Non-rock Mining

[Friday]

After discussions with the good people in Kishiro, it was suggested I start a thread about the implications of a non-rock shooting method of mining.

The current system requires people top be present to shoot at little rocks. I have nothing against it personally - but some people suggested it might contribute to lag due to the extra polys in spawning the rocks. In addition, not all mineable substances are solids (like the rather silly 'solid' Helium).

But what of a pure FLHook method, using the same sort of calculations and bonuses already existing in the mining system?
How would it work? Basically you go into a zone, enter the FLHook command and start filling up, with all the relevant bonuses as applicable.

If you dont want people going AFK - you could make it like a Dead Man Switch, that stops filling up if you dont reissue the command within a certain time.

But even if you didnt want that - and people went AFK, would they do it?
Ultimately it is a question of grinding.

If you are alone, powertrading - then you are grinding.
Is it intended that powermining be grinding (with the boredom associated with it)? If so, then a Dead Man Switch is needed to keep people at the keyboard.

If powertrading/mining is NOT intended to be grinding - then what are the consequences of being AFK whlst mining in this fashion?

1) Unless you have some kind of timer or alarm - you wont know when your ship is full. Time/profit ratios are not maximised and you lose out to people who are not AFK.

2) Even if you do know exactly how long it takes to fill your hold - you are utterly exposed to anyone who comes across you. Pirates, terrorists, mercenaries, claim-jumpers, hell anyone really.

3) From the perspective of an outsider - what is the difference between an AFK miner and a power-miner who simply doesnt communicate with you? They move around a little more when you shoot at them?

I think it is an interesting scenario - one that goes to the heart of what it means to trade and mine. Is it done to enhance RP, or as a means to and end to earn in-game resources. I believe it is both. There are times we want to interact - and times we dont.

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[Trim]

I have to say this is a decent enough idea, but is what your saying that you just lay still in an asteriod field and start filling up? Also the green-gas thing that comes out of a mining ship could be like a gas purifier or something.

[Zukeenee]

It sounds a lot like the old "item generation" idea that people throw out every now and then: Your ship is used as a production plant type thing, and your hold fills up over time. I suppose that with the mining system and the FLHook commands this is different, but it still seems a bit too easy. So you're just supposed to type in the same command every few minutes to keep your hold filling up? Sounds too easy. It's tedious, but on a different level from shooting tiny rocks or trading.

I just don't think it fits, personally. But hey, it's an idea.

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[Exsiled_one]

We talked about this and I believe as a firm lover of piracy that this afk "abuse" will not be possible to prove unless it's tested.

I believe that if pirates get a good chance to fence the fuel and whatnot, this thing could go pretty hard.

Hogosha, Corsairs, all of them indies, they will all get a chance to grab some fuel for their bases.


actually this isn't like item generation thing, because there are risks. Basically, risk of being afk means risk of blowing up and losing all your cargo.

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<span style="color:#33CC00">I AM GIVING AWAY MONEY TO CREATIVE MINDS*</span>

[Harcourt.Fenton.Mudd]

The 'deadmans switch' would have to be set so that it requires a randomized response, otherwise people will just devolp macros for it.

[mang109]

Fiting in with the mining mod , perhaps have a special gas extracting ship - which costs significantly more than the usual mining ship. This maybe making up for the fact that this sounds abit easier than rock shooting

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Former leader of AFA (Farmers Alliance)
Former leader of [ALG] faction
Former GMG Trade Director

Retired due to career focus. Returned due to career de-focus.

[jdftheman]

I really like this idea, and even if you "could" go AFK because you don't need to shoot rocks, you could just as well by typing things, having discussions with other miners and stuff like that

I would say /signed

[Friday]

Heh, how many of us get blown up whilst in the middle of typing?

This concept is partially to reduce the spawning of rock particles,partially to address the issue of grinding.

If it is intended for grinding to be a boredom penalty on the player - then they can be made to stare at the screen to fill their hold.

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[tansytansey]

I didn't think it was possible to make mining any more boring. But, there you have it.

An FLhook program is likely to cause more lag than shooting rocks any way.

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[MarvinCZ]

Aye, this would mean that (this kind of) mining can't be anything but mindless grinding. I'd argue that even AFK trading requires more acuteness than this. Take shooting rocks ... it can be boring, but it's an activity you need to work on, it can even be entertaining.
Compare with typing a command over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over and *gasps for breath* over and over and over ...

Edit: My conclusion is, that mining needs to be tied to some kind of in-game activity. And by that I mean the actual ship, not just any user input.