Seeing a lot of "Don't get a multi-crew ship if you don't have friends" being thrown around. Which is a silly take and misses the main issues with Multi-crew without NPC crew specifically in a game of the scale of Star Citizen. This isn't your typical Mmo where you can easily teleport 25 people to a dungeon and do a raid. I'm in a corporation that has more than a thousand members. It's not test Squadron. But it's "large" enough. And I joined that org with every intent to do Multi-crew and not play alone. I also joined the project when I saw that demo of a Connie with players using turrets back in 2014. So believe me. I WANT player multi-crew. (And anyone who knows me and my posts about the mole knows I have always advocated for CIG pushing Multicrew) But I'm also pragmatic. If you think that your org having 4k members is going to solve all your multicrew problems. You are not seeing the bigger picture of the problem. The SIZE of your org is NOT relevant here. Because that size is irrelevant in a universe of this scale and scope. The time that human beings have in a day... IS! Player Multi-crew should be ENCOURAGED. Reward players for taking the time and effort to gather a crew of players. Do NOT however, PUNISH players who can't fill every position with a player in their ship (That is a sure way to drive away a large portion of your player base). Here are some of the reasons why NPC CREWS and AI blades are essential for the game (And should be ready for 1.0). - Unlike other Mmo's there is no fast travel in Star Citizen. Gathering a crew for a redeemer on the fly can already take you 10 to 20 minutes in Stanton alone. Imagine how worse this will be for bigger ships with more crew when some are spread-out across 5 star systems. It will take hours. - While Endgame content should require players organizing and banding together, Multicrew ships should not be exclusively used for endgame content. If someone wants to take out a mole for an hour or two to mine some rocks, that should be possible. - Some crew roles will not be desirable. Do you honestly expect someone to assume the role of that one guy that pushes the button to open the hangar doors of your ship? Or the doctor waiting for hours for something to happen in your capital ship? Some roles are just not desirable by 99 percent of the player base. - Regarding capital ships: Gathering around 20 to 100 people in a single ship is going to be near impossible (Yes, even in very large orgs). Because you will always have conflicting time schedules. It's already hard with 10 to 20 players. More than that? Forget it. (Yes, most people actually have lives outside of SC. Shocker!) Just because you can flex about having a big org, doesn't mean you will not struggle gathering a large amount of your corp mates in your ship. Most of them will NOT want to be your crew. Most of them will not be there WHEN you need them. Your friends are not drones to command. NPC crews however... can! - Capital ships aren't just ships you "take out for a mission or two". These are bases of operations. Aka, they need to be in operation for long periods of time. Good luck asking your friends to stay inside your capital ship for hours or days on end. - While some hardcore gamers and corporations might manage to fully crew all of their large ships with players. That portion of the community won't even represent 1 percent of the global player base. - There are more ships in this game than there are players. (A problem CIG created for themselves by selling ships. And we contributed by buying them. Me included. It is what it is. That's how the project gets the funds it needs.) - Most folks don't fantasize being Scotty on the Enterprise. They fantasize about being Captain Kirk. Some will be more into role play and play these roles, but that's a tiny minority. Let's be real please. (Sorry, but that's just basic logic. ) And you're going to need a lot Scotty's to run your ship. - It's a video game. Not a secondary job. Keep most of the content reasonably accessible to players who have jobs, family's etc... A hard working Dad/mom shouldn't be denied having fun with their Multi-crew ships in their limited 2-3 hours or play time. To be clear, I'm not saying a single dude should be able to fly an Idris solo and cause trouble. There should be heavy requirements and you should need the help and support of an org to run one. And there are ways to do this (Financial support, infrastructure support, Npc crews requiring a lot of time investment to train, etc...) But no player should be "locked" out of using their ship because two of their gunners have to change their kid's diapers. (Again, people have lives). NPC-crews shouldn't be the perfect replacement for player crews, but they should act as a decent "buffer" to allow for some amount of flexibility. Yes, some end game content should require a LOT of team effort (Like building space stations etc...). But crewing a 10-20 crew ship to do some bounty missions or mine a few rocks? Yeah... No, I don't think so. Reward excellence, dedication for the hardcore players who have the free time and motivation to put all the work into Multi-crewing large ships and fleet. But do not punish Moms, Dads, Hard workers for having their lives to take care of first, by locking them out of playing their own ship. (Which I have no doubt, is the majority of the player base that funds the project). So yes. NPC crews and AI blades are absolutely necessary. Otherwise All of the great content SC promises for 1.0 will be effectively locked out for most of the player base. I want this game to preserve its sense of scale and scope (No fast travel). And yes, I want to play with my friends with Multicrew. But I also want the game to respect my time. I see no added value in having to wait an hour for ONE dude to fill a gunner seat. It is neither fun or immersive for that matter. Let alone realistic. I honestly fail to understand why some purists want player multicrew to be the only option. Why? How does it make the game better exactly? When you can still have player Multi-crew without making it a strict requirement. This is just an idealized extremist view that brings nothing positive to the table. This isn't about "Playing with friends" or "join an org" at this point. It's asking players to be enslaved to the game's requirements and have to sacrifice crucial parts of their regular lives to use their ships just because they require a crew. Even if your "super elistist" corp of players manage to crew a Bengal. What's the point? You'll have no one to fight against in PvP. Because 99.9% of the player base won't be able to do that. Yes... You will be able to brag flying around in your bengal with your friends. And that's it. How is this a good thing exactly? Don't you want to use that Bengal against other players who can actually have a fighting chance against you? Is having massive battles of large fleets not what you want? Because that ain't going to happen without NPC crews. That much is certain. Again, I get that large capital ships should require the support of a decently sized org (No one is arguing against that). But can we please not have to work like slaves just to you know... Have fun?