SaltEMike went on a bit of a rant about mining today. Apparently he's a big fan of mining and done tons of it, but wasn't impressed with CIG's changes.
Source: https://www.twitch.tv/videos/1196579414
To be honest, i'm not quite feeling his upset here.
Speaking as a fellow miner...Mikey is right. Ci¬G just added mining gadgets that do exactly the same function as current consumables and sub components fitted to a mining laser head. There are currently
no unbreakable rocks of any mass or resistance in SC by someone flying solo in a Prospector fitted with a Lancet mining head and a surge consumable. In effect, they wasted dev time and funds adding a 'new' mining subsystem that does absolutely nothing new or innivotive at all. The new gadgets don't add any complexity or needed gameplay process... besides adding a 'move the sliders' minigame to the gadgetry... it's all just pointless kerfuffery.
If the mining process stays the same as is currently available, nobody in their right mind would ever need to use the new gadgets. They're time consuming, require leaving the Prospector to use a system that is readily available as similarly purchaseable fitted components on a laser mining head.
Ci¬G stated in the latest ISC video that a solo player in a Prospector can't do the job effectively since it's all geared toward multicrew Moles and teams of Prospectors group mining...which isn't the case. The largest mass rock on moons is currently 8k...Aaron Halo belt or asteroid mining, largest mass rocks are 5k. You can break all those with a solo Prospector with a Lancet head and a surge module...with ease. Like Mike, I've rarely ever seen a crewed up Mole outside of coop mining missions in tandem with a couple of Prospectors...2 or 3 Prospys and a Mole mining coop are a far better option.
The only use for a Mole is for it's larger ore capacity. In an organised team mining session, Prospys do all the mining...a single Mole tags along to hoover up the ore and deliver the mined deposits to the refinery leaving the Prospectors on site to carry on prospecting for new rocks and breaking the deposits up into extractable form for the Mole to collect.
As much as I like what Dan Trufin has done for mining in SC...it seems he either doesn't understand how the system his team have developed actually works in practise...or...he's being railroaded into finding a job for the ancient and currently functionless Starfarer by tying it into mining (and refuelling) as a Quantainium refinery ship, which is what I suspect has happened.
