Transfer Personnel

When a starship arrives at a planet, space station, or within the vicinity of another allied starship, that vessel's Captain may choose to transfer personnel. Taking on crew is always desirable, as player-controlled characters are more capable than NPCs. Additionally, taking on passengers is never a burden, as passengers don't consume any more of a ship's resources than the standing crew do (read: none) - and they may even come in handy in a tight spot.

While present with the planet, station, or starship, the Captain selects the 'Transfer Personnel' function, and is presented with three or four lists of relevant individuals at the location: These lists are sorted by rank (or merit points, in the case of civilians), and characters on the Captain's friends list will have stars beside them. The Captain can then click the 'Transfer Personnel' button, which brings all interested parties aboard (a Captain may not 'pick and choose' which individuals to bring aboard). Additionally, all personnel currently aboard the vessel who wish to disembark (either to transfer, go on leave, or, in the case of passengers, simply continue on their journey) will do so when the Captain enters this command, as well.
 * Crewmen on leave, who wish to return to duty.
 * Crewmen enlisted aboard the other starship, if one is present, who wish to transfer to the vessel in question.
 * Citizens who wish to enlist aboard the vessel.
 * Civilians who wish to come aboard as passengers.

Captains may order a transfer of personnel from anywhere aboard ship - they need not be on the bridge to do so.

'In game', personnel are transferred by shuttle - although it is a loading screen that the transferring player will experience at this point. Personnel may not be transferred while enemy ships are present in the same star system. Please note that squads have their own system for boarding starships.