The developers could add a random evil gnome that pops out from under the ground, takes control of the miner, applies a “panic flight” debuff, and chases the miner to the nearest teleport.
But seriously, I would like it if sometimes, while mining, some artifact fragments would drop, which could eventually be assembled into a complete item and exchanged for some mining-related gear. A headlamp, a pickaxe with a buff, something cool and creative.
5 Likes
Instead of punishing with evil gnomes or whatever, MA could reintroduce the sooto spaceships with their weakish robot guards that popped up close to a find sometimes. They used to be worth 50 peds iirc, and could have robot instance keys of the 010110101 or so type.
Have no stored chat reference to them and cleared radar signal on next probe drop, and bot miners would often/usually have no idea there was one spawned even. It would be a way of rewarding at-keyboard activity, as well as being more enjoyable than just getting a claim to extract for longer.
Maybe have a timer that only allows the right miner to engage with the spaceship button for 10 mins or so to make sure those active miners aren’t beaten to the site by another green dot, but after that the abandoned botter-spawned sootos are up for grabs. I don’t know about non-lootable pvp areas. Maybe have a different mechanism to protect active miners getting sooto ships, dunno.
It’s the sort of thing I believe is long overdue - and it wouldn’t even be something completely new.
2 Likes
Now that I think about it, mining has been severely dumbed down.
Mining veins existed and could be tracked, leading to the need for a lot of memorisation but I guess that 3rd party mining tracking apps ruined that for the better of the game.
I guess MA has to use a degree of randomness else the mining trackers will have an absolute field day with it, but that makes the gameplay so stale and boring.
1 Like
I wrote a whole thread about my idea for mining:
2 Likes
This is beautiful. Something similar to SWG which I started playing then the NPE hit and the game went downhill very quickly.
Decoupling prospecting and actual mining makes sense.
This is what I was looking for when I asked this question.
A prospector only has access to a fraction of the total resource, you need specialized equipment and skills to extract the resources effectively.
1 Like
Please do not reply seriously to this post. This dude whining about mining since 2005. Do not feed the trolls.
The last thread had to be locked for this kind of stuff for those that don’t know: https://www.planetcalypsoforum.com/forum/index.php?threads/mining-finder-radius-fake.268437/page-9
So after that thread being locked and immediately seeing this thread with a statement like “I am finding it incredibly boring dropping a probe, waiting 15 minutes, moving a bit then dropping again. It needs to be better.”, that really does come across as trolling or falling into rule 2.9 again:
2.9 - Excessive Complaining
Excessive complaining and/or whining disrupts the Mission of PlanetCalypsoForum and interferes with the ability of other members and visitors to enjoy their visit to PlanetCalypsoForum, and is therefore NOT permitted. Any content submitted to PlanetCalypsoForum that is considered by the Forum Staff to be in violation of this rule may be edited or deleted without notice.
I don’t say that lightly either. Saying something absurd and then saying mining is bad because of it with that extreme of a strawman really detracts from legitimate mining discussion. This is functionally set up as a whining post with that in mind. There’s really nothing more to say than it’s an absurd premise to a post and that no one (especially new players) should be misled into thinking it’s actually a thing that miners do. I do worry when this kind of stuff ends up in forums because misleading statements can detract newcomers from wanting to try out mining, and that hurts the rest of us too in-game.
2 Likes
This game could absolutely use new professions or instances with significantly more active gameplay elements (think actual MMORPG puzzles), but turning the current content “active” alienates almost the entire playerbase because it would be a nuisance and nothing else.
Stuff like Assault Mayhem does NOT bring new players, it just annoys existing ones.
Fishing and the Cyrene jump maze are the closest anyone’s ever got to these, but they’re both half baked at best because of the severe limitations of the Entropia Universe engine.
We really have no idea what doors UE5 would open, considering they want to run the two clients concurrently, I doubt UE5 is going to be much different in that regard.
1 Like
Like the post ^^, but still disagree with it.
I think the rollercoaster on NI is a better example of a quick activity within the game that is held up by either the engine or the way features have been programmed.
Fishing is very similar in nature to other professions in game. It is low input by design, and the failings lie elsewhere.
The jump maze is partially hindered by movement issues, but more by time and reward structures I think.
The rollercoaster has got issues because of the steering jerkiness, much more so than avatar movement in the platformers. In other puzzles the on/off (0 or 100%) of the vehicle throttle could also be problematic.
If UE5 can and is already running good vehicle simulations then we can possibly already compare Cry and UE in this regard, as well as other ‘skill-requiring’ activities, whether it be avatar/vehicle movement or other awareness areas, such as team dynamics and interaction etc..
If I pick the years 1980, 1990 and 2000, it has almost always been the programming of movement that has been a clincher, not the platform. This is maybe even more relevant today if expectations on fps are high.
For mining boredom I accept that’s probably not the biggie, except for maybe having to reach all claims if the summon claim function were to be removed. The choice of graphics engine is thus almost completely irrelevant for mining in this day and age, I feel, except for content such as proc gen exploration tied to mining profs. I say profs because prospecting and excavation could be two separate skillsets, for example, as has been mentioned elsewhere.
it is what it is the one who code it was a genius why you think you know it better, when you got what you ask for you still gonna say it bad even worse
I dont know why the hell you do drop, wait 15 mins and drop again, instead of normal mining, but consider this suggestion as an improvement for your gameplay:
Drop a probe, only wait 14min 58 sec, and than drop the next.
4 Likes
If he waited that long, he’d not need to move. That’s within the usual refresh time. He could just stand in one spot all day and drop a probe every 15 minutes or so and likely get claim/s. Very silly. 
2 Likes
Wow, he knows what the refresh rate is! What an incredible miner. He must be the best miner in this whole game!
2 Likes
Best way to add excitement would be to put on a very tight manikini. That’s step one, now stay with me here. Step two go to my LA in Hell (CommWarrior Mine), cheapest indoor thrill at 1% tax #mining lives matter. Step 3 run like hell (literally) from my juicy aggro mobs (don’t worry MA has most of them caged in the walls cuz they run a game full of bugs). Step 4 make sure you brought a much faster finder than whatever you were referring to.
3 Likes
It’s been tested. 
Nothing wrong with mining, only thing I do not like is the economy at this point.
Very slow sales, so yea, standing more on auc than mining
Boring? Then go do something else but stop whining / trolling
It’s one thing to whine, it’s completely different when discussing an in-game mechanic.
So the 15 minute respawn has existed since Project Entropia, IE 4 times an hour, 15, 30, 45 and 0/60 minutes. It is a permanent addition to my mining sheet and it works well and that is all I am going to say on that topic.
I will add this, when during each 15 minute window, the returns start to drop, I stop mining and wait for a new cycle. Eventually the returns end up being so bad, that I have to log out and come back later (and this is not a whine, this is a gameplay fact)
New miners need to realise that they have a choice when dropping their next probe.
Is it a strawman to say that if a miner wanted to stay in the same area for what ever reason, they would have to wait for at least 15 minutes for the area that they are in to return to normal spawning rates ?
(I know of a few miners that simply wait for the respawns to see if mining improves)
if only!
6 Likes
I am still finding the whole mining thing quite boring.