Topic

Re: Partial Mining

Dear fellow Glitches... Glitchen? Glitchy? Glitchopi?

Anyway, an annoyance that regularly comes up in global chat most players have found while traversing through the caverns is rocks (more commonly the less demanded beryl or dullite) being only partially mined and left with only a little ore for others following through the same streets.

Understandably it isn't very well explained in the game itself that rocks are best depleted, going against what new players have been taught from harvesting. Personally my first time through Groddle Heights I was sure to only take what I needed off each rock, convinced I was being a good neighbor by doing so. That, along with the high energy cost of low level mining makes it completely understandable that you would leave a rock unfinished. That's not the real problem.

Too often people in the deeps will bounce back and forth, following paths as new, more valuable rocks spawn in their Earthshaker fervor, or simply leave a sorry stump once they finish brewing up shrine powder. During less busy hours it is unfortunately common to find entire streets with only one strike left on each rock, even when there should have been more than enough time for everything to respawn. 

People with the skill and need to (nearly) clear a street like that know the mechanics of mining. It's no longer a question of knowledge, but just of courtesy. Yes, energy is a valuable resource and one or two collections can mean the difference between being able to finish your project or not, and no one wants to waste a drink on so little work. Instead of leaving a mess for someone else to clean up though, how about knowing when to call it a day? Sure, you may have been stuck with the same situation in the past, and really there's nothing other people can do but complain so you can do what you want and ignore requests like this.

Still, for people so determined to get what they want with no thought of how is affects those around you, I have but one simple request.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvi8Ehdt5XI

Posted 17 months ago by Beat Bishop Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • I can't stand to leave any of the ore in the node I'm working on. It kinda irks me when I see them sitting around with maybe 1-2 minings left, too.
    Posted 17 months ago by Little Miss Giggles Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Even if you have enough mine all rock and trow what you do not need. Better rock to respawn. :)
    Posted 17 months ago by Lilla My Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I've just, not ten minutes ago, in Groddle Heights, finished off three different rocks I found in a partially mined state.

    I was considering the potential for drama if I left notes titled "Glitchian Etiquette" ;-)

    (As in, I was considering leaving  notes, but decided the potential for drama was too great).
    Posted 17 months ago by Ama Gafr Subscriber! | Permalink
  • AMEN!!
    Posted 17 months ago by emdot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • When, in my wanderings, I find nearly-done rocks, I finish them off so that the next person can use them, just because of this.
    Posted 17 months ago by Edward Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I have brought this up before and no one ever really replied... so I'll propose my idea again.

    I think it would be helpful if rocks could automatically respawn at the rate that they do (last I calculated it was 15 IRL minutes), even if only partially mined... but no one has to have worked on that rock for that time. Meaning...

    If I partially mine a sparkly rock until it's ALMOST gone, and leave a tiny bit, and 15 minutes pass without anyone touching it, it automatically respawns to whole. But if someone comes along 14 minutes later and mines that last little bit, a new one won't respond until 15 minutes. Same would go for almost whole rocks. If someone leaves a lot of it, and no one else comes along in the next 15 minutes to take advantage of what IS there, it could respawn.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 To the automatic respawn.
    I've been complaining about this in game myself, in local and in global chat. I've been cleaning up partials myself. I know when I first started that rarely was the case. Even with a bunch of new beta testers (myself included).
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Could just make the last pick of each give better mining results, boost in a stat (mood, xp, etc.) or favor to the mining god. Adding automatic respawn might have unintended results to the economy.
    Posted 17 months ago by Thunder McGillicuty Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Thunder -- the thing is, everything is being reset, anyway, so there isn't any real economy as of yet. The economy will be just as new as everything else at launch, which is why, rn, in beta, any change made to the game isn't that big of a deal, speaking from a purely technical perspective. In fact, beta is intended to make any approriate adjustments intended for the "real" game to be as best as possible.

    I do like the "last mine bonus" idea. I have to say than I'm not sure it would be enough to entice me, though, only because sometimes I leave rocks partially mined when my bag is completely full to capacity. Any boost from that last mine would probably be negated by the energy it required to get there in addition to the wear on my pick and the energy required to repair it.
    Posted 17 months ago by Cerulean Subscriber! | Permalink
  • +1 last mine bonus!
    Posted 17 months ago by emdot Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Yep, I make a point of always clearing up the nubs. 
    Posted 17 months ago by Gloopy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think that a known bonus for the last pick will actually alter the behavior we want fixed, when just a respawn people will still act the same. The results might end up being the same but miners might actually leave with a more satiated feeling knowing they have gotten a bonus.
    Posted 17 months ago by Thunder McGillicuty Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Just mine the rest of the rock and wait for it to respawn... Not a BFD.
    Posted 17 months ago by Mr. Dawgg Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Wow, I though I was the only one that clear out PMO (Partially Mined Ore). Once I start ore, I keep going til it's gone. 
    Posted 17 months ago by Some_Random_Guy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Mr. Dawwg, that's up to a 15 minute wait for a respawn. Can be a pretty big deal right now when up time is so limited. But you are right that cleaning up is usually pretty trivial. It's just been unusually frequent lately which is what caused someone to start this thread.
    Posted 17 months ago by Fokian Fool Subscriber! | Permalink
  • If two people get the nib together, they both get a bonus :)
    Posted 17 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Stoot - What is your opinion on the auto-respawn idea presented by Cerulean?
    Posted 17 months ago by Edward Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't think I've ever left a nub, I'm too OC, lol. I've often finished them off tho, if I'm not in a rush to do something else. I don't see any use getting upset over it, could be newbies or some other reason. But it is kinda sad if someone knows its a problem and does it anyway. Energy is pretty easy to get once you're at a decent level.
    Posted 17 months ago by Phoebe Springback Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Edward — I like there to be some things which require co-operation for best results. The game is plenty easy already :)
    Posted 17 months ago by stoot barfield Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Understandably it isn't very well explained in the game itself that rocks are best depleted, going against what new players have been taught from harvesting.

    As a new player, I'm going to re-emphasize this, because I think it got lost. This is *very* counterintuititive, not just as compared to other games, but particularly when other resources in the SAME game work the opposite way -- finite resources over time. How are new players expected to know/learn this? (I don't see myself suddenly having an epiphany... I wouldn't know this, and would still be leaving partially-mined rocks, if I hadn't seen this thread.)

    Add a note to the tutorial quest?
    Posted 17 months ago by EnnuiStreet Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Agreed EnnuiStreet

    As a new-ish player I assumed it was more polite to not deplete the rocks, until I saw a note someone left by all the rocks one day.
    Posted 17 months ago by crowdedsky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • very nice b-bandit.  we should be able to hang that video in lots of places in the game!
    Posted 17 months ago by little peep Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am another one who tidies up unfinished rocks.  It's practically a compulsion. 
    Posted 17 months ago by jasbo Subscriber! | Permalink
  • To add on to what EnnuiStreet noted…the last test was my first time playing, and I initially assumed that the courteous and most game-environmentally-friendly action was to not deplete the rock entirely (and I don't even play that many games that use this mechanism).

    Another option (in addition to or instead of informing new players about 100% depletion through the tutorial) might be to have a quest that requires players deplete 5 or 10 rocks, with some flavour text about how it helps them grow.
    Posted 17 months ago by Venn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I dont know if this has been covered allready but as a new "Bliss Rat" (someone who mines in Ajaya Bliss until their eyes pop out!) I did find it bizarre that i was constantly getting +12 experience for the repetitive task of mining rock.  I don't want to kill anyone's leveling up but it is kinda weird that the same task keeps giving you +12 points - I mean it is basically hitting a rock with the piece of metal, what more is there to experience after you've done it a few times?
    Also - people who leave rock stumps should be boiled in Rook's vomit - other than that i have no strong view of the matter x.x
    Posted 17 months ago by Albus Rookslayer Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @ Stoot:  I only seem to get an extra chunk when someone helps me mine, and not when I help them mine.  Is that the expected behavior?
    Posted 17 months ago by larky lion Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Funny, I tend to clean up the nubs...almost seems like I do get a really good gem when I do...maybe it's just random, but I like to think somehow it's from doing that good deed...

    However, we continue to discuss this...yes, it's an issue of some folks thinking it is more courteous to leave some behind than mine the whole thing (I did that too when I first started).  However, as I started looking through the forums, I learned that rocks don't respawn unless fully mined...challenge is, not everyone reads the forums or strategy pages, etc...so it would be helpful to include this information somehow in game...think a quest would be good since you need to get skills before you can mine, so might not be applicable for the starter tutorial. 
    Posted 17 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Indiana, I disagree--if you compare it to real life, people who work jobs get more experience working a job the longer they work.  Consider a real-life miner who has spent one week on the job compared to a miner who has worked one year... you wouldn't say they have the same amount of experience because once you've hit a rock once you've done it a hundred times, would you?  Whenever you do something, even if you've done it before, you gain more experience. 
    Posted 17 months ago by Kross, the Empress Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Good point Kross...
    Posted 16 months ago by b3achy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I always finish partially mined rocks and am amazed how many gems I've earned with just a few strikes. And it makes 'em read for the next miner.
    Posted 16 months ago by MeherMan Subscriber! | Permalink