It would be great if boosts applied to drones, esp your own, but I probably should not even say it. If CCP ever applied the idea, I have no doubt it would come with a nerf to mining either in general or just for drones.
I used to think to charge an hourly ISK rate for fleeting people, (those boost charges cost ISK) though I never tried it. I think Shipwreck Jones has the right idea, but wow, that sounds like a lot more work than I would be willing to do.
I’m not opposed to mining boosts applying to drones, it’s a nice idea. However, I would say that mining drone yield numbers are fine as they are.
You’re right that it would indeed have to be added together with a nerf to drone yield to keep the effectiveness of Porpoise, Orca and Rorqual in check. Right now the Orca already mines faster than some mining barges, so the only way I can see such a change happening is if the mining yield of Orca-boosted mining drones stays the same as it is now - a nerf to drone mining yield equal to the buff that the mining boosts would give. If this happens, people using mining drones next to a max-boost Rorqual would see an increase in yield and people who use mining drones without a mining booster would see a significant reduction in drone yield.
I’m not sure if it’s needed that Rorquals get extra yield and neither do I think people without mining boosts should see a reduction in yield. So perhaps let’s not let mining boosts affect drones.
There is a way this could work: if a change to mining boosts affecting mining drones is added together with a rebalance of the Rorqual, Orca and Porpoise.
Why change the rules? The Orca pilot gets to fly with their friends and help everyone out.
Teamwork and friendship are rewarding experiences.
LOGI SRP 125% MY DUDE.
The orca pilots is a boosting alt 99.97% of the time.
I have a way different answer from what I see in this thread.
There is this thing called belt buyback. Notice how Orca has huge bonus to tractor beams?
Get at least 1 for your Orca. Barge / Exhumer friends jet can mine - they eject some of the ore into space, it shows as a can which has 27 500 m3 and they fill it, also name them with their names. Adding time of creation also helps because cans and wrecks vanish after about 2h if it hasn’t changed. Once a jet can is full they add FULL to the name. Orca pilot tractors it in. Opens the can. Click IN the window that pops up, press ctrl + A to select it all. Then go to Evepraisal - Price check Eve Online items from Cargo Scans, Contracts, D-Scan, EFT, Inventory, Asset listing, Loot History, PI, Survey Scanner, Killmails, Wallet Transactions, Inventory, Assets (sorry for long blue text, link is very simple, it’s just how these forums may treat links I guess) and paste the stuff in there.
What my corp uses is 90% of Jita/Perimeter buy price, you can set the percentage in this site settings.
You get the value of ore to pay and you simply pay to the guy whose can you just tractored and opened.
Alrighty, next can please. What you actually do with the ores is up to you, also helps to have a few people in belt to get stuff quicker but it’s a preference thing.
BTW cost of boosting charges? I bought like a total 25 000 charges years ago, cost me like a dozen mil of isk. I never ran out, although I don’t boost that often.
So many posts in this thread and noone heard about belt buyback?
BTW Orca mining by itself is doable but to make it efficient you pretty much omit quite a few tank mods, which ends with less Orca HP which can make it a target for suicide ganking. It’s about Procurer yield anyway with T2 rigs and T2 drones, I guess more with some augmented drone stuff.
The only reason am orca pilot exists is for boosts and to give loot to gankers
Orcas give surprisingly little loot for a ship that requires so many ships to suicide gank it.
Unless the Orca is using bling or having other unexpected value like ships in the ship maintenance bay, I don’t think it’s profitable to gank normal T2 fits.
The only problem I have with Orca is the current cost after mining/industry changes.
Or rather I would if mine got killed.
Porpoise is way more affordable at around 112mil and with Mindlink implant and my skills it’s 38% boost Porpoise VS 39,4% Orca. Porp has only about 50 000 m3 of ore it can fit inside though.
In a public fleet, I don’t ask for tips but often get them for the boosts or they jet can you some ore and msg you while you are afk watching netflix, you are loved by all! (almost). I’ve fleeted up and given public boost countless times on my alt, just keep the safety on, and boot trouble makers. However the Orca was meant for fleet ops in a corp or solo mining with 2 or more alt accounts covetors which can swap ships to procurers from the ship bay in hostile situations, a very profitable setup I might add. These days the Orca is very expensive, and the porpoise is a great alternative, especially in high risk areas.
Some people tip the orca pilots as a nice gesture. A lot of orca pilots boost for free.
I just found this thread and I find the belt buyback plan posted by Profile - Beetle - EVE Online Forums a good idea.
However, I must remind the OP that the Orca driver has ALL the ore at the end of the day. He has the hammer in a fleet and can keep whatever he thinks is right…
This thread has made me more interested in having an Orca than I thought possible but every time I see the title pop up I have to check in here to see if there is a punchline yet.
Orca is The Friend Ship. 
I’m sure in about a month you will be able to find one at a good price after the mining ships nerf update hits and there is a massive fire sale on them.
Maybe, but what if it’s not a nerf?
Wouldn’t that be cool? What if they make them fast and agile?
Unfortunately…
I’ve learned not to buy things unless I really really want them (meaning I think I need them for some reason) and this includes skill training for stuff. All I train for since I realized that almost everything I try gets nerfed is things that make the ships I can fly now better. Gunnery, missiles, drones, engineering, navigation, tanking and so on. There is only one ship that has been improved since I started playing that I can fly and that’s the Loki, as far as I am aware it’s only improvement is that you don’t lose skills anymore if they blow up. While that’s a big deal in a lot of ways I still never fly my Loki because I simply don’t understand it and can’t replace it or any of it’s subsystems. Actually I can but I don’t feel like it, my Thrasher is more fun to fly and is better at just about everything I want to do at a tiny fraction of the price, if I want “bling” I switch to a Sabre and fly around feeling fancy while holding up my pinky and snacking on bonbons.
Still, you could be right and Orcas might become affordable soon. Since I don’t care about mining they might still be a great replacement (and a mobile one at that!) for something else I trained into for no good reason which they nerfed to death, player stations.
God Damn how of of it are you? Orcas didn’t used to have mining capabilities. Once they were added you got more multi boxers using entire fleets on just orcas. That’s the problem looking to be corrected.
Though you also insinuated that multiboxing is somehow cheating or frowned upon? It’s a highly encouraged activity, exists by design, and is even integral to the lore.
Coming soon™ - the Nano Orca Meta Steamroller.
Hahahahahaha!!!
I know, I’m dreaming on that one, but who knows, the vast majority of stuff I’ve seen CCP do in the time I have been playing has been things that people not only didn’t want but didn’t expect either.
I suspect though they are more likely to add flying butt monkeys to the commodity section of the market than they are to do something that people like to the Orca, let alone making it fast and agile.
