It seems one of the main pain-points of this update is what happens to Captain Ships when the Captain leaves/disconnects. Having to quit the game to reload a new one, is not an elegant solution if you’re mid-voyage or have spent time levelling up an Emissary. Sometimes life gets in the way and you have to put the game down at a moment’s notice.
Currently what happens without a Captain, is the ship converts itself to a “shared (non-captained) ship” and any Ship Milestones stop tracking. This isn’t an issue, I believe this is what should happen in the absence of the Captain, but I also believe we need a tool to allow the crew to stay in the current server if they wish to make progress towards another Ship if they so choose.
This is why I believe we should be able to appoint a new Captain (or appoint the same one after reconnect) and swap in their Captain Ship of choice, to restore/reenable Milestones tracking correctly. This could be performed at an Outpost’s Shipwright, or at The Sovereign’s.
To add to this, perhaps you’re a crew all with your own Ships designated for different play-styles. You see a World Event you want to go after. You’re unlikely going to head for that in your “Hunter” or “Rogue” ship - but such a feature would allow you to change your “load-out” at an Outpost before heading in- only strengthening one of the main selling points from the Captaincy trailer about “Choosing your path.”
Should you keep your supplies? I think so.
Should this feature cost gold? I’m undecided fully, but in the absence of no current Captain, this should be free. (Not the crews fault the Captain had to leave prematurely)
Should we be allowed to choose a larger/smaller ship? It would be nice if the server has space, it’s a feature that’s often requested, but it’s not a hill I’m willing to die upon.
What do you think? Would this solve one of the major flaws currently in this update?
