Please regulate random applicants to have more balanced specializations.

[Entropius]

I realize an astronaut's specialization is tied to their names, and names are supposed to be random, but random isn't necessarily diverse.

It would be nice if we could be ensured that this can't happen: http://i.imgur.com/oHbmfPx.jpg

I'd rather not have to murder my Kerbals to get specializations I need.

Maybe we should have separate tabs for hiring scientists/engineers/pilots, or maybe the list should just try to add new applicants of a specific specialization.

[r4pt0r]

A decline applicant button would be perfect. Just like contracts, let us decline them and have other randoms join the list. Some kerbals I don't hire/rescue because they have stupid names.

Come at me, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Also, I dont get any scientists in my applicant list

[regex]

Yeah, having the name determine everything is kind of silly, especially when you get a duplicate. The system should also ensure a healthy spectrum of applicants.

+1

[klgraham1013]

They really need to untie classes from names. Seems like it's only created negatives and little to no positives.

[TheCanadianVendingMachine]

Why don't they tie it into that nice little "Stupidity" "Courage" meter they have?

For example -

low stupidity (assuming means smart) / low courage (assuming means coward) - Scientist

High stupidity / high courage - Pilot

High Stupidity / Low Courage - Engineer

Now, this doesn't seem that nice, sure, but it's an example

Edited July 15, 2015 by TheCanadianVendingMachine

[Kerbart]

It would be nice if we could be ensured that this can't happen: http://i.imgur.com/oHbmfPx.jpg

Unbelievable! They all have "Kerman" as a last name?!

[Entropius]

They really need to untie classes from names. Seems like it's only created negatives and little to no positives.

Well there is at least one benefit from tying names to specialization: If a name appears between two different saves, they'll end up with the same specialization. Jeb is always a pilot, Bill is always an engineer, etc. That consistency is probably in-line with why they choose consistent planets rather than random planets between saves.

In any case, I don't see names and profession being correlated as being a mutually exclusive issue. If you get unbalanced specialization in a batch of applicants, the game could just re-roll names until it is balanced.

Anyway, I'll point out something that I just noticed: If you wait long enough (several days) eventually applicants roll off the list and get replaced by new ones. It can take a while though, so it wasn't immediately obvious to me that was an option. So this suggestion is probably less important than I originally thought, less of a "problem" and more of an issue of convenience.