Topic: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

I find this bit of information in the patch notes very intriguing:

"New: Mining and harvesting cycles can now occasionally yield rare materials. These are more dense isotopes or more pure variants of the standard raw materials, and can be recycled to their standard counterparts. There is also a chance that mining one type of mineral will yield a variant of another loosely related mineral. Currently rare materials have no other purpose than spicing up mining and saving some cargo space."

Note the first word in the last sentence: "Currently."

The implication is that they will have other uses down the road as the devs continue to develop manufacturing. T5 mods? MK3 bots? special prototypes? new modules entirely?

For manufacturers these implications are great news. I can see this becoming the best crafting system since SWG.

For PvP/PvE combat people, better equipement

For miners, this adds to the fun (this adds a nice loot drop table to mining).

The anticipation is killing me.

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

Calio wrote:

I find this bit of information in the patch notes very intriguing:

"New: Mining and harvesting cycles can now occasionally yield rare materials. These are more dense isotopes or more pure variants of the standard raw materials, and can be recycled to their standard counterparts. There is also a chance that mining one type of mineral will yield a variant of another loosely related mineral. Currently rare materials have no other purpose than spicing up mining and saving some cargo space."

Note the first word in the last sentence: "Currently."

The implication is that they will have other uses down the road as the devs continue to develop manufacturing. T5 mods? MK3 bots? special prototypes? new modules entirely?

For manufacturers these implications are great news. I can see this becoming the best crafting system since SWG.

For PvP/PvE combat people, better equipement

For miners, this adds to the fun (this adds a nice loot drop table to mining).

The anticipation is killing me.

Don't hurt your self thinking too much into it.

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

They said the same thing about the different plants, 'not harvestable at this time'.

I'm saving mine simply because I don't have recyc 10 yet, and 30-50K more ore from them at this point doesn't really mean much. If your mining for profit, just sell them as-is, you'll probably get more then if you recyc them anyway.

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

Arga wrote:

I'm saving mine simply because I don't have recyc 10 yet, and 30-50K more ore from them at this point doesn't really mean much.

I agree. Smart move IMHO. I'm doing the same. Just stockpiling them. They require no maintenance and I can recycle them any time.

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

Actually if memory serves correctly, those "bonus" minerals they added in SWG was to discourage AFK/Macro mining. which was the first thing i though when i read those notes here.

they probably are adding them in since there are plenty of afk HDT/Liquidz Miners.

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

I'm not logged in, but are you sure, my impression while mining is that they took up _less_ U for the equivalent amount of ore.

I mined Liq last night and the new mechanic didn't cause me to empty my hold any faster then normal, even finding several rare isotopes.

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

its the oppositte - the isotopes are more compact. The patchnotes already tell what the intention is:

"Currently rare materials have no other purpose than spicing up mining and saving some cargo space."

perhaps we see a "increased chance to find isotopes on argano mk2" big_smile

*Disclaimer: This post can contain strong sarcasm or cynical remarks. keep that in mind!
Whining - It's amazing how fast your trivial concerns will disappear

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

Id be more inclined to think that the devs dont have anything else planned for it currently.  But it is an extra resource in the database, so its just a 'potential' tool for any bright idea they may or may not have down the line.

its just like when you buy a second computer,  you might get it just to run videos on your TV, but you COULD use it as a second client or anything else down the line big_smile

Re: Hints of things to come in the 09-08 update

Or, they specifically know that it will be another material in the prototype process for the next generation of items, just like fragments are now.

The drops are random and fairly rare, this will cause the making of NG prototypes to be limited, which again is the way Perp likes to keep modules and items rare, but bottlenecking production with rare items.

The mechanic is even similar to fragments, you can use them to prototype or you can recycle them.

It even makes much more sense that items needed for prodution would be available through the indy vertical.

Will you get a response from the devs, No. This is exactly the type of information they wouldn't release until it it went live. So Yes, its speculation, but it's also based off the existing mechanics of the game, and there's absolutly no time frame on when we'll see the next generation of items anyway, so stocking a 'good' number of the isotopes is just prudent, but I wouldn't horde or have a market run on them because it could be a year before an alternate use is released.