Mining ship improvements

hey guys had a thought, in depictions of the game asteroid belts are depicted as hiding small enemies and that’s common within science fiction, however they’re usually being occupied by miners and ratters, what if mining ships had some kind of speed bonus when in an asteroid belt.

they’re not just designed for shoot laser & get rocks, they’re actually designed with hardened hulls to withstand micro impacts from asteroids and intense gravitational forces.

it always bugged me how mining is necessary but its so utterly easy to bump people, miners have to in some circumstances actually be incredibly careful and before the changes to their tank they would get ganked all the time in high sec.

so what if every asteroid field now had some kind of localized effect (sort of like space weather) which is negated by mining ships.

you could also use this same concept in future but in reverse where there is a combat ship like the proposed megaroids which are actually combat orientated sites and then mining ships come in and suffer a mining yield penalty of some kind, meaning people are going to be on grid for longer.

the idea here isn’t to create a mathematical or skill based bonus to the ships but more to change the way the ships interact with the universe.

a miner COULD out run a combat pilot due to the fact they simply suffer less or not at all.
there is a mechanic for localized effects for titans, however readily applying it to asteroid belts i think would be a much better way forward.

you could then apply this theoretically to capital ships, while giving the titan a system wide bonus instead of a localized one

TLDR: create localized and not system wide effects for asteroid belts which effect mining and combat ships differently, make the game slightly more challenging and changing the way the environment works with us, rather than how we work with the environment.

What would be the benefit for the game or the majority of the players if a group of miners sit in an asteroid belt and “outrun” combat ships that warp in, but are instantly affected by an AoE-webbing effect or something similar?

Right now it looks like there would just be less kills, more escapes. Less opportunities to force a fight on someone, make him fight back or pay or lose stuff. And thats boring.

i admit as the example i laid out above clearly creates an increased chance to for miners to run away.
i admit this is a very bad example, however i feel the concept of localized fields, effecting ships differently could further help create a more unique experience within game play.

I honestly don’t know what a fair balance would be, maybe combat ships gain 200% web and scram range but 50% reduction in damage, this way they have to wail on someone in low and null sec, but this just seems bogus, i don’t have all the answers.

without this meaning to seem hostile and please do understand i’d like to build on this concept what do you think would be a good balance? because honestly i got nothing.

Well, in general I support the idea itself, because it adds variance and tactical choices. Such local effects already exist in the abyss with a) the different abyssal effects itself and b) the different effect-clouds within the abyssal arena.

The only thing I don’t like is the exception for industrial ships. If such an effect is existant locally, it should apply to all ships within it’s effect range. Maybe modified by ship size/mass. Maybe affecting shield more than armor. Or otherwise.

yeah which is something i thought about when saying it could apply to capital ships too but my main thought was specifically to do with mining, naturally my concept was to give asteroids belts much more of a unique flavor and feel to them where the miner reigns supreme not through skills, stats and implants but because of the ships themselves.

given mass is a huge factor in the game already for wormholes and ship turning and such it would likely be appropriate to build off of that.

however in this case I believe mining ships do have a chunky mass to them which even with that aside, i still feel the localized effects are a create concept.

but if its a catch all thing with ships not having different effects, it then removes the premise of a asteroid field being a miners domain.

I’m sure there’s a half way happy somewhere though, if i recall correctly CCP wants people to be on grid for longer for fights?

wouldn’t something like this assist in that, the concept isn’t intended to impede or prevent game play, but perhaps draw it out a tin bit longer.

i got a miner scrammed in an asteroid belt, maybe takes 2 dudes in the same time instead of one now.

i think of the trailer the butterfly effect.

if eve is known for its pvp battles, shouldn’t those pirates in that video be actual players and not NPC rats?

3 frigs vs a mining barge, you’ll get there in time, but my view is purely mining focused and honestly specifically inspired by the butterfly effect trailer.

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As a miner I hate this idea.

And I have to agree with Syzyguim.
Dumb miners deserve to get ganked.
Don’t like getting ganked?.. Develop the in game skills and player skills to mine better.

Not to mention by letting a bunch of weak willed miners mine afk the market would suffer making it worse for everyone. Price of mins would drop to nothing.

I agree

i said nothing about being afk

Miners geting ganked is what makes mining both risky and profitable.

sure, but that’s not the point behind the post

i will admit i gave a bad example, please see the following posts for further context.

edit: its usually only profitable for the gankers who win the ISK war and the industrialists who produce and sell the ships not the miners themselves.

I think a better option would be a boost to armor (around 150-200%) but the same increase to its mass when a mining ship it actively mining. This would make the ship last a bit longer and harder to pop quickly. But harder to just run away without shuting down mining first.

I have to admit that’s an interesting take, but that’s soley for mining ships, how would we bring balance to other ships, do you agree that there should be some kind of effect base on mass?

localized fields seem to be an okay idea
bringing balance to any one ship a bad idea.
concept was as a miner I do want to feel more in my element (not necessarily protected) when dealing with rocks.

there is a part of me which is thinking that when in an asteroid belt there could be some huge increase to drone damage (considering how in null sec a miner can’t even kill rats) but this just feels… off, again this was never really about bringing specifically any mechanical change to the way ships are stated right now, more of an effect and effecting ships differently, i suppose the default mindset for such things is to think about how it changes the stats.

Seems like a strict buff to mining ships, since once a bad guy is on grid you should be shutting down lasers to warp off anyway. This just lets you get double armor (which is in itself a questionable buff since miners tend to be shield tanked) for free by turning the lasers back on if you get tackled.

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