Player Features and Ideas Discussion

Yeah... I'm going to have to insert my opinion on this point.

I am a miner, and right now interaction with the game boils down to this:
(No hostiles) Target asteroid, fill hold, involve hauler.
Rinse & repeat.

(With hostiles) Run away or explode.
The excel sheets don't lie, over time this is the least effort / greatest reward path for mining.
Mining ops, while fun, are as much if not more about social interaction, and this interaction actually draws in non miners to hang out and participate in these too brief events.

The original idea was to have players risking their ships more in some areas, in exchange for better yields. What emerged was instead a "best practice" which amounted to avoid hostiles due to no PvP cover.

Why guard the miners like me? It is dull and at best you get to shoot a few rats while waiting. Those wanting PvP find their needs better met going on roams, so that is exactly what they do.

Ok, so why does this work at gate camps? I see PvP pilots standing a post their quite often!
Ah, that is because they are still following the path of least effort / greatest reward by doing that.
They can't mitigate the risk from hostiles popping through these bottlenecks more efficiently. Mining ships can avoid risk by docking, but noone knows how to stop the incoming hostiles beyond direct intervention this way.

The pilots at a gate camp would probably jump onto a roam too, except they find two things happen:
1. The excel sheets indicate alliance losses are less overall by maintaining these camps.
2. Despite them being common knowledge, other players will still try to run them IF they think they have a decent chance. That means either overwhelming force trying to plow through, or cloaked / speedy ships trying to dodge the guards.
Those defending the camps want to get out the intel about these intruders ASAP either way, making the case that they are also observation posts in the event they cannot block entry.

TL;DR: Make defending mining interests something that requires interaction, rather than avoidance as a best practice, and the game benefits.

This is not the Farmville you were looking for!

While parts of the OP are seriously flawed, I like the idea that you have something valuable and fragile in space that requires protection. While choosing to dock up is an option, it is not that fun.

Perhaps instead of more deployable structures, mining barges should get the option to enter a siege mode that drastically increases yield and tank, at the expense of immobility - a bastion mode for 0.0 mining. Mining barges would be able to receive remote reps in this mode. This would require accounts in space, which is good for CCP. And, with deployed rorqual and/or carrier support, they could be made tough enough to provoke an escalation by the roaming gang.

Solo or poorly-prepared miners could still be caught and killed, but those willing to increase the risk get greater rewards if they can get organized well-enough.

Eve needs something an invading force can pillage, without things bring too easy for one side or the other.

In my opinion, if you want people to fight over resources, then the key is to expose the resources.

Sure, put this deployable object out there.

BUT, make destroying it the least attractive option for a hostile. Give that hostile an incentive to be sneaky and greedy all in one.

Let ANYONE take the contents of the device, thus giving them a reward for boldly venturing into hostile space, while also creating a reason for defenders to make an appearance.
By all means, just like that ratting bounty deployable being discussed, let people be told in real time if someone is accessing the storage bin. A popup window telling everyone who happen to be paying attention.

But wait! How can someone take so much ore and run away with it!
Yep... they'll need to bring something to haul with, won't they....

I see potential for great violence surrounding this...

I like the look of that idea, and its completely in line with CCP's "give everyone more options to be dicks to every/anyone," expansion theme. I forsee many humorous instances of basic cloak fit t1 haulers invading belts, scooping loot, jetcanning it and popping it.

Why bother actually taking it for yourself, when you can pop the stuff not worth carrying, and just try to make off with the expensive stuff?

I thought we had "farms and fields" already.
It is called "faction warfare" ;)
Thank you CCP for fixing that :D (irony off)