The video argues that Star Citizen’s current design discourages true multicrew gameplay by making solo operation of capital ships like the Idris more effective, as multicrew roles and turrets are underpowered or detrimental. It suggests that without significant changes—such as making capital ships nearly invulnerable to smaller ships or improving AI crew—players will continue to favor solo play or multiple single-seat ships over cooperative crew experiences.
The video discusses the ongoing controversy within the Star Citizen community regarding the solo operation of the Idris capital ship and its impact on the game’s multicrew gameplay. The creator expresses a shift in perspective, moving from a strong advocate of multicrew experiences to recognizing that Star Citizen’s current design actively encourages solo play. Unlike traditional games where multicrew roles, such as in tanks, enhance gameplay, Star Citizen’s mechanics do not reward having multiple players on a single ship. Instead, the game incentivizes solo operation by making multicrew components like turrets ineffective and even detrimental to a ship’s overall performance.
A key point made is that turrets, which are the simplest form of multicrew interaction, are widely acknowledged to be ineffective in Star Citizen. Removing turrets from ships like the Constellation improves the ship’s capacitor and main gun effectiveness, creating a disincentive to keep multiple crew members. This fundamental flaw in turret design undermines the viability of multicrew gameplay. The speaker expresses skepticism about the developer’s ability to implement more complex multicrew systems, doubting that future features like engineering or damage control roles will be engaging or practical compared to solo play or swarms of smaller single-seat ships.
The video also highlights the dominance of solo capital ships like the Idris over other multicrew ships such as the Polaris. The Idris’s pilot-controlled guns make it far more effective in combat, whereas the Polaris’s torpedoes are less engaging and have been removed from pilot control, reducing its competitiveness. The presenter suggests that restoring pilot control over Polaris’s torpedoes might balance the gameplay but emphasizes that the core problem remains: the game does not encourage or reward players for crewing capital ships together. Instead, players prefer to bring multiple solo ships to maximize firepower and survivability.
Furthermore, the creator argues that Star Citizen is fundamentally a solo game masquerading as a group experience. The game’s reward systems and accessibility mechanics discourage group play, making it more advantageous to fly multiple ships rather than crew a single capital ship. In player-versus-player (PvP) combat, bringing more ships is always better than consolidating players into one vessel. The only way to truly incentivize multicrew gameplay, according to the video, would be to make capital ships nearly invulnerable to smaller ships, forcing players to crew them fully to face off against other capital ships in a distinct gameplay mode focused on crew coordination.
Lastly, the video raises concerns about the upcoming implementation of AI crew in Star Citizen. The speaker questions whether AI crew will satisfy the community’s desire for multicrew gameplay or if players will still demand human crew members. There is uncertainty about how AI crew will impact the balance between fully player-crewed ships and AI-operated ones, and whether this will further diminish the incentive for players to crew ships together. The creator remains doubtful that the developers have a clear solution to these issues and invites viewers to consider these challenges as the game evolves.