NPC Fighter Crew Perma Death - Cockpit Rant

[@cmdrterrorfirma4244]

I also want to see my NPC pilot rendered as a 3d character in the cockpit of the ship... in one of the multi crew seats.. not just a flat photo

[@samueltheprideofafrikarobi9319]

A bit of being able to walk about, at least within your own ship, would do a lot to improve immersion as well........and maybe a different hologram ui for your ship depending on the ship's designer. In real life, not every car has the same dashboard after all....

[@Lunacide59]

You can clearly see 16 (8 on each side) escape pods on the Anaconda, clearly labeled Escape Craft. Why Frontier..why.

[@SledgeFox]

Frontier has to change this, it's just stupid and a kick in the face. No fun at all in that mechanic. Thank you very much for this video, I didn't even know my Mr. Snyder can die.

[@BiGG_X]

Ive never got into crew mates but after watching the video i can see how it is just ridiculous not to have a way to keep these crew mates. Even if its part of the rebuy and paying for their cloning and reassigning.

[@xaero5150]

1) create a ticket. I was in a similar situation where my ship was destroyed when it should not have been and they resurrected my npc pilot within 5 hours. Tell them that the station switched hostile for no reason (this happens sometimes, it has happened to me as well) and explain that by the time you switched back to the ship the souped up station weapons destroyed your ship, ask them to revive your pilot(and they usually also credit back your rebuy) 2) It is reasons like this that I leave one slot open so that I may hire an expendable pilot. Pro tip, if you don't want to pay a percentage, just hire the max level pilot for 150,000 and fire them before you turn in the vouchers, bounties or bonds. You are only out the 150,000. Second protip, if you are going thargoid hunting, take an expendable pilot with you, not an elite one, there won't be much difference in combat performance but you would only be out the aforementioned 150,000. My issue with NPC pilots is that my pilot doesn't cheat, but all the other ones do. For example the enemy NPC pilots in beam outfitted fighters somehow have both chaff and heatsinks, but mine only has the heatsinks. To sum up, make ticket, explain the problem and wait for your pilot to come back as a zombie.

[@ecevansevans2566]

FDEV REALLY SHOULD HIRE YOU NOW. Your work is great and bring life to ELITE DANGEROUS.

[@ToCoSo]

NPC crew are a maasive untapped gameplay resource that frontier should build upon, and yeah its bad gameplay that they just die, especially after the time it takes to rank them up. They should be saved, but there percentage should rise with every ship loss, so we have to decide between paying them or letting them go.

[@scoobylew24]

You make many valid arguments, therefore FDEV will completely disregard them. Very sorry for your loss. :(

[@sebastienrussell7294]

I remember playing Mass Effect 3 - I had spent ME 1 and 3 with Ashley; hell, in 2, I didn't even romance Miranda because my character was committed to Ash; even though she was disgusted that I was working with Cerberus. But, right at the end of ME3, after we'd re-established our bond and done the dirty .. she dies. Destroyed in the push to the Crucible teleportation beam. I. Was. Gutted. I. Was. Destroyed. It hit me so hard I deleted all my saves and started from scratch .. Yes, I reset the Universe to bring Ash back, lol. I totally get where you are coming from. Some NPC's have this way of making us establish a bond with them; so losing them sucks, and sometimes hurts like hell.

[@dootdoot1867]

Xcom 2 is awesome at making you care for your NPC's.. When you have to evacuate a mission and leave a soldier behind you later get a mission to go and rescue them and recapture them.

[@TESI303]

DootDoot Excellent point! At very rare instances even some "killed" soldiers I carried out were revived from the brink. I think there should be a chance where the NPC pilot survives with you, dies, or is captured and you have to rescue then from a pirate ship's cargo hold, or go on some other missions to rescue them, even from surface installations.

[@armholeeio]

Makes no sense to not 1. Have a visual of your npc crew. 2. They don't have a escape pod. 3 you can't rescue them. If frontier want a risk reward type game play why not add a crew escape module in game so you can choose to sacrifice a module say a cargo module or hrrp and your crew survival is increased . the ratings reduce how long they are in a sick bay for. Or you say meh they die and don't run that module so it caters for both sides of the crowd

[@darthgamerplaysgames]

This makes me afraid to lose my longtime NPC Wingman madelyn mcpherson...

[@DanTKD87]

A thargoid killed Stevens yesterday. I miss stevens. I didn't realize he was even gone till I ordered him to his ship again. He was always quiet, only spoke when necessary (most of the time) I miss arguing with him already. They said you were Dangerous, but to me you were my guardian angel. RIP Stevens

[@G2GRATSALAD]

Sorry for your loss Vindicator, Heck, nah, brilliant vid, rofl Merry Christmas chap...

[@Kaethena]

The idea that your hired NPC can die doesn't make sense when you think about the actual gameplay mechanics associated with them. You have the Crew Lounge, where people you hire who aren't "active" have to stay, right? Okay, so in order for you to not be able to swap active crew on the fly, and have to do it while docked at a facility which has a Crew Lounge, this means the Lounge can't be located on your ship. And therefore the inactive crew can't be on your ship. Only your active crew member is on board with you, right? If that's the case, how can you swap between your hired crew at ANY station with a Crew Lounge? Do they follow you around in a special Crew Lounge ship, like a stalker, and somehow know where you're going to be, before you even know where you're going to be, in order to be at your destination to be swapped over? Since that idea is quite obviously stupid, what's the alternative? Teleprescence? The same way player characters can get around the galaxy between ships instantly? Is it more likely that your crew project themselves holographically to which ever station you're at, in order to be made active? Let's ignore the fact that if they can project themselves to any station you're going to be at then they can quite easily project themselves onto your ship all at the same time, making the "active" crew thing a bit meaningless, and think about the implication of teleprescence logically. If your crew use that to be at whatever station you swap them over in, which isn't the station they were hired in, then they have no physical presence on board your ship. Just like player characters don't. So if your ship is destroyed, they should just re-appear at the station in which you hired them. And by extension, in the Crew Lounge of any location possessing it. As though nothing happened. But it doesn't work that way because FDev. Sadly that's the unfortunate truth of it. It happens the way it does because reasons. And because the developers are too lazy to actually think about the internal consistency of the features they implement. Which is a shame.

[@timfaulkner7097]

The idea to find their escape pod is great, gives you the choice to save them and gives an extra sense of purpose to rescue a pod. In terms of inactive npcs, they should make it so you can pin favourite ones in a list and then re-hire them for your ship when you want, rather than having to choose between firing them and losing them forever or keeping them as a drain on credits

[@NapFloridian]

All your points are spot on, I one day realized while flying my Phyton that my NPC was cashing in over 100 millions while sitting 400lys away having g coffee... That alone is a stupid mechanic from Frontier. Now getting yourselve killed and having to rebuy your cutter or Conda is expensive, but wow all those millions lost of your NPC is insane

[@xaero5150]

The way around that is to hire NPC pilot, do missions, bounty hunting, combat zone, whatever, then fire pilot, then turn in missions, bounties or bonds. 150,000 for insurance and fodder with no percentage.

[@sabrejack69]

Sorry to hear about this... RIP Havana! I know how you feel because I lost an Elite ranked SLF pilot to a damned BUG a while back. There was (is?) a bug that caused spawning skimmers to destroy player ships as they fell from the sky near planetary bases. I was in my Conda and had to eat a 17 mill re buy but like you it was the loss of my elite pilot that really pissed me off! My advice to everyone is don't land at planetary bases with your SLF pilot on board, it's something I will NEVER do again despite assurances said bug has been squashed. As regards balancing I have mixed feelings. I do not feel that SLF pilots should be "immortal" like we are but I really liked your idea about allowing a rescue mission. It would really add to the immersion but I think a very short time window should be available after which the pilot WILL suffer perma death. If this does get implemented then perhaps it could be balanced by dropping the pilot a rank each time you rescue them? A veteran SLF pilot is a valuable asset and I feel removing any possibility of permanently losing them is not a good thing. There are many CMDRS rich enough to laugh off the re buy cost of even a Cutter or Vette but I bet the chance of losing an Elite SLF pilot will make them think twice before getting into a dangerous situation and that's the way it should be imo. I heartily agree that that SLF pilots' profit share should be removed or reduced while they are inactive. My pilot has earned almost a Billion credits now and if this was real life he would no doubt have quit and be off flying his own Anaconda by now lol. Btw I really look forward to seeing an SLF pilot res hunting on their own. When I tried this in a Conflict Zone he nearly got my Vette destroyed but it could work well in a Haz Res. Anyway you have my sympathies for such a personal loss at this time of year, Merry Xmas and fly safe CMDR 07.

[@Jognt]

#NPCLivesMatter I'm sorry for your loss :( fwiw: After training up my harmless NPC to Dangerous level my fear of open play shifted. It wasn't about losing credits or my ship anymore, it was about losing my guy. :(

[@CptFugu]

We could propose a CG in order to create escape pods for NCP crew.

[@sephirothprudiise1865]

VJ, Mate. I love your editing. it is amazing.

[@brucewelsh1969]

Love the video. I agree with you and the serious side of the video. 😁

[@ecob2529]

Too right Vindicator I feel your pain. I only just found this out a few days ago by losing my highly respected pilot (trained to Elite from Noob) and it was gutting! Needless to say I won't be doing that again!

[@Guildrum]

Yeah, I can relate. My main NPC pilot gets left behind on really risky missions, now. When I first saw her name, I knew I had to hire her, and Divine Mayo is a faithful, if bored, friend.

[@CMDR_Verm]

Only just caught this. Dude, you broke my heart. I have a crewmate, Jazelle Mason, and she's just been promoted to Dangerous. I'm not normally a combat type so it's been slow (I'm only competent rank) but I know I wouldn't have got there without her. Bugger the cost, she's worth every credit and I can only hope my cautious style of piloting keeps her safe. I feel your pain Sir ☹

[@vonrosphe3098]

I can feel you're pain. Lost my elite pilot to a bug. (Skimmer bug on planet bases). Also was shocked. Getting a pilot to elite takes very very long. But i get lucky. Wrote a ticket and because of the bug i get my pilot back. (Also the cutter rebuy cost, but the pilot was more important.) When i take out my fun Keelback i always take a new pilot. It's to much risk to take a elite pilot into a fragile ship like a Keelback. Would be great if there is a chance that the pilot survives in a lifepod and get rescued.

[@cmdrstraker3091]

I feel your pain. I previously lost my long-term pilot to the old raining skimmer bug. It was terrible. Another example of Frontier not respecting the time we invest in the game. Your suggestions are brilliant too.

[@PestOnYT]

Been there, too. Hardest part is let'in go... Well, I hired a new one. And she is even better. Ok, she messes up the messages ("have the mothership" while she has the fighter), but she fights very well...

[@cmdrjaycemacleod8198]

I agree with you, and in early 2019 they still haven't addressed this issue... They need to fix this!

[@delta4phoenix4]

Emalina Petty. Serving aboard the ‘Hope of the North Star’, she saved my ass so many times... I lost her, when a Ganker killed me... She once soloed an Anaconda in her Trident. Long story short: I pissed off two Anacondas in a Haz Res, killed one, had to run due to low hull, and she just killed that second Anaconda. I miss her, she was snarky, but always there for me...

[@delta4phoenix4]

And losing her, it was worse than losing a entire squad in XCOM.

[@suavevalen]

When I lost my only Elite NPC pilot I was so sad I stopped playing the game for a time. I feel your pain.

[@ziljanvega3879]

This video is awesome on so many levels. You are so correct! I've gone through the same stages of grief, and the result? I now also keep my NPCs at arm's length and use them only as cannon fodder. Your ideas for fixing the situation are great, I really hope Frontier listens!!

[@hermaeusmora345]

my first Crew member, Danny Carr (Elite) died when she smashed my Cutter into a high gravity world, Durning a surface Assault mission. i let my second crew member go, Eliana Wiggins (Elite). for a change in pace (Voice). Trinity Williams (Expert), is my third.

[@camilomundaca9044]

i Still miss my former crewmember Sheldon Turner, he was harmless and with training and time, elite was his rank :c we died in a thargoid accident. But i had money, he hasnt. More security to NPC now they are people too

[@dominicrobichaud4111]

Same happened to me today... :( R.I.P. Ward Cortez, 3% Dangerous and catching up to me, over 100M Cr paid. I must say I thought the exact same thing when I realised he had passed. It all started when I dropped down at a Cama Zotz Holdings station, with whom I was hostile. Without having been scanned, the cops started attacking me, directly attacking my shield generator. Yeah but I had like 2000 hull points and my FSD was about 70% charged. But they took down my power plant in seconds despite my 4D module reinforcement package and I was destroyed without the chance to reboot/repair, with 97% hull remaining. At first I was mad because the cops destroyed my ship so quickly but I didn't think much of it... The rebuy was at 5.8M and I had over 1.5B Cr. But then, when I went to the HazRes, I realized Ward wasn't with me. ''Ah, I probably just forgot him at the station, as usual'', I thought but then it hit me... I hope Frontier will hear you.

[@chrisjones-dj6lb]

Like you I lost my original pilot, but by crashing my exploration Anaconda on a 9.77g world. Entirely my fault but the passengers and pilot still didn't make it. Really frustrating. Also, I couldn't agree more that pilots should only get a share of profits if they've be on active service. I hated paying mine millions of credits to sit in a spaceport. I no longer have a permanent pilot, if I need one I hire the best one I can get do the job and then release them.

[@Veeedad]

I like your ideas for NPC piolet revamp. It would make the system more fun and engaging.

[@Beer_Dad1975]

Well, could have been worse - now under v3 crime & punishment you would have re-spawned in a penal facility possibly hundreds of lightyears away. Happened to me recently, re-spawned 400ly from where I was exploring, AND I then had to find a factor to clear the stupid 200cr bounty the station had destroyed me for because I got distracted by a visitor and got jammed in the mailslot... don't launch or attempt landing if you are expecting visitors. My momentary stupidity and a tiny 200cr bounty ended up costing me over 6 million credits and half an hour of jumps. Fortunately after dying again yesterday after having another 200cr bounty placed against me for firing on a WANTED ship after scanning it (stupid server lag bug apparently). They seem to have decided to clear small bounties on re-spawn now so didn't have to hunt down a factor this time & the penal colony was only 30ly from my death position too. I did complain about the WANTED bug, and they admitted it's a known problem and rebated my 7 million cr re-buy so that's something at least. Really the way security ships react to minor bounties is ridiculous. I've been blasting 180,000cr bounty NPC's and a stupid system security ship has flown in front of me trying to get at him, and bang - instant 200cr bounty - at which point every damn security ship nearby drops whatever they are doing no matter how much more wanted their target and comes after you. If you can't outrun or outfight them, you die. It's ridiculous, they should at least work their way down from the most valuable to the least valuable - then you'd at least have time to sort it out - but it's either the most recent bounty first, or they just give PC's special treatment.

[@ludio36]

I've never had a crew or thought about having a crew, but I now know before I do that I mustn't invest more into them than is strictly necessary for specifically what I need them to do.

[@88HELLJUMPER88]

Coming back to old videos out of nostalgia and i can say havana's death was not in vain! NPC's can be revived! Havana's sister Angela Justice will carry her memory in her heart forever!

[@VindicatorJones]

Yes, that is the only bit of solace I get... Still.. sniff.. I wish I could have her back......

[@88HELLJUMPER88]

If only😭 i have three elite pilots myself that i would kill to have back!

[@Kolin314]

Sorry for you loss. While watching your post I was both laughing because it’s just a game, and feeling empathy for your loss. Clearly there was a bond. Kinda made me think about actual combat, we do lose people and there is no reset, we just have to try to let them go. But I agree, there should be a way, since it’s a game, to somehow get them back. I was hoping you could help me with my understanding about the use of auto tracking weapons. I’ve watched some of your other posts on weapons but I can’t figure this one out. I was in a RES, I’m a noob, and had chalked up about 15 kills. My lasers start firing on my target until they are out of range or over heated, but as soon as they can, they began firing again and I can’t stop them. A federally ran through my auto firing lasers and was slightly hit and then all of them attacked me and killed me and I lost all my bounty. Is there a way to turn off auto fire after the first trigger? Or a way to avoid this situation? Many thanks and I hope Frontier watches your video. Best Kolin314

[@Edzmusik]

there is an option on panel 4 , the one at the right about half way down, were turreted weapons fire can be set to 1, fire forward, or 2 target only, 3 fire at will steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=1388047068

[@hobomisanthropus2414]

Haha, my only combat log was to save my NPC. Granted, it wasn't a "True" Combat log, but the 15second quit while getting blastered by Federales. I don't want to try to save face, it was a 100% hopeless situation with no Thrusters and no powerplant function, lol. I probably had enough momentum to keep out of the Anaconda's range, but the vipers were up my ass.

[@DutchDreadnaught]

Completely agree with this vid.

[@noamc8417]

I could not agree more and hope that FD will find a solution for this. It defenitely would help with immersion into the game!

[@GheckoKt]

I completely agree with you on all of your points. I haven't lost my pilot yet, but I would have a similar reaction

[@pnwsurfing]

Your cracking me up man! totally agree I think its Bull #@#% that our homies die while we eject in escape pod.

[@cmdr.StefanOS]

Hello VJ, we all feel that way! Thanks for making a good video about it! This "mechanic" --- is in fact an absence of any reasonable way to bond with your NPC crew. FD has implemented a absolute minimum working solution for NPC crew. Why they decided not to give them access to an escape pod? Dont ask me. I did run out of ideas about that...

[@gavinnw007]

Totally agree with you VJ my co pilot has earned over 1 billion with me, wish they would cap wages lol Thigoid fighting, well he stays at home for them encounters, but yea still gets paid :( sorry for your loss, hope FDEV dont actually make you wear that outfit cleaning the cars lol good luck Gav

[@yrneh1974]

Lost my pilot against a Thargoid. He was with me for over a year, helped me through thick and thin. And it was my own fault, slacking for a moment.

[@SangTheCryptek]

Lol the 5 stages of grief bit was damn funny. All good suggestions, but I think you know the things you're suggesting are things FD just won't care enough to add. While NPC death doesn't make sense, I do think it's sort of fair. My suggestion would be to just make it easier for them to be trained up. Increasing their xp earnings is a much simpler task that FD might be willing to do instead of the complicated (but really good) suggestions you put forth.

[@oxydose]

I agree with the fact that only active crew should be paid. That is why I only hire just one. I'm sorry for your loss. Happened to me once and believe me, you Will find another pilot and bond with him or her. Hang in there and fly safe commander.

[@jimc7022]

Actually she looks similar to my fighter pilot who I hired (not “bought”, Vindicator) on ship launched fighters release day. I’ve had the same one from the beginning and as goofy as this video is I have to agree that I would be sad if she died too. My NPC pilot even has a kid that she’s trying to support. It says so in her bio. That makes it even worse to lose her.

[@thehiredgun2443]

I had my npc pilot die too. But a glitch happened and she came back....now I have a zombie co pilot.....its creepy...trust me you dont want her back..

[@cheekyj4794]

Once again spot on with the ideas. How has frontier not given you a consultancy job yet. Keep up the good work.

[@redgriffin3923]

I have wondered why in the event of losing a ship, all previously earned combat credits are lost, but bounties remain - brilliant vid though

[@chrisgoodman3519]

This... so this... this is the reason I have not worried about training up rank on NPC pilots

[@cmdrterrorfirma4244]

Funny video .. and yes I love the suggestions and ideas about how they could handle NPC pilots. I have lost 3 or 4 that I trained up and yeah.. now I have stooped to just buying their services as needed.. and firing them when I am not in a ship that uses fighters to save money.. really defeats the purpose of having a good NPC crew.

[@jedslather]

We need a mechanics where you can push the Esc. button! and your crew is saved. and we need more NPC crew!!!

[@MrDefenzive]

I miss Isaac Crosby. My first NPC trained up from scratch. Totally my fault. Still feel guilty. :(

[@jamesb6102]

Finally got my crew member to rank Elite last night! Kinda afraid to take her to fight the thargoids.

[@jamesb6102]

If crew die with the ship, it should de-rank them, not just kill them off

[@wasteland-werewolf]

Sorry for your loss Vindicator Jones. R.I.P Havana Justice. Seriously though,you have some great ideas there too and I agree 100% about npc's getting paid without even being with you. I hope Frontier sees this video. #NPCLivesMatter

[@Edzmusik]

they could add to that an "on death will" left to you from the deceased pilot with the money npc earnings in a "will" left to you or there loved ones, if you dont choose to 1 recover a pilots survivor pod or 2 cash in the "will" that they left to you or their families giving you 50% chance all the millions they earned and can't spend because they died that could go towards your rebuy and recruitment of another pilot

[@Edzmusik]

on second thought forget that they would probably be sacrificed, just to get back the money they have earned from you it seems to mount up fast I think my pilot earned more than me on the last run lol ;)

[@KirstenBayes]

I lost my trusty sidekick to three ambushing pirate Condas, having just escaped being killed by the Thargoids. It was harsh. I think they should respawn with you, but the salary cost should go up by 1-2 percent every death.

[@MichaelSmith-fn1ci]

Thought your NPC views were spot on. Taken my NPC with me on my exploration ship. By the way, Merry Christmas VJ, look forward to your next vid...😊

[@andrewmarshall2075]

I'm way late on this, but I'm with ya. It's redundant to have multiple NPC slots when they're not in use ever, they won't help with anything, you can't even take more than one at a time and you just kinda waste money hiring them.

[@seb2750]

Sorry for your loss Jonesy. T__T They need to have insurance for your buddy like your ships too.

[@cmdrflame2035]

Feels bad, man... But, two things must be mentioned nevertheless: 1) You SHOULD have seen this coming from parsecs away, don't you agree? :) No backup options + risk of perma-loss = inevitable pain. Also, all that unnecessary bling requested by pilots since then should have been prioritized lower (if not replaced) by some kind of option to save co-pilots... 2) Do you understand people who log off NOW just a tiny little bit better then before?.. :) Ironically, there's a video on that subject right in the side pane... :)

[@agingerbeard]

FDev game me my NPC pilot back after a loss due to being run over by the invisible hit-box on a Farragut, feel free to hit me up if you need screenshots of my successful ticket to support your own case!!

[@gindrag9031]

I died yesterday to a thargoide and lost my NPC

[@MrTrigoon]

Loved the vid man. I haven't lost my np crew member yet and I hope I never do. I'm sure if I did I'd feel the same you do.

[@arkman117]

I had the same thing happen, and had the same experience, I wanted to know what happened so i emailed fdev, and they told me it wasnt my fault, and they gave me back my npc pilot. As funny as it sounds I ended up terminating her contract the next day, and gave it the story of she had to leave due to family reasons, that way she didnt die, and yeah ill never train one up again either, hundreds of millions of creds and they cant respawn.....

[@Ploskkky]

I want all your ideas about npc pil;ots implemented. Most of it I proposed myself on the forums. A change is necessary. Currently I hire pilots and fire them before I cash in. I fire them when I want to fly a small ship too. I do not get attached anymore and lately I even stopped using slf because of this.

[@bearwolffish]

The pod idea is perfect.

[@davewright8206]

I have an npc pilot shes not any good but I don't use fighters , sometimes I take her out on shopping missions :)

[@Jaga_Tee]

My Elite Pilot Elizabeth died recently :,( Now my new pilots name is Otto Macdonald. God damn it that name sounds so stupid.

[@thesasquatchgamer9713]

This just makes me not wanna use npcs at all if ill just lose them

[@ElitKiller-ic5xf]

It sucks that this video is 3 years old and everything’s the same

[@tripwire76]

NPC pilots are useful tools in combat, they draw the fire of your target's wingmen so they do not shoot you in the back, they draw the attention of your target so you can shoot it in the back. All in all they are a disposable weapon system... so why do I leave my NPC pilot on the station when I go on a suicide mission? Because I care, because the NPC pilot is part of the immersion. The NPC pilot has a name, has a face, a voice and above all - has my back when it gets tough. A favour/NPC-ethics system as VJ suggests it would be great. Paying for medical expenses for my NPC pilot and recovery time after being shot down would be absolutely acceptable. Add to that a recovery mission to retrieve the escape pod of your NPC - sure! No decent CMDR would leave a mate behind. Hope FDEV is listening.

[@jackarcher3706]

Ouch, sorry for your loss... Given current game mechanics is it best to hire expert ranked npc pilots when you want them, then fire them before completing missions or claiming bounties? Has there been any official talk about fixing this? It has to be apparent this is a broken feature?

[@bier00t]

some really great points in this video

[@siriusscepter]

I love your videos VJ but this video was truelly great for many reasons! #savehavanajustice

[@samuelschmitt7068]

CG to recover VJ’s co pilot. Do it!

[@lovo77]

This is why I fly alone. :(

[@BobbyBrokenMinistry]

I get ya! Lost 3 good one's myself.

[@GuyPrice]

I know this is too late for you, but the Jan 2020 Patch notes that you can now recover NPC crew at the rebuy screen.

[@VindicatorJones]

Really??? thanks for letting me know that. That is awesome news!

[@GuyPrice]

@@VindicatorJonesexact wording is; Added ability to rescue any crew that where on board the player's ship when it was destroyed, from the insurance screen.

[@red5x5redhusker17]

@@VindicatorJones Yep! You did it!

[@urbansparxTheonly1]

Hi VJ. Lost my co-pilot to skimmer rain and Fdev brought them back from the dead. Might be worth an email.

[@im1penguin]

Them feels. I've lost 3.

[@leosagan3692]

FD needs to take the time to fix this : they spent a lot of dev time on SLFs, leaving the NPC in this nonsensical game design hole makes *no* sense.

[@Zelisius]

Poor npc.. made all that money, but still couldn't afford a face lift

[@cmdrwhiskeygalore3044]

I stopped bothering with NPC pilots. I lost one and decided they were useless. I prefer a hull buff. Not that I play anymore.

[@bublebuble2004]

RIP Havana, good points said

[@corecass]

i don't agree on this. looks like every one hurds stuff.. there has to be a way to lose stuff.. yes it sucks.. but it also gives you more satisfaction once you have stuff for a long period of time.

[@figjam9530]

this is why i won't hire an npc pilot. grind out the training of a pilot to lose them. no other grind in this game has such a complete reversal mechanic. at least i won't lose my rank grind, but a pilot, one fuck up, months of grind down the drain. no.

[@cmdrwaylander1213]

I vote Vindicator Jones replace fdev as his ideas are great and would make the game we love so much more...

[@legomaster1998ful]

What was the song at the end?

[@CSW76]

She's not dead she's on my ship !!!!

[@dogman987]

the pain is real

[@TheFlametroll]

Come clean, did you contact support about this? :D

[@Bean41]

Wait, people actually like their NPCs? I have one, probably gonna sack him soon. He’s got a name, dunno what it is as I just call him “The Idiot” (because he deserves it believe me that nickname was earned). The Idiot is stuck on Deadly and while I could probably submit a ticket I just don’t really care. His voice annoys me when he complains about me clipping him with my laser because he flew in front of my ship (using the same “friendly fire isn’t… commander” joke thats just as painfully unfunny as the first time he said it, nevermind that it was a regen beam he was clipped with). If I could I would absolutely deck him but ship interiors aren’t a thing.

[@Bean41]

Oh and NPCs can be rebought now, yay…

[@Greytest]

Haha Vindi, sounds like you've never lost a pilot before. That mechanic is like that since SLFs are a thing. The circumstances are certainly tragic, anyhow good that you speak up, maybe it'll change

[@bobsyeruncle4841]

hilarious well done

[@LunchboxGaming]

Sorry man, this vid was funny though... All your progress gone in an instant... on top of not much to do in the first place... Now you can DO IT ALL AGAIN.... HOW FUN!.... This is quality gameplay at it's best...