If our Kerbals refused?

[TimePeriod]

Long story cut short, I was watching some TV-show and was shocked to discover how blissfully ignorant we are with the lives our Kerbals. We throw them away without a thought and leave grieving widows in our wake, spread across all Kerbin with the only memory left of them; a burnt out booster stage.

So it came naturally to me that at some point our Kerbals would refuse to put themselfs onto our rockets. I would ask of you, what have you done to prevent the death of a innocent Kerbal or have you haphazardly thrown away the lives of your ground crew like rice at a wedding?

FACE YOUR INNER DEMONS!

Edited May 1, 2014 by TimePeriod

[EdFred]

No Kerbals have died in my current career.

[chaos_forge]

^same. also, I use LES to prevent deaths during launch. the only deaths I've had happen lately were a plane that crashed while I was trying to land on Duna

[regex]

We throw them away without a thought

You may, but I don't. I play permadeath no-revert or saves avoiding probes and MechJeb (because they're cheating) to boot.

[Tortoise]

I and life support mods, and my kerbals still rarely die.

[InterCity]

No casualties here either.

I am playing all my saves (even the sandbox) with no-one-left-behind policy.

But if they refused, i'd tell them something like:

see that big white booster over there? Y'know, you can try it yourself. Just sign this contract... *evil laugh*

[pauix]

I've started to do unmanned tests and I've added escape systems to most of my stuff, which has given my current career an almost perfect record.

The only death in my actual save was due to the pilot not remembering to pull the landing gear out while landing.

But besides all my concerns for safety, I still send some kerbals (jeb, bill and bob) to space with not-so-safe rockets from time to time. Jeb doesn't need things like launch escape system or common sense when flying a ship

[Liowen]

How do you know those Kerbals that did not deserved to die, maybe they were a murdering psychopathic killer. I mean look at Jeb he is always smiling and laughing, no sane Kerbal would do that if things were exploding around them.

As to if I kill off Kerbals intentionally, no I do not......yet.

[Tex]

Ah, there are no Kerbal wives. There are no female Kerbals to marry! You might say that there are Kerbal husbands to be had if you are so inclined... but in all actuality, I justify their deaths as a matter of destiny: the Kerbal species was created for space travel. Every advantage they posess helps in some way towards space, and I, for one, would not mind giving up my life in exchange for going into space at least once, to do something for mankind. That's how astronauts and Kerbonauts alike think!

[The Jedi Master]

I avoid kerbal deaths if I can. But if they get stranded, well, just call it a long-term mission...

[Rowsdower]

This is a truly interesting angle here. Generally, the characters you control in video games have a tendency to feel highly expendible, simply due to the repetition and realization that you can always try again. There's something that tends to separate Kerbals from much of that, though. Perhaps it's their adorable nature. Perhaps it's the fact that the player essentially becomes part of the crew. The level of accomplishment and innovation that's achieved hand in hand with them also tends to serve it's purpose. What do you all think?

[The Destroyer]

I "Revert" a lot

TAC life support has made me a lot more careful about them. Pre-TAC, four kerbals were sent out past Eeeloo to do a G-Lens telescope via KSP interstellar. Sadly the H2 boiled off before they could get there ....

[Yellowburn10]

Technically, I've only had 1 death in my career. But, a bug somehow brought the kerbal back alive. He even wasn't one of the original 3. Weird.

[HeadHunter67]

Generally, the characters you control in video games have a tendency to feel highly expendible, simply due to the repetition and realization that you can always try again. There's something that tends to separate Kerbals from much of that, though. What do you all think?

I think that the Kerbals are the secret to the success of the game. They provide the player with a way to feel connected (as you say, part of the crew), but their dopey antics, zealous approach to flight, and claptrap engineering helps to soothe the inevitable sting of failure. If the pilot characters were little humans, it might be harder to bear when they crash and sometimes die - especially if they represented famous, actual astronauts.

[User Unrelated]

I think without counting messing around and having fun at the 'ol KSC, I have only had 4 or 5 TOTAL extra-planetary deaths in the two or so years I have been playing this game. (on SERIOUS missions, that doesn't count the inevitable "I wonder what would happen if..." launch)

I have stranded quite a few Kerbals... But if I send them somewhere other than Kerbin's SOI, they get a hab module, so I guess it really isn't QUITE stranding... more just "extended colonization"

[Sirrobert]

I think that the Kerbals are the secret to the success of the game. They provide the player with a way to feel connected (as you say, part of the crew), but their dopey antics, zealous approach to flight, and claptrap engineering helps to soothe the inevitable sting of failure. If the pilot characters were little humans, it might be harder to bear when they crash and sometimes die - especially if they represented famous, actual astronauts.

Yea, the Kerbals do add alot for me. I am a big Roleplay fan in games, so I need something to represent 'me', so just probes would really make that difficult for me.

And indeed, humans are boring.

As for the OP: I have never lost a kerbal in career actually. I'm quite proud of that, though I haven't done THAT much yet (launch does not count, because revert)

[Liowen]

I "Revert" a lot

TAC life support has made me a lot more careful about them. Pre-TAC, four kerbals were sent out past Eeeloo to do a G-Lens telescope via KSP interstellar. Sadly the H2 boiled off before they could get there ....

No no you have carefully planned simulations to see what may happen if you did X, Y, or Q

[Dkmdlb]

We throw them away without a thought

"WE"? I don't think so. Maybe you do.

And anyway, nobody is forcing them to show up at the astronaut complex.

[The Error]

I've yanked that ejection handle a fair few times. One death so far; a prototype VTOL lost an engine at altitude from overheat. No chutes, no eject... he did his best.

[CaelumEtAstra]

So far, only one was kill in my game. If I'm not mistaken, it was Munlas that somehow got into the cockpit of an experimental aircraft and pancaked after running out of fuel trying to land in the hills behind KSC.

All of my spacecraft have escape towers, though. Not one has been lost to a RUD (Rapid Unplanned Disassembly) or any other incident.

[Tery215]

All the Kerb's are volunteers, it doesn't matter what space mission.

Probbs the hiring box would just be empty and you would have to launch probe missiles at the kerb's houses.

[Formykka]

I agree with Maximus; there are no Kerbal wives. Kerbals most likely reproduce asexually, which explains their striking similarities and willingness to do dangerous things.

I get the impression that my Kerbonauts are annoyed with me because I tend to run a lot of unmanned missions before I'm ready to stuff 'em in the tin can. Sometimes when I'm playing I can *feel* their impatience.

I think the most extensive injuries I've had to date were from engineer Kerbals walking into the bottom of rockets in the VAB.

'Course NASA astronauts were the same way during Mercury through Apollo. They certainly appreciated the safety and tests, but they really just wanted to get up there and fly the darn things.

[Sof]

I always make sure my Kerbals have a way out. The abort button is always properly wired up. Every mission is designed to make it home.

The rare occasions that they do die is mainly from aeroplanes and parachutes breaking off. No deaths in 0.23.5

[robopilot99]

My only death is when a rover rolled over on a kerbanout and crushed him

[Lohan2008]

My only death is when a rover rolled over on a kerbanout and crushed him

You should have made the rover "safer" by adding MOAR boosters, Kerbals thrive that way ><

I agree that the silly grinning maniacs make KSP so special !