One thing that always annoyed me about CCP is that one of the biggest aspects of the game, mining, is one of the least worked on or have content added for that aspect of the game.   Mining, despite what some people may say, could be a very cool aspect and less boring if CCP actually spent a little time, and effort, to make it more engaging.  

Things they could do to make it better are added different colored lasers for what ore you are mining.    This would allow miners to know what ore was being mined by another miner in the same belt by using color coding of the laser mining pulse. 

They could add a better ore gathering system that allowed the miner to see how much ore was left in an asteroid as they mined it in real time.  As it is now it is total guestimation on how much ore is left while you mine the asteroid.   Real time info would make it easier to know when to turn off your mining module for that asteroid and start mining a new one.

How about allowing us to go further in the mining skill system and allow us to increase our ability to mine more ore and to specialize in finding, gathering and refining said ores - and in doing so requires micro management of power input and output of the mining vessels power supplies and such.  

Also, why can't mining vessels have more defensive capabilites?  You'd think that if these people in this universe were so advanced that they would have ways of better defending themselves from induviduals whose only purpose it to blow up a mining vessel - yet as we all know that is not the case and mining barges are one of the easiest targets to suicide gank.   Come on CCP we can only suspend disbelief for so long before it becomes stupid silly.  

Also, how come this games star systems have no orbits?  The planets, moons and asteroid belts are all static.   They never move.   Wouldn't it be a bit more challenging and engaging if it required miners to scan down asteroid belts because their locations changed - or does Newtonian physics not exist in EVE?  For a game that is suppose to be ahrdcore sci-fi you completely miss the boat on many levels.  

How come miners get no new mining ships?

Speaking of ships, why are the only ships getting updgraded and new ships being built combat ships?  When will CCP add say, a mid-ranged freighter?  You have a choice between small and huge.   Do not bring up the Orca either.  The Orca is a specialized mining freighter and requires mining related skills.   How come CCP hasn't put into game a freighter that is around the 350k/m3 to 450k/m3 range?

New mining barges would be good as well.  

So I ask the question - when is CCP going to start working on the one aspect of the game that has been neglected for so long?

the main reason is alt tab, why cry when you can watch  a movie and mine in a game, doing 2 things on same time is awesome

Originally posted by Teala

One thing that always annoyed me about CCP is that one of the biggest aspects of the game, mining, is one of the least worked on or have content added for that aspect of the game.   Mining, despite what some people may say, could be a very cool aspect and less boring if CCP actually spent a little time, and effort, to make it more engaging.  

Things they could do to make it better are added different colored lasers for what ore you are mining.    This would allow miners to know what ore was being mined by another miner in the same belt by using color coding of the laser mining pulse. 

They could add a better ore gathering system that allowed the miner to see how much ore was left in an asteroid as they mined it in real time.  As it is now it is total guestimation on how much ore is left while you mine the asteroid.   Real time info would make it easier to know when to turn off your mining module for that asteroid and start mining a new one.

How about allowing us to go further in the mining skill system and allow us to increase our ability to mine more ore and to specialize in finding, gathering and refining said ores - and in doing so requires micro management of power input and output of the mining vessels power supplies and such.  

Also, why can't mining vessels have more defensive capabilites?  You'd think that if these people in this universe were so advanced that they would have ways of better defending themselves from induviduals whose only purpose it to blow up a mining vessel - yet as we all know that is not the case and mining barges are one of the easiest targets to suicide gank.   Come on CCP we can only suspend disbelief for so long before it becomes stupid silly.  

Also, how come this games star systems have no orbits?  The planets, moons and asteroid belts are all static.   They never move.   Wouldn't it be a bit more challenging and engaging if it required miners to scan down asteroid belts because their locations changed - or does Newtonian physics not exist in EVE?  For a game that is suppose to be ahrdcore sci-fi you completely miss the boat on many levels.  

How come miners get no new mining ships?

Speaking of ships, why are the only ships getting updgraded and new ships being built combat ships?  When will CCP add say, a mid-ranged freighter?  You have a choice between small and huge.   Do not bring up the Orca either.  The Orca is a specialized mining freighter and requires mining related skills.   How come CCP hasn't put into game a freighter that is around the 350k/m3 to 450k/m3 range?

New mining barges would be good as well.  

So I ask the question - when is CCP going to start working on the one aspect of the game that has been neglected for so long?

 

1. Why do you need colored lasers, you can just as easily click to see what they're mining.

2. The ore gathering system is fine right now, I would rather they not try and change something that is fine.

3.Mining vessels can be built to have a decent tank to them. The reason that they aren't that defensive is because plain and simple..They're mining vessels, they are made to mine and only mine. Do some mining ops with a corp, you should have people protecting you anyway.  You could always mine in a battleship :P which is what most people are doing during hulkageddon.

4.If all the systems weren't static, the entire bookmarking places in space would be useless. You would save a place in space...then the next time you go back it wouldn't be there anymore. If you want to be able to scan for ore, just search down some gravimetric sites.

5.It would be cool to have more mining ships..but do we really need more. We already have 6 dedicated to just mining.

Why fix something that isn't broken, just because it's not fun doesn't mean it's bad. It's mining, not all that fun, but it's rewarding. Making isk is fun :D

Originally posted by C.L.O.U.D

Originally posted by Teala

One thing that always annoyed me about CCP is that one of the biggest aspects of the game, mining, is one of the least worked on or have content added for that aspect of the game.   Mining, despite what some people may say, could be a very cool aspect and less boring if CCP actually spent a little time, and effort, to make it more engaging.  

Things they could do to make it better are added different colored lasers for what ore you are mining.    This would allow miners to know what ore was being mined by another miner in the same belt by using color coding of the laser mining pulse. 

They could add a better ore gathering system that allowed the miner to see how much ore was left in an asteroid as they mined it in real time.  As it is now it is total guestimation on how much ore is left while you mine the asteroid.   Real time info would make it easier to know when to turn off your mining module for that asteroid and start mining a new one.

How about allowing us to go further in the mining skill system and allow us to increase our ability to mine more ore and to specialize in finding, gathering and refining said ores - and in doing so requires micro management of power input and output of the mining vessels power supplies and such.  

Also, why can't mining vessels have more defensive capabilites?  You'd think that if these people in this universe were so advanced that they would have ways of better defending themselves from induviduals whose only purpose it to blow up a mining vessel - yet as we all know that is not the case and mining barges are one of the easiest targets to suicide gank.   Come on CCP we can only suspend disbelief for so long before it becomes stupid silly.  

Also, how come this games star systems have no orbits?  The planets, moons and asteroid belts are all static.   They never move.   Wouldn't it be a bit more challenging and engaging if it required miners to scan down asteroid belts because their locations changed - or does Newtonian physics not exist in EVE?  For a game that is suppose to be ahrdcore sci-fi you completely miss the boat on many levels.  

How come miners get no new mining ships?

Speaking of ships, why are the only ships getting updgraded and new ships being built combat ships?  When will CCP add say, a mid-ranged freighter?  You have a choice between small and huge.   Do not bring up the Orca either.  The Orca is a specialized mining freighter and requires mining related skills.   How come CCP hasn't put into game a freighter that is around the 350k/m3 to 450k/m3 range?

New mining barges would be good as well.  

So I ask the question - when is CCP going to start working on the one aspect of the game that has been neglected for so long?

 

1. Why do you need colored lasers, you can just as easily click to see what they're mining.

2. The ore gathering system is fine right now, I would rather they not try and change something that is fine.

3.Mining vessels can be built to have a decent tank to them. The reason that they aren't that defensive is because plain and simple..They're mining vessels, they are made to mine and only mine. Do some mining ops with a corp, you should have people protecting you anyway.  You could always mine in a battleship :P which is what most people are doing during hulkageddon.

4.If all the systems weren't static, the entire bookmarking places in space would be useless. You would save a place in space...then the next time you go back it wouldn't be there anymore. If you want to be able to scan for ore, just search down some gravimetric sites.

5.It would be cool to have more mining ships..but do we really need more. We already have 6 dedicated to just mining.

 

Why fix something that isn't broken, just because it's not fun doesn't mean it's bad. It's mining, not all that fun, but it's rewarding. Making isk is fun :D

Mining is broke and has been for awhile now.  If the systems weren't static it would require, oh I dunno a person to actually use the scanning skill to find asteroid belts - imagine that.   Mining vessels in the far future are what makes the EVE universe go around - it requires ore for all those ships that get destroyed.   Doesn't it make sense that a mining ship would be one of the most heavily armored ships to keep people from blowing them up so easily.   It makes absolutely no sense, and you ahve to totally suspend disblief that the people that live in the EVE Universe are so stupid.  

Adding some "flavor" and nice-to-haves to mining would be neat. Major changes to the mechanics arent required though. And it would be counter-productive to make mining harder.

The idea about mining vessels being weak isnt bad. It forces the requirement for protection which goes with the theme that EVE is a team game.

So there are pretty much 2 ways to put orbits into the game.

1: make everything rotate around the sun on a plane or disk and give the illusion of orbit but no real movement.

2: move things independently of eachother (all 1000's of belts, planets, gates and stations) with 100s of hours of work for very little gain (and likely making bookmarks and bookmarking system very difficult to use, broken or ineffectual)

I really dont see benefit to orbit unless they include warp collision and interstellar object gravity wells (natural interdictors) and go with the whole super high detail into space navigation. That isnt going to happen. EVE is a super hardcore game. But it is still a game so the mechanics have to cater to fun over realism. Balance between reality and fun is always difficult but if you add impacting realism to a game, it needs to add fun otherwise it only contributes to attrition and loss.

are there really players left that think CCP cares about anything other than pvp?  PvP is it for them.  Everything else about the game design is just set up to fuel the pvp.  You can rat in ships that stand a chance in a pvp scenario, good luck saying the same thing about mining.

I seem to remember that one of them wanted to make mining more like fishing and that an industry overhaul is in the works after the summer expansion.

The delay in these improvements was covered already and was at the heart of the WIS/store player riots.

Edit:  Where's the hardcore sci fi idea coming from?  All I've heard from CCP is sci fi magic.

Why are you guys violencing the asteroids?  What did the rocks ever do to you?

On a more serious note, yeah mining does need some sort of interaction.  When I created by my second account I tried mining with him and gave up after about 5 minutes.  Mind numbingly boring!

If they changed the mechanics of mining that could lend itself to more variety of ships.  I don't think they should create more mining boats just for the sake of appeasing the players.

Originally posted by Teala

Originally posted by C.L.O.U.D

Originally posted by Teala

One thing that always annoyed me about CCP is that one of the biggest aspects of the game, mining, is one of the least worked on or have content added for that aspect of the game.   Mining, despite what some people may say, could be a very cool aspect and less boring if CCP actually spent a little time, and effort, to make it more engaging.  

Things they could do to make it better are added different colored lasers for what ore you are mining.    This would allow miners to know what ore was being mined by another miner in the same belt by using color coding of the laser mining pulse. 

They could add a better ore gathering system that allowed the miner to see how much ore was left in an asteroid as they mined it in real time.  As it is now it is total guestimation on how much ore is left while you mine the asteroid.   Real time info would make it easier to know when to turn off your mining module for that asteroid and start mining a new one.

How about allowing us to go further in the mining skill system and allow us to increase our ability to mine more ore and to specialize in finding, gathering and refining said ores - and in doing so requires micro management of power input and output of the mining vessels power supplies and such.  

Also, why can't mining vessels have more defensive capabilites?  You'd think that if these people in this universe were so advanced that they would have ways of better defending themselves from induviduals whose only purpose it to blow up a mining vessel - yet as we all know that is not the case and mining barges are one of the easiest targets to suicide gank.   Come on CCP we can only suspend disbelief for so long before it becomes stupid silly.  

Also, how come this games star systems have no orbits?  The planets, moons and asteroid belts are all static.   They never move.   Wouldn't it be a bit more challenging and engaging if it required miners to scan down asteroid belts because their locations changed - or does Newtonian physics not exist in EVE?  For a game that is suppose to be ahrdcore sci-fi you completely miss the boat on many levels.  

How come miners get no new mining ships?

Speaking of ships, why are the only ships getting updgraded and new ships being built combat ships?  When will CCP add say, a mid-ranged freighter?  You have a choice between small and huge.   Do not bring up the Orca either.  The Orca is a specialized mining freighter and requires mining related skills.   How come CCP hasn't put into game a freighter that is around the 350k/m3 to 450k/m3 range?

New mining barges would be good as well.  

So I ask the question - when is CCP going to start working on the one aspect of the game that has been neglected for so long?

 

1. Why do you need colored lasers, you can just as easily click to see what they're mining.

2. The ore gathering system is fine right now, I would rather they not try and change something that is fine.

3.Mining vessels can be built to have a decent tank to them. The reason that they aren't that defensive is because plain and simple..They're mining vessels, they are made to mine and only mine. Do some mining ops with a corp, you should have people protecting you anyway.  You could always mine in a battleship :P which is what most people are doing during hulkageddon.

4.If all the systems weren't static, the entire bookmarking places in space would be useless. You would save a place in space...then the next time you go back it wouldn't be there anymore. If you want to be able to scan for ore, just search down some gravimetric sites.

5.It would be cool to have more mining ships..but do we really need more. We already have 6 dedicated to just mining.

 

Why fix something that isn't broken, just because it's not fun doesn't mean it's bad. It's mining, not all that fun, but it's rewarding. Making isk is fun :D

Mining is broke and has been for awhile now.  If the systems weren't static it would require, oh I dunno a person to actually use the scanning skill to find asteroid belts - imagine that.   Mining vessels in the far future are what makes the EVE universe go around - it requires ore for all those ships that get destroyed.   Doesn't it make sense that a mining ship would be one of the most heavily armored ships to keep people from blowing them up so easily.   It makes absolutely no sense, and you ahve to totally suspend disblief that the people that live in the EVE Universe are so stupid.  

ER, they're not stupid, probably just making the reasonable assumption that like everything in the real world things have to make sense from an economic viewpoint and just like in the real world, military ships are far more heavily armored than their freight hauling counterparts such as oil tankers.

Fact is, with smart flying the risk vs reward is always relatively low, miners in general have no problem making a profit in EVE even taking into account the inevitable losses that occur.

Not saying mining doesn't need an overhaul, but I take offense to calling players in EVE stupid about anything, some of the most economically savy people I've ever met.

Originally posted by C.L.O.U.D

Originally posted by Teala

... 

1. Why do you need colored lasers, you can just as easily click to see what they're mining.

2. The ore gathering system is fine right now, I would rather they not try and change something that is fine.

3.Mining vessels can be built to have a decent tank to them. The reason that they aren't that defensive is because plain and simple..They're mining vessels, they are made to mine and only mine. Do some mining ops with a corp, you should have people protecting you anyway.  You could always mine in a battleship :P which is what most people are doing during hulkageddon.

4.If all the systems weren't static, the entire bookmarking places in space would be useless. You would save a place in space...then the next time you go back it wouldn't be there anymore. If you want to be able to scan for ore, just search down some gravimetric sites.

5.It would be cool to have more mining ships..but do we really need more. We already have 6 dedicated to just mining.

 

Why fix something that isn't broken, just because it's not fun doesn't mean it's bad. It's mining, not all that fun, but it's rewarding. Making isk is fun :D

^ This.

Just because mining in EvE isn't designed with all of the features that you desire, Teala, it doesn't mean it's broken.

We all have opinions... and all of them are valid... but at the end of the day, don't say something is broken unless it isn't working the way that the developers intended for it to work.  As far as we know, its working exactly the way the developers want it to work. 

I could state all of my opinions to the counter of yours, but C.L.O.U.D. beat me to it.

Originally posted by Teala

So I ask the question - when is CCP going to start working on the one aspect of the game that has been neglected for so long?

If only they would make some changes to the game that would make mining a more viable path for mineral collection than, say, fighting drones or refining T1 loot drops...   ;)

To touch on the points of scanning, new content and all that, what are your thoughts on the collaborative ring mining content that was talked about at Fanfest?

Be patient with this question, I'm still somewhat new to a lot of activities.

I've been doing exploration in High Sec.

Is there any real reason to scan down Grav signatures?

As far as I can tell, they don't hold any differnent ore than the rest of high sec.

Nerfing the Drone Regions is a HUGE boost to mining, just sayin.

There are already valuable mining sites that need to be scanned down in systems.

Oh and the way you rationalize having more armor and defensive capabilities on miners is funny. Hulkagedon must have gotten to you early this year :) - Here's a thought, use your scanner to spot the probes and you won't even need defense on your mining ships (assuming you're in highsec/lowsec), If you're in nullsec, then there's really no reason for you to get ganked.

You can already see how much more is left in a roid in realtime, just click your survey scanner.  Miners have received a lot of new ships since I started playing EVE.  They originally had the 3 barges, then they got tech 2 exhumers, and even capital ships like the ORCA and Rorqual.  Problem is mining is boring and always will be.  You could add some minigame stuff to it but odds are it would just make mining more stressful and less relaxing.  Miners typically like to chat or whatever during ops.  Mining ships are easy targets because no one bothers to try and make them hard targets.  Not much you can do with the tech 1 barges, but the exhumers can be fit with a strong tank.  Also, you can mine in ships other than just ore ships quite successfully.  A lot of battleships double as mining ships and can outmine tech 1 barges.  They also are not going to get suicide ganked. 

In the most recent inferno patch, CCP got rid of drone minerals.  This is the single hugest buff that miners could have hoped for.  A huge amount of minerals in the economy were coming from nullsec drone loot and now mining will once again be the profession providing life blood to the universe. 

Originally posted by s1fu71

Be patient with this question, I'm still somewhat new to a lot of activities.

I've been doing exploration in High Sec.

Is there any real reason to scan down Grav signatures?

As far as I can tell, they don't hold any differnent ore than the rest of high sec.

 

Not quite. If you scan down a Grav site in 0.5, you have a high chance of getting a type of ore in it that is normally found in Lowsec, depending on which empire's space you're in. For example, 0.5 Grav sites in Caldari space often have Omber, which you would never normally find there. Be advised, the belt rat frigates in the Grav site will be tougher than normal as well. Not dangerously, but noticeably.

Originally posted by BigHatLogan

You can already see how much more is left in a roid in realtime, just click your survey scanner.  Miners have received a lot of new ships since I started playing EVE.  They originally had the 3 barges, then they got tech 2 exhumers, and even capital ships like the ORCA and Rorqual.  Problem is mining is boring and always will be.  You could add some minigame stuff to it but odds are it would just make mining more stressful and less relaxing.  Miners typically like to chat or whatever during ops.  Mining ships are easy targets because no one bothers to try and make them hard targets.  Not much you can do with the tech 1 barges, but the exhumers can be fit with a strong tank.  Also, you can mine in ships other than just ore ships quite successfully.  A lot of battleships double as mining ships and can outmine tech 1 barges.  They also are not going to get suicide ganked. 

In the most recent inferno patch, CCP got rid of drone minerals.  This is the single hugest buff that miners could have hoped for.  A huge amount of minerals in the economy were coming from nullsec drone loot and now mining will once again be the profession providing life blood to the universe. 

I agree with everything said here, and that part in red is very, very true. It also isn't all of the story; I don't know if it was during the patch or another time recently, but CCP also went on a campaign to block the accounts of miners that were using macros to run the program for them (another name for them were mining botters), as that was one of the (very few) things in Eve that was officially considered illegal. There were apparently a LOT of them. So with the high-producing mining bots gone, and the Drone alloys gone, mineral supply took a nose-dive off a cliff. The economy is already showing the results of this...I think mineral prices doubled inside of a week, which significantly bumped the price of everything else. So for those true miners that do actually sit there watching their ship shoot rocks, their income is skyrocketing and they are partying all the harder for it.

If you don't call that a boost to the mining profession, I seriously don't know what you would consider a boost.

Originally posted by Anolev

Originally posted by C.L.O.U.D

Originally posted by Teala

... 

1. Why do you need colored lasers, you can just as easily click to see what they're mining.

2. The ore gathering system is fine right now, I would rather they not try and change something that is fine.

3.Mining vessels can be built to have a decent tank to them. The reason that they aren't that defensive is because plain and simple..They're mining vessels, they are made to mine and only mine. Do some mining ops with a corp, you should have people protecting you anyway.  You could always mine in a battleship :P which is what most people are doing during hulkageddon.

4.If all the systems weren't static, the entire bookmarking places in space would be useless. You would save a place in space...then the next time you go back it wouldn't be there anymore. If you want to be able to scan for ore, just search down some gravimetric sites.

5.It would be cool to have more mining ships..but do we really need more. We already have 6 dedicated to just mining.

 

Why fix something that isn't broken, just because it's not fun doesn't mean it's bad. It's mining, not all that fun, but it's rewarding. Making isk is fun :D

 

^ This.

Just because mining in EvE isn't designed with all of the features that you desire, Teala, it doesn't mean it's broken.

We all have opinions... and all of them are valid... but at the end of the day, don't say something is broken unless it isn't working the way that the developers intended for it to work.  As far as we know, its working exactly the way the developers want it to work. 

I could state all of my opinions to the counter of yours, but C.L.O.U.D. beat me to it.

Nothing is more mutually exclusive in eve than mining.  You could aruge pve fitted ships wont do well in pvp , but they stand way more of a chance.

@Kiljadaena 

Thank  you so much for the reply. I had no idea.

Originally posted by Kiljaedenas

Originally posted by BigHatLogan

You can already see how much more is left in a roid in realtime, just click your survey scanner.  Miners have received a lot of new ships since I started playing EVE.  They originally had the 3 barges, then they got tech 2 exhumers, and even capital ships like the ORCA and Rorqual.  Problem is mining is boring and always will be.  You could add some minigame stuff to it but odds are it would just make mining more stressful and less relaxing.  Miners typically like to chat or whatever during ops.  Mining ships are easy targets because no one bothers to try and make them hard targets.  Not much you can do with the tech 1 barges, but the exhumers can be fit with a strong tank.  Also, you can mine in ships other than just ore ships quite successfully.  A lot of battleships double as mining ships and can outmine tech 1 barges.  They also are not going to get suicide ganked. 

In the most recent inferno patch, CCP got rid of drone minerals.  This is the single hugest buff that miners could have hoped for.  A huge amount of minerals in the economy were coming from nullsec drone loot and now mining will once again be the profession providing life blood to the universe. 

I agree with everything said here, and that part in red is very, very true. It also isn't all of the story; I don't know if it was during the patch or another time recently, but CCP also went on a campaign to block the accounts of miners that were using macros to run the program for them (another name for them were mining botters), as that was one of the (very few) things in Eve that was officially considered illegal. There were apparently a LOT of them. So with the high-producing mining bots gone, and the Drone alloys gone, mineral supply took a nose-dive off a cliff. The economy is already showing the results of this...I think mineral prices doubled inside of a week, which significantly bumped the price of everything else. So for those true miners that do actually sit there watching their ship shoot rocks, their income is skyrocketing and they are partying all the harder for it.

If you don't call that a boost to the mining profession, I seriously don't know what you would consider a boost.

That has nothing to do with anything I said.  I just learned that CCP killedthe drone minerals which is cool, but that doesn't change the fact that mining is still one of the most non-engaging activities of the game(which is what my post was basically all about - and nothing to do with how much money people make from mining).   Is what I suggested really that to much for your average miner in the game?   I would think many people that actively mine would appreciate it mining more if it was more of a mini-game rather than a activity that requires very little thought by the person performing it.  

Originally posted by Kiljaedenas

Originally posted by BigHatLogan

You can already see how much more is left in a roid in realtime, just click your survey scanner.  Miners have received a lot of new ships since I started playing EVE.  They originally had the 3 barges, then they got tech 2 exhumers, and even capital ships like the ORCA and Rorqual.  Problem is mining is boring and always will be.  You could add some minigame stuff to it but odds are it would just make mining more stressful and less relaxing.  Miners typically like to chat or whatever during ops.  Mining ships are easy targets because no one bothers to try and make them hard targets.  Not much you can do with the tech 1 barges, but the exhumers can be fit with a strong tank.  Also, you can mine in ships other than just ore ships quite successfully.  A lot of battleships double as mining ships and can outmine tech 1 barges.  They also are not going to get suicide ganked. 

In the most recent inferno patch, CCP got rid of drone minerals.  This is the single hugest buff that miners could have hoped for.  A huge amount of minerals in the economy were coming from nullsec drone loot and now mining will once again be the profession providing life blood to the universe. 

I agree with everything said here, and that part in red is very, very true. It also isn't all of the story; I don't know if it was during the patch or another time recently, but CCP also went on a campaign to block the accounts of miners that were using macros to run the program for them (another name for them were mining botters), as that was one of the (very few) things in Eve that was officially considered illegal. There were apparently a LOT of them. So with the high-producing mining bots gone, and the Drone alloys gone, mineral supply took a nose-dive off a cliff. The economy is already showing the results of this...I think mineral prices doubled inside of a week, which significantly bumped the price of everything else. So for those true miners that do actually sit there watching their ship shoot rocks, their income is skyrocketing and they are partying all the harder for it.

If you don't call that a boost to the mining profession, I seriously don't know what you would consider a boost.

Wow!  I haven't been keeping on the Eve patches since I left but that sounds great.  Even though I'm sure the botters will find work arounds very soon it's nice to keep them on their toes.  So what do the rats in drone regions drop now?  The russians must be a tad upset (if they still control that area).