What is the current stance on NPC wingmen in the persistent game?asked by Heartsblade

So definitely you will be able to hire NPC wingmen to fly missions for you. So you'll be able to actually hire some NPC crewmen on your bigger ships, and you'll be able to hire NPCs to fly on your wing. I mean, the system's gonna work in such a way that you'll say, I need someone to... You can probably specify whether you prefer an NPC or a player, but the system, the same mission system, acquisition system, is the same. We're thinking of it like a Craigslist job board, so to speak.

Now, NPCs, there'll be rankings, right? Some of the NPCs will be better than others that you could hire?

Oh yeah, definitely. The two credit NPC is not as good as a 200 credit NPC. He's the cannon fodder that you have out there to get blown up.