[jc173]

Not sure if anyone has discussed this yet since I may have missed a few Posts in this topic. But recently some people suggested tying ships to the world of their construction, so that if a planet rebels ships that are crewed with population from the planet would join the rebellion. I have a suggestion on that topic and a question.

Suggestion:
Perhaps crews should have a loyalty rating?
I'm not sure how in depth people would want this to be, but I think it could sort of be like happiness for ships, maybe. Highly trained crews might be more loyal, not sure if this would necessarily be the case. Also particpating/witnessing losing battles and stalemates should drop the loyalty rating. A highly loyal crew would not join a rebellion, and of course a not so loyal crew would. In the middle ground you could have the possibility of mutiny and shipboard combat as the crew factions battle it out for control of the ship. I don't know if people would like this because it may be too detailed to implement in SEIV, maybe this should be something that ought to be considered in SE V instead.

My question is what should we do with ships with Master Computers. Since an MC can gain experience and "learn," I look at them more as AI's then something like an expert system. I'm not sure how sentient an MC would be, would it have beliefs and loyalties? Would the controlling empire consider the possibility of an MC/AI revolting and program/build in restrictions and safeguards?