From the thread in the DDF, I thought it might be a good idea to start one here, with some ideas cobbled together from other forum users, including myself.
So, NPC Wingmates (trying to avoid the term Wingmen!), they are a balancing issue. No arguements there. So first we need to address this by making them a bit limited.
Wingmates ideally would use up a crew slot. Hired NPC's would then come in two varieties. Crew, and Wingmates.
Crew, are precisely that. Just crew, they never own their own ship, and always fly with you.
Wingmates can do both. When hiring them, they'll show you what ship they fly, and it's loadout. But they can be used as crew aswell.
The mixing NPC and CMDR wings and multicrew shouldn't be allowed. But you can have 1 crew + 1 Wingmate at the same time.
Wingmates have archetypes, and loyalties.
Basic archetypes consists of;
Finding larger ships, such as the Anaconda, Cutter, or Corvette would be very rare, and very very expensive. The military locked ships would also only ever come in the Military Archetype. FDLs would generally be reserved for the Bounty Hunter Archetype.
If NPC crew were expanded to add Archetypes, then mixing them with opposing Archetypes would cause one of them to leave. For example, a bounty hunter and pirate would not work together.
Each Wingmate would have a reputation you need to maintain with them in order to keep them. Money earned raised the reputation, ordering them to do things they don't like will lower it rapidly.
Wingmates are paid for similar to crew. A signing fee, which is usually larger, plus a percentage of your earnings. Wingmates can also go up in ranks, and sometimes even buy new ships, or upgrade their own.
Wingmates, like unlike crew, are not lost forever on ship destruction. But will drop and occupied escape pod, which you can collect. However, if the pod is left behind, or destroyed, your wingmate is gone. (Tip, always carry a cargo rack!) Wingmates that have lost their ship need to earn money back to rebuy it, and will only be available as crew until then. If they have the money, they can rebuy as soon as you dock with their pod.
Ideally, that would stop them being too OP, and prevent a lot of then being used as gank squads. Hopefully.
Then all you have to work on is the technical side of things. Like what happens when you ask a pirate to dock at a high security station?
Ideally, Wingmates would give more feedback, and outright refuse certain things, such as pirates docking at a high security station.
For Wingmates safety, I'd also recommend you fix the NPC docking shenanigans that get them vaporised on a regular basis.
Food for thought!
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
So, NPC Wingmates (trying to avoid the term Wingmen!), they are a balancing issue. No arguements there. So first we need to address this by making them a bit limited.
Wingmates ideally would use up a crew slot. Hired NPC's would then come in two varieties. Crew, and Wingmates.
Crew, are precisely that. Just crew, they never own their own ship, and always fly with you.
Wingmates can do both. When hiring them, they'll show you what ship they fly, and it's loadout. But they can be used as crew aswell.
The mixing NPC and CMDR wings and multicrew shouldn't be allowed. But you can have 1 crew + 1 Wingmate at the same time.
Wingmates have archetypes, and loyalties.
Basic archetypes consists of;
- Bounty Hunter - Will only ever attack Wanted targets. In Anarchy, will use a KWS to scan before attacking. No bounty means they won't attack, but will defend you, if you didn't fire first. Bounty hunters are always clean and will not work for a Wanted CMDR. Very common to hire.
- Pirate - Will gladly attack anything, but will run at the sight of security, and will also attract security scans. Pirates are always Wanted by atleast 1 Major Factions. Rare to hire.
- Psycho - Will attack anything, will not run from security. Does attract security scans. Doesn't always follow orders. Psychos are always Wanted in all Major Factions. Extremely rare to hire.
- Military - Will only attack enemies of the Major Faction or PowerPlay Power they belong to, or wanted ships attacking you. Will abandon you if you defect. Will not work against their own faction or power. Powerplay Wingmates would require maintaining a certain level in PowerPlay to keep. Major Faction Wingmates would require a certain rank. Common to hire.
Finding larger ships, such as the Anaconda, Cutter, or Corvette would be very rare, and very very expensive. The military locked ships would also only ever come in the Military Archetype. FDLs would generally be reserved for the Bounty Hunter Archetype.
If NPC crew were expanded to add Archetypes, then mixing them with opposing Archetypes would cause one of them to leave. For example, a bounty hunter and pirate would not work together.
Each Wingmate would have a reputation you need to maintain with them in order to keep them. Money earned raised the reputation, ordering them to do things they don't like will lower it rapidly.
Wingmates are paid for similar to crew. A signing fee, which is usually larger, plus a percentage of your earnings. Wingmates can also go up in ranks, and sometimes even buy new ships, or upgrade their own.
Wingmates, like unlike crew, are not lost forever on ship destruction. But will drop and occupied escape pod, which you can collect. However, if the pod is left behind, or destroyed, your wingmate is gone. (Tip, always carry a cargo rack!) Wingmates that have lost their ship need to earn money back to rebuy it, and will only be available as crew until then. If they have the money, they can rebuy as soon as you dock with their pod.
Ideally, that would stop them being too OP, and prevent a lot of then being used as gank squads. Hopefully.
Then all you have to work on is the technical side of things. Like what happens when you ask a pirate to dock at a high security station?
Ideally, Wingmates would give more feedback, and outright refuse certain things, such as pirates docking at a high security station.
For Wingmates safety, I'd also recommend you fix the NPC docking shenanigans that get them vaporised on a regular basis.
Food for thought!
CMDR Cosmic Spacehead
