To solve this problem, I propose adding a new midslot module, the asteroid cycle marker. When activated, this module will mark the moment when an asteroid will be depleted in the current mining cycle. The cycle marker would only work on asteroids being actively harvested, and would not leave a marker if the asteroid will not be depleted within the current activation cycle.
The already run Cycle Marker showing the cutoff point for a pair of Kernite asteroids.
Occupying a mid-slot and ideally using a significant amount of capacitor, players making use of this module would have to choose how to configure their ships to achieve an ideal balance of tank and yield. This should help keep the module balanced, without displacing the asteroid belt scanner.
By providing the ideal moment to deactivate a module, miners everywhere will be able to enjoy increased yields when paying attention to their activities, but simultaneously making themselves more vulnerable to attack; a module to the benefit of everyone, in my book! What do you think?
I was thinking the same thing myself last night.
ReplyDeleteNote that simply using any PG or CPU, as well as a mid slot, will be sufficient drawback without worrying about capacitor consumption. That's 1/4 of the possible tank modules gone.
Stopping and restarting strip miners chews enough capacitor as it is. With the cycle time upgrade from a perfect booster (reducing the 3 minute cycle time to 2 minutes), any further cycle reduction (e.g.: aborting a cycle at 1:15 due to running out of ore) chews significantly more capacitor. Thus the module itself wouldn't need to be a particularly high consumer of capacitor. Similar capacitor usage to an invulnerability field will be sufficient for the module itself, with similar fitting requirements to the survey scanner.
I'm a bit concerned that simply leaving it at invulnerability field level will allow players to forgo the use of asteroid belt scanners for efficient mining. It's something that I want players to use sparingly, rather than continuously.
DeleteAs opposed to the calculator and stopwatch that they currently use which doesn't require them to forgo a tank?
DeleteAnd who fits a survey scanner on a mining ship? You fit the survey scanner to the Orca: 70km range FTW. Tag the rocks and communicate the cycles e.g.: in my fleet I write the volume of ore down, use calculator, start timer.
Which is, of course, assuming I give a damn. Often I just let the lasers cycle out. "Asteroid depleted" is EVE's way of saying, "come back and pay me some attention" :)
Looks like a interesting addition. I can't see where it hurts exactly to have the option to know where the cutoff point is in the cycle. It's the person/miner's choice if they paying attention and decided to stop the cycle given the indication or just let it continue and the roid pops.
ReplyDeleteMost often in the few times i do mine i'm just usually looking at the market or reading forums/blogs and when I hear the astroid has being depleted and popped I just switch to another asteroid, looks around a bit and go back to reading whatever I was reading or doing.
Yet the little indicator feature can't hurt either to have the option to know when the roid is depleted.