What makes a good captain?

[Kestril]

I'm interested in the community's opinion on this. I know "good" is subjective, and doesn't necessarily mean "wins matches"  I guess we can narrow it down to what sort of captain you like to crew under the best.   

As for me, a couple of bullet points, in no particular order:

-I prefer captains who can admit their mistakes, and are not harsh on their crew when a mistake is made. Getting upset rarely accomplishes anything, and, at least for the match, we're all literally in the same boat.

-I also prefer captains that have at  some awareness about the situation around them. It's troubling when your squid flies right into a galleon's dual-manticore broadside for the third time in a row xD

-I also like captains that switch the loadouts up for the sake of fun. Doing something ridiculous ends in awesome, good or bad. Like a harpoon Spire with a manticore, or a squid with moonshine and impact bumpers. Sure, they may not be the most effective, but they ARE a blast to crew.  Instead of gat/flaking another ship to death for the umpteenth time in a row.

-I really like captains who let the crew know what they are doing, even if it's just the general idea of "we are going to hit this junker from the left." I feel like I know what's going on and am better able to respond as a crew member.

How about you guys?

[Moo]

Agreed, all of it.
It's not like we're fighting for real or anything, so losing isn't really a problem. We aren't getting paid to crew people's ships, we're there because it's (hopefully) enjoyable. So the easier the captain is to get on with, the better really. Being able to do your "job" effectively is good too though, and good captains make that much easier for the whole crew. While I don't think using voice is necessary to be a good crew member (it can be useful for gunners though), I think it's pretty essential to be a "good" captain. The captain may have some amazing strategy, but if the rest of the crew (and the other team captains) don't know it before it's too late, it's unlikely to work. It also makes it feel more like you are all part of a team, rather than robots allowing the captains to do the "important" stuff.

[Mill Wilkinson]

The best captain? I'll bullet down something from my little experience, although you did cover most of it already:

- At the beginning of a match, divides roles but not too strictly. It helps the engineers to know when to maintain/buff their lot and when to help the other engineer. Also, tells what the loadout is for, like "Yeah, I went for sniper build, so feel free to potshot all you can."
-Tells you what target he is aiming for, which guns to man and when he is going to use some pilot-skill. Generally being informative about what he is doing, even if with three words. Gunning is immensely helped when you are warned of a quick turn and that you should man the other gun.
- Knows his surroundings, or asks the crew to spot something he can't see.
- Acknowledges good engineering work when he gets it aboard. I like being the gunner and his work is pretty visible, but it is easy to forget the two other guys running around arms flailing to keep the ship afloat.
-Has some humor in what he/she does. It is always nice to hear the captain giggle after the other one blows apart, and some simple comments like "Well, I didn't see that one coming.", "Woops" and "Sic em!" create an certain atmosphere.
-FLIES the ship, not flails it. I hate it when the pilot does sudden turns and dives when I am trying to land a shot. Also, knows the lines-of-fire of his weapons, so he can position the ship correctly. Of course, telling us what he is doing helps.

All in all, I like a clearly communicating captain over a mute one.

[Letus]

Ability to communicate with team captains and help coordinate attacks.

Ability to communicate with team and help coordinate shots.

Ability to understand the ship's limits.

Ability to understand the gun's limits on the ship.

Ability to see when a teammate needs help and able to draw fire away, whether the means are disabling, or brute force.

Must have a good singing voice.
Must have played 10 days while drunk.

[MasX]

yelling lots of yelling ..right ?

[Captain Smollett]

That's what I always thought, must be doing it wrong.

[Xemkobankavareniya]

What makes a good captain?
A good crew...

[FightBoyVash]

Must have played 10 days while drunk.

Heh.

[Sammy B. T.]

People have brought up communication quite a few times so I will expand on another point partially brought up by Letus pertaining to understanding your ship and understanding your crew.

You need to understand your ship and have a clear plan on how you will use your ship to defeat your enemy. Know your guns. How many can you train on your enemy? How well can you stay in firing arc? Do your two main guns complement each other (such as gat/flak or heavy flak/lumberjack). Can you bring up a third gun, if so does it further complement like another gatling gun to a gat/flak combo, or does it supplement like throwing a carousel or flamer into the gat flak? Can you sustain the loss of repairs for that third gun? Do you need to focus on repairs and lose all your guns?

Not only do you need to know the answer to all these questions (and more) you need to understand the implications of these in a quick enough fashion so you can then pass on the relevant information to your crew. This is where a good crew comes in. When I have Veyka and Silas on my ship as my primary engineer and secondary engineer, they know what they are doing. Veyka is able to take over answering the question concerning shooting the thrid gun or repairing the hull. Sylas is able to take over questions of shooting the knockout guns or repairing my engines.

But what is important for me to remember is I don't always have them. I can't assume a new engineer on my ship will understand my fly style (abuser of kerosene and tar). Therefore I have to make sure I take time at the begining of my game to explain not only what someone's role is but why their role is important.

If my below deck gunner doesn't understand the chain gun has to keep firing, that is because I failed to explain why I need that constant armor stripping. If my primary engineer doesn't understand that the third gun is a supplemental gun and therefore is a lower priority than hull repair, the once again I failed to explain the nature of the third gun on my ship. If my back engineer doesn't understand that when enemy hull armor is up, his bigger priority is repairs, you guessed it, I failed in explain the nature of explosive vs piercing damage.

You can do ALOT with a responsive crew with just some communication, but you need to be communicating from a position of knowledge. You have to know your ship, its abilities and limitations, and somehow you have to put this information into your crew.

If you can do that you will be a good captain.

[Lord Dick Tim]

I did say "reasonably" sober in the CA oath, so I cover one of those areas.

[SnipeVortex]

as a captain myself, from the feedback i have had from crew members, the things i have learnt to focus on are:

 - Being aware of firing arks and which combo's work the best.
 -  being able to tell your gunners which guns to man and to keep them able to fire
 - aware of the surroundings and how to use them to favour you
 - The biggest thing I'm guilty of and i know for a fact many many more captains is, talking to one another
 - Telling your crew what you are doing
 - listening to what the crew tell you

[GrimWinter]

Some things about a few of the captains I like flying with
- Pretty vocal about everything, explains what they want to their crew before and during game
- Doesn't get upset or frustrated in tough or losing situations, keeps their cool and doesn't try to play the blame game
- Coordinates with other captains
- Understands the ships they fly and demonstrates that in-game
- Another thing I appreciated in my earlier games was a few captains that had the patience to teach me as we played. If you're learning something every time you play with someone more experienced than you, they must be doing something right

[Kyren]

Well, we covered the gameplay basics quite well. To be even able to function properly as a Captain, the Captain needs to know the ship, be able to communicate, think 3 turns and 2 corners ahead and count all ships on the map in.

What I'm looking for in Captains differs a little, though. I'll be kind of happy when we win a game because the Captain know's the ropes and helps the Crew to function nicely, but unless the Captain congratulates the crew after the match, it'll feel a little.. like something's missing.

In my opinion, going for the Captain slot is not only a commitment in terms of ship, crew and battlefield awareness, but also a kind of "social" job. Captain's got to play it down when the ship is on the loosing side, and always find someone else to blame than the crew, be respectful with the enemy team and that 11 year old powder monkey who just joined upon his/her ship and yells about every single shot he/she scored. And then even congratulate that person on the good shooting. I'd also expect the Captain to keep the crew in check if they start ranting about something in the chat. After all, and maybe just for the duration of one match, it's "your" crew.

[Skrimskraw]

I think I have been drunk more than 10 play days

[Chrinus]

*snipped*
In my opinion, going for the Captain slot is not only a commitment in terms of ship, crew and battlefield awareness, but also a kind of "social" job. Captain's got to play it down when the ship is on the loosing side, and always find someone else to blame than the crew, be respectful with the enemy team and that 11 year old powder monkey who just joined upon his/her ship and yells about every single shot he/she scored. And then even congratulate that person on the good shooting. I'd also expect the Captain to keep the crew in check if they start ranting about something in the chat. After all, and maybe just for the duration of one match, it's "your" crew.

This, oh so very much this. I've made more long term friends in this game as captain by letting the crew know, even though we lost, they did a great job and I couldn't ask for better. Not as an empty compliment, usually you simply get outplayed or they bring a scissor to your paper at the last second. I can safely say I've had 0-5 losses that my crew was still fired up and stuck around for the next go. A happy crew will win you matches, and stay with you for a long time.

Another note as a captain, be open to suggestion and encourage your crew to call out EVERYTHING regardless of whether or not they think you know; the communication should flow both ways. When I gun or engi, I never shut the hell up for more than ten seconds. I work as my captains peripheral vision and keep eyes out for any sign of foe, our ally's position(s), and any ideas I might find staring at that map in the lull of action. Many, many captains appreciate the additional input, especially when I call out that Hwacha or Blenderfish on our six before he's in range to strand us in the sky.