Vlad Damian
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Posted - 2004.03.16 18:48:00 -
[1]
Edited by: Vlad Damian on 16/03/2004 18:51:16
From all the fiction I've read I've gotten the impression that you (the pilot) are in a pod inside the ship suspended in an ectoplasmic solution. You're neuraly linked to the ship from the pod and your thoughts control almost every aspect of piloting the ship. The ship becomes an extension of your body in essence.
Since you can handle all of the piloting and tactical command issues (where to move, when to dock, which weapons to fire when) there isn't really a need for a helmsman, sensor operator, or a tactical officer. However, you still have the issue of maintaining a highly advanced piece of equipment with billions of electrical and mechanical components (stuff that likes to break.) You also have to consider military vessels that transport battalions of foot soldiers. You personally can't maintain the entire ship from your pod while you pilot it. That's why the ships need some sort of "crew."
I've gotten the feeling that having a crew in your ship is a matter of opinion amongst pilots. Some captains favor very expensive high-tech equipment to carry out the basic engineering and the other tasks necessary to keep a starship running. Other pilots seem to prefer having a very large crew of humans (who aren't as perfect and methodical as computers but who possess a very sharp intuition and an excess of creativity) to deal with these maintenance issues. Other pilots cut between the two previous opinions and allow expensive computer equipment to run the ship but have a small number of humans onboard to maintain the computer equipment.
No matter which method is chosen the same basic need for maintenance and operation remains. Just as our own bodies are an extension of our mind, the ships in EVE are an extension of the pilot's body. While our mind can make all the decisions of where to walk, who to speak with, and which course of action to take, that same mind can't simultaneously regulate our heart rate, breathing, and concentrate on which muscles to contract how much and when so that we can achieve the act of walking. Humans come pre-built with a Brainstem, Cerebellum, and Hypothalamus to take care of the basic maintenance functions. In a sense, these functions are taken care of by these "other minds" and could just as easily be regulated by computer equipment (we do have rudimentary life-support systems in hospitals.) Life-support machines or our "other minds" free up our Cerebrum to make decisions and do all the abstract thinking. The same truth carries over to the pilot in his ship in EVE.
-Cheers |