Verite Rendition
Caldari
F.R.E.E. Explorer
Atrum Tempestas Foedus
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Posted - 2008.01.28 11:40:00 -
[1]
As a hardcore 0.0 carebear, I read this dev blog with dismay. While I understand what CCP wants to do, I do not like what they are planning.
Miners (and carebears in general) are a different breed of player. Call me boring (it's probably true) but I like mining as it is today; it's basically a casual activity that pays decently (since the price of Zyd recovered) that requires a great-deal of planning but very little thought once in action. Mining is a downtime activity for me, I put the game on one monitor and on the other play poker with the rest of the alliance or surf the forums. It's something where I need to pay attention (avoiding pirates, moving ore, etc) but at the same time it's a relaxing activity where I know what I'm getting in to.
Mining is above all consistent activity. I have my piece of 0.0 carved out, I have every belt in my system mapped and optimal points picked out to reach the maximum number of high-end rocks and to be able to warp unobstructed. I can tell you what the usual spawn is, how many rocks are in a specific belt, what day a rock respawns, and even how much ore is in a rock just by the radius of the rock. I chose mining because it's consistent, the threat is consistent and the rewards are consistent, I know that every minute I'll be getting x-isk's worth of ore and I damn well get that amount.
The word dynamic frightens me. Dynamic mining means that things won't always be in the same place, that the rewards won't be the same. If I have 3 hours to play the game I don't want to roll the dice and hope I find a fortune, I just want to know at the end of those 3 hours I can expect a very specific payout and always get it. Dynamic mining makes all of my planning worthless, and it makes the massive investment in equipment and skillpoints practically worthless. I don't want to have to find today's asteroid belt, I want to know where it is and what's in it already.
When you added exploration, it was okay because it didn't take away from static areas. Exploration already pays better than ratting and mining (otherwise my alliance-mates wouldn't be fighting for sites) so the people who aren't exploring are doing so for a reason. I don't want "surprises" (surprise, we just one-shotted your Hulk!) and that's what dynamic content is, CCP surprising us by finding new ways to blow up our ships or to make us run a gauntlet for the hell of it (surprise, there wasn't any good loot at the end!).
If you want to add more to dynamic mining as it exists today (grav sites) that's fine, but don't get rid of static mining. Static mining should always be a viable way to earn a good living if you're willing to fight for the space and to do make the investment in equipment and mapping out a system. For some of us EVE is a numbers game, the proverbial spreadsheet with a fancy GUI, static mining today is part of that numbers game.
Ultimately, just because it's dynamic doesn't mean it's any more fun.
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