That’s fantastic! Thank you so much for taking the time to look up the lore and adjust the values. I’ll come share any more lore and worldbuilding ideas I have with you in the future. Thanks again o7
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Ship crews & faction crew-size — where the evidence stands (updated)
Two questions, pulled together: (1) are those old orange ship “blueprints” genuinely CCP, and (2) do the faction crew-size differences hold up in canon.
1. The blueprint schematics — apocryphal, but well-supported
The orange wireframe plates (Megathron, Maller, Auguror et al., with Class/Type/dimensions/Crew) are a consistent set that’s circulated for ~20 years. Provenance, tiered:
- Contemporary attestation: in a March 2006 EVE-O thread, a player states they came from an earlier incarnation of the official eve-online.com site and are “CCP created, as far as I’m aware” — hedged, so testimony, not confirmation. Tellingly, when another poster asked outright whether the crew numbers were official, nobody could answer.
- Assets & era, independent: the wireframes are rendered from CCP’s original pre-Trinity (pre-2007) ship models — so at minimum built from CCP’s own assets, and they can’t postdate 2007.
- CCP’s pre-launch art programme is documented: the official EVE Concept Art Book (rev1, distilled 27 Feb 2003 — pre-launch) contains CCP’s own pre-release ship art (hand-drawn concept sketches of the same hulls). It isn’t the plates themselves, but it proves CCP was producing official ship art in exactly this window.
- Not nailed: no CCP dev has confirmed it, and the archived official page hasn’t been recovered.
Net: period, CCP-model-based, community-attributed to the old official site — but not formally confirmed. The crew figures are best treated as period-official-but-unverified, not hard canon.
2. Faction crew-size ordering
- The only explicit faction ranking in the lore is the New Eden Crew Guidelines — originally an official CCP Evelopedia page (per veterans who used it live; now only on community mirrors). It ranks: Gallente (low) < Amarr (mid) < Caldari (mid-upper) < Minmatar (high), noting Amarr are more automated than outsiders assume.
- The only hard per-hull numbers are the schematics above, and for Amarr they’re mixed: frigates at the floor (Inquisitor/Executioner = 1, same as Condor/Incursus), cruisers split (Auguror 520 — the lowest cruiser in the set — vs Maller 800). So Amarr nets to mixed/mid, not uniformly heavy — which supports the mid-range read rather than the old “over-crewed with slaves” one.
- Firm CCP canon (dev statements, ship-description blurbs, chronicles with ~6,000-crew battleships) only ever gives per-class ranges, never a faction ordering — and is internally inconsistent (an official Comet cutaway lists crew = 1, against the chart’s frigate minimum).
Net: the faction differences rest on the one explicit source (the Evelopedia Guidelines) and are broadly consistent with the schematic data, with Amarr best placed mid-range.
Still pending: I’ve reached out to Richie Shoemaker - legendary games journalist and former editor of EON and other official EVE publications - who may confirm or kill the CCP-origin claim outright. He knows folk, and he was there.* UPDATE: See bottom of post.
Until then (or if a dev with inside knowledge wants to put us out of our misery), the above is the honest state of play.
Citations
- 2006 “these came from the old eve-online.com” attestation: EVE Search - Ship interiors, and a project ;)
- Freebooted, The Ship’s Crew Debate (2010) — the schematic crew/passenger table: Freebooted: The Ship's Crew Debate
- New Eden Crew Guidelines (Evelopedia mirror): New Eden Crew Guidelines - EVE RP Wiki
- Evelopedia-origin testimony (EVEOGANDA, 2015): Ship Crews: What Have We Learned?
- Frigates of EVE Online: The Cross Sections — official, the potential per-hull tiebreaker: Frigates Of EVE Online: The Cross Sections Now Available! | EVE Online
- EVE Concept Art Book (rev1, 27 Feb 2003) — primary document, pre-launch (not publicly hosted)
Edit: Richie Shoemaker AKA Zapatero came through and confirmed my suspicion that the ancient orange schematics were indeed of CCP origin, but were very early development concepts, the detail of which CCP has long since disowned (disavowed…decanoned?) by removing them from official EVE sites circa 2010. However, given the absence of consistent and detailed lore on crews and passengers, they will remain on my list of sources, provided nothing more recent contradicts them.
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EVE Crews — Faction Crew Doctrines
Modifier applied to the base hull-class crew pool. ×1.00 = baseline; below = leaner/more automated, above = heavier crew.
The Four Empires
| Faction | Doctrine | Modifier | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gallente | Automation Doctrine | ×0.80 (−20%) | Advanced robotics and drone interfaces reduce baseline crew requirements by 20%. |
| Amarr | Imperial Automation Doctrine | ×1.00 (baseline) | New Eden’s oldest spacefaring empire holds the baseline: the vast Navy’s heavy reliance on automation offsets its slave and service contingents, leaving complements neither lean nor bloated — mid-range, second only to Gallente for automation, and below both Caldari and Minmatar. |
| Caldari | Redundancy Doctrine | ×1.10 (+10%) | Strict military redundancies and manual reloading systems increase crew complement by 10%. |
| Minmatar | Manual Labour Doctrine | ×1.15 (+15%) | Rugged mechanical design lacking neural automation requires 15% additional engineering labour. |
Industrial Factions
| Faction | Doctrine | Modifier | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Upwell Consortium | Corporate Efficiency Doctrine | ×0.85 (−15%) | Upwell Consortium hulls are built for logistics throughput with extensive automated cargo handling. |
| ORE | Lean Operations Doctrine | ×0.90 (−10%) | ORE vessels are crewed for extraction efficiency — minimal redundancy, maximum tonnage per crew member. |
Pirate & Independent Factions
| Faction | Doctrine | Modifier | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sisters of EVE | Humanitarian Operations Doctrine | ×0.85 (−15%) | Sisters of EVE vessels prioritise medical and rescue personnel over combat crew, keeping complements lean. |
| Serpentis | Enhanced Operations Doctrine | ×0.90 (−10%) | Serpentis crew operate under cognitive enhancement protocols, reducing headcount requirements by 10%. |
| Deathless Circle | Custodian Cell Doctrine | ×0.95 (−5%) | Deathless Circle vessels run lean covert cells: bioinformatic crew integration and heavy automation trim the complement below empire norms. |
| Mordu’s Legion | Professional Mercenary Doctrine | ×1.00 (baseline) | Mordu’s Legion crews are lean, professional, and disciplined — precisely the complement required, nothing more. |
| Guristas | Criminal Redundancy Doctrine | ×1.05 (+5%) | Guristas hulls inherit Caldari military discipline but improvised modifications demand additional engineering hands. |
| Angel Cartel | Cartel Muscle Doctrine | ×1.10 (+10%) | Angel Cartel vessels maintain oversized security details and inter-clan oversight staff. |
| Blood Raiders | Ritual Hierarchy Doctrine | ×1.15 (+15%) | Blood Raider vessels carry ritual officiants and thrall-handlers alongside combat crew, inflating complements. |
| Sansha’s Nation | True Slave Doctrine | ×1.25 (+25%) | True Slave crew are expendable, brain-wired, and packed into every available space — complements far exceed necessity. |
Advanced / Invasion Factions
| Faction | Doctrine | Modifier | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Triglavian Collective | Bioadaptive Communion Doctrine | ×0.75 (−25%) | Triglavian Collective vessels rely on mutated bioadaptive AI and Pochven-acclimated crew — far fewer hands needed. |
| EDENCOM | Multifactional Doctrine | ×1.00 (baseline) | EDENCOM hulls draw on mixed-empire tech. Crew complements follow standard New Eden naval practice. |
Special / Reward Factions
| Faction | Doctrine | Modifier | Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|
| Society of Conscious Thought | Cognitive Exceptionalism Doctrine | ×0.80 (−20%) | Society of Conscious Thought vessels are crewed by Jove-influenced scholars with access to advanced automation. |
| CONCORD | Law Enforcement Doctrine | ×1.05 (+5%) | CONCORD vessels carry additional legal and compliance officers alongside their combat crews. |
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I encountered two issues during today’s play session and I’d like to report them. The first bug has been bothering me for quite a while.
Issue 1
When Edge’s built-in full-page translation is enabled:
Clicking Command Orders, Recruit Officers or Changelog triggers an error. An error screen pops up and locks the whole application.
Other basic buttons that do not open new panels work perfectly fine.
It seems the browser translation alters the original text on the page and breaks the app’s interface structure. I have to keep turning translation on and off constantly, which is really inconvenient.
Issue 2
This error happened on payday during my current run. Honestly I’m not certain what triggered it.
I couldn’t afford to pay off my debts, so I used the simulation cheat to gain some ISK. Right after I opened the comms panel to repay officers’ debts, the error appeared.
After that, reloading the page or restarting the app entirely couldn’t fix it — the error persisted nonstop. I had to abandon this save and start a brand-new game.
Could you help me figure out what might be causing these two problems? Also, would they be difficult to resolve? Thanks o7
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Thanks for the bug report. I’ll review and get this fixed later today.
Edit: v1.69.136 patch applied to address both reported issues. See Changelog for details.
Lucius, I hope that’s both of your issues resolved. Let me know if anything persists.
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EVE Crews: Upcoming Economy Rebalance & Passenger Operations
Hi folks,
A root-and-branch review of the EVE Crews economy is currently underway. Huge thanks to contributing playtesters for helping shape this update, and particularly to Lucius Gallo, whose recent lore enquiries and the passenger transport concepts therein kickstarted this current feature cycle, and DeMichael Crimson’s ongoing scrutiny of the ship financial model.
Here is a brief look at the upcoming changes:
The Economic Rebalance
- Near-Zero Running Costs: To reflect the massive wealth disparity between capsuleers and ordinary baseliners, oppressive per-session running costs (like life support and shore leave retainers) are being dropped to pennies or removed entirely.
- Meaningful ISK Sinks: Financial pressure will shift away from micromanaging basic wages and onto deliberate, high-stakes decisions: retaining elite Named Officers and paying out emotionally weighty hazard and death benefits.
New Gameplay Loop: Passenger Charters
- Civilian Transit: Take contracts ferrying tourists, refugees, and VIPs for steady, lore-accurate income. Your benched reserve crew will automatically act as “stewards” to suppress passenger morale decay during long transits.
- Canonical Hull Interiors: The ship you fly dictates your clientele. Unique internal modifications (like Purification Chambers on the Amarr Gold Magnate or Hostage Cells on the Minmatar Probe) will attract specific demographics and carry unique operational risks.
- Colony Integration: You will be able to deliver colonist payloads directly to your planetary settlements to boost workforce and output, or run emergency evacuations to earn regional recruitment discounts.
These changes aim to remove the grind of micromanaging crew wages, shifting the focus entirely to genuine command decisions and positive operational income.
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Very nice…
I got a little distracted during my test run to 100 Sessions, am currently getting back to it and will submit another report very soon…
DMC
o7
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Did you make it to 100 sessions? And did your XO get their medal and their party?
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I’m currently at Session 97… I got sidetracked for a bit but I’m now getting back into it…
So yeah, just a few more sessions left to hit 100…
DMC
o7
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I’m very pleased to report that the Ship & Passenger Operations sprint is now deployed and awaiting playtesting.
The headline features are:
- Complete ship profiles generated and/or extrapolated from all available research sources such as The Frigates of EVE Online: The Cross Sections (2017, Dark Horse). Citations can be found in the ship tooltips.
- New Hospitality Department led by a new Chief Purser officer type, for converting your ship into a luxury yacht, a cruise liner, or an emergency support vessel.
Complete passenger charter gameplay with 20+ passenger cohort types.
- Additional flavour for stations, and a UI redesign to give the sense of different station locations.
- A lot of the economic connective tissue has been tweaked too, so the financial model will need some scrutiny.
Feedback and bug reports always welcome.
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Ok, I was only able to log one session due to various issues with the app…
First I want to say the ‘Boarding’ aspect while in space is working good… I did what you said earlier and applied some damage to various site structures… That enabled the TDR to list most of the structures in the dropdown menu selection for ‘Boarding’ options…
Very cool aspect which definitely gains loot and ISK, so for now the issue of gaining Operating Funds seems to be resolved…
I noticed when I docked the app switched on me while I was active and now lists the Academy, XO Lounge, Recruit, etc in the top of the Bridge page instead of in the banner along the bottom… Personally I liked it much better when those were listed in the bottom, the way it is now it seems to clutter up the Bridge page, also overshadows the TDR and Station Acquisition buttons which use to stand out very well..
As you can see in the last screenshot, I also tried the ‘Ferry Passengers’ option which is where the app started having issues…
I basically spent an hour logging multiple 10 minute sessions which the app wouldn’t log… Every time I docked in the specified station, the app would switch to this error message..
I tried ‘Clear Event Queue & Reload’ as well as ‘Reload Without Clearing’… Nothing worked, the app still showed Session 97 even though I had completed multiple sessions… After a few times, I actually read what was listed on that error page… Now I’m not a Dev and I don’t know if this will help but I opened Opera Dev Tools and took a couple of screen shots of it…
Anyway, I eventually did a ‘Force Save’ in app settings, then ‘Cleared Session and Log Out’… I also used the Opera Dev Tools to clear the history… I was then able to log Session 98 and decided to abandon the ‘Passenger Charter’ which I did in the specified system and station, Odatrik IX - Moon 2, Urban Management Storage…
That’s where I noticed another issue, the Log shows I did it in Rens VI - Moon 8, Brutor Tribe Treasury which is where I got the Agent mission… Basically the app didn’t recognize my location in Odatrik system to complete the ‘Passenger Charter’ and after I abandoned the charter, the Log listed the wrong location…
Anyway, I noticed another issue while trying to log Session 99 which basically made me stop, force save, clear session and log out… The ‘Underway’ time seemed to be in sync with regular time, meaning every time I checked it, it would show the current time as when the ‘Underway’ time started, regardless of how long I was in space… Along with that the XO’s auto-select for ship run mode started switching on and off with it’s countdown timer even after I made a selection..
You can see the time stamp on the Browser is the same as the ‘Underway’ time..
And a few minutes later while still in space I checked it again…
I had actually just completed a Drone Anomaly site when I noticed that and with salvaging wrecks, I had pretty much already spent close to 10 minutes in space… I then realized I wasn’t going to be able to log Session 99 so that’s when I decided to log out of the app and post this report…
DMC
o7
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Hey DMC, thanks for this report.
I hear what you’re saying about relocating the station buttons. That was a UI design decision I made to unify all the scattered station-side elements into one coherent experience and create a better sense of location. Separating the station functions from the ship functions makes the distinction between them.
Also, the Command Centre had slowly grown into a collection of disparate elements that was taking up most of the screen estate - it was getting out of hand.
Let’s see how it feels for a while. If it really does degrade the experience, I can put the buttons back in the bottom bar.
You’re right about the TDR flow; that feels wrong at the moment - I’m not happy with the station mission buttons either. I’ll focus on improving those.
I hope that the error you experienced was just a case of unfortunate timing during multiple deploys last night. I think you caught that error during a rollout of a succession of patches. There was about a 30-minute period where v1.69.200 was live, and it broke the session timer. I quickly deployed a hotfix (v1.69.203), which should have resolved it.
I’ll take a deeper dive into all your feedback and see what else needs addressing.
Thanks again.
Edit: some further fixes have been applied. Testing needed.
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Thanks for the quick reply…
I’ll wait a couple of days to make sure everything is sorted out, then I’ll try to get that elusive Session 100 again…
Other than that, I definitely like how Eve Crews has grown, it’s more than just a companion app to Eve, it’s almost to the point of being a stand-alone game by itself…
DMC
o7
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I wouldn’t have done it without you. I’ve really appreciated your support and feedback. It’s made the project feel like I’m not just making it for myself - I don’t think I’d have kept building if you and Lucius hadn’t been prodding me along.
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Thank you, I’m glad to have helped…
Anyway, I finally completed my original goal of having all Minmatar ‘Faction Specific Naval Enlisted’ crew members with all Minmatar ‘Faction Specific’ Officers on my Minmatar ‘Faction Specific’ ships..
I also completed the Session 100 Milestone which earned my XO the Crimson Star…
Unfortunately my XO didn’t get an increase in Officer Command slots… That actually presented a slight problem due to needing a QuarterMaster Officer after boarding my Prowler Blockade Runner..
While trying to decide which Department Officer to Billet, I noticed the Crew page no longer has an Info pop-up when you hold the mouse over each Department… I actually liked that aspect of the app, definitely would have made it much easier to decide…
I also noticed when crew on Shore Leave are discharged, it gives a hit to on-board ship crew moral, or maybe it was loyalty, I don’t exactly remember which one and I forgot to get a screenshot of it…
I don’t think discharging Shore Leave crew should affect on-board crew members, as far as they know, the Shore Leave crew were simply transferred to another ship… If anything only the Department Chiefs should get a hit since they knew and worked with those crew members…
Lastly I took another look at Operating Funds and when doing a basic session without any extra stuff like Station Acquisition or Passenger Charter, the app doesn’t generate enough funds to cover Operating costs… That’s not good for a Trader who’s piloting a Hauler…
Anyway, I’ll keep watching Operating Funds for a few more sessions to see if it’s generating funds to cover Operating costs…
And yes, I know I have a Department Chief retained on Billet / Shore Leave… Even with that, I think the ship should still generate enough ISK to cover Operating Funds…
DMC
o7
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Congrats on getting your XO to 100 sessions. I named the award for you to celebrate your role as the senior EVE Crews playtester 
. Was there a pop-up message or did you only get the log entry? There should have been some announcement rather than just an almost invisible log entry, but it wasn’t easy to test.
The award isn’t a promotion, so it’s not intended to provide an automatic additional commander slot. Perhaps reaching the 100-session milestone should also earn some CCs to accelerate progress in that direction.
I’ll review all your other feedback and add the necessary tweaks to the next round of fixes. I’ve already got quite a list of quality-of-life and balance amendments, so the next round of patches will be polish and balance.
I won’t be able to do any more work on EVE Crews before Wednesday, as I’m out of development resources.
Edit: While my Claude tokens are depleted, I’m using Google Notebook to analyse your feedback. On the Department tooltip issue:
Crew Page Department Info Pop-ups
- The Feedback: The tester noted that holding the mouse over a department on the Crew tab no longer displays the “Info pop-up” explanation of its role.
- The Verification: This is a confirmed visual change implemented in v1.69.94.
- The Reason: Previously, the native browser
title=tooltip was bound to the entire department name row. This created visual clipping bugs and interfered with the mobile/touch click-to-expand behaviour of the panels. To clean up the interface, the row-level tooltip was removed. - Where to find it now: You can still view the full department description and responsibilities by hovering your mouse over the small information icon (
) next to the department’s title. Additionally, the complete status assessment has been moved to the department portrait’s new tooltip and the ◈ REPORTmarker.
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Thank you very much for naming the 100 Service Medal after me, that’s definitely unexpected and much appreciated…
Yes there was more than just a Log entry for Session 100.. There was indeed a pop-up message… Also a Comm report from the XO about the crew having an unauthorized party with bootleg alcohol and a cake to celebrate his service record… The report had 3 different reply options and of course I picked the one that gained the most Moral and Loyalty…
Just wanted to mention that there’s no gender associated with the Officer icons in the Bridge page, not that it really matters but I was a little surprised to realize my XO was female after reading the Log entry:
YC128.08.02 16:03 · SESSION 100 · EVENT
ONE HUNDRED SESSIONS → You’ve earned it. What’s next for you?
Rakk Hadrun isn’t expecting the question. She thinks about it longer than either of you expects. “Same as today, I suppose. Just… more of it.” The answer sits well with her. Morale and loyalty surge across every deck. (Ship-wide +12 morale, +10 loyalty. XO Loyalty +15.)
Anyway, nice to know the Department Info pop-up is still available, seems I missed the little ‘i’ icon next to the Res, Mor, Loy and crew staffing indicators on the right side… Maybe a better location would be on the left side after the Department title..
Other than that, I’ll continue testing the ‘Away’ mission content as well as watch Operating Funds generation, I’ll post another report after completing Session 112…
DMC
o7
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Well, seems a new bug has appeared causing me to not have full ‘Faction Specific Naval Enlisted’ crew… Somehow the app is adding extra Faction Conscript and Naval crew members while doubling the amount of crew members in both Engineering and Security Departments…
Engineering Department
Security Department
The first time was on Session 103 which I fixed with ‘Billet crew’ option, recalled all Minmatar Naval Enlisted crew and discharged the rest… Then it happened again on Session 104 which I fixed using the same ‘Billet crew’ option again…
Session 103
Session 104
After fixing those, I completed Session 107 and logged out with it looking like this…
After logging back into the app, Session 107 shows the crew status is once again mixed up…
The main issues for fixing that is it costs money and lowers crew Loyalty..
Also makes it tough to see if the app is generating enough Operating Funds…
Anyway, I did the ‘Billet Crew’ option again to fix it, both times can be seen in this Log report…
I’ll now do a force save / clear session and log out, then use Opera Dev Tools and clear Eve Crews… Hopefully that’ll keep the app from changing my Crew stats when I log back in…
DMC
o7
EDIT:
I logged back into Session 107 on the app and unfortunately it did it again, added extra crew members of mixed Factions and Enlistments to both Engineering and Security Departments…
I’ll now try fixing it while logged into the game and do Session 108, then Force Save, Clear Session & Log Out… Hopefully when I log back into the app, the issue will be resolved…
DMC
o7
Ok, I fixed the crew and switched from Tech 2 Prowler Blockade Runner into a Tech 1 Rupture Cruiser… I then tried to Billet the Chief Of Industrial Ops and Crew so I could recall my Flight Deck Commander and re-crew that department, the app then switched to this error screen…
After clearing that, the Personnel Integration Dashboard once again showed mixed Faction and crew enlistments…
However this time only the Engineering Department was affected…
I actually tried to fix the issue a few times but nothing worked… Anyway, here’s the Log screenshots starting with the Hull Class change…
Since I’m currently in a Tech 1 Combat Cruiser, I don’t need to have an active Industrial Department onboard… Unfortunately the Chief Of Industrial Ops doesn’t want to leave the ship for Shore Leave and as such, I can’t recall the Flight Deck Commander and re-crew the Flight Department…
Anyway, I’ll fix the crew staffing issue in the Engineering Department again and try to log Session 108 with a combat mission…
DMC
o7
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Just wanted to add that after fixing the Crew Staffing issue again, I logged in a couple of sessions, then did a Force Save / Clear Session & Log Out on Session 109…
It seems those setting options aren’t working… After logging back into the app, the Engineering Department was once again overstaffed with mixed Faction crew members of Naval / Conscript enlistments…
A couple of side notes:
I don’t think the Log has always done this but it now lists events going all the way back to Session 95…
Also the gender icon (Male) displayed for the XO doesn’t match the gender reference (Female) for the XO in the Log… I don’t know which one is correct but here’s screenshots showing the discrepancy…
Obviously I can’t correctly monitor Operating Funds generation until the crew overstaffing issue is resolved, mainly due to the constant Billet / Dismiss / Recall options on Department crew members in order to maintain my Minmatar Faction Specific Military Crew..
DMC
o7
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