Posted - 2007.10.09 15:40:00 - [1]

 

So far it seems that the mining improvements we're getting don't really do so much to change the basic snorefest that mining has always been. So I've come up with a few suggestions between ice mining cycles for you. These are intended to make the mining profession more interactive, and less of an afk activity.

Asteroids should not disappear from space.
(Except possibly for the high-end ores) Its a bit ridiculous that our rocks grow from nothing in just a few days. Why not have them always in space, but have different levels of ore available from them on a random basis. Its also extremely ridiculous that a rock 16km in diameter can be fully contained in 25000 cubic meters of cargo space. High end ore rocks should disappear when mined and be replaced by the current random spawn mechanism.

* Ore scanner should be mandatory fitting for miners.
As the asteroids grind against each other, you would need a scanner to tell which ones are mined out and which have fresh ore available. The scanner window should feed info into the overview to show which asteroids have ore available and what type. The HUD should then place an icon on rocks that have exposed veins of ore. Without the ore scanner, none of this info should be available.

*Targeting reticle should show remaining ore.
Much like the armor/shield display when fighting, you should be able to tell how much ore is available in a particular rock when you target it, provided that you have an ore scanner fitted. This should both be the proportional bar and a numeric count.