As we all know the only accessible mining ship to an alpha is the Venture. It’s fun at first going around mining in systems and making your money or reprocessing for materials to build something but after awhile something sets its repetitiveness. Going out in the same ship over and over again never upgrading just the same old venture with probably just Tier 2 mining beams and laser upgrade because you got the skills for them. Then when you look around in a belt you see covetors, retrievers and you think why isn’t there at least an alpha mining barge. It doesent have to be even slightly as good as the starting mining barge the Covetor but it would be an upgrade from the venture something to mix it up instead of the same ol same ol.
This is just ranting about something I wish would happen as my first time on the Eve fourms
And just as a little thing ccp can alphas get a cloak that runs out over time.
I can sympathize with the feeling of being small and limited - but there’s a few bigger picture issues behind your request.
Eve isn’t free to play. It’s a subscription game with a free open ended trial option. The general difference between the capabilities of Alpha and Omega states is that Omega Clones can specialise in particular activities. As you’ve realised, specialisation does open up the ability to be more capable (successful) in a particular area.
Alpha clones don’t have access to T2 ships which are very specialised for particular tasks for that reason. You don’t get access to specialist manufacturing for that reason. Alpha is generous, you can do most things, but not specialise.
Eve has a large and interconnected economy that is current in reasonable balance. The reason you want an Alpha Barge is to be able to mine faster and make more ISK. If you increase supply you’ll crash the minerals market and that will be hugely disruptive to the game - You won’t earn twice the amount by giving twice the mining rate to each Alpha Clone because the market will saturate. Over supply of ISK would also drive PLEX prices up - and I suspect you mine in the hope of Plexing your account.
Finally, and I’m serious about this: there are other ways to earn ISK. Exploration - get into Risker areas - for example. You’ll loose stuff, but you’ll also crack good sites and have a pay day and good fun and memories. If you want to mine, the Venture is the perfect ship for wormhole mining - and the ores (and fun) in there are worth the risk. You don’t see barges in 'oles for good reason. Take a scan probe with you.
Run missions. Initially they are low paying but higher missions can make a tidy income, especially if you collect the loot as well.
In general there is a profit/risk relationship. A maximum skill miner in an Exhumers (a T2 barge) hi-sec is going to make 10m ISK an hour at best (that’s pretty low risk)p - you can do a lot better than that. And not be bored silly watching the rocks drift by.
Don’t play Eve to earn ISK. Have Fun. You don’t need a lot of skill or ISK for that, you just need curiosity and a willingness to stick your neck out a bit.
Why do you all want to be miners huh? It’s only worth it with multiple accounts or rorquals and even more worth it with multiple rorquals. What makes people want barges?train into a droneship I didn’t know this when I began had I did I’d prob been way better off in my early game in eve and progressed faster.
CCP spins a colorful tale with their showcase of industry in their trailers I think it’s what’s causing people to go for mining
If you want something use something that mines more than a barge and can be used by alphas, then looking to to fitting out a mining battleship. It’s got that old school charm, and if you love mining that much, you’ll love all the micromanagement that is necessary to use it efficiently. You’ll also be the king of the asteroid belt, rocking 8 mining lasers as compared the the paltry two of the other ships.
More seriously though, as mkint said above, mining doesn’t get any better, at least not of the solo highsec variety. The game experience is exactly the same if you are using a Venture or a Retriever or a Hulk. If it is your life long passion to fly a barge or exhumer, and you absolutely cannot afford an ongoing subscription, I suggest you look into skill farming as a way to do so. Train your free alpha SP to cover most of the skills you need, and then finish off with a month of Omega, unlocking barges. Then sell off your SP each month to pay for your omega status.
On one of my Alpha alts (with about 5 mill skill points) I happened to have an unused Megathron from the Arms race event. I tried to fit this as a mining ship just to see what the result would be. It looks like this.
[Megathron, Mining Megathron]
8 x Expanded Cargohold II
100MN Y-S8 Compact Afterburner
Large Shield Extender II
EM Ward Amplifier II
Limited Adaptive Invulnerability Field I
I have tried to look at other battle ships as well, but I personally could not find a more suitable than the Megathron - but that is just me.
Personally, I think the Mega is a slight improvement in terms of yield and cargo capacity, but it does have some drawbacks - it is much more expensive if you have to buy it and it is much slower.
It is just to say that there are other options out there for Alphas besides the Venture.
How exactly do you think you’ll feel once you have that barge and a few weeks/months have passed? Oh… right. Welcome to mining.
If you want to mine in something different use a battleship just like has been suggested. Believe it or not, before barges that was actually a thing. Just bring a hauler along (hard unless you have friends since you’re an alpha) or find a friend who isn’t an alpha with an orca you can dump into.
