News 2.3 Dev Update

[DialBforBiscuit]

If multicrew is limited to connecting at stations or staring at a timer, only a very small percentage of players will take advantage of it. Multiplayer needs to be fast, convenient, and rewarding to work well. Otherwise you're just trapping people into unsatisfying mechanics. Not everyone enjoys being locked into hyper-realism in a game. Realism is sweet, but its best when optional. Sitting in someone else's cockpit just to wait out the trip to the station and get back in my ship would be so aggravatingly boring. it'll just be car ride simulator 3303. Probably spend the time away from the computer, fixing tea or dinner. And no, I'd not be happy doing extra mini-game button pressing to gain fsd advantage, or exploring advantage. I'd like the option for that, but not if its the only thing i'm able to do for next x minutes. I'd also not be happy taking control of my friend's ship temporarily either. There comes a time where I want to be in my ship, to do my thing, and the worst thing a game can do is block me from that. What if my buddy disconnects? Am I going to be stuck in space or stuck watching a timer while i get back to the station? Sure a big message saying "You can't play game for 30 minutes" will be really attractive...

A game should never have a mechanic that prevents you from playing the game.

Want a cool mechanic of getting out of your ship and into someone else's ship then wait for 3.0 when legs are a thing. Keep the realism optional. Lets have a game that's easy and fun to play together with the optional ability for realism.

 

[Magic Man]

People have jumped on the telepresence thing - FD doesn't mention telepresence for this, it doesn't have to be seen as game lore, it's purely a game mechanic..

Why are people trying to explain it when there's no real reason to have to explain the function within the game world?

 

[Paramemetic]

Is this a good thing or does it trivialised the experience? I remember when Naxx, a raid in Warcraft was made easier so that everyone could experience it, as a guild we could not complete it before the change: in fact it was even hard to get attuned to take part in, when we finally did complete the easy version it felt really rubbish. Sometimes having to do something to experience something else improves the experience. There is a real risk this game, a game I currently love, is all becoming a bit easy mode.

How about instead of trying to police how other people play a game you just focus on how you want to play the game. If you are afraid crewing up with someone already at a location will trivialize the experience, don't do it. Some people don't value the same experiences in gameplay as you do, and they should not have barriers to play enforced just because you don't want to play that way.

People with friends who want to play together don't want to spend all their time getting to the same stations or planning in advance where they will meet up. They want to log on, play the game with each other, and then log off. Sometimes they want to be playing the game, their friend who only gets to play for an hour or so per week logs on, and they want to play together without having to go "welp let's all fly to wherever and meet up" and then have 15 minutes to play.

Your insensitivity to other people playing the game is tiresome - you don't get to go "hey if you don't like it play something else" about features that are being developed and designed specifically this way. Quit being the game police about what is and is not a valuable gameplay experience and what is and is not the right kind of fun.

 

[Winterwalker]

Keep it instant, anywhere, anytime, and any place (location).

You can, by radio, with a limited view hopefully, a drawback to telepresence.
Like, if I add a massive railgun, it adds mass to ship (= drawback) or do we prefer no?

well go join them and have fun. want to see the ruins and a friend is there. Join them, have FUN.

For about five minutes.

Then you have the 'Open ship invite'. Really? Who on earth is allowing some complete random to just jump aboard their ship. "Ah, you're leaving an Orbis station, I'll man those turrets for you .." and for a laugh shoots at the station and/or police and then quickly decides to leave, picking the 'no penalty, no profit' option. It sounds like a crazy addition and doesn't seem like the right fit for Elite Dangerous.

Ummmm. Repped. o7

 

[Mordhar]

One more fact to add to discussion.
I have a friend who recently purchased a game. Naturally I have much better ship and more experience.
When multicrew was announced but no details were clear we agreed to meet and fly together. For that I decided to cancel my exploration trip and turn back to bubble. Planning to arrive in 2-3 weeks. After that, we wanted to meet at some system and fly some time together, doing different types of activities (combat, missions, mining) to show him some “tips and tricks”.

Both of us seen requirement to actually meet at some location in game as absolutely necessary and logical. I never even considered any other implementation. And it never seen as “less fun”.
You want to be inside someone else’s ship – you meet him and board that ship.

Infinite range insta-jump looks both illogical and unnecessary to me.

 

[LKx]

People have jumped on the telepresence thing - FD doesn't mention telepresence for this, it doesn't have to be seen as game lore, it's purely a game mechanic..

Why are people trying to explain it when there's no real reason to have to explain the function within the game world?

Telepresence has been mentioned by Ed to some degree... But i agree, i'd just not try to explain it at all rather than cross galaxy telepresence

 

[Obsidian Ant]

The more I think about the "Easy Access" in terms of Gameplay idea behind Crew Member Teleportation, the more I dislke the idea.

1) Ship Transfer :
- was initially envisioned to be instant
- luckily, realism wasn't thrown out of the Window in favor of "Easy Access" and eventually realistic factors were included. Still, it turned out to be a darn useful feature.

2) NPC Crews :
- I forgot to pick up and assign one of my NPCs to my SLF? Well, I have to turn back and pick it up then. Silly me!
- "not onboard" means just that : not onboard
- easy fix : dock and correct the issue, next time plan my departure procedure a bit better if I want my NPC Crew to be on the Ship

3) I'm just imagining these Conversations amongst Players :
Player A (Home System : Colonia) : Hey B, you wanna get a scenic tour of Colonia?
Player B (Home System : SOL) : Why sure, never been there! It's way too far away to my taste. Hang on, I'll be with you in a Second

Player X (Combat CG System) : Eh, I could use a hand in the CG, I keep almost getting it handed there a few minutes in. Would you mind helping out?
Plater Z (current Location SPHUQOU Sector WT-I D9-7) : I'm 46k out and haven't done Combat in months! You sure about this?
Player X : Don't worry, I'm all Gimbals anyway. Just need 1 more Pip for Shields. Just relax and enjoy the Show. You can take the SLF for a spin if you like thou xD
Player Z : Haha okay then, just gimme 30 sec to scan that ELW, will be right with you.

Player G : Hey guys, wanna gank a few Xplorers @ Ancient ruins?
Player R : *lol* sure, where you at?
Player Q : Only if you got good guns!
Player G : @R 1st site, at least 3 n00bs parked down there, easy meat. @Q 4x G5 Turrets, Thermal Beams & OC Cannons - you better aim well xD
Player R : lets rock!
Player Q : only got 45min, but lets wipe dem n00bs!

-----------------

IMHO : ELITE has been called alot of things so far - but Easy Access has never been amongst the descriptions.
For that, there's plenty Smartphone and Casual Games.

Hence : Space is big - and it should remain big.
No handwavium CMDR Teleportation.

Want to crew up? Then gather your Players at a Station, Planetary Base or Outpost and head out. As in : do your bit of homework & minimal coordination and prepare your Ship accordingly.

This is likely the first iteration of multi-crew, we won't see the full thing until players actually get the ability to move around. There are huge gameplay benefits to making crew joining instant based.

Here are some things that instant crew joining enables which physical joining would prevent:

• Join deep space expeditions as a sightseer.
• Helping people out who are in a tough spot
• Learning the ropes of the game
• Instant "this is how you do xyz" tutorial fly-throughs
• Getting involved with puzzles that are separated by 10k light years (people will be able to help with the Formidine, Conflux, Hawking's Gap and Alien Ruins searches without having to choose)
• Taking a trip to Colonia to help a player or for fun
• Players in deep space can instantly and temporarily experience any of the above whilst remaining in deep space.

These are just a few examples.

Instant crew joining opens up the game, and offers huge amounts of opportunities to players. Physical joining on the other hand offers huge limitations that writes-off all the options in the above list.

I agree that there is inconsistencies with the internal logic of the game, but introducing limitations on gameplay doesn't seem to be the way to resolve those inconsistencies.

 

[mossfoot]

Blimey, people harking on about immersion, or how 'if the devs implement xxx then immersion takes a hit'.

It's a video game, yeah?

I don't truck with this attitude any more than I do those who insist that everything must be as realistic as possible because immersion is everything.

Both views are wrong. Each is dismissive of the other. Saying "it's just a video game" is like saying it's okay to have our ships transform into ponies, because ponies are fun and fun is all that matters. Just like saying we should wait on a landing pad for every ton of cargo to be loaded from the warehouse and filling our forms is important because it's realistic.

Fun doesn't trump everything because at the end of the day instant gratification becomes stale, and many players appreciate an immersive world for the long term rewards that come with it (including those saying fun trumps all, whether they realize it or not). Likewise going full realism immersion doesn't trump everything either, because at the end of the day filling in EVERY possible detail is dull and boring (including those who claim to enjoy such detail, only to then try to find shortcuts around them when possible).

There's a balance to be sought.

Normally I'm on the side of immersion, but that's largely because I saw it adding to the world and gameplay.

In this case I have yet to see a compelling case for that with multicrew.

I could go on, but I think Obsidian Ant made the best case as to why it's necessary as it is now, and why it may change (or at least have additional options) in the future.

But I will reiterate my belief that the devs should not now, or ever, come up with a game explanation for this. This is strictly a multiplayer game feature, and not something that should be explained in lore. Ever.

 

[DPI]

If multicrew is limited to connecting at stations or staring at a timer, only a very small percentage of players will take advantage of it.

Really, how did you work that out? Lots of players already arrange to meet and wing up and most will have no issue travelling to said ship, to board it for multi-crew. In all honesty, a lot of what you consider tedious exist in the game already, so it seems quite odd that you would play a game like this..

 

[BurnyBurns]

But I will reiterate my belief that the devs should not now, or ever, come up with a game explanation for this.

Agreed. Competent game design needs to be respected, not excused.

 

[Paramemetic]

Will mining and trading transaction rewards be duplicated among players on a crew? I'm imagining for example a hazardous mining expedition where the gunner works turrets, the fighter controllers fly patrols, and the helmsman operates the mining equipment and so on. At the end of the night, can all players get paid equally for the turned in mining haul, or will it be a small fraction of a trade dividend like it is presently? It seems to me this scenario again lends itself nicely to a "everyone can do what they like" situation, but it's unclear what's meant by "vouchers" in the OP.

 

[Six6VI]

David, 33 years ago there was a vision. This is YOUR genius, please don't lose focus.

While it may be difficult to ignore the instant gratification pew pew crowd they are here today, back in COD tomorrow (unless it's a school day). Regardless of what you do to appease these people, their attention span is fleeting at best.

Back in 84 you taught us to fill the gaps with our imagination, in the absence of friends to share the ride. Then we grew up, had careers, families, read books, saw movies, played other games and yet something about Elite kept us loyal.

Your original vision is still drawing those immersion people back, you'll find many of us in SOLO because we prefer not to get mugged by children with railguns. We'd really like to come out and play, so can we spy on other player's crime stats?

Let not the future of the first, and best space trading sim be dictated by those who you felt the need to welcome separately to the original manual at "Combat", because you know they only opened it all to find the words for the security...

To a career trader, explorer, miner, or even bounty hunter in a rush the BGS NPC ships are a predictable annoyance, until the next patch. You can factor them in to your risk / reward profile and utilise limited time to reach goals effectively.

It seems to me that prior to a CMDR inviting crew members on board said CMDR would be wise to inspect, apply limits and refuse entry to, quite frankly, trolls who are probably going to waste their time with malicious premeditated stupidity.

A "Mostly Stupid" reset persistent hazard rating might be handy. Six...

 

[Winterwalker]

I agree that there is inconsistencies with the internal logic of the game, but introducing limitations on gameplay doesn't seem to be the way to resolve those inconsistencies.

Unfortunately though, if no internal logic is given people are entitled to make one up. That's why I'd argue telepresence should be front and centre at this stage, or "David Braben's vision of a scientifically realistic galaxy" probably risks some level of derision.

Fully behind why the mechanic will be what it's going to be, it's an interim .. but 'the sell' is still important or you end up losing people by giving them a confused logic to follow. Ergo, people can't follow a confused logic, "seen one brown planet, you've seen them all" and they drift away. So my advice would be to keep something back; In 2.3 you're multicrew but kind of not, it's telepresence. It works in a logical science-fiction sense but also whets appetitie, for a more fully functioned multicrew later.

 

[Paramemetic]

Both views are wrong. Each is dismissive of the other. Saying "it's just a video game" is like saying it's okay to have our ships transform into ponies, because ponies are fun and fun is all that matters. Just like saying we should wait on a landing pad for every ton of cargo to be loaded from the warehouse and filling our forms is important because it's realistic.

We're on the same side here and I appreciate your respect for both sides. I just want to point out however that one design decision forces all players to play a certain way, while the other does not. For example with instant ship transfer, if you crave the immersive experience of waiting for a ship to be delivered, you are certainly able to order your ship, go do something else for a bit, and come back later, or set an egg timer with your own arbitrary time. If you want the immersive experience of cargo being unloaded, again, you can play it that way - set an egg timer, enjoy time in the break room, whatever you've got to do. Roleplay is great that way - you don't have to play the way the game lets you. There is, for example, an option to turn off pre-flight checks for exactly this reason.

On the other hand, players who don't have much time, or who aren't as interested in the game as a "real life" simulator and would prefer to enjoy the "soft flight simulator" aspects, cannot speed up their "fly a spaceship" time by just ignoring an egg timer if it is hard baked into the game.

So, by advocating for more "immersive" play, you actively alienate players who don't want to play that way - where advocating for "fun, easy game design" does not actually prevent anyone from imagining their ship needs to be manually unloaded or that they need to wait for a ship to be transferred.


In this case, for example, players are certainly welcome to only join crews with people they meet in the same station. If it would ruin the game for someone to have a crewmember just jump into their ship, you can simply only invite people from the station where you are. Call up your friends and say "let's multicrew, everyone meet in Sol," and everyone can do that! You get all the benefit of the roleplay and the immersive fun and so on. You get to choose how you want to play.

However, if Frontier were to make this an in game requirement, gameplay is significantly hurt. None of your friends have the option to go deep space exploring because do do so means they can't join your crew. "Sacrifices have to be made," why? Why would sacrifices need to be made for a video game? That is asinine. My friend in a Viper 3 with no mods and a D FSD can't join me for some fun multicrew play today because I'm on the other side of the bubble, my other two friends are with me and want to play, so I guess that guy can kick rocks while he put-puts across the bubble 10ly at a time. Too bad for him, he should embrace being immersed.

So making the game enforce immersion does hurt players who aren't looking for that experience, but it doesn't actually hurt people who do want the immersion. If your principles require you to fill out a bill of lading every time you haul cargo, you can do that! Nobody is stopping you. If not having the option enforced in game means you wouldn't take advantage of it, then maybe your principles aren't as strong as you think. v0v


Again, we're on the same side here, and I respect your view of a balance being made, I agree with that. I'm just presenting the case for why it is better to err on the side of "fun and accessible gameplay" versus erring on the side of "Eurotruck 3303."

 

[Deleted member 38366]

This is likely the first iteration of multi-crew, we won't see the full thing until players actually get the ability to move around. There are huge gameplay benefits to making crew joining instant based.

Here are some things that instant crew joining enables which physical joining would prevent:

• Join deep space expeditions as a sightseer.
• Helping people out who are in a tough spot
• Learning the ropes of the game
• Instant "this is how you do xyz" tutorial fly-throughs
• Getting involved with puzzles that are separated by 10k light years (people will be able to help with the Formidine, Conflux, Hawking's Gap and Alien Ruins searches without having to choose)
• Taking a trip to Colonia to help a player or for fun
• Players in deep space can instantly and temporarily experience any of the above whilst remaining in deep space.

These are just a few examples.

Instant crew joining opens up the game, and offers huge amounts of opportunities to players. Physical joining on the other hand offers huge limitations that writes-off all the options in the above list.

I agree that there is inconsistencies with the internal logic of the game, but introducing limitations on gameplay doesn't seem to be the way to resolve those inconsistencies.

I fully agree there are many benefits.
However, in my personal "Chances vs. Risks" assessment, I'd still see the Risks overwhelming.

If the main game becomes "CQC without needing to exit to Menu", it'll change its very character forever.

Thing is :
- how much is that view 65000LY away still worth if everyone can teleport into a Ship or SLF there for a "Sightseeing quickie", take a quick Selfie and hop right back home?
- helping people in a tough spot is always a nice thing (Chances) ... but remember this goes both ways (Risks), since it'll be open for rampant abuse (= the usual crowd of Players will instantly maximize its potential for abuse)
- the "IP Demo" from the backseat is something I indeed like myself, good Option. However, as this requires some Coordination anyway, the Crew could easily arrange at a Station just as well
- the "IP in Frontseat" wouldn't work, unless they change it for Helm to be able to relinquish control over the Ship
- AFAIK those Puzzles are already shared via Discord/Forums etc., regardless of Distance
- the "take a quick trip to Colonia" is something I don't see favorable. Might as well have given Neutron Stars a 1000% Jumprange Bonus and limited FSD Engineer mods at 100% instead of 50%. Or get it all over with and install Jumpgates.
- this "you can do anything and everywhere anytime" IMHO is something CQC fell in, the rest of the Galaxy IMHO should still remain "far far away" for a Deep Space Explorer. Anyone embarking on a long trip knows that - and it's what makes these trips so special.

Plus, I'm not sure how people would think about it who specifically purchased multiple CMDR Accounts just to be able to do that "everything, everywhere, anytime" instead of being i.e. 10k LY out with a single CMDR.

..................

I might be entirely wrong here, but it's the 2nd time we're seeing Devs/Decision Makers considering "Full Arcade" Mode of specific Game Elements for the sake of enhancing Gameplay.
Almost feels like we're at a crossroads here...

"ELITE : Dangerous - 400 Billion Systems - Infinite Freedom - Blaze your own Trail"

or

"ELITE : Arcade Unleashed - 400 Billion Systems - Instant Action - Blaze your trail, anywhere at anytime"

What would you prefer if you had to choose?

 

[Paramemetic]

David, 33 years ago there was a vision. This is YOUR genius, please don't lose focus.

While it may be difficult to ignore the instant gratification pew pew crowd they are here today, back in COD tomorrow (unless it's a school day). Regardless of what you do to appease these people, their attention span is fleeting at best.

A lot of people don't have time to live a full career in real life as well as in space, that has nothing to do with being "COD kiddies." I have, for example, never played COD.

Back in 84 you taught us to fill the gaps with our imagination, in the absence of friends to share the ride. Then we grew up, had careers, families, read books, saw movies, played other games and yet something about Elite kept us loyal.

As I just said above, using your imagination is great and a great way to get the immersive experience you desire without forcing it on players who would rather do the "I'm a space pilot flying a spaceship" thing than the "I'm a space human doing real life but it's ins space" thing. That imagination of yours is a great and powerful tool, and letting other people play the way they want doesn't actually hurt your ability to play the way you want. If you think your gameplay experience suffers from having instant gratification, then deny yourself that gratification. If you're not able to do that, maybe your principles aren't as strong as you think.

Your original vision is still drawing those immersion people back, you'll find many of us in SOLO because we prefer not to get mugged by children with railguns. We'd really like to come out and play, so can we spy on other player's crime stats?

I think in fact you'll find that Elite does not only appeal to a vanishingly small generation of players who played 1984 Elite. I was -2 years old then but I'm still a 30 year old adult, and the idea that I shouldn't play this game, that it's not for me, is a fantastic way for a publicly traded corporation to alienate potential customers. I sincerely doubt, by the way, that David Braben's vision in 1984 was "let's create a game that simulates being in real life but it's in the future, but it's still just as tedious as real life, seems fun." The galaxy is so vibrant and interesting that I don't think that was the experience Braben and Bell were looking for at all.

 

[Winterwalker]

"let's create a game that simulates being in real life but it's in the future, but it's still just as tedious as real life, seems fun."

No but it was I believe intended to be antidote, to the 'three lives' arcade games of the time, being open ended instead.

Don't be down on the motives, of why people might react with some trepidation, towards rapid access to content. I hope the new players now will still be discovering things 30 years from now and the devs also need breathing room to continue to add story material ahead of the playerbase. So the caution is much more about encouraging FD to be confident about the game, and show ED's stocking tops, inviting people in, rather than dropping their knickers on the first date (for a quick wham, bam, thank you .. oh look, a squirrel).

 

[Obsidian Ant]

I fully agree there are many benefits.
However, in my personal "Chances vs. Risks" assessment, I'd still see the Risks overwhelming.

If the main game becomes "CQC without needing to exit to Menu", it'll change its very character forever.

Thing is :
- how much is that view 65000LY away still worth if everyone can teleport into a Ship or SLF there for a "Sightseeing quickie", take a quick Selfie and hop right back home?
- helping people in a tough spot is always a nice thing (Chances) ... but remember this goes both ways (Risks), since it'll be open for rampant abuse (= the usual crowd of Players will instantly maximize its potential for abuse)
- the "IP Demo" from the backseat is something I indeed like myself, good Option. However, as this requires some Coordination anyway, the Crew could easily arrange at a Station just as well
- the "IP in Frontseat" wouldn't work, unless they change it for Helm to be able to relinquish control over the Ship
- AFAIK those Puzzles are already shared via Discord/Forums etc., regardless of Distance
- the "take a quick trip to Colonia" is something I don't see favorable. Might as well have given Neutron Stars a 1000% Jumprange Bonus and limited FSD Engineer mods at 100% instead of 50%. Or get it all over with and install Jumpgates.
- this "you can do anything and everywhere anytime" IMHO is something CQC fell in, the rest of the Galaxy IMHO should still remain "far far away" for a Deep Space Explorer. Anyone embarking on a long trip knows that - and it's what makes these trips so special.

Plus, I'm not sure how people would think about it who specifically purchased multiple CMDR Accounts just to be able to do that "everything, everywhere, anytime" instead of being i.e. 10k LY out with a single CMDR.

I might be entirely wrong here, but it's the 2nd time we're seeing Devs/Decision Makers considering "Full Arcade" Mode of specific Game Elements for the sake of enhancing Gameplay.

..................

Almost feels like we're at a crossroads here...

"ELITE : Dangerous - 400 Billion Systems - Infinite Freedom - Blaze your own Trail"

or

"ELITE : Arcade Unleashed - 400 Billion Systems - Instant Action - Blaze your trail, anywhere at anytime"

What would you prefer if you had to choose?

Any reason it cannot offer both of those? They are not mutually exclusive concepts, and please bear with me a moment on that:

Instant-join multi-crew is still only a temporary option, you do not stay at Colonia or those 60k LY destinations. Some people never visit those places because it is too far for them. It doesn't "cheapen" the experience, because they can suddenly witness it. It gives it greater value because they get to see something they otherwise never would. Forcing such players who dislike (or are unable) to spend huge times travelling to physically join a ship in order to crew it, prevents them from accessing these things full stop.

Abuse is always going to be a problem. This isn't a instant-crew issue, it is a balance and power-creep issue. It is going to be there regardless.

Helm should perhaps be controlable by any crew member, again this isn't a instant-crew issue. It is a multi-crew issue regardless of how we join the ship. Nonetheless, even if we cannot control the ship, as long as we still have instant-join we can still experience and learn from the pilot, without unnecessary hurdles.

As for the Puzzles, they may well be on the forums and on Discord - but that is hardly the same as being able to quickly jump in at the Formidine to check out the settlements, and then head to the Alien Ruins to help with a puzzle is it?

The underlying point is that the Elite galaxy is HUGE. And as it continues to grow, and as interesting things are located at ever further distances, eventually huge amounts of content is going to be locked off from people. Instant-join crew allows people to experience this, and because it is only temporary (you go back to your point of origin at the end of the session), Frontier's current solution can alleviate the above problems without compromising the size and scale of the galaxy. If you want to go there for real, then you still have to travel.

 

[BurnyBurns]

Thing is :
- how much is that view 65000LY away still worth if everyone can teleport into a Ship or SLF there for a "Sightseeing quickie", take a quick Selfie and hop right back home??

Answer: Exactly as much as you want it to be. Relish the way there? Go, play your way through the hundreds of loading screen. Don't? Well, don't.

In a game audience, where people not declamatorily gush over how great using your imagination in 1984 has been (completely disregarding that some of the early Elites had some form of speeding up travel time, a fact left unaccounted for by EDs game design due to being multiplayer btw.), you also get people who want to role play. There are entire WoW RP servers or at least have been.


These types of people usually accomplish that without forcing their personal RP requirements on everybody else. People with similar RP requirements ususally join them. Incidentally, Elite's "Group" mode would be a pretty good way to start.

Not here, in the Elite-ist-playing-like-it's-1984 community however. We're special. Everybody, bow to the RP and stare at some more hour clocks!

 

[ColdGlider]

"Commander will log out of their current vessel and transfer to the multicrew vessel, regardless of distance"

That's the only possible way for this feature. Any attempt to make it more "realistic" would be doomed to inconsistencies anyway, due the nature of a multiplayer game.

One example: suppose you have to meet a cmdr at a station, you jump on his ship and together go away for a 1000ly trip.
Now he logs out.... What about you? Then he logs back. What now?

The multiplayer dilemma. Even if the game's instancing was rock-solid and every player and server were on the same local network, a power surge or power outage can take down the host.

From a development standpoint, you cannot unduly punish your players based on external game factors. What you can (and must) do is be able to recover from them.

• In the current game, when there is a connection issue you return to the recently auto-saved game state
• If a game bug (e.g. Neutron Star disconnect) causes your client to crash and your ship explodes on reconnect, Support has always been there to help.

Suffering the helmsman's client crash 10,000 LY into a Colonia trip from the bubble could still be a recoverable situation.

e.g. The option could exist (with expiration timer) to "Reconnect to last multicrew session" provided all the checks and balances allowed.

Naturally, this option would have its own gameplay possibilities to debate: if the host crashed and you return to the station where you boarded the host's ship, there is a possible opportunity for you to access resources that would not have been available while you were 10,000 LY away. For example, you could engineer some more G5 modules for transfer to Colonia once you rejoined your helmsman and completed the trip.

That being said, the Session Reconnect could be implemented whether or not you required players to meet in advance for multicrew.

IMHO : ELITE has been called alot of things so far - but Easy Access has never been amongst the descriptions.
For that, there's plenty Smartphone and Casual Games.

Hence : Space is big - and it should remain big.
No handwavium CMDR Teleportation.

In general, I agree with this excellent post by FalconFly. If you can't be bothered to travel to Beagle Point, then why should you be able to join a friend who did? While you were enjoying combat zone missions and engineers in the bubble, they were making due with the limited resources out in deep space to enjoy new discoveries.

The answer is gameplay.

At the end of the day- per the limited info provided by Sandro- the affect on your player at the completion of a multi-crew session is credits and crime. Aside from the impact you may have had on other players (a rather large aside, admittedly) the net result on paper is only marginally different from playing Arena/CQC.

I think the potential gain here is experience.

• If a combat pilot came along for a ride with an explorer, they might be tempted to leave the pew-pew in the bubble for a while.
• If an explorer engaged in some exciting pew-pew as a gunner or SLF pilot, they might re-think returning to the bubble to delve into Engineering.
• And as a new player, you could get some first-hand experience engaging in these play styles to help decide which galactic pathway to embark upon first.

... all of which is quite a bit more informative than watching a YT video or livestream alone.

That being said, it's hard to experience the full thrill of the current exploration meta without being able to access the SRV.
And likewise, it's equally as hard to experience the thrill of combat in an engineered high-tier fighter without having a turn at flying the ship!

But as I marveled recently to one of my fellow explorers: "Could you imagine if Frontier decided to hold off on planetary landings until they had modeled all of the atmospheres on all of the planet types?"

That would have been a year's worth of missed experience for me.