Unnerf the mining

[dragonorb13]

OK, this would have been a great idea IF you had 1) added more fields and 2) added a max to how long the timer would go to. I LOVE mining, I use it as therepy, like some guys use shooting games. Please, please... fix my mining. It was OK when I had to wait for the stuff to respawn for a little bit, i got housework done while i waited for the field respawn. But this usage variable... it actually makes it worse for me to mine than to not mine. Please, I'm begging you, fix it.

[Tienbau]

OK, this would have been a great idea IF you had 1) added more fields and 2) added a max to how long the timer would go to. I LOVE mining, I use it as therepy, like some guys use shooting games. Please, please... fix my mining. It was OK when I had to wait for the stuff to respawn for a little bit, i got housework done while i waited for the field respawn. But this usage variable... it actually makes it worse for me to mine than to not mine. Please, I'm begging you, fix it.

30 mins is the maximum time you have to wait for respawn, many fields spawn a lot faster now too.

[dragonorb13]

30 mins is the maximum time you have to wait for respawn, many fields spawn a lot faster now too.

really? then why did i sit at the Hydrocarbon fields in Aganju, 61 Cygni for an hour and forty-five minutes before they started respawning? and the spawn before it took an hour and a half. And that was just the two that i times.

[Starfox]

really? then why did i sit at the Hydrocarbon fields in Aganju, 61 Cygni for an hour and forty-five minutes before they started respawning? and the spawn before it took an hour and a half. And that was just the two that i times.

And why did it take over an hour and half for the fields to respawn in VG at VG nav 2 this morning? Checked this twice BTW

[Tienbau]

ok I'll have a look at those. Once the field is cleared, there's a set respawn time. It could be that the field wasn't empty and that someone was still emptying the field, in which case yes it would appear to take a while.

Bear with us please, we're trying to get this all balanced out. I think possibly a system where the respawn time was from the first disturbed asteroid would work better - someone I'm sure can come up with a suitably sci-fi explanation for this. I know I didn't like the original system where asteroids respawned individually because that just seemed to take all the joy from exploration and mining, you've only just mined and then the damn thing pops back again.

[Kyp [LDEV]]

ok I'll have a look at those. Once the field is cleared, there's a set respawn time. It could be that the field wasn't empty and that someone was still emptying the field, in which case yes it would appear to take a while.

Bear with us please, we're trying to get this all balanced out. I think possibly a system where the respawn time was from the first disturbed asteroid would work better - someone I'm sure can come up with a suitably sci-fi explanation for this. I know I didn't like the original system where asteroids respawned individually because that just seemed to take all the joy from exploration and mining, you've only just mined and then the damn thing pops back again.

This might be on me, whereas cygni is concerned TB, the harvestables were only recently placed before opening it up. The timers may not be set. I'll take a look at it soon.

[dragonorb13]

sorry, i thought it was intentional... had i realized it was accidental, i'd have put it under Bugs

[dragonorb13]

This might be on me, whereas cygni is concerned TB, the harvestables were only recently placed before opening it up. The timers may not be set. I'll take a look at it soon.

i mined it for almost a week with timer working... wasn't until recently that it crapped out on me

[Tienbau]

ok yeah it appears there was an unexpected interaction between certain activities on the dev server and the respawn timer which resulted in it being bumped up a lot more than expected.

Dev team hold off changing any values, this will all be fixed in a few mins after I restart (including the long respawn times).

[Kyp [LDEV]]

ok yeah it appears there was an unexpected interaction between certain activities on the dev server and the respawn timer which resulted in it being bumped up a lot more than expected.

Dev team hold off changing any values, this will all be fixed in a few mins after I restart (including the long respawn times).

ok

[dragonorb13]

*falls to his knees and hugs Tienbau* thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!

[Starfox]

ok I'll have a look at those. Once the field is cleared, there's a set respawn time. It could be that the field wasn't empty and that someone was still emptying the field, in which case yes it would appear to take a while.

Bear with us please, we're trying to get this all balanced out. I think possibly a system where the respawn time was from the first disturbed asteroid would work better - someone I'm sure can come up with a suitably sci-fi explanation for this. I know I didn't like the original system where asteroids respawned individually because that just seemed to take all the joy from exploration and mining, you've only just mined and then the damn thing pops back again.

The field was empitied both times, I was the only one mining it and recieved the clear bonus for both fields.

[fuulishone]

@Tienbau: Looking at the SVN update it looks like the minimum field respawn time has been hard set to 10 mins for lvl 1-3 fields, 12 mins for lvl 4-5, 15 mins for lvl 6, 20 mins for lvl 7, 30 mins for lvl 8-9 fields? Is this correct? Am I reading the code properly?

If it is indeed what's intended, then that seems to be going in the opposite direction of unnerfing mining and making it even more onerous. Certainly a 5 min respawn on lvl 8/9 is bad, but 30 mins? With as few lvl 9 fields as there are out there (as well as many of them not containing any lvl 9 ore at all) why would a minimum 30 minute respawn be a good thing?

[irrelevant]

Yeah, don't know if I'm reading that code right either , but if so, then does seem like what fuulish said. Hehe i thought you were going to restrict the spawn timer to MAX 30 minutes, but if lvl 8/9's are MIN 30, what is the max? hehe please address!

[Korag]

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.

[Tyran]

I really don't like the idea of mining with a stopwatch for respawn.

Would be nice if it was a bit of pick and mix on the respawn codes to make stuff unpredictable.

[seekeronos]

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.'

I vaguely recall this thread, although as a JE in live myself, I tended to define "The Dance™" as being that delicate balance of how to mine, avoid being spotted by high level nasties, and how to deal with popper MOBs when they showed up.

Most of my mining was solo, so ... avoiding the Brilliant Manes or the Really Annoyingly Overpowered Voltoi while still grabbing that Aeserium or Erebusite was the epic part of that Dance™.