Issues Raised With "Extraction To Production" On Singularity

One of the most common complaints from players in MMORPGs is, "Feature X is bad and we told you about the bugs in alpha/beta/test server." The complaint is pretty common in EVE Online surrounding the subject of Rorquals, the top mining ship players can obtain. With this weekend's protests, I figured I should highlight when CCP is listening.

On Saturday, CCP Psych posted a list of concerns he said the developers would begin looking into starting today. I figured I'd run through them and give some comments.

• Revisiting all cycle times for all compression modules
• Reducing the Orca Industrial Core cycle duration

Someone pointed out just how much compression is required for compressing moon ore in the video below.

If CCP really wants people to use the new compression mechanics, they may need to fine tune the cycle times a little.

• All Waste Probabilities will be revisited. We will be looking into using the same profile for drones as in modules

I get what CCP is trying to do. In a world of tech 1 ships and no one having any mining skills, the current level of mining is the baseline, and the amount of resources in the universe goes up the more skilled miners get through training and equipment. The fact that tech 2 mining drones had the same level of mining waste as the base tech 1 versions didn't seem right.

Other issues exist with the mining waste mechanic, specifically that not that many people understand it. I think a lot of players believe that includes the devs.

• Ways to bring back gas harvesting bonuses to frigates. This might have a further effect of introducing Barges/Exhumers gas bonuses

Removing the gas harvesting bonuses from frigates seemed a little weird to me. If CCP does not want Alpha accounts from the ability to harvest gas, just change the skill requirements.

• Potential increase of fitting attributes for Barges/Exhumers

I'm still scratching my head over the changes to the Procurer. I'd say null sec miners want Mackinaws and Hulks to have greater survivability against rats.

• Adjusting the Porpoise main and specialized holds

I have never flown the Porpoise so I'm not sure what the issue is here.

• What the implication would be if we allow moon ore compression with a 90% efficiency in structures

I believe this goes back to the moon ore compression in a Rorqual issue highlighted in the video.

• Adding a PvP timer when Type C crystals are used in highsec.

As initially proposed, groups could use the Type C crystal to wipe out high sec asteroid belts and no one could really stop them. I could imagine someone in an Amarrian battleship doing so to protect themselves against ganking efforts. Making someone suspect for using a Type C crystal could solve that issue.

• Changing the pre-requisites for Gas/Ice compression skills

I can see why players might want easier access to those skills.

• Potential increase of high slots for the Orca and the Porpoise

The compression modules are high slot modules, so I can see why players would want to compress ore and gas without giving up any existing abilities.

And finally answers to frequently asked questions:

• We haven’t made a decision yet if waste should be taken into account in the industry index calculations. Feel free to discuss pros and cons in this thread.

• Mining Missions will be addressed before release. Finalizing quantities will be determined by where we will end up on the waste probabilities profile for T1 modules.

I think once the changes hit Tranquility in December that going back to the list might provide some interesting observations.