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[maillemaker]

Every time you sink a ship it is given a name. It is a name of a ship of roughly the same size and appearance of the model you sank. It also gives a cargo that that ship actually carried at one point or another, and roughly the same size crew. Of course I'm biased about that function, but for me it also increases the immersion tenfold.

I found that mildly interesting. But it really does nothing for me "in game".

For me the other charm of Commander is the 'Realistic Career' option, which means that I probably won't have to finish the war, but will be retired to a desk or school job, which is what really happened.

I myself am more interested in trying to "beat" the game by surviving from the beginning of the war until the end, so I am not using the realistic career option.

As far as crew qualifications goes, there is no such thing as an unqualified petty officer. The training is what earns them that title and grade. The way the stock game does it is totally unrealistic. Besides, giving them the qual doesn't give them the experience. They still have to earn that themselves.

I understand the realism angle but like I said, part of what makes the game compelling for me is earning skill and fatigue upgrades - your success enables you to make your crew better. If I just dole it all out through Commander, it removes a lot of the point of the game for me.

If I started out with a fully-qualified crew and gave out medals (anti-fatigue points) as I felt like it, basically I'd start out with an awesome crew and then the game becomes all about sailing around sinking ships just for tonnage scores that I get no benefit from.

I guess I enjoy the struggle of having to build up the crew.

Steve