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[Z.Sinraali]

Even if nothing else, it would make a great ISK sink.

[Casiella]

Hm, as I recall from The Burning Life, crew perform maintenance and cleaning operations. That's right, you're basically carrying thousands of handymen and janitors.

[Xav Serise]

Hm, as I recall from The Burning Life, crew perform maintenance and cleaning operations. That's right, you're basically carrying thousands of handymen and janitors.

Nanites.

[Rok-Yuni]

The topic of NPC crew irks me in that it introduces what I feel to be dissonance with the established technological level of the EVE setting.

I realize it's PF, and I'm fine with that and accept it in the context of my RP...

...but I have a module fitted to my ship that, when turned on, my entire ship glows with nanite activity as it repairs itself.

What, exactly, is some human crew member supposed to add to the equation when I have nanites?

There's other PF that establishes that the reason capsuleers are so efficient and awesome is that from their egg-shaped thrones they interface with their ships like they were extensions of their bodies. Why would they denigrate that interface by introducing human facilitation in other areas of the ship's operation?

"Oh, here, I'll turn on my guns with my brain but when I need to fire up the tractor beam I'd better give Scotty's extension a call on the onboard ship phone."

Bleh. So, yeah, I'm hoping that they don't foist more of this awkwardly-fitting PF into the game mechanics, thereby giving it more limelight than it already has.

well.. crews are there to do the things you can't... while you order target priorities, it is your crew that fire and man the guns, and it is crew that make sure those nanites keep going to the parts of the ship they need to. while some systems, like reloading are likely automated, most of a capsuleer ship works just like a normal one, the capsuleer is just in effect a much better thing than a standard ship's on-board computer... far more capable to adapt to various situations.... not to mention the experience factor.

the same can be said of the higher tier npc ships, (un-named ones ofc)... officers and the like run with experienced crews, and somewhat more upgraded vessels.

[Xav Serise]

well.. crews are there to do the things you can't...

This is what stymies me. There's nothing with the established technology that a capsuleer couldn't do. Nanites respond to electronic commands. There's no need for a human "nanite shepherd" to check in on them when your capsuleer has electronic control over them.

Same thing with the guns; your capsuleer's skills directly effect the accuracy and efficiency of all of a ship's modules, not just guns.

[Casiella]

In cases like this, where one fictional mechanic would appear to have total superiority over all others, generally we can assume that other balancing factors exist. Maybe the nanites require some sort of maintenance, or they in fact need some human "nanite shepherd". Stuff breaks down and needs repair. Sometimes you just need a pair of hands and a creative human working them to make things happen when everything else is going wrong.

[Rok-Yuni]

while PF is a little hand-wavy on the subject, the way i have read it is that as a capsuleer you act as a huge enhancement on a ships electrical and computerised systems, as you are, in effect, a super-fast computer with free will...

basically, you are scotty... squeezing every last drop of juice out of every module and system on the ship... but you still need engineers and redshirts to run about inside the ship making things happen and being in the right place to be 'nameless corpse number 57'

[orange]

Nanites cost more than crew and have a lower useful life expectancy?

Human life is cheap in a universe with Trillions of people, technology (Nanites) takes time and resources to produce and not as easily replaced. (Hello grimdark)

[Graelyn]

I would think Nanites would require quite a few personnel to properly utilize.

The game simplifies damage, but in the heat of battle, these things would be deployed to specific areas, through various pathways, many of which would be cut off by gaping holes punched in the armor and rerouted around damaged areas.

Remember the crew template: Every module you fit causes crew numbers to increase. You can bet each of them require people to operate them.

[Esna Pitoojee]

We also have to remember 2 things when we consider super-advanced robotics/nanites/whatever:

1, AI in the EVE-verse is subject to unknown restrictions, especially on its ability to independently reason. While we're likely looking at systems still generations ahead of anything in the modern world, an AI's ability to adapt to the rapidly evolving (and in all likelyhood rapidly deteriorating) battle situation will be limited. Which brings us to...

2, Murphy's Law, anyone? As one of the few constants which I am absolutely sure still exists in the EVE-verse, the potential for harm caused by Murphy's law gets vastly magnified as we begin to work with generators, weapons, and forcefields of unimaginable power. Mix in a rigid, largely unadaptive AI and you've got a recipe for disaster if you don't have some kind of backup plan.

Say, a crewman, who will actually be able to think on the fly...

[Victoria Stecker]

"nanite shepherd"

Hmm.... I'm trying to decide which of a number of people is about to receive a new nickname....

*starts putting names into a hat*

[Louella Dougans]

what would a crew bring to the game ?

If they have an effect on ship stats, like rigs do, then what real difference is there compared to simply having another rig slot/more calibration ?

If a crew's effect on the ship rewards "experience", it would increase players aversion to risk, which is not really something that would be good.

Same if it was possible to run out of crew. Increased risk aversion.

If they don't do anything to ship stats as such, and instead are just another material requirement to build a ship, made from some PI process or other, then it adds more steps to the process of building things, without much of a reason why.
(Extra material, so reprocessing ships doesn't generate crewpersons, would also make them a consumable item)

So.. I don't really see what benefits there would be, other than more "realism", and don't see them being introduced as a game mechanic.

[Usagi Tsukino]

We also have to remember 2 things when we consider super-advanced robotics/nanites/whatever:

1, AI in the EVE-verse is subject to unknown restrictions, especially on its ability to independently reason. While we're likely looking at systems still generations ahead of anything in the modern world, an AI's ability to adapt to the rapidly evolving (and in all likelyhood rapidly deteriorating) battle situation will be limited. Which brings us to...

2, Murphy's Law, anyone? As one of the few constants which I am absolutely sure still exists in the EVE-verse, the potential for harm caused by Murphy's law gets vastly magnified as we begin to work with generators, weapons, and forcefields of unimaginable power. Mix in a rigid, largely unadaptive AI and you've got a recipe for disaster if you don't have some kind of backup plan.

Say, a crewman, who will actually be able to think on the fly...

Didn't TBL say the crew was actually kept in stasis unless they were actually needed? (It's been a while since I read it.)

Your reasoning is essentially the ONLY reason I can really think of and accept to having a crew on board.

Backup.

No one is needed to fire the guns. You do that. The guns don't need someone to aim them. Even now, computers aim the guns on warships themselves. Fairly certain on something as advanced as a capsuleer ship, they would be able to do that.

People certainly wouldn't be able to reload 100+ rounds of 425mm ammo in 10 seconds.

Yeah, I've always found the idea of a crew on a capsule ship kind of ':ugh: and ' but, whatever. says they're there, so they are there. Mine know to stay near the escape pods because I'm not the best when it comes to risk assessment.

[Esna Pitoojee]

Didn't TBL say the crew was actually kept in stasis unless they were actually needed? (It's been a while since I read it.)

Yes, it's actually in one of the "Did you know" thingies on here. Thing is, there's a Chron that shows them working and living much like modern ship crews (i.e., they live in quarters, are on station during operations, etc... ). I've always taken this as a "some do it this way, some do it that way" sort of thing; maybe the Amarr, with their mastery of cybernetics, have been able to perfect putting crew in stasis and waking them up as needed while the Gallente, already heavily reliant on drones, need every hand they do have to be available?

[Mithfindel]

Actually, the Empyrean Age expands on the question about crew. On many ships, the crew and passengers have to be secured during warps, since apparently, violating several laws of physics isn't comfortable. So, for example, in TEA the crew of the Retford (flying piece of old junk) were suffering from warp sickness after evading the Blood Raiders. Of course, some ships are just more advanced, and do not need the same measures. After being picked up by Lord Victor, the Retford crew did notice when the Purifier warped, but did not feel any ill effects. (Covert ops have one of the most advanced warp drives in existence, and I bet the Sarum ship was brand new. Possibly shiny, too, if it was not cloaked.)