[Rig for rant]
I hate how things such as manning deck guns and rigging for silent running are "abilities" that can only be performed by certain officers, only so many times, and only when he is not injured.
Damnit, I get it when it's things like yelling at the guys in the torpedo room to quicken their pace (they get tired, after all), but rigging for silent running? Manning or securing a deck gun? Is the Watch Officer really the only person on the whole sub who can tell crewmen to get away from a freaking gun? Do they get some sort of secret code word from the WO or something
?
Just played the immensely enjoyable River Mayhem mission (sneak down a wide river/fjord/sea during Operation Drumbeat and wreck havoc on big, armed merchants and a small convoy), and I found I could only call for Silent Running and Battle Stations once, and even then they both went away after a while.
I mean, for crying out loud, I'm not asking you to cast a fireball, I'm telling you to order the crew to be quiet! The abilities system
is nice and all (in reality, too, you could do things like ask the crew to work harder in an emergency or ask the chef to cook together something extra-nice to raise spirits), but certain "abilities" need to be made independent on officers and "mana".
I also dislike how skills is something you distribute, Dungeons&Dragons-style, rather than something your crew
earns. "Good job at spotting that ship on radar, Fredrick, that's sure to make you better at... lemme see... yes, you've gained experience at sending messages without the enemy noticing!".
[Secure from rant]