The only alternative I see is if the corp stays at war, constantly, to keep the PvErs busy. The problem is that the PvErs then spend all their time looking for WTs and forget the miners who are in more danger than they would be without the war.

Something seems wrong with this statement.

Do you really mean PvPers, rather than PvEers?

The question is as stated. Please try to come up with a relevant answer. :)

You've totally lost me now (that's not hard though).

I don't know of any PvEers that get bored shooting at rats and instead want to go looking for war targets.

Sorry I can't help more.

I guess maybe I did work with the wrong PvErs.

I'm only mentioning experiences I have had, not heard about. I guess maybe I did work with the wrong PvErs

A few corps I have been with have tried this. It seems like every time, at the start of the operation, the PvErs show up on time, and do appropriate things.

But, within a few minutes, they start losing interest. Killing rats isn't enough for them. The next thing you know they start leaving for the market to buy things that will make their ships shinier than they already are. Seems like a rare occurrence if any come back before the op is over.

The only alternative I see is if the corp stays at war, constantly, to keep the PvErs busy. The problem is that the PvErs then spend all their time looking for WTs and forget the miners who are in more danger than they would be without the war.

Maybe I just worked with the wrong PvErs.

As in a group of people protecting you from belt rats? In highsec Hell no because whoever came up with that idea is dumb. WHy would they stay for almost no profit?

If however you are talking about PvE,PvP and mining in one corp yeh works. But the Miners cant expect the others to sit there babysitting them all day. That would be pathetic.

Maybe they were working with the wrong miners.

Any group of miners with decently fit (not max yield) ships should be able to take out any highsec belt rats no problem.

tl;dr - escort is fail in EVE.

If you have found PvE players that want to stop shooting at rats and instead go looking for war targets then I think you've found the right type of players, not the wrong ones.

I'm sure highsec would be more interesting for many people if they stopped shooting rats at wartime and went and waged war. They seem like fun players.

I would also think that would make your miners safer in many respects, as long as you move your mining operations away from the many systems being visited by your opponents.

Aren't most HiSec corps "mission and mining"?

While the PVE experience is a common path for many new players and budding EVE CEOs, it unfortunately will not build a corporation or culture that will last more than a year or so. There are always exceptions but they are the minority.

The challenge with many of these corporations is they lack vision, unfortunately after about a year the group whose focus is PVE will have peaked or will be on their way to an "Awful Loss of the Day" ALOD.

Strong CEOs will prevent groups from peaking and will ensure that there is always another carrot to chase. Sadly, for PVE, the content does not allow such a narrative to be developed.

Mixed corporations of miners, PVE, and PVP are very difficult to lead as its membership lacks a cohesive view of how the game can be played. Unless the group is held together through an external means, corporations and alliances like these rarely last. Specialization is very powerful in EVE and mixed groups tend to be less competitive.

The vision for a corporation does not need to be complicated; however, it needs to be clearly communicated in a sentence or two. A clear vision does not allow for multiple interpretations.

If done right, a solid corporation will attract people who share that goal and build game play to realize it. If a corporation can last for several years, its membership will develop strong friendships that regardless of what the group does, it will adapt as a group.

You shouldn't need anyone to kill NPC's when you mine, a properly fitted barge should be able to tank even 0.0 spawns long enough for your drones to kill them.

If you're expecting someone to just sit there and watch / protect you while you mine (which probably means they're giving up doing something that would make then more isk than you get from mining anyway), then the only PVE'ers you'll find willing to do that are very new / inexperienced players.

If I've learned anything in EVE, it's that you don't hire anyone for anything. You build a community, and inspire its loyalty, and someone in that community will WANT to provide security for your miners, free of charge.

The short answer is no, it doesn't work.

The more detailed is, it doesn't need to. A belt will never see more than 5 npc's at a time. It's the same for any place that has Ore. There is no demand for dedicated combat vessels at the mining site. Even in Null mining Ops, the military PvP ships guarding the miners are on gates, allowing the mining fleet time to get to a POS because first primary is dead even in a bad fleet and if you have the mining fleet on grid of battle, they will be first primary.

tl;dr - escort is fail in EVE. - exception here is the dual web frigate forcing large ships to warp faster and they have nothing to do with mining.

Possible exception, WH mining. In these cases it's trade out with a single alt on screen acting as an Aggro magnet while mining ships warp away to be replaced by combat. Escort still doesn't truly work.

Aren't you forgetting a little thing called skills? Most of my miners joined the alliance flying Ventures. Most are in better ships now, but it takes time. Flying a Null fitted Hulk takes quite a while.