Crew that aren't companions?

[Charlemagne]

I tried to ask Lin to come with me, but she has no options. Are only the story characters available? What good are the others then like Lin, Heller etc.?

[AlphaVictorKilo]

You can recruit lin and heller later on in a mission to rescue Barrett from the Crimson fleet. I think the mission is called "Return to Vectera" or something

As you explore the main cities, go to the bars, you'll find crew members there that specialize in one or two things to add to your crew

[Bad Behavior Defender]

Plenty of crew available to hire in bars across the galaxy, some are available as companions, some are even free.

[Faiza, Star Made Knight]

you may not have had enough space on your ship. ive got lin and heller both on my crew

[WeelieTired]

There are a dozen crewers on barstools across the galaxy waiting to be hired. With the main story companions, its over 20. Half can be a companion, the others are to staff up your outposts or man stations on your ship. Lin and Heller are great for helping your best outpost run even better. They cant come with you as companions, though.
Your best companions will be Sarah, Andreja, Sam, or Barret. They have ship and ground combat skills to help you a lot. Pick one to be your buddy or eventual wifey.

[Charlemagne]

Yeah what I mean is that Lin doesn't have an option for "come with me", she only stays on the ship.

[WeelieTired]

Originally posted by Charlemagne:

Yeah what I mean is that Lin doesn't have an option for "come with me", she only stays on the ship.

Correct. That’s not her purpose. It’s not allowed.
You build an outpost. You put a crew station down. (Looks like half a cubicle)
You hit tab, click on ship, hit C for crew management. Select Lin. Unassign her from ship. Assign her to the outpost. Her best skill is outpost management. That’s her purpose in the game.
Heller too, helps you build outpost stuff since outpost engineering is his skill. Need a 2nd crew station in the outpost to run both of them. Or 2 diff outposts.
Nope, those two miners are not for following you around. Half the recruitable NPCs in the game are only for ship crew or outpost staff.
All the Constellation members are best for companions. There are a few others, but their skills are far lesser…
Cheers.

[Jaggid Edje]

Originally posted by Charlemagne:

I tried to ask Lin to come with me, but she has no options. Are only the story characters available? What good are the others then like Lin, Heller etc.?

Some crew can be companions, some cannot.

Lin cannot. Heller can. There are other crew scattered about the game that can be companions as well who are not story characters. There's a lady in the outdoor bar in Akilla, for example, who is pretty much ONLY useful as a companion (she has no skills that benefit ships nor outposts).