Frontier, Please Don't Kill Our Crew! Part Deux

[Darth Llama]

-Signed-

This mechanic is silly and needs to be changed. I can't believe that it still hasn't been addressed yet.

I don't mind having to do something to get them back, but just having them flat out dead and gone is stupid.

 

[Chaparral]

I have decided to just create a holome of a copilot i want from an alt account, and have her sit on the bridge with me. If fugly copilot X dies, I still have my sidekick - and a pip. Win/win.

 

[Shinji Ikari]

Only passive.

Oh well, that explains it then.

 

[Deleted member 38366]

NPC "Iron man" never made any sense and IMHO needs to go. Replace it with a post-ejection/salvage mechanic and be done with it.

And while we're at it... use the NPC Crews to fill the empty seats already. What can be so hard about that (?)
To make things golden, have 'em give off occasional snarky comments based on their character background for CMDRs performing "quality flying" (good & bad ).

 

[Sylveria]

Signed.

NPC crew gameplay needs to be further expanded and not significantly nerfed or restricted into oblivion simply as some sort of backwards "incentive" to get players to engage with other players in multiplayer modes. This game offers 3 mode choices- NPC crew would help balance those systems which have been introduced as multiplayer-specific content (multicrew, Wings, etc.) for those who choose to play in Solo. The game was always intended to give each player the choice to play alone or with others.

As it stands currently... the SLF is the only gameplay option for NPC crew. I'd like to see it expanded into further roles, say as much as multicrew features allow- and even NPC Wings.

Frontier doesn't need to introduce "multiplayer exclusive content" in order to foster multiplayer gameplay- if the game is good enough, it will foster such gameplay itself. If it doesn't then it clearly wasn't meant to be.

 

[valbarr]

The sad bit, Frontier dont use logic. they have told us on more than one occasion, that if they add a feature to the game and people use it a lot, they will improve it, because its obviously a feature we want. they have zero understanding, that people want to use for example multicrew or npc pilots etc etc etc, but we dont use them very much because of the pathetic version we currently have, so when frontier looks at its metrics they go oh look no one is using multicrew, not many people have npc pilots, so its pointless for us to spend dev time on those features because it would be a waste of time. i mean, talk about want to make you scream and punch stuff... its pathetic.

 

[Ser_Slack]

yes to permadeath but no to the current shared exp system

 

[Camisade]

I have my second one almost trained up to Elite. I lost my first Elite SLF pilot in the Gnosis fiasco.

I don't care if I have to pay (some reasonable amount) to get my SLF tele-operator back after ship loss. I don't care if you make me go find them (which might be a GREAT way to employ FSS) within some amount of (play) time before they get drawn into some planet's (or star's) gravity well and smashed/burned to oblivion forever. I don't care if they temporarily lose some skill, or even require some "cool-down" R&R time before they'll get back into the ship with you.

Heck, I wouldn't even mind if I had to buy a really expensive cockpit module (or new type of fighter hangar) to enable them to survive my ship's destruction, or pay for their entry into the Pilots' Federation, like some kind of sponsorship, so they'd be granted access to a RemLock unit.

But for crying out loud, give them the survivability they need in order to be used in ALL KINDS of flying, not just PvE. For once, be willing to take a step back from a REALLY unfortunate and ill-advised game design decision.

 

[V'larr]

Yyyyyyyyep. This issue has been sitting in my signature for well over a full year now...and not once have I seen or heard Fdev address it.

Guess it's nice to know that once, at the *start* of 2018, they at least admitted it was some kind of issue.

*sigh*

 

[Iron Golem]

Why don't we then lose a rank?

I am so tired of these arguments that seek some kind of "compromise" as if negotiating with FD.

The answer to all of this is very simple. Your NPC crew should survive together with you, period. No strings attached. No rescue-your-crew minigame. No "NPC rebuy cost". No NPC level loss.

You survive and don't lose ranks, and the explanation is that you got an escape pod and are rescued etc. There is no reason why your crew would not sit in the same escape pod or another one.

I mean they arnt even on the ship, they are telepresent, why would they die? Wouldn't they just go to the bar till you respawn?

 

[Imo]

I trained several NPC crews and lost them all at some point. Sometimes only by mistake. Maybe not my one. I launch my ship, an NPC crashed into my back, speeds me up over 100 with the crash, NPC dies and I get destroyed by the starport. Crew lost. And my crew took an incredible amount of credits, 200 M once, for almost doing nothing. I stopped training new NPC crews until we get a better experience.

 

[Iron Golem]

This, definitely. Even if they're on the ship with you, you don't die, and I'd assume whatever unseen process saves your commander from death must be fast enough for them to do too.

A big reason I like playing Elite Dangerous is because as far as I can tell, nobody actually dies outside of the background story, which really helps with my weird conscience about videogame murder. The fact that for some arbitrary reason my multicrew does permanently die stops me playing with them because it just seems cruel.

If they were visually in your ship with you (On bridge) controlling the SLF, it would make sense to have them die (If they cant have their own escape pod for whatever reason). They don't even appear on the ship though, and if Frontier is going to push handwavium like telepresence, it should at least be consistent and not have your npc die when they infact dont die when you die even though you dont really die, but they do die even though they dont... WHAT, fix your game man lol.

 

[Komemiute]

Sorry for the silly question but I never hired an NPC before. If I assign them to a SLF, and they get blown up- they die? Or only when my ship gets blown up?
Or even a better question- what death really kills them?

 

[Hanerib]

Oh I still miss my former crew member, Litzy Bean. Her flying in that Taipan was a wondrous thing to behold. She simply couldn't stand my company after Thargoid Interceptor shutdown fields interacted with my cerebral implant, and decided to stay aboard Gnosis instead, forever. I still have a 4A class fuel scoop on that ill-fated carrier in memory.

 

[Ozram]

Sorry for the silly question but I never hired an NPC before. If I assign them to a SLF, and they get blown up- they die? Or only when my ship gets blown up?
Or even a better question- what death really kills them?

If your ship faces the rebuy with a hired npc set to “active” that nec is lost for ever. It takes a lot of time and credits to train up an NPC from harmless to Elite. I’ve only done it once. Every other has died. Some got as far as “deadly”. It’s quite the frustration.

 

[Bashy81]

Sorry for the silly question but I never hired an NPC before. If I assign them to a SLF, and they get blown up- they die? Or only when my ship gets blown up?
Or even a better question- what death really kills them?

They die if your ship is blown up. It gives a reason for all the the crew available to recruit in every single station. And, like loss of exploration data, gives a reason for people to care about what happens to their ship, even if rebuy money isnt something they care about any more.
It puts everyone on the same level playing field, no matter how rich they are. Data & NPCs being lost on ship destruction is egalitarian, it gives us social justice. Anyone arguing to change this should consider whether they are in fact a patriarchal monster.

 

[Saool]

I still don't get why people keep asking for this. Are people not thinking it through? If npc crew become immortal then there is only so long before everyone's crew become elite. At which point they may as well be elite to start with. That just waters down and weakens that whole addition to the game.

 

[Watcher]

Bit late to the party but I too would like some sort of NPC crew recovery mechanic.
I like the idea of recovering an escape pod and/or paying for recovery possibly with associated down time and other costs for said crew afterwards.
Rescue from pirate could be interesting but also pretty punishing if you are not a combat orientated player (like me) - multiple paths to recovery needed perhaps?
I also like the idea of a chance of them coming after you if you don't rescue them. The old elite games had crew sending bounty hunters for firing them if you changed ships (bit harsh?) this could perhaps do something similar but a bit more justified.

Then again I'd also like to see expanded NPC mechanics with some RPG elements - crew that can do more than just pilot the SLF and have different capabilities in different areas. Perhaps some crew training and/or XP gain in different areas? Be nice if they had preference and they could decide to quit or their back-story could generate missions.
Something more fleshed out anyway, this has all been gone over in depth before by me and others.

Meanwhile, lets start small. Some sort of recovery mechanic please..

 

[Watcher]

I still don't get why people keep asking for this. Are people not thinking it through? If npc crew become immortal then there is only so long before everyone's crew become elite. At which point they may as well be elite to start with. That just waters down and weakens that whole addition to the game.

Possibly but better some Elite crew you have a history with than throw away crew who mean nothing to you.
I really think the RPG elements would add something here and it would be neat if they could reference past incidents or encounters and respond to what you are doing up to and including quiting or even turning on you depending on their personality and your actions.

 

[Maro-Val]

Signed ofc. This stupid mechanic must get fixed, its been so long now.