Seems to me that crews are some poor unlucky bastards. Effectively slaves, they live or die at the whim of an unknown and unapproachable capsuleer. And they ain't got clones. ....

I pretty sure you don't have anything insightful to add anyway.

you're missing the point of the entire post simply becuase you disagree with one word in the beginning.

So as has been shoehorned into EVE canon we have crews on our ships. IGÇÖve read a few posts here and there discussing this fact and also discussing ways to actually make use of the crew in ways that make sense. All of this got me thinking about how I would like to see crew effects implemented on our internet spaceships.
In broad strokes, if it was me, this is how IGÇÖd do it.

When you assemble a ship for use, at that point youGÇÖre going to start assembling a crew. This happen automatically, and since this isnGÇÖt the navy youGÇÖll have recruit from the population on the station. This will take time, and that amount of time will be determined by the standing you have with the people who own the station. Higher standing means less time to recruit crew. You cannot fit, or undock the boat until itGÇÖs fully crewed. One caveat to this is that a crew can be transferred from one ship to another of the same class. For example youGÇÖre PEV fit Apoc crew could be transferred to your PVP fit Geddon and their bonuses would go with them.

Brand new crews on brand new ships do not impact the ship in any way. However they begin to affect the ship positively the more time they spend aboard the ship. Even docked it would be assumed that they are drilling and maintaining the ship etc. The impact the crew has on the ships performance acts very much like hardwires do and impact things like.

~Gunnery~ Tracking, Damage, Rate of Fire, Falloff, Cap use, Mining Yield, Cycle time
~Navigation~ Align time, Base velocity, MWD/AB velocity, Maneuverability, Cap use
~Engineering~ Power Grid, Capacitor, Recharge rates, Shield HP, Shield Resist, Cycle times, Boost amounts
~Mechanics~ Armor & Hull HP, Repair amount, Cycle times, Armor, and Hull Resists
~Electronics~ CPU use, Cycle times, ECM and ECCM effectiveness, Sensor Strength, Lock range.

IGÇÖm likely overlooking a few areas so this list is far from comprehensive but you get the idea.

As for bonuses I think 1.5% incremental bonus up to a max of 9% accumulated at a rate of 1.5% per month until max is reached at the end of the seventh month. You get nothing the first 30 days.

Inside of one month (0-30) they are considered Green and give no bonus
Between one month and two months (31-90) they are considered Seasoned and give 1.5 to 3.0% bonus
Between two months and four months (91-120) they are considered Veteran and give 4.5 to 6.0% bonus
From month five months (120+) onward they are considered Elite and give 7.5 to 9.0% bonus.

If the ship is destroyed the crew is considered dead or dispersed and the accumulated bonus is lost.
Flame away!

At least supercapitals, which do not dock, cannot be buffed even more by their most massive crew siz---


wait, that makes no sense.

Just to mention, its been very specifically stated that frigates do not have crews, as the non-capsuleer versions have a crew of 3, which is well run by just one pod-pilot and the ships automation. Not sure about destroyers, but cruisers and up definitely have crews.

A little bit more detail for you mad schemes ;)

PvPers will oppose this most vehemently, of course. You mean our ships don't cost as much as a planetside city and there are actually other people on board and maybe we shouldn't carelessly treat everything as a completely disposable commodity? Blasphemy!