Player Features and Ideas Discussion

I approve of any idea that makes mining less soul crushingly boring.

Regardless of what the anti-miner crowd thinks, I need people crunching space rocks in order to have ships to blow up!

Interesting idea, but I wouldn't support mining being purely scatter-based. Carrots rather than sticks, after all... here's how I'd implement it.


Mining yield should be more-or-less unchanged (a slight nerf might be acceptable, but don't go overboard)... but in addition to standard yields, have asteroids break off ore chunks randomly while mining lasers are operating. Chunks have a longish duration (a minute or two, instead of the seconds that a scatter container lasts), but tend to break off at a higher velocity, which makes them difficult for larger ships to chase down (maybe make chunks targetable, such that you can grab them with a tractor beam). That said, chunks are unowned; anyone can grab them without attracting CONCORD's attention, if they're quick enough; they should be valuable enough, in comparison w that peopl

Ordinary mining lasers should generate fewer chunks, but at a slower velocity, so smaller ships that mine with lasers (like the Venture, which conveniently has a utility hislot) should be able to gather most the chunks they produce, if they're on the ball. In contrast, strip miners generate lots more chunks, but at high velocities, making quite a mess. When an asteroid is depleted, it explodes in a shower of chunks, filling space with tasty ore.

Additionally, add another ORE Industrial ship... along the same lines as the Noctis, but with an ore hold instead of the salvage bonus; this ship will specialize in hunting down chunks. Finally, consider adding a utility hislot to the other mining ships, to reward non-AFK miners.

This combination will make it more profitable and more interesting for new players to solo mine in a Venture, since they can enrich themselves by hunting down their own chunks. More experienced players that use strip miners can still grab some chunks if they're on the ball, but tractor beam or no, barges and exhumers will still generate a lot more chunks than they can gather. As such, mining groups (and multiboxers) will find it beneficial to bring some dedicated chunk-hunters along... but on the other hand, chunk ninjas will casually invite themselves to belts frequented by AFK/bot types, and enrich themselves in the process.

@Yonis Kador
Not sure what you mean by your first sentence. I would almost think that this would cater to multi-boxing fleets because then one ship could then do all the tractoring for everyone else. You would really only need to look at one client (the tractor client) and the rest can just sit there with lasers cycling.

Also, good point on the Skiff/Procurer. I use those so infrequently that I forgot they only had one high slot. Edited main post to say: "All mining ships should get a high-slot that you can only fit a tractor beam in. Or something like that. Ideally it would be a special module that only they could use, but for now the tractor beam is low-hanging fruit.

@Endovior
I am still on the fence myself there. I think that they should all go over to the scatter container aspect, but I can also see arguments for the legacy system.
For your second paragraph: That is exactly what I was trying to say with the OP. I like how you phrased it though, might be more readable. I like the idea of another ORE ship, but really I would like to see the Primae revitalized for this role.

@Centis Adjani
I agree with you here. Sadly this isn't the real world and we have to live within the bounds of CCP's sandbox. I would like to see this mining-mothership a reality; however one could say that that is what the Rorqual was used for, and is used for when it is in-belt next to a posse of hulks.

I guess my point is that anyone who thinks miners are "just sitting there" isn't multiboxing an orca and even 2 hulks. With only 2, you already have to monitor 6 mining lasers, 2 ore holds, 3 orca holds, 2 sets of mining drones, 1 set of security drones, 1 set of salvage drones, and 3 survey scanners every 2 minutes while minimizing/maximizing 3 accts, watching local, tapping d-scan and repositioning and realigning slow-moving ships.

Yet I frequently see proposals designed to make mining even "more engaging."

Wow, huh? It just seems to me that anyone who thinks miners are "just sitting there" either isn't mining or must only be referring to solo-mining mackinaws and ice miners. Because with the advent of the ore hold, no covetors or hulks are afk mining (it isn't possible, their holds will not contain 2 cycles of ore) and the procurers/skiffs cannot hold 3. Four of the six mining vessels in game cannot "just sit there" for very long without doing anything or they sure won't be generating any isk.

And now you guys want to add a "chunk hunt" to a miner's 2 minute task queue. If you add much more to mining, people who are present and engaged are going to have so little time to do anything, they'll be just as useless as players who are afk. So I'm just going to say that irrespective of the merits, without a major industry revamp, I wouldn't support proposals of this nature.

Make a few accounts, and fly out with an orca and 2-3 hulks and get back to me on how much time you think you'd have for a chunk hunt.

YK

@ Yonis Kador

I understand what you are saying now, however I find that I must disagree.

I routinely mine with 6 Hulks under full Rorqual boosts. I find that I am so bored with the process that I often play CIV V or minecraft on the other screen just to keep somewhat interested. You must not have an efficient routine to mining.

inb4: I do not use ISboxer or any other 3rd party anything.

@Little Dragon Khamez
I agree to some extent, but any other method would ruin the economy as it is now.

So what you're saying is that using 18 mining lasers at once and monitoring 6 ore holds, multiple rorqual holds, 6 sets of mining drones, salvage drones, and survey scanners every 2 minutes while minimizing/maximizing 7 clients, watching local, tapping d-scan and repositioning and realigning slow-moving ships still allows you enough free time to play minecraft on a second monitor?

Oh, well, the answer is simple. You're an alien. o/

YK

More belt rats, strip mining drones and orca (mining carrier)

+50
I would train for mining if this was the case.

Go Orca team!

hahahaha mining in 0.0 is safer than in empire
if someone who isnt blue standing in the system you know there is someone that wants to kill you
+ the roids are large in the hidden belts with all my ships i can mine one roid over 20 mins combine that with the huge ore hold of a mack and you know how a player can get bored of mining warp in lasers on looking on local intel d scan after 10-15 min unload the cargo i personal mine with hulks warp in lasers on switch to the first hulk wait until the cycle runs out ore in the jetcan
switch to the next hulk thats takes about 60 sek my cycletime is 121 sek so i have 60sek to spare for hauling and compressing ore

You beat me to it.

I was mining yesterday (and yes I do mine from time to time, just for some low number of mineral gathering) and as I was sitting in my Procurer, I thought it would be so awesome to have a mwd on the damn thing,
you know for repositioning to another rock you want to persue next and is out of reach and slowboating 50km is the least ever fun activity in EVE.
With an added utility high and a tractor beam, you can stay in that site and take your jetcans with you and haul the stuff later or let a corp buddy haul it.

Yes multiboxing is bad, that is what corporations are for, you know your corp buddies of likeminded folks to assist and aid each others activities or built on them for more profit, tears or what not.

But wouldn't this make mining easier for large fleets?

Only the tractor-dude would really have to pay attention.