I don't care how it works, bring it. The idea that I need to use TWO modules to scoop things in space is definitely not fun.
I would never ever run a collector controller or cargo on anything that doesn't trade or mine primarily, so I resign myself to scooping stuff the manual way and of course I've gotten pretty decent at it, it's not that bad a chore. However, the new requirements to pick up basically every material you see (as all are now useful for trading), is going to compound this problem for those of us who don't like to rely on limpets.
It IS a QoL thing, it IS reasonable in the Elite continuum and it SHOULD be a thing. My 2c.
It must be annoying when you complete a combat mission and don't have space for a commodity reward?
At a guess, the current system is intended to provide "balance" by separating quality and capacity.
Basically, you
could fly a CM3 with a single limpet controller and spend hours collecting stuff as long as you have enough cargo space for limpets.
Conversely, you can fly an Annie stacked with collectors and not be able to spend much time collecting stuff if you haven't got room for limpets.
As with many other things, it's all about balancing and compromises.
Course, a "tractor beam" could certainly work in the same way that the game manages to work with guns
and lasers.
If it
wasn't balanced properly, nobody would consider using a projectile weapon 'cos it'd always be preferable to use a laser which doesn't need ammo.
As it is, lasers aren't as powerful and they come with a penalty so the system works, mostly.
A tractor beam could use more power and only be capable of targeting one item at once, or whatever.
That way, miners would probably still prefer to use limpets but other people might want to fit a small tractor beam for those "just in case" situations.
![[VR] Mad Mike](https://forums-cdn.zaonce.net/data/avatars/m/27/27910.jpg?1553527108){kind=avatar}
