One of the biggest issues with the current setup is that in many cases just one well equipped miner can deplete an entire sector, or several adjoining sectors in some cases, especially at higher ore levels. Mining during live (before they nerfed it, then just semi-unnerfed it) used to be a good group activity, but when a solitary miner needs multiple fields, perhaps even multiple sectors and/or a lot of patience just sitting there imagining a ticking timer, it -isn't- fun. Also, lets face facts, under these conditions, an additional miner in a group is just a burden. If we wanted to dart back and forth between sectors looking to fill our holds in 5 minute per half hour increments, we'd just fly trade runs instead of mining.
Sitting there and mining all night in one location might seem boring to some, but for a LOT of us, that was a great time... You can liken it to a bunch of friends sitting on a dock fishing in the afternoon light while the sun goes down. No pressure, no adrenaline, They want to pick a spot, sit down, catch some fish, and relax... not jump from one fishing hole to another, to another, to another.
During live, there was a good article on one of the message boards called "Zen and the Art of Mining." It was popular, and a good read that summed up a LOT of what made mining an enjoyable activity. It was written from a JE's perspective that described a 'dance' with a certain beat and pattern and having that interrupted in any way destroyed the whole experience. I never played a JE during live, so the delicate balance of precision aspect was less important than simply relaxing into a 'groove.'
As an outsider looking in, the attitude I percieve is that mining is not viewed as an activity unto itself, but almost seen as just an accessory skill for builders, or something that needs to compete with the 'excitement' of combat. The current implementation might work fine for the casual miner, but it leaves no appeal for the serious miner, a group, or for those looking to 'zen out' for an hour or two.
Edit: My suggestion for adding exploration potential to mining would be to place some VERY tightly grouped hidden fields in some locations, perhaps with an occasional uber-goodie in a roid. Something akin to the central nav point as found within ABA. The regular fields could respawn as was normal, but if a miner wants to find the -motherlode,- those ought to be worth searching out.
