Ok here is another super minor issue I have with the overall flow of the game, in the same tradition as my gripe about calling ship space "decks." viewtopic.php?f=6&t=395

How about instead of piling on more and more crew with every rank we call it officer training. Each rank point spent on my science officer made him more effective and adds +3 to research. Each rank point on my helm officer gave me +2 defense.

All it would take is a little bit of rewording, nothing else would need to change. Think of Whorf (from Star Trek TNG for you non-geeks) as the tactical officer, instead of 200 nameless red-shirted crewmen. The crew are all still there, but in the background and not as important in the game as the officers who command them.

And, one day, this could open up the option of special officers which might have different abilities. Maybe a future mission could unlock an engineer that could add +10% to shields, then I have to decide if I want him on deck instead of the one who gives me +5 secs energy recharge. Do I want the tactical officer who gives a bonus to ship firepower, or the one who gives an invasion bonus?

Heh. That concept is exactly the same way as Star Trek Online has for bridge officers. That idea is good one.. That's one of the things I like about STO is bridge officers..

I would really like to have BO's in GL.

That would make some missions. for example XTS-9 refinement MUCH more dangerous. Losing a crewmember is one thing, but if you spend a lot of levels training him/her it can be quite a pain

Well remember the Star Trek Expendability Rule: when 3 bridge officers and an ensign go to a planet, the ensign is the one who dies.

As another idea if it get's this far, officers can have their own stats and xp, implemented similar to Kingdoms of Camelot, Evony, and other castle-age games.