I know this is going to be controversial, but I think it would be nice if muse was to implement a password lock on individual ships that extends into the lobby, and is at the discretion of the captain. I know there will be some concerns that this could be an anti social measure for the community, however I would argue given the age, and current state of the community that the positives would have a greater impact than any negatives. It would allow us to:
-Extend the password protection of the crew form into the actual lobby for parties that want to play with each other. Right now crews can have protection to organize in the crew form, however once they are in lobby that protection is gone and they are vulnerable to crashes and trolls. This is a logical extension of the protection, as you spend 20 mins in crew form trying to find a match, your buddy drops, and then the random that matchmaker immediately fills his slot with wont swap him back. Or even more unfortunately you ask someone who isnt even to blame to leave your ship because of a technical error, and feel bad as a result.
-Trolls like to troll, and if they know you don't want them they will go above and beyond to get on your ship, which can be very annoying. The best case is its some guy who wont take a proper load out or class. Worst case its someone who is stalking a female player and using sexist or threatening language in the lobby. With ship lock ability we would be able to keep those trouble makers out, instead of our only recourse being to file a complaint which we all know wont have any real effect on the troll.
-Lastly it would allow what I think we can all agree is the most fun part of Guns of Icarus, and that is playing with your friends. We all came to this game for the airship battles, and we stay for the friends we have made in the game. I know I for one enjoy a few fun battles with my mates by my side, and password protect would allow me to save a slot for a few mins if they tell me they are waiting for their game to finish so they can join me.
I know there is some concern that this could impact player training, however I believe our population of dedicated CA's is more robust than ever an certainly equal to the task given our present population. Secondly, not everyone wants to train or is a good trainer, and this measure could decrease saltness by keeping some of the new guys off the older and more burned out players ships. I hope everyone thinks this is as great of an idea as I do and I look forward to its speedy implementation.
-Regards
Narayan