Science & Industry

I was wondering what the drawbacks would be to running a public mining op? I think there's a lot of people that would like to do Orca supported fleet mining at a regular time, but may not want to have to leave their corp to do it.

If I just announced a public mining op and brought out an orca, would people show up? What would be the obstacles, game-mechanics wise, to doing such a thing?

That would probably happen, yes.

This is why good mining ops are opsec. (Shh, don't tell them we mine hardcore)

I have a mindlinked and max skill Mining Foreman in an Orca (also a max skill Rorqual pilot).

I also often run with a mindlinked max skill Siege Warfare (shield) booster in a Tengu, and I'm training a mindlinked max skill Armor Warfare booster (just needs Wing Command 5 and Fleet Command training now) in a Legion.

Nobody has ever accepted an offer I've made to join my fleet to get bonuses.

I'm guessing that people are afraid to join fleets, thinking it makes them vulnerable.

It's like this ...

When I was less than a week old doing mine and return in my starter system with an Imicus (...) I had this guy volunteer to haul for me.

The first thought that went through my mind (I'd been around long enough to understand what kind of game EVE was) was ... once I give him my ore to haul - it is no longer my ore.

I turned him down.


It's just a bad idea to trust people you don't know past a certain point.

You have to think - how vulnerable am I in this situation? What's going to happen if I trust this guy and he betrays me.



The other thing is - it takes a bit of organizational effort to set up a mining op - and a hit or miss general call is going to come up empty much, if not most, of the time and even if people show up - what are you going to get? I mean ... what do you do if you get 15 haulers and one miner?

So - it's probably just not worth the trouble.

In a corporation that is used to working together - people know which roles they can play and for the most part can trust each other. You've got corporate officers who are used to being FC's for ops and people who know and respect their judgement and instructions. And - even those are not easy to pull off. People you're counting on don't show up ... people have to leave in the middle of the op ... someone gets tired of their role and wants to do something else ... it just never ends - but - managing people is part and parcel of running a corporation so your corporate officers are used to that - or they wouldn't be corporate officers. There's a good deal of satisfaction that comes from running a successful operation - but it does come with it's share of bull **** you have to put up with.

*shrug*

.

Basically, i'd do this. Partly it would be for community-building - give new players a chance to make easy money, bring people together and give them a chance to get to know each other. I'd support the op with my orca so there wouldn't be a need for hauling and loan out mining cruisers for new people. I'd really like it to be a chance for new people to gather, try out mining and ask questions, but it would also be a chance for experienced miners to make easy money.

I'd buy ore on the spot (at some markdown off jita buy orders), or just let people keep their ore (but take some small cut for providing the orca and bonuses). By providing an orca and bonuses, people can mine more than they would on their own, and I can buy ore from the people who show up in my manufacturing system at a reasonable price. It should be win-win for everyone involved.

I have readily given pubbies fleet boosts from my maxed orca pilot, especially when ice mining, but always with the stipulation that hauling is their responsibility.

More likely than not.

Introducing new players to a mining op would be a nice touch, you would have to advertise in the newbie hubs though. Even if they just bring frigates and they are a day old, that is still something.

My only regret is that I don't have a good mining ship to bring to an op, as well as the fact I barely mine these days.

Not exactly public but the noob-corp I first joined would run regular mining ops like this, and we regularly had non-corp/alliance friends join us. All were welcome (even if the best miner you could muster was still a bonused T1 frigate) and spoils were split evenly (so the 'perfect' hulks amongst us were cross-subsidizing the T1 frigate/cruiser miners). We'd be running several belts at a time and would often clear all the belts in a couple of systems.

These were good social events, fed minerals into corp manufacturing, and boosted everyones' wallets ... especially the newest amongst us.

It was actually a lot of fun ... not because the mining itself was exciting, god forbid, but because of all the crap-talk that went down over comms while the lasers blazed and the haulers hauled. In all the times we did this there were only one or two gank attempts, with no successes.