Although no one should ever waste any development effort on mining, I have to say that one of the best times I had in game was when there where this special ORE variants of the mining ships. This was before there where skins in the game.
They where like super expensive and made for great fireworks.
So if anything, they should add super bling mining ships again that don’t actually do anything better but just make for really nice targets.
I didn’t know that. However I would say that there is room for form and function, look at how farm machinery has evolved, some tractors are pretty slick nowadays.
Aye but they arent hot rods or guilded churches or such. They still favour function over form to a rigourous level
I still see room for style accents.
Overwhelmingly functional looking. Not the same ship model though and each with its own unique flavour.
I see the amar one maybe having an engine section that is suitably curved with the right accents and everything forward if that being very practical. Gallente being bulky and compact, a pug of a vessel and where there is armour it would be green and chrome. Caldari would be very flat with modular looking cargo parts. Minmitar would look like they strung all the modules they needed together on scaffolding with solar arrays where you might see armour on other vessels.
I think we reached another empass.
I believe bulldozers should all look like bulldozers youd like some spoilers and fluffy dice on some.
Happy to disagree
Possibly, though I don’t think a mining vessel is as constricted by its form as a bulldozer or a steam roller is.
I did avoid mentioning real world mining vehicles as their forms are EXTREMELY constricted by their function.
Again real world mining vessels are constricted by their functions in the same way bulldozers and steam rollers are. If they mined with magical lasers that sucked up the ore, probably not so much.
Im not sure why you would assume that other than its fantasy so may as well be giant chickens firing soup at the rocks
Because any constrictions we apply to them are only applied by the imagination of the creator. There is no analogue.
You can make some basic assumptions about the kind of systems they might employ but if space ships were all as functional as they needed to be probably every vessel would look like Caldari.
And dont you agree it would be a beautiful place.
And actually no, there are plenty of reasons to have aethetically diverse military ships.
Military uniforms didnt used to be ornate just for fun.
Exactly, and in a world where mining vessels weren’t as constrained by function you know that people would be clamouring for Apples latest iMiner.
Previously I might, they’ve made Caldari ships a lot more pretty and symmetrical in recent years.
If they wanted to waste money, sure.
Ill have a shovel for $5, you can have the one with built in TV for $25 if you like
Mine has a heated handle, laser guidance and is self cleaning.
Edit: I say mine, I haven’t finished paying off the lease on it but should by the time the next model comes out.
Ill just buy 5 more standard ones for when the first gets ganked
OP, just make your own corp and make the faction 
Mine only in Geddons with a specific skin.
Only way Id want more mining barges or exhumers is making them racial yes. New faction skills, in order to use the barges you must have ALL faction skills at L3 or L4 and to use the exhumers youd need the advanced skill to at least L3 as well with a high enough multiplier.
Im sitting here thinking about what sort of bonuses youd give them though as theyd be faction variants so maybe single bonused mining lasers to give a 1.75 times bonus so as not to really be better than the original miners but the ability to add a single bonused weapon of racial type ( lasers for amarr, missiles for caldari, hybrids for gallente and projectiles for minmatar) or maybe ewar as well of the races. Possibly a racial bonus for mining range with caldari, armor tank for amarr, mining amount with gallente and and shield tank for minmatar.
Couple this with new/old mining sites that have rat spawns in them moreso than currently with old amounts and ore distributions. So youd need to defend yourself in them. New sites could be in all space or even go with the trig instanced for solo mining. No boost only one mining ship can enter with dangerous rats for each type. So its a gamble perhaps what rat type versus what race types ship but you have decent weapons to mine and outlast the spawns or if you get a deadly spawn youre dead.
Build costs would add faction material to T1 and all races t2 materials for T2 exhumers.
just spitballing here.
only reason for this idea, is to not have to travel to ORE npc stations for prints, or pay players and their meager mark ups for bringing them to HS…
kinda of a crap idea when you think of it
Fuzzworks seems to suggest the return on LP for ORE products is pretty great?
Sure, if the locals let you earn the LP and the gankers let you get it back to Jita.