Match making by Ship

[HamsterIV]

After a game ends and the team returns to the crew formation I notice a lot of people leave to re enter the match making queue as individuals. However a few people linger in the crew formation screen scattered about non full ships (often without a captain). When the lead captain goes to search for a new game it takes a very long time because the search has to find open spots for a full ship and the malingerers in the crew formation. It would be rude to ask the malingerers to leave and ineffective if they are AFK. Yet I want to keep my current crew without having to create a new crew formation screen.

What I would like to have is the ability to detach my ship in the crew formation screen and be put into the match making queue as a 4 player ship. That way I can keep the same crew, join a new game faster, and not offend people who hang around in the crew formation for no good reason.

Edit: It feels like this should already be a feature. Did I miss some part of the UI that does this?

[Milevan Faent]

After a game ends and the team returns to the crew formation I notice a lot of people leave to re enter the match making queue as individuals. However a few people linger in the crew formation screen scattered about non full ships (often without a captain). When the lead captain goes to search for a new game it takes a very long time because the search has to find open spots for a full ship and the malingerers in the crew formation. It would be rude to ask the malingerers to leave and ineffective if they are AFK. Yet I want to keep my current crew without having to create a new crew formation screen.

What I would like to have is the ability to detach my ship in the crew formation screen and be put into the match making queue as a 4 player ship. That way I can keep the same crew, join a new game faster, and not offend people who hang around in the crew formation for no good reason.

Edit: It feels like this should already be a feature. Did I miss some part of the UI that does this?

You didn't miss anything. I don't think any of us testers even considered that, as it wasn't a big deal when there were only 20-40 people testing anyway.

[GeoRmr]

Nice idea, I want this!

[sparklerfish]

I really like this idea.  I was very confused the first time I was dropped into crew formation after a match with the whole team there, half of whom would then leave to either find a new lobby on their own or just stop playing for the time being.  I'm not sure what the point of sending the entire team to crewform is.

[HamsterIV]

The crew form space is a little weird since last patch. If I join a team through individual match making I expect to be paired with strangers. But crew form is where people I know to some degree organize before going off to cause trouble. After a match I know the crew I played with but not those other monkeys in the lobby. Also if the ally ship did not perform particularly well, I do not want to be paired with them in the next game.

I realize this it a bit like a kick feature only it is used to kick myself and my high functioning crew away from any paste eaters we encounter.

[shaelyn]

yeah I really like this idea.  experienced this last night - took forever with two ships, they finally broke off from us, still took quite a while even after, and finally ended up basically in the same match we crew formed away from - with the same teammate that broke off from us and the same "nemesis" on the other side.

the way spectate works when the match goes to crew form is wonky, too.  I've twice been in spectate mode, watching friends play, and both times I got placed in crew form after the match, it wasn't the crew with my friends and I had to hunt them down again.  something about that definitely should change.

[Squidslinger Gilder]

I absolutely despise how it pops you back into formation. Why not just return to lobby and then go from there? Save the vote for the lobby. Everything has been done to get rid of lobbies and it has replaced them with sitting in queues or making things that used to be simple, end up taking longer or more steps. We had a practice today and ended it early. Majority of members just fed up with it. Its like Muse turned into M$ and went from Windows 7, the OS everyone wanted, to Windows 8, the OS no one wanted.

Only consolation about any of this is...COOP mode is right around the corner.

[shaelyn]

soooo:

-default: return to match, must select return to crew form if desired.

-do we even want team crew form directly out of a match, or should the default be ship crew form?  I don't care for the team crew form, personally.  I think it'll make it harder for the matchmaker to do its job, and I think in the past, crew form has been used primarily A) to get together with friends that are otherwise scattered, B) to find a lobby that isn't dead (matchmaking should take care of this), and C) to find a new teammate.  I haven't ever seen it used to find a new team to fight against.  since the team is only balanced to go against the team of the lobby you just left, it doesn't really make sense to me.

-and something should be done about spectate when a match goes into crew form.  don't know what that is yet.

you guys agree?  am I missing anything?

[HamsterIV]

I figure we go back to crew form as it is, but the captain or the crew would have the option to "Go Rogue" and create a new crew form for just that ship. If the team wants to stick together, nobody goes rogue and they can put themselves in the server queue normally.

[Hoja Lateralus]

I certainly would like to see some "hard" form of crew. Let me explain:

How it is now: We form a crew, we go into lobby. Let's assume that ally captain is lvl1 (or lobby suck in some other way). We decide to leave the lobby and... we have to make a crew again. Annoying.

How I'd like it to be: Crew is some form of hard bound between players (like party) and players have option to return to crew formation, when they want to change lobby, without having to make it all over again.
Also if we're at it - I'd love to see crew voicechat option and ability to temporarily mute everything apart from your crew (imagine 4v4 lobby and every captain trying to explain loadouts and stuff to their crews).

Also - most people are only confused when crew formation screen shows up after a match.

[HamsterIV]

Last night I got paired with 3 level 1's thanks to the wonders of match making. After the original captain decided he did not want to fly (mid match) I took command of a loosing match and lost. We were dumped into the crew form and sorted into a 3v3 lobby. I asked to trade spots with the captain so I could teach them how the game worked. The next game I gave them a quick rundown of the Metamidion's crew responsibilities and we did decently. I would have liked to continue teaching this crew since they were responsive and willing to learn. However the next crew form was left to someone who was AFK (or just stupid). After waiting 10 minutes for him to press the play button I abandoned my crew and reinsert myself into the match making.

I get stuck with noobies quite a lot thanks to the Matchmaker, and it takes a considerable amount of effort to train them. It is worth it if I get to play a few games with a responsive crew. Yet thanks to the Crew Form screen and an inattentive player I was denied the payoff.

[KitKatKitty]

I get stuck with noobies quite a lot thanks to the Matchmaker, and it takes a considerable amount of effort to train them. It is worth it if I get to play a few games with a responsive crew. Yet thanks to the Crew Form screen and an inattentive player I was denied the payoff.

This also happens to me and other higher level players that I know and I think most of us share the same feeling.