NPC Deckhands

Great idea for those lonely galleons that no one cares for properly going on missions.

• Deckhands magically disappear if they are replaced by a player.

Or maybe they just sit around and play bad music until you fire them. Out of a cannon. :)

As someone who plays solo a lot when my family's all gone to bed and I don't want to make noise with a mic, having such a deckhand would be VERY helpful.

@captain-arcanic said in NPC Deckhands:

Now here me out, 'cause I know this is a curve in Rare's vision, but...
What if you had an option to "Hire NPC crew" that performed basic functions on the ship? Anytime you had less than a full crew compliment, you could go to the Outpost and hire a Deckhand.
This would allow those who aren't feeling particularly social to run a bigger boat, and or not be so outclassed by larger crews on the sea.

By adding a sub-menu to the communication wheel you could stand in front of your deckhand and send them to:

Be a Powder Monkey
Keep the cannons loaded, running cannonballs from the barrels to the guns.

Be a Rigger
Listen for commands to raise, lower and angle the sails.

Repair
Patch holes in the ship when they happen.

Keep a Lookout
Stay in the Crow's Nest and ring the bell if ships get within a certain range.

Feed the Animals
Grab bananas from the barrel and keep the d@#m pigs fed.

All these functions would be not quite as fast as a skilled player, and the Deckhand would have a little less life and not be able to attack, but otherwise, they could lend a hand to understaffed crews.
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Side Thoughts

• It would be fun if these were ACTUAL monkeys!
• Deckhands might only be employable by Legends?
• Deckhands never leave the ship, unless knocked off and killed.
• They might be able to "lower" or "raise" the anchor too.
• When not busy, they sometimes play music. Possibly badly. Especially if they're actual monkeys. Please let them be actual monkeys.

Your thoughts?

Not a bad idea, and funny enough its possible they would be much better than actual players just because they will do what you say xD

@durengo-germany said in NPC Deckhands:

@captain-arcanic

I'am not sure about this because then no one have a reason to play together with other players . The reason to play online is also gone. The whole game would be a solo Player game. Sea of loneliness.

This game is about socialising. That's the soul and heart of the game. Otherwise you could also play a offline Pirate game like Black Flag.

Of course you can play the game already as lonely Seawolf but this is in balance compared to the fact that you need a full player crew somethimes too.

Who would need Facebook if you replace all human users with AI bots ?

I suppose you "could" be right, but I don't think this would hurt the social aspects of the game overmuch. There's still plenty of reasons to have real players over limited AI, combat being the most obvious. Like I said, big departure from Rare's vision so far, but something I think would be appreciated by many players, and wouldn't change the game for others.

@braveknightgame said in NPC Deckhands:

**Now about the Sub ideas **

Sounds reasonable but I would add another exception
Turning in treasure and valuables

Could be, but coding the Deckhands to move off ship would probably entail a lot more work.

@captain-arcanic I'm a huge fan of NPC deckhands. I think one thing that might make them a minus, (a good minus) is if they die, you'll have to go to an outpost to hire more. Maybe at Legendary, you can create permanent ones that you can customize, dress and name.

Personally I kind of Like it when it's only players on the seas steering and controlling the ships. The game entices you to play together.

Want to do a galleon get together with friends make new friends get some random people together have a blast.
Want to be alone? Here's the sloop for ya.

This kind of reminds me of when I still played Star-Wars the old Republic, people wanted NPC characters to help with dungeons, they got their wish and now the game's LFD is completely dead, noone is doing dungeons because you can solo them with the same effect. I dont think anyone wants that with this game.

That brings me to the biggest questoin I always ask people who want these sort of things, why do you want this?
Honestly, there is a solution to go solo and get a sloop want bigger find a crew. Dont make a multiplayer game a singleplayer game, get Skull and Bones/Sid Meyers Pirates/Assassins Creed black flag etc. if you want a more solo oriented experience.

@hynieth
I love the social aspects of this game. I don't think Deckhands would ruin that.

A few possible reasons this feature would be great:

1. Playing late at night in my tiny house, I don't want to use my mic and wake the kids, but I'd love to get that last bit of gold I need for the new sails I've been eyeing. Sure I could solo, but my server is full of galleons right now, and I could use the lookout while I'm on the islands.

2. I've got three friends who will be joining me sometime in the next hour, but I'd like to get started now. Three deckhands will mean I can function properly with the galleon and not have the hassle of turning in my chests and restarting when they arrive.

3. I'm deaf (for example) and I find people don't generally respond well to unmic'd players.

Haha ... I would also like to see them play music, with me.