Escape Pod Survivors

[ahowe42]

What's up with escape pod survivors?  I go through all the trouble and rescue them, give them food, shelter, medicine, and a nice warm bed.  As soon as they're healed they just leave.  No thanks, no "here, have this for your trouble", and no request to join.

What benefit is there to my colonists to rescue these guys?
Andrew

[Shinzy]

I guess it's just the "nice thing to do option" if you don't like their traits or stats
if you wanna recruit the person you need to capture them

[ReZpawner]

Skillups for doctors. That's pretty much their only use. Or you can always capture them if you think that their skills\abilities are up to par. And the best part: There's no faction that'll get pissy when you do.

[ahowe42]

Ok, I see.  It doesn't seem fair that we have to capture them (i.e., be an ahole) just to get some chance at a valuable new colonist :-).

Andrew

[Shurp]

I've noticed that when they leave the map you get a bonus with the "spacer" faction.  And I've noticed later that spacers in crypts mill about aimlessly when I release them instead of attacking me.  Which leads me to suspect that "spacer" is a real faction and improving your relations with them makes raiding tombs less risky. 

[MeowRailroad]

I wonder if improving relations with "spacer" also makes trade prices better in general?

[Jstank]

Tin Foil Hattery!

[MikeLemmer]

I guess it's just the "nice thing to do option" if you don't like their traits or stats
if you wanna recruit the person you need to capture them

That feels really screwy.

But then, it's alpha. I suspect it'll be changed or cleaned up in a future patch.

[NolanSyKinsley]

I've noticed that when they leave the map you get a bonus with the "spacer" faction.  And I've noticed later that spacers in crypts mill about aimlessly when I release them instead of attacking me.  Which leads me to suspect that "spacer" is a real faction and improving your relations with them makes raiding tombs less risky.

There are several space factions, at least two that I know of. Space colonists and space soldiers. I have only had space colonists be downed when I open the pods and I had to rescue them, and they have never been hostile, space soldiers on the other hand come out of the cryptosleep caskets alive and firing!

On the note of survivors and having to capture them, this one really got me good! One of my first drop pods in the game it alerted me that he was the father of one of the colonists, so I rescue him, get him healthy, and expected him to join his daughter. Nope, just walked off the map >.<

[MikeLemmer]

On the note of survivors and having to capture them, this one really got me good! One of my first drop pods in the game it alerted me that he was the father of one of the colonists, so I rescue him, get him healthy, and expected him to join his daughter. Nope, just walked off the map >.<

I think that gets everyone first time they play, which pretty much screams "unintuitive game mechanic" to me.

Like I said, I expect Tynan will rework that soon.

[Jstank]

maybe if you rescue them there could be a chance that they will just join you because... you saved their life...

[keylocke]

they should add this to the tutorials :

-if you want someone to join, you need to gank and kidnap them, then patiently coerce them to join you or to rot forever in a cell.

this is the rimworld formula for making best friends forever.

[Jimyoda]

On the note of survivors and having to capture them, this one really got me good! One of my first drop pods in the game it alerted me that he was the father of one of the colonists, so I rescue him, get him healthy, and expected him to join his daughter. Nope, just walked off the map >.<

Yes, totally. See related (the pun makes itself) discussion here: https://ludeon.com/forums/index.php?topic=24792.0 (Lovers disregard relationship to colonists and leave)