With the new QOL improvements for mining, and the play style Frontier want to promote with mining of a "Gold Rush" I think a good way of accomplishing that is by having mined procedurally generated resources that would be of extremely high value. We've seen before where certain systems have specific chemical compounds/processes that create resources that are unique to that system (I think like a special gold that could be collected form one system happened at one point). This exclusivity paired with a high initial value could genuinely create a gold rush of sorts and work right of out of the box with no developer/story intervention. I imagine the gameplay would look something like this:
Part 1: Exploration additions
Explorers would be able to do their usual routine but upon coming to a system with ring systems they could choose to go to those rings for some research. Using new tools the explorers could gather data of the composition of the rings. By scanning or prospecting multiple rocks within the different ring levels you could have exploration data of the resources available in that system (which could add to their exploration payout). Sometimes this data will yield that there is a unique resource available in the cluster something like SystemName-Alloy or something more creative. While this finding just the data could be worth a lot of money there will also be a lot of money to be made on the mining of the material. It would also be pretty cool if the commander could have a discovered by shout out in the description of the resource.
Part 2: The word spreads
The explorer comes back after their long journey with either the data of the unique resource and/or a sample itself. Upon being sold to the station or multiple if they brought back samples, it could generate missions or local news articles that a new resources had been found in a specific system. Commanders visiting the system, could then learn about this new high value resource and either pick up a mission to make some good credits or take their biggest ship out there for a giant payload and profit.
Part 3: The Value balances
After some time based on demand of the good the value would eventually even out, where initially each unit used to be hundreds of thousands if not millions of credits per unit. I imagine there could be different categories of "rare" resources you could find, some would be more valuable than others while also having different demand. Along with the demand and rarity scaling rewards by the distance from the system sold (much like rare goods) could equal very profitable mining for a time (or until demand builds up again).
Overall a system like this could be something new but familiar to Elite. There is fame and fortune to be made if you're lucky or a dedicated explorer, and even more money to be made from the actual mining of the resource. What do you guys think?
Part 1: Exploration additions
Explorers would be able to do their usual routine but upon coming to a system with ring systems they could choose to go to those rings for some research. Using new tools the explorers could gather data of the composition of the rings. By scanning or prospecting multiple rocks within the different ring levels you could have exploration data of the resources available in that system (which could add to their exploration payout). Sometimes this data will yield that there is a unique resource available in the cluster something like SystemName-Alloy or something more creative. While this finding just the data could be worth a lot of money there will also be a lot of money to be made on the mining of the material. It would also be pretty cool if the commander could have a discovered by shout out in the description of the resource.
Part 2: The word spreads
The explorer comes back after their long journey with either the data of the unique resource and/or a sample itself. Upon being sold to the station or multiple if they brought back samples, it could generate missions or local news articles that a new resources had been found in a specific system. Commanders visiting the system, could then learn about this new high value resource and either pick up a mission to make some good credits or take their biggest ship out there for a giant payload and profit.
Part 3: The Value balances
After some time based on demand of the good the value would eventually even out, where initially each unit used to be hundreds of thousands if not millions of credits per unit. I imagine there could be different categories of "rare" resources you could find, some would be more valuable than others while also having different demand. Along with the demand and rarity scaling rewards by the distance from the system sold (much like rare goods) could equal very profitable mining for a time (or until demand builds up again).
Overall a system like this could be something new but familiar to Elite. There is fame and fortune to be made if you're lucky or a dedicated explorer, and even more money to be made from the actual mining of the resource. What do you guys think?
