You could just as well make the argument against mining in an orca because you could disconnect and get ganked while you werent online, thus losing a far more expensive ship.
In other words, that may be a reason for you not to jetcan, but its irrelevant to the conversation at hand.
Once you fly an Orca you wonât want to fly a barge again. The large cargo hold volume makes the Orca an ideal ship to mine in and then just stare at the screen watching the drones mine.
Yep there they go again back to the rockâŚoh here they come back to the ship againâŚback to the rockâŚback to the shipâŚno wonder miners go crazy.
Thus making it the perfect afk mining ship. I am not surprised you find it as the best ship to mine with.
Hulk/Covetor are my favs. I love my orca but I honestly forget the drones do much work because the two other accounts fill the hold up so fast using a those barges. Maybe that starts to even out once I get augmented drones.
So, its my style of game play. Who are you to tell me or bully me into playing the game that I pay money to play to fit your style of game play?
Barges are still relevant in a lot of places like code really active has been a recent gank in the system Iâll take out my barge over my porpoise or orca because theyâre the cheaper pill to swallow losing a barge then it is to lose a porpoise or an orca
With my blasters.
Might makes right in EVE online.
we are on forums, not in the game. Your weapon is useless here.
Eww mining (obligatory)
And, what. You think we are talking about using mining barges in real life?
Were talking about the video game. So yes, my weapons are quite useful, inside the video game of Eve online, which we are discussing.
Please, learn to follow the discussion at hand.
and he is talking to you on a forum.
Solonius Rex canât discern between the reality of in game mechanics and posting on a forum. He believes that his words are creating some action of a weapon that then fires a round on the forums the same that he presses a key on his key board.
Get help with that issue.
Barges are not obsolete. Barges actually came into play after mining characters wanted ships that actually mined instead of fitting mining lasers to a battle cruiser to then mine in.
I love my Orca! RIght now I have a 172k ore hold capabilityâŚplus using t2 drones⌠belts are no match for me o7
Does it take an entire day to clear one belt?
I remember does days 
As newbie pilots we used the Navitas frigat, it had a small bonus to mining drones and it literally took all day to mine a belt in 1.0 sec. it was soooo slooow
We used Battlecruisers after that, And even Battleships until we finally unlocked the skills to fly Barges/Exumers, and later Orcas/Rorqs for buffs and hauling (they did not mine very well back then)
Then we stopped mining because everything else in EVE pays better
If youâre the only one there, yeah. But thatâs assuming those npc fleets donât barge right in.
I solo mine in Hi Sec with Orca - I know I could get a greater yield with exhumers, and sometimes I do solo-jetcan with a skiff. But for a long day of mining I use Orca - staying out for 2-3 hours and hauling 187.5Km3 to 220Km3 [yes I use the fleet bay and the cargo capacity sometimes]
I did a comparison some time back and this is what I found - the closer the Orca is to the ore the quicker turn around one cant get on the drones - so I mine from 0-2000m most of the time, as this seems to be the best range. Downside one has to move between selected âpocketsâ unless one is simply going to mine out everything {which I have done before]
Mining Barges and Exhumers - one can do âselectâ mining as the strip miners give a decent range to sit at - thus at 17 km one has like 20+ rocks to mine in one type. So either one can sit there and jetcan, or have some one haul ore for you.
So really it is down to choice - but the reason why there are a lot of Orcaâs appearing in Hi-Sec, well most people have not got the trust in them to let someone else help out. Also an Orca offers a tough ship to crack in Hi Sec - mine comes in shy at 315k ehp - its expensive to run, but against small ships and Hi-Sec pve rats - not much offers a dent. Sure a pvp fleet would wreck it. Just it is going to take a heck of a fleet to do it before Concord turns up. Hence why most solo miners are using Orcaâs in Hi Sec - it can be tanky enough to persuade the small pvp gankers and suiciders not to bother with you. Itâs not a challenge - most solo miners just wish to be left alone to do what they want to do. But the rest of gun happy community donât like that for some reason.
Further some of solo miners will fleet up and offer boosts to others. Not often, but it happens. As to Exhumers and Mining Barges going obsolete - nope - heard that mining fleets still use these in null sec.
It is just a matter of how one wishes to mine? Orca for a solo player is long sustain might be slower, but it is how it is used. Personally, I do mine with an Orca most of the time, but I also have other ships for short runs {mack] or jetcanning [Skiff]
Near enough, I have managed to clean up a field using orca - start one side and work your way through - using T2 drones you should fill the Orca in about 2.5 to 3 hours provided you keep the range to the roid to 2000m or lower, takes 4-5 trips from station where one is based at. Its a long haul, so ensure you have something to occupy yourself with.
Agree on that - NPC mining fleets eat up the fields like chew toys. Finding a quiet belt can be exhausting, and it means starting early and running late - best time to start after the regular update and run through from there.
I know what itâs like to have to look for a new chew toy. I have a Husky (red furred).