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[sergei]

Originally Posted by K-61

Out of curiousity, since I don't have the game, how does SH5 deal with crew issues?

Not very well I'm afraid.
The crew management screen only allows you access to your officers and key personnel.
And the cook.
As far as the game is concerned, the rest of the crew don't exist.
On a related note, I don't think any of them can get killed, since the game needs them for dialogue interactions.

As the patrol progresses, morale goes down, rising again when you sink ships.
OK, I can get with that.
But it's poorly implemented.

If morale goes down too far, the crew just flat out refuse to do their jobs.
If I'm in a combat situation and order the deck gun to be manned, and they just look at me and say "Cannot comply", then I'm going to be pulling my Luger out to offer encouragement.
The game does not let me do this unfortunately.

IMO the crew should always follow an order, but maybe be better at doing their job if morale is high.

You get points to spend on your officers as you sink more ships (think renown).
Some of the abilities you can give your officers make sense eg. allowing your Watch Officer to spot ships a little bit further away.
But some are just appallingly bad.
Making the torpedoes go faster?
With a warhead that does 25% more damage?
I don't think so.
(By the way - a bug related to the 'Go Faster' eels, is that after you have picked this, the TDC does not compensate for the increased speed, so you are now incapable of hitting anything!)

Having said all this, I must sound like I am painting a pretty gloomy picture.
Remember, I am describing the stock game here.

There are already mods available that deal with the morale problem, and rework the Officers Abilities to be more realistic, reflecting increased training and proficiency at their jobs, rather than Magic Powers.

You know it's funny - despite the fact that most of the crew in SH3 are just little icons on a screen, rather than fully rendered in a 3d environment, I always managed to feel a much greater attachment to them then I ever managed in SH5.
I guess that fact tells you all you really need to know about the difference.