it either, but apparently that is what the law says. I do feel there should be an 'active/inactive' salary difference though. For example a fixed per week salary, paid up-front, based on rank, plus a percentage based on kills. Then again, people will complain they are being 'punished for not playing'. So maybe a per hour thing, ranging from 100cr/hr for harmless to 10.000cr/hr for elite, plus percentages when being active.

 

[TieKnee]

I think that you need to compensate all your employees regardless of their active or inactive status - for the simple convenience of getting them active real quick, then keep paying them .. or as was mentioned , fire them. I personally have no issue providing compensation to the non active pilots.

 

[amadeus1171]

Some people don't seem to get what this thread is about. It's not about the exorbitant free the npc soaks up while being afk. Sure I'm miffed about that. I think a lot of people are. But this thread is about the community goal turn in is calculated after the npc takes their cut. It's not right. Your entire bounty kill turned in should count, not just what you were paid.

 

[lecorsobreton]

If you're letting your SLF pilot soak up credits without doing anything to earn them, that's nobody's fault but your own.

And if you're not happy with what your SLF pilot earns, sack 'em.

All my ships have at least 2 seats. Only one of them can carry a SLF (gunship). I wish my hired crew would be alongside me on my missions. I'm pretty sure my old hag of a crew is sipping latvian brandy when I'm out earning credits.

 

[Crank Larson]

Is this working as intended?

Yes, your crew take a percentage of all income.

The amount contributed towards the community goal is calculated after the NPC's take their cut.

Including this.

Why should those with NPC's have to work harder than those without? Why are we being punished?

We don't. We work less hard if we use our crew members, as they help kill other ships.

It's your decision. Hire crew and pay for them. Don't hire crew and don't pay for them.

 

[Pendergast]

It's your decision. Hire crew and pay for them. Don't hire crew and don't pay for them.

There is no other option to you? No wishful thinking in your life at all?

 

[Stealthie]

Some people don't seem to get what this thread is about. It's not about the exorbitant free the npc soaks up while being afk. Sure I'm miffed about that. I think a lot of people are. But this thread is about the community goal turn in is calculated after the npc takes their cut. It's not right. Your entire bounty kill turned in should count, not just what you were paid.

I don't really see what's wrong with it.

You know, when you hire the NPC, that they're going to take a percentage of your income - in all it's forms.

I guess it might be nice if things like bounties and CBs "absorbed" by your NPC were factored into the results of a CG independantly, so if you'd earned, say, Cr30m at a CG and were in the top 10% then your NPC might be considered to have earned Cr4m and that might get them into the top 50%.
At the end of the CG, you'd get a payout based on a top 10% result and your NPC would get a payout based on a top 50% result.

Which, of course, wouldn't matter to you cos' you wouldn't get any of that reward (it is, after all, the reward earned BY the NPC, on the basis of what they've earned from assisting you) but it would, at least, demonstrate that the bounties/CBs taken by the NPC aren't just "vanishing".

 

[Speedcuffs]

Well, after her performance in the current CG, once it's over I will be sacking her.
The useless money-grabbing workshy fop.[money]

 

[Crank Larson]

There is no other option to you? No wishful thinking in your life at all?

Another option is to hire crew and then fire them before turning in your bonds. Then you don't have to pay them at all. Something for everyone, eh?