Am I the only one who things the Big Four are overrated?

[FishInferno]

I always try to use non-orange Kerbals because I feel like the main ones get too much fame. What do you think?

[Frozen_Heart]

I use whichever ones are unlucky enough to appear in the ships crew. CBA to choose.

[adinfinitum]

Welllll, I mostly just use them because they're free, once I get pretty well along in career I like to put them in a station or base where all the other astronauts can hang out with the original pioneers, if they've survived that long. In this game only jebediah is left, and that's only because he's stuck in solar orbit right now...

[roguelycan]

They are the four main ones for a reason. Bill Bob and Jeb are the original Kerbals before non-orange suited kerbals even existed. Valentina is special because she is the first female Kerbal.

I am not sure how this would make them overrated but I usually try to play with Non-orange suits and put the orange suits in a command space station or something to keep then in play but out of the way.

[X-SR71]

I get a strong feeling I must always keep those 4 alive, so they end up not straying too far away from kerbin..

[wossname]

It simply presents an added incentive to gameplay... try to keep the orange-suited heroes alive as long as possible and level them up as high as you can. The other ordinary kerbals are basically cannon fodder and can be dispensed with without a second thought.

[timsfitz]

I use them as mission commanders and eventually retire them if they live long enough.

[TimePeriod]

Mix/match, depends.

[regex]

I wrote a mod to completely remove them from the game and rename Kerbals to something other than "Kerman". Because that really hacks me off for some reason.

[jwenting]

I get a strong feeling I must always keep those 4 alive, so they end up not straying too far away from kerbin..

same here, they're PR figures for the program by now. Can't have them die, would be bad for the public image.

[monophonic]

In 0.90 I fired them first thing I did in my career save. Not in 1.0.2 though, I didn't feel like upping the starting funds to allow me to hire a replacement.

[The Yellow Dart]

I agree, except I still use Valentina because she is still new to me. I normally fire them immediately and get new ones but in 1.0 I found out hiring is expensive so I guess I'm stuck with them for now. If that is how it's gonna be they should let you choose your first 3 Kerbals so you can actually care about them.

[Frank_G]

Noone is overrated, they are just the first team. I usually build teams of kerbals, who are going on missions together.

Established Teams will even get their own mission badges...

[Lindwurm]

Fired them all and hired new ones. No offense to Jeb, Bill and Bob, but they've been around the solar system enough that it's time for some fresh faces in space.

[X-SR71]

@Frank_G: wow those badges are super cool! I noticed you dont use val on your mission though

[Shadows2b]

I usualy build them a "house" by orbital drop, so they can chill on beatifull places I can find on kerbin. Like on shores or on mountains. Then I bring them there by plane and do other things. When some critical missions comes up, I sent a kerbal gather them.

This way they are like super important

[Alshain]

I still use the Final Four. I just don't care that much what their name is or what color their jumpsuit is.

[uglyduckling81]

It simply presents an added incentive to gameplay... try to keep the orange-suited heroes alive as long as possible and level them up as high as you can. The other ordinary kerbals are basically cannon fodder and can be dispensed with without a second thought.

I play the same way.

Use the original 4 at the beginning.

Once I start making experimental ships it's time to bring in the rookies.

I always send the main players to new planets though for the XP. It's always on a proven ship to make sure they don't splat on Kerbin.

I figure if something goes wrong in outer space that's the danger of the job. You can't have a hero die on a launch though.

[Kilmeister]

"We've never lost a Jeb in space, we're sure as hell not gonna lose one on my watch! Failure is not an option." - Gene Kerman

"What about Bill and Bob?"

"Mistakes were made."

I usually somehow end up losing Bill or Bob during an iteration of a save, but never my precious Jeb. And if they're not wearing an orange suit it may as well be red.

[Commissioner Tadpole]

I myself only think Jeb is overrated. Bill and Bob are fine for me. Val, she seems a bit... shoe-horned, but I still tolerate her. (Actually she's been stealing Jeb's role recently)

[Columbia]

I myself only think Jeb is overrated. Bill and Bob are fine for me. Val, she seems a bit... shoe-horned, but I still tolerate her. (Actually she's been stealing Jeb's role recently)

..I feel the same. I like Bill and Bob better, since they're more innocent and less known.. I just think Jeb is a bit too famed.

[Mister Spock]

The orange-suits get special treatment in RoverDude's USI Life Support mod -- unlike other Kerbals, they don't go "on strike" if they're hungry. According to RoverDude, they're just that awesome. So I guess that means they do deserve their fame.

[MalfunctionM1Ke]

What would be a usefull tweak to this would be, to have experienced Kerbals put to work on the KSC, making Tech-Nodes less expensive (Scientists), Rockets cheaper (Engineers) and the Pilots.... can drive the Crew-Shuttle-Bus... I dont know :D

[ArmchairGravy]

BadS's get the missions, the whiners get to run the labs, stations, and drills. Except Bob. I do like watching him scream.

[AmpsterMan]

I wrote a pretty long post some time ago about how I thought Jebediah (and by extension, now Valentina) is the most important Kerbal in KSP. TL;DR, Jeb and Val represent the player. Notice how Jeb/Val have built up a following; they have a personality in a game where their only defining feature is that they have bads=yes. Jeb and Val represent the player because as the rocket is launching, we aren't scared or worried, we are (hopefully) having a great time doing so. Landed on Mun? Super Big Smile. Burning through the atmosphere? Super Big Smile. Huge Explosion? Super Big Smile. Perfectly executed Hohman Transfer? Super Big Smile. Completely botched staging event? Super Big Smile.

Jebediah and Valentina are the closest one gets to having a player avatar. As such, I tend to play with them pretty often . The others... well I don't care that much for them .