Alright. Apologies once again for bringing this up, but this is a hill I'm ready to die on, until the message finally gets across. Obviously the question of NPC crews concerns our solo players out there. We can't deny this. But reducing the problem to "Solo players" is reductive and a mischaracterization of the issue. As much as I'm a fan of Space Tomato (and I applaud him for making this poll), he still thinks that people asking for NPC crews are just players that don't have the capacity or desire to play with friends. Allow me to shatter this notion. And I have the receipts to prove it. (And then I'll explain once again why having friends or a large org won't matter). For many years, I have been a big advocate and defender of multicrew ships. For instance, I was VERY vocal about the Mole (as it was on release) and CIG's stance on "You don't get any advantage. it's just to play with your friends". The point was that back in the day, Four people in a mole was less effective than 3 people in their prospectors. And I had the same concerns with the Reclaimer etc... Some examples of my threats years ago: https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/3/thread/mole-multi-crew-skeptical?_gl=1*1g633ue*_up*MQ..*_gaMTczNTYwMjk0NC4xNzMzNDc4OTc2_ga_V6MWYXRQNP*MTczMzQ3ODk3NS4xLjAuMTczMzQ3ODk3NS42MC4wLjA. https://robertsspaceindustries.com/spectrum/community/SC/forum/3/thread/the-reclaimer-the-latest-multi-crew-ship-that-ceme?_gl=1*1sb0rki*_up*MQ..*_gaMTczNTYwMjk0NC4xNzMzNDc4OTc2_ga_V6MWYXRQNP*MTczMzQ3ODk3NS4xLjAuMTczMzQ3ODk3NS42MC4wLjA. I joined as a backer ten years ago, after watching CIG's demo of Multicrew at Gamescom 2014 (God, I'm old). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1Sy8djIjXU In 2018, I decided to join one of the largest French-speaking coorporations in SC. Because I shared this vision and desire to one day work with my mates and see how far we can go in Vanduul space. Something that would require (if even possible) hundreds of players joining forces to even attempt. I have clocked hours and hours of player multicrew in Hammerheads over the years (We used to call these event: Hammer fury). I have had the Hammerhead multicrew experience... extensively. It was a lot of fun. But how many times did I actually use MY hammerhead in all these years and all these HH multicrew sessions: Twice! Yep. I'm not kidding. I got to use it twice! (And that's absolutly not my org mates fault, we just have too many of them.) THAT... is the reality. So please... Stop labeling everyone who advocates for NPC crews as "Solo players". I am fairly certain that many are in fact, big fans of Player multicrew gameplay, and Engineering... and became backers for that very thing. We are not just "Solo players". Many of us however, have clocked in hundreds of hours in this game. Played in Multicrew ships with org mates for years EXTENSIVELY! And therefor, many of us KNOW the reality of Multicrew and what it means to anyone who purchased a Multicrew ship on the pledge store. So what's the problem? The Irony of the situation is: Any player owning a Multicrew ship, should probably avoid joining a large org. I strongly advise you to join or make a small org instead. Because here's the deal. Many potential candidates that want to join our organization will start the recruiting interview with "I have this ship". Essentially, proudly stating that this is their ship and this is what they want to use. (Or their fleet in some cases). And our immediate answer will be "Cool. But we don't care about your ships. We care about you, the person. We don't need your ship." Now, to be very clear, this isn't to be disrespectful, but this is the reality for a big org. We don't need your ship. We don't need your fleet... We have TOO MANY OF THEM! If you purchased a redeemer (In a world where it wasn't nerfed and it's still a popular ship) and your dream was to join a big org to have adventures with your org mates in YOUR redeemer. Let me be very real with you. Joining a large org will not increase your opportunities to enjoy that very expensive ship your purchased. Oh, don't worry. You will get plenty of opportunities to have a Redeemer multi-crew experience. But chances are... It will not be in YOUR redeemer. Understand this: a lot of folks who joined your large organization, joined for the same reason you did. Most of them didn't come with just a starter package. Many of them came with their "Dream ship", which they also purchased for hundreds of bucks. Just like you did. And they joined with the hope to find other players to crew it (like you did). Some will even join that org with an entire fleet at their disposal. So the reality is: You have joined an org that has more ships than it has people to crew them. And in the end, people will not be lining up to crew your redeemer. You will be competing against other redeemer owners of your org that want to same thing as you do. To fly THEIR redeemer. Not yours. The fact of the matter is: By selling multicrew ships for over 12 years. CIG has created a problem: There is an overpopulation of ships. So if you intend to join a large org because you want that Multi-crew experience, then... Allow me to give you the best advice you'll ever get: Don't buy multicrew ship. Your large Org will have a MASSIVE stock of them already. And they will be more than happy to provide the ships. They don't need your ships. They need YOU to be a grunt in one of them. And this is why NPC crews are a BIG deal. Because it will :100: determine whether or not a multicrew ship is worth a purchase. And why a lot of folks now are reconsidering buying them (and rightfully so). NPC crews would provide a LOT more flexibility. Which would allow you, the owner of a Multicrew ship to have more opportunities to actually use YOUR multicrew ship. Because that is all they want. They want to play multicrew with their friends. Many do not mind being a turret operator in someone else's ship. But will they have opportunities to use their OWN ship? Without NPC crews? Good luck with that champ! Because you will have two options: - Not join a large org. Which means a low availability of Crew mates. - Join a large org. And compete with the MANY owers of your favorite ship, that are in your org. Or submit to the social pressure of it all and become a crew in someone else's ship that isn't yours (That will likely be you.) So even if you do join a large org, things will not be stacked in your favor. You will have owners of the same ship you own, that will either: - have more seniority than you do. - have more of an online presence than you do - or they might even be a content creator and use that "celebrity" status to their advantage. (Not an attack on content creators. They are a very important part of our community. But let's be real.) You, with your little redeemer? You will not be the priority. So naturally... Without NPC crews to soften this and give options to the players (as jared stated) , rather than force them into a situation they do NOT want... It is only natural for people to ask this question: "Why buy a Multicrew ship if the chances of using it are stacked against me?" That is the REAL issue here. And that is NOT a solo vs Multiplayer discussion. Even if you have access to friends or a large org. The opportunities you'll have to fly YOUR multicrew ships will be EXTREMELY low. And therefor. Yes! You should rethink whether or not buying a multicrew ship makes sense in a world where SC will release a 1.0 patch without NPC crew. Knowing that SC has an over population of Multicrew ships (and not enough players to crew them).