STO: Player Crews vs NPC Crew

I've been a major lurker on the STO forums since Cryptic opened the website and a lot of people have been debating/arguing/flaming on the big changes they have made compared to Perpetuals game. Personally I'm on the NPC Crew side because I like to be a loner sometimes :P

I think the reason why it can be such a hot topic for people is because they had gotten used to idea of being able to have real people on the bridge which makes for nice interaction and gives it a very good star trek feel but in terms of gameplay I don't think it could work to it's full potential.

There are some big advantages as well as major disadvantages to this system, here are some that I think should be noted

Advantages

• Close interaction at all times with other players
• Interesting gameplay dynamic

Disadvantages

• The constant need to have your bridge crew around to play
• Being constricted to mini-game gameplay(will explain later)

There are many more of them but I think those are the two major for each side of the story.

I'm a big fan at the thought of having to group with other players to accomplish something big in an MMO but I think being forced into it is a different story all together. The gameplay dynamic would be interesting as it would technically be 4-5 people working in tandem to keep the ship running.

Unfortunately I just don't think this could work.

My main argument is simple. If I have to wait for my friends to log in to actually play the game then it isn't going to be fun at all. Not having the ability to play the game by myself dampens the whole experience.

Of course there are a few different ways to make it work, for example bringing in NPC crew to take over for someone who isn't logged in but that solution brings its own problems.

I mentioned in the disadvantages mini-game gameplay which is what would end up happening if there was a player crew. The only two positions on a bridge that would get the most fun is the helm and tactical officer. The rest would be left to some kind of mini-game mechanic. I see it happening like this.

Tactical - Geometry Wars
Engineer - Connect the pipes(think of Elite Force 2)/Power transfers
Medic - Trauma Center
Helm - Bridge Commander
Comm - Can't even think of a game for them
Captain - Bark orders

I don't know about the rest of you but this kind of gameplay doesn't really appeal to me, especially if I was stuck as being on the Comm.

I think the best solution to get the best of both worlds for this is to have some missions in STO which caters to this kind of gameplay. Where you can go in with a group of people one one ship and do the mission together.

I'm looking forward to having my own ship and the thought of fleet battles with 20+ other captains makes my imagination run wild.

Lets hope Cryptic can live up to the expectations set for them