Suggestions that just make sense

[Gorlom]

Yes I know how you could do it but it should be more streamlined since crew members become specific to their roles as they level up.

depends on playstyles. maybe you want to level up another to have as backup?

[Ashenai]

They should just always automatically have the crewmember with the highest relevant experience bar man the station, since that's what you want 99% of the time. It would even be sort of realistic: in the engine room, the most senior engineer mans the controls. If he has to leave, the second most senior automatically takes over.

There are very rare instances where you might want a junior crewmember take over (like leveling up backup crew, as Gorlom said), but in those rare cases you can just have the senior guy leave the room. Overall, I think this solution's intuitiveness and ease of use makes it worthwhile.


What would be nice is the ability to designate redshirts, or to otherwise somehow choose which crew members to put at risk. It sucks that even with 8 crewmembers, I can still lose my two-star helmsman to random events. There's a reason Captain Picard wasn't normally on the away teams!

And this gives me another idea: it would also be cool if random events could empower your crewmen in some way. Maybe just something as simple as having the giant spider fight give combat experience, or something as complex as giving your crew member a unique special ability. Anything to make me want to put them at risk, because right now any random event that involves crew members is kind of a fool's errand.

[Kenshkrix]

They should just always automatically have the crewmember with the highest relevant experience bar man the station, since that's what you want 99% of the time. It would even be sort of realistic: in the engine room, the most senior engineer mans the controls. If he has to leave, the second most senior automatically takes over.

I would by far prefer that this simply be a toggleable option, like the beacon displays, default should be ON though.

[Gorlom]

There are very rare instances where you might want a junior crewmember take over (like leveling up backup crew, as Gorlom said), but in those rare cases you can just have the senior guy leave the room. Overall, I think this solution's intuitiveness and ease of use makes it worthwhile.

Out of curiosity: couldn't you just have the "junior" leave the room when you want the "senior" crew member at the controls? Personally I simply don't see the use for it...
I don't get 2 people in the same system room in reverse order often enough to ever want this function. Nor do I understand how others do. Maybe my playstyle is just rather unique.

[robochibi]

There are very rare instances where you might want a junior crewmember take over (like leveling up backup crew, as Gorlom said), but in those rare cases you can just have the senior guy leave the room. Overall, I think this solution's intuitiveness and ease of use makes it worthwhile.

Out of curiosity: couldn't you just have the "junior" leave the room when you want the "senior" crew member at the controls? Personally I simply don't see the use for it...
I don't get 2 people in the same system room in reverse order often enough to ever want this function. Nor do I understand how others do. Maybe my playstyle is just rather unique.

When you go through dozens of battles in the course of 20 mins and have a full crew of 8 on the Kestrel than you will often find crewmembers tripping on each other especially when you have two crewmen designated to do repairs and another two designated specifically for combat/boarding party. I find myself having to put the repairmen/fighters in special spots just to make sure i know where to look for them. To make matters worse, the sprites all look exactly the same so the only thing you have to go on is purely a name and to look at their skill levels.. sorry but its more than just a matter of function, its also a matter of mental organization.

[Ashenai]

Out of curiosity: couldn't you just have the "junior" leave the room when you want the "senior" crew member at the controls? Personally I simply don't see the use for it...
I don't get 2 people in the same system room in reverse order often enough to ever want this function. Nor do I understand how others do. Maybe my playstyle is just rather unique.

Once I go above 4 crew members, I often have Zoltans powering engines, weapons, or shields, or Engi standing by in those rooms for quick repairs. And if my main engineer needs to go to medbay, it's good to have the backup Zoltan help out with dodging until he gets back. Once he's back, though, having to do the stupid crew shuffle thing just to get my main guy back at the controls is annnoying.