TrashMan wrote:The problem isn't with the hand-holding. Heck , I don't want hand-holding.
The problem is that the player has too little impact in those randoms. ZERO imput. When I send my crew to fight spiders, there is nothnig I can do to increase the chances of sucess.
Well isn't that one of the other selling points?
I actually like that since it's quite realistic.
See it like this:
You're the captain of the ship, you send an away team down to the planet's surface, but you yourself stay on board.
Since the captain isn't supposed to leave the ship unless it's really important.
(I know a certain Star Trek captain tends to forget this)
Whatever happens is up to the crewman that went to planet.
Yet for important matters they'll contact you, like with the "four-legged horse-like creatures".
"Captain, this is away team one, we found some weird four-legged horse-like creatures.
Ensign X wants to try and talk to them.
Ensign Y suggests taking them on board in order to sell them for scrap
Awaiting your decision, sir."
Giving ensign X the chance to talk to them, might work, yet it might not.
You're not ensign X so you can't decide what he does in order to intervene with the creatures.
Allowing ensign Y's hunt may result in someone getting killed, because he wasn't fast enough, or chose the wrong
way to run away.
You can't decide where the crewman tries to run away to or how fast he/she is.
You just sit on the bridge and wait for the outcome.
Maybe we'll get something like this in the future:
Away team:"Captain, this is away team one. The creatures are attacking us!"
Captain:"Charge burst laser, target the biggest group of creatures... fire on my mark... ... mark!"
Result A: One of your crewman stood next to the explosion, he's dead Jim.
Result B: You killed most of the creatures, your crewman return safely.
Result C: You missed and killed one of your crewman instead.
Result D: Somehow the shot vanished on it's way to the surface... Wait what's that?! Rebel scout ship decloaking, dead ahead!
There still are things you can't decide, because that's how life is.
Sometimes bad things happen, or your crewman do stupid stuff and you'll have to deal
with it.
I once lost all 4 security team members I had 2 systems before leaving the sector to engage the enemy flagship.
I was in total shock, now I would need to use my operators to beam over, but luckily I found 2 replacements in those 2 last systems and got a shop in the "last stand" from which I could hire 2 more crewman.
Really I was ready to give up, without being able to destroy the missile launcher the game was pretty much lost.
Yet fortune favours the bold