I'm not even close to the stations 20k+ optimal workforce quota but crew did start coming in. I built around 10 large ships before I saw any crew though, so I have no idea what the mechanics surrounding it are. I think it's safe to say habitat modules are necessary for crew, probably, but I can confirm that excess workforce is not required. Would be nice to know the exact mechanics behind crew generation though, but I think most people stop caring once it stops being a problem.
On a side note workforce isn't presented very well as a concept right now.
Workforce is optional but unappealing:
This is almost necessary to get stations started, but when looking at all the complications and expenses involved in acquiring and maintaining a self-sufficient workforce, setting it all up is unappealing. Then when considering that it's optional, why bother? The only reason I ever built habitats and related resource production is crew. Don't get me wrong, once a station reaches a certain size that 25% bonus stops being insignificant, when it might mean entire modules worth of extra production, but until then it just looks like a major hassle, and when it does start looking like a good idea you need tens of thousands of workers.
Inflated numbers
The first time I looked at the workforce data my station was saying it needed over 8k, that was before I started crafting ships. Then you look at the large habitats and see they only house 1k. I'm currently looking at needing over 20k and I don't have XL ship crafting setup yet. This means over 20 large habitats on top of all the related supply production, and well, this is going to seriously bloat an already massive station, it makes me worry about potential performance issues. This needs a bit of rebalance to reduce this massive bloat. To be fair, ship manufacturing wasn't in the game at release from what I've heard, so initial balance probably wasn't taking these kinds of end goals into account and assuming much smaller production setups.
Feedback Loop
The issue here is more about a lack of information than anything. The larger your station the more workers you need, the more workers you need the more production and habitat modules you need, the more production modules you build the more workers you need, you end up needing more workforce to feed the workforce. When the station says it needs hundreds or even thousands of workers from the onset and quickly becomes tens of thousands, the thought of this feedback loop is very discouraging.
Lack of in-game information
If the game gave good information on how much workforce each module needs and how large a population it can maintain in advance it would help a lot. The only way I know of to get any information on production and usage is trial and error, build the modules and look at the logic menu and try to compensate as you go, uncertain of how much of any given thing you need. Maybe some of this information is in the encyclopedia sections walls of text, but it needs to be in the construction UI. There's nothing indicating a relationship between workforce and crew or how that relationship works.
To be fair, some information can't be made available without simplifying things, like knowing how fast a workforce will grow means it has to have a very simple mechanic instead of something complex and organic, a result of the simulation. However, this is a problem that plagues nearly every aspect of the game, not enough relevant information where needed.
Anyways, just my overly verbose thoughts on the matter for what little it's worth.
Post edited May 27, 2020 by Mordeth_Kai
