Jhani Bralhast
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
0
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Posted - 2015.07.15 14:01:52 -
[1] - Quote
Seen this thread and wanted to toss my two cents in as I'm pretty well 99% a miner in this game. That's pretty much all I do because I want to branch out into major manufacturing, which in of itself is a very long and tough slog with much dedication before seeing any profitable results, but I digress.
To me it seems the majority of gripes by miners focuses not on making it 'easier' (which would be a cop-out) but the balance of effort and reward offered in mining with the way it's currently set up in the game.
Miners are gank targets; they will always be gank targets. This dynamic will never change as it is based on player behavior and is not dependent on system security ratings. But perhaps it is frustrating having a perpetually-painted bulls-eye on your back while also participating in one of the most mundane and unrewarding activities in the EVE universe. Mining - as it currently is in this game - is not a skill. Anyone can do it and make a small fortune of pocket change within a short period and investment of skill points.
Anyone who commits to mining as a primary career should be rewarded for such efforts somehow, making a career miner a more specialized and rewarding profession than it currently is - but perhaps also more interactive and challenging in order to both increase player stimulation and weed out the 'AFK miners'.
Some previous posters in this thread may have touched upon similar ideas which influenced me, so I do not claim sole credit for the following suggestions:
- An 'expert' mining strip miner/laser that requires constant manual re-calibration in order to extract the most quantity and/or most exotic minerals efficiently. This would pretty muck kill the 'AFK miner' and make the most-efficient mining a very intensive skill - also possibly diverting one's attention away from one's defense.
- Mining probes which could scan hidden asteroid belts that others would not find or reach so easily.
- The ability to pay off NPC belt rats to avoid harassment while mining. I envision a different way of 'dealing' with hostile NPC's as a means to encourage more miners into low-sec mining, where the more-powerful rats would otherwise mean miners might need an escort to survive. One used to be able to pay pirates a ransom in order to be released unharmed in the age of sail. Why not in space?
- Some minute exotic minerals in all asteroids that could be extracted by the most-skilled miners and refiners. Would perhaps encourage miners to attempt manufacturing if given a wider variety of minerals, even in tiny quantities.
- Longer re-spawn times on common asteroid belts in higher-populated systems. This would force career high-sec miners to go out and hunt and explore for more resources.
These ideas are not intended to make mining easier, but to make it far more player interactive and rewarding for hardcore miners while also making such rewards more difficult for the more casual or multi-account miner to exploit at the same time.
The lack of such rewards doesn't dissuade me from being a miner. I enjoy the idea of building and creating as opposed to the constant pew-pew that dominates the universe around me. It will always be my goal, but a little bit of glamor and respect for my chosen profession wouldn't be a bad thing, either.
Oh well, back to the asteroid fields. My mining crystals are getting cold and my manufacturing queues are almost finished...  |