Would you burn an internal module for an SLF AI pilot?

[Chaparral]

Our SLFs are essentially fancy drones that do not actually house organic pilots.

The organic pilots we hire are gimps we lock in the basement and let out once in a while. We have no control on their appearance, voice sets or combat style.

Would you burn a class 1, 2 or 3 size internal module for a computer module that houses an AI capable of flying your SLF?

This could be a real money maker for FDEV in the same way a COVAS or bobbles might be. Comprehensive voice sets, AI settings for aggression level, even customizable holographic avatar that sits on a bridge. If FDEV wants to continue to charge salary, fine, make it "maintenance costs".

I'd drop all the way up to a class 3 for these features in a heartbeat, and pay for a COVAS like voice set.

 

[WR3ND]

Couldn't that be a bit over-powered for PVP?

I wouldn't, but other than perhaps some related issues with the above, wouldn't really care if others did, bearing in mind that I don't even use SLFs anyway.

 

[IndigoWyrd]

Couldn't that be a bit over-powered for PVP?

I wouldn't, but other than perhaps some related issues with the above, wouldn't really care if others did, bearing in mind that I don't even use SLFs anyway.

Depends. Would these same things be available for those who PvP?

If so, then there's no advantage on either side, except for the other's guy's tactics, and that's what deserves to win anyways.

 

[askavir]

Nothing against the idea, but I personally wouldn't. IMO even the fighter hangars occupy slots too large for what they're worth.

 

[Clanky Munge]

Our SLFs are essentially fancy drones that do not actually house organic pilots.

The organic pilots we hire are gimps we lock in the basement and let out once in a while. We have no control on their appearance, voice sets or combat style.

Would you burn a class 1, 2 or 3 size internal module for a computer module that houses an AI capable of flying your SLF?

This could be a real money maker for FDEV in the same way a COVAS or bobbles might be. Comprehensive voice sets, AI settings for aggression level, even customizable holographic avatar that sits on a bridge. If FDEV wants to continue to charge salary, fine, make it "maintenance costs".

I'd drop all the way up to a class 3 for these features in a heartbeat, and pay for a COVAS like voice set.

Aggression level is determined by the orders you give, I spent a long time picking my slf pilot, and let 49 others go because they didn't look right to me.

I don't begrudge the 500mil I've paid to Jade Kirk either, as an ancestor of J T Kirk, she's worth it

 

[Arioch]

Our SLFs are essentially fancy drones that do not actually house organic pilots.

The organic pilots we hire are gimps we lock in the basement and let out once in a while. We have no control on their appearance, voice sets or combat style.

Would you burn a class 1, 2 or 3 size internal module for a computer module that houses an AI capable of flying your SLF?

This could be a real money maker for FDEV in the same way a COVAS or bobbles might be. Comprehensive voice sets, AI settings for aggression level, even customizable holographic avatar that sits on a bridge. If FDEV wants to continue to charge salary, fine, make it "maintenance costs".

I'd drop all the way up to a class 3 for these features in a heartbeat, and pay for a COVAS like voice set.

Sounds quite like the robotic crew proposal from the DDF (no links due to forum migration “nothing to see here”) which, if I remember correctly, detailed an on-going maintenance cost as opposed to the profit-share of NPC pilots.

They wouldn’t be as good as the higher tier pilots, but they would be cheaper. You’d also get a free unit of Scrap if you didn’t keep up with the maintenance

 

[xzanfr]

I'd be happy to burn a class 1 slot just to have the SLF pilots accent remain the same after each "update".
Hired a calm brit, now got some GI style septic.

 

[KillZoneGB]

I`m surprised they haven't invented the Combat Limpet with a class one laser or MC.

 

[Old Duck]

I'd rather burn an empty chair and replace it with a chair occupied by a pilot who actually gets up and climbs in the SLF rather than this nonsense telepresense balooga.

 

[myothershipisacobraiv]

I don't see why a module is necessary for this. This all sounds like it should be under the livery system.

I hate telepresence too. I've completely ret-conned it in my head-canon and instead pretend that telepresence is instead a reference to some kind of short range fsd-enabled teleportation.

 

[Bryan K]

Only if it agrees to open the pod bay doors when I tell it to.

 

[[Diplomacy] Carnegie]

I'd burn a module for an FSS AI pilot.
He could play the minigame for me so all the bodies show up in the System map.

 

[AtotheCtotheG]

No, no I would not.

Partly because I don’t place much value on SLF’s, because they are tiny and fragile, and don’t really contribute much to space battles. Also partly because AI is dumb, and thus it is hard to make an AI ally valuable to a real player. In general, anyway. You usually have to give the AI tools that the player can’t access—for instance, in an RPG, an NPC teammate can have an AI dumb as a brick, but still be useful because he does a lot of damage. Or he has spells that the player can’t use.

Anyway, hired pilots in E don’t have anything like this.

You can’t really have a fighter distract an enemy, because if an enemy focuses their full attention on a fighter, that fighter will be destroyed.

You can have them chip away at your target alongside you, but I have never found this to be remotely necessary, and it’s really not worth the salary of a pilot, or the restock costs of the fighters they waste.

The only real use I see for them is if you want to fly an SLF yourself, but still wish to have your main ship piloted by something resembling a brain.

 

[Agony_Aunt]

I'd just be happy with my crew members also getting an escape pod like my CMDR does.

 

[Hooplah]

NPCs flying your fighters can be a great benefit in combat. The negative is if you are going for combat Elite they will take points away from you.

What I see is that fighters are not fire and forget. Many players do this and wonder why they get destroyed. The NPC pilots will tell you when they are in trouble and most ignore this. Tell your fighters when to disengage to survive...and you thought adding fighters was simple. Darn those sneaky Frontier devs...

 

[babelfisch]

I don't get it. What's the difference to the current implementation?

 

[Schmack]

No. I'd burn my ship to get rid of one though.

 

[Kamiyoda]

I don't get it. What's the difference to the current implementation?

I think instead of having a pilot that takes money from you you have a module.

 

[Dagwit]

Just do a deal whereby pilots get paid a sensible salary instead of the current insane cut of your profits, and in return you pay an insurance fee on ship destruction so that they get rescued instead of going up with the ship.

 

[aRJay]

Our SLFs are essentially fancy drones that do not actually house organic pilots.

The organic pilots we hire are gimps we lock in the basement and let out once in a while. We have no control on their appearance, voice sets or combat style.

Would you burn a class 1, 2 or 3 size internal module for a computer module that houses an AI capable of flying your SLF?

This could be a real money maker for FDEV in the same way a COVAS or bobbles might be. Comprehensive voice sets, AI settings for aggression level, even customizable holographic avatar that sits on a bridge. If FDEV wants to continue to charge salary, fine, make it "maintenance costs".

I'd drop all the way up to a class 3 for these features in a heartbeat, and pay for a COVAS like voice set.

No.

AI are not to be trusted, just check out all the ships destroyed by malicious docking computers or crashed when recalled to your SRV over the years.

Just do a deal whereby pilots get paid a sensible salary instead of the current insane cut of your profits, and in return you pay an insurance fee on ship destruction so that they get rescued instead of going up with the ship.

I am still not convinced that they are killed I think they have done a runner and changed their names to escape from paying the bar bill they have been running up.