Right, I am new to GoI-O, just about to get my 3rd Rank in Engineer (yes, now you all know why I came here) but among all the fun that I had with random crews I also had a few "less than fun" instances, and these I will describe here. Out of my Twelve games this has happened twice, so you might see where I am coming from.
The first time around I was on a Galleon, DM on Dunes. We had a small crew of randoms and to my staggering disbelief we began losing, harshly. At 3-1 (it was a 2vs2 game) our team mate surrendered and I promptly noticed that all of my crew left as well. So I took over the helm, a very disgruntled engineer taken away from his fun with the engine, and began, in essence, turning the tide of battle, bumping up our score to 3-3. Then a Pilot somehow spawned on the Galleon and I asked him to take the helm, to which he complied. That ended with the Galleon crushing and burning just a few moments later, and when our Ship respawned, and I tried to take control of the guns I suddenly noticed that our Galleon kept following enemy ships dead on. I wrote and spoke on the Crew Chat, trying to point out that the Galleon does not have any fore guns, but what I did not realise (and for some time) is that the Pilot disconnected and some invisible force was guiding our ship toward the enemy. I threw my hands in the air and took control of the Galleon again, eventually turning the 4-3 into a win for us. (Along the way one of the enemy ships also surrendered, but the one enemy ship still left had a full human crew while I had AI).
The second instance was far more sudden and unwelcome on my end. Another 2 vs 2, this time on Duel at Dawn. We were in a Goldfish, with an Allied Galleon, against an enemy Galleon and Spire. After maybe ten minutes of losing (though not heavily, I think it was a 2-0) we noticed that our team mate must had gone AFK, since his ship stood dead in the air, and barely did anything. Suddenly a message on our Crew chat: "Ally is AFK. BB." and our Captain, who was guiding the ship at full speed toward a wreck decides to disconnect, and the only other human crew member leaves a moment later. The ship without a pilot collides briefly with the wreck and I grab the Helm again, left with three AI Crew and an unresponsive ally. To make a long story short, we won, and once again due to a very, very angry Engineer.
These were the only two instances out of the 12 games I had, and most of the time the Crews I am with are very cooperative and welcoming. I thought I would mention this however because it happened twice in a row, and just today.
On one hand I am angry with the behavior of my ex-crews, because I am not a big fan of leaving at the start or mid-game because the odds seem to be stacked against us. Especially not in a manner that is on the level of rage quitting. On the other I am rather happy, because I found that using the AI Crew sometimes was more efficient than the human crews I had to work with, and with me behind the helm, even on a ship that I did not "Design", I learned a lot of new tactical tricks and useful weapon layouts that I am sure to use in the future. That is, if I were a Captain, not that I do not like taking control of a ship, but that is not meant to be the main job of the Engineer!
Hope you enjoyed this little tale. Perhaps what I wish to say is, you can still win, when outnumbered and left by your mates, as long as you know HOW, and believe in yourself.
