Topic

Why do people leave mining stubs?

Quite often, I see mining spots with only one or two uses left on them.  Half the time when I see other people mining, they leave as soon as the spot gets to a nub.  My question is, why?  I can think of a few possible explanations, some of which are clearly false, some of which I don't know.
(1) If you completely clear a spot, it won't grow back, a la wood trees. (false)
(2) If you leave a little left, when it comes back, it will come back bigger (???)
(3) There is a quest to finish off nubs, and this is done to make it easier for the people who need to do the quest (true, but pointless).
(4) The last few mines of a spot give less material/lower change of gems (???)

Are any of these the reason?   Does it have something to do with how things were in the beta?  Would I be doing a service by leaving nubs for people?

Posted 14 months ago by Pazza Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

  • It might be because a few people were mining together and left it once it got low so they wouldn't get a reduced amount of ore for their energy use if it ran out before they finished their action.
    Posted 14 months ago by Puppydog Jones Subscriber! | Permalink
  • It's interesting that you should raise this. It's frustrated other folks many times in the past because of one other important feature of rocks: it will only regenerate if it's been mined away completely.

    So by leaving the nub there, the mining Glitch is actually messing things up. If you see a nub left then please help out by finishing it off.

    (And no, I've no idea why people leave the nubs around so often)
    Posted 14 months ago by Snazzlefrazz Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Question: If it will only regrow if it is mined completely, why were we told that the "huge" rocks were caused by people mining them fully?

    That would mean that every rock would either be a huge rock, or be missing a piece of rock already. I know that that is not true, so that implies that they now do grow back regardless of whether they have been fully removed or not.
    Posted 14 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I thought I read that the big rocks happened randomly?  There was no way to predict if you were going to get a normal sized one or a big one.

    Either way, Pazza, just mine the stubs. I dont like seeing stubs either, so I make a point to mine them.  I can accumulate quite a bit of rock doing this if I keep at it as I go walkabout in the game.
    Posted 14 months ago by Feylin Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Biohazard - yeah, that's not the case: rocks that aren't mined fully don't regenerate. At all. Mining a rock fully doesn't automatically make it a huuuge rock, but leaving a stub still ensures that it will sit there till somebody else gets stuck with it.
    Posted 14 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I just distinctly recall it being said that huge rocks are caused by fully mining.

    I know that the stubs didn't used to regenerate, I was just assuming that had changed due to the explanation for huge rocks....
    Posted 14 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am an obsessive nub-miner, because I know they must be mined completely in order to regenerate. But, this misunderstanding (I don't think it's willful mischief or anything) has been around as long as i've been playing, and I do think that nubs are left as nubs predominantly for these reasons: 1) players run out of space/energy/need & therefore stop or 2) players THINK if you mine it down to nothing out won't regenerate because when you do that with crops & wood trees they don't grow back (then again dirt, peat, barnacles, jellies, & non-wood trees do, so...)

    I think there could be a little more guidance our education on this, maybe during the first mining quest.
    Posted 14 months ago by Gloopy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • No, I think there was some sort of special condition (whether that was collective mining or what I don't know, but there was more to it). All I know as far as respawns is what I've seen since.
    Posted 14 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Well, stubs almost never last long around me, so I have never had the chance to actually check if they respawn, so I will trust someone who has.


    I figured out late last night that it couldn't be just whether or not it was mined that makes it huge, by staying in one place for an extended period of time.
    Maybe the way they implemented something regarding group mining is by basing it on time? Take how long it would take one person at mining 4 to fully mine a rock, take some time away, voila! Teamwork-inspired hugeness!
    But then, not every rock that pops up in Ajaya is huge, so it must be an "If this Then __% chance of That" type of thing.
    Posted 14 months ago by Biohazard Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Seemed like it had something to do with how many people mined a rock at once... I know there's some sort of condition in place where, if too many people mine a rock, the rock takes longer to come back. Something like that. I'll look through the forums to see if I can come up with the original thread about it.
    Posted 14 months ago by Djabriil Subscriber! | Permalink
  • They only regrow if the spot is mined completely.  Sometimes they regrow as "huge" and sometimes they regrow as regular.  I've had both beryl and sparkly come back as "huge" after I mined regular rocks down to the ground. 

    I don't have any idea what percentage of the time they spawn as huge as opposed to regular, and it would be pretty hard to figure out whether more than one person mining them down affected that percentage.
    Posted 14 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I'm guessing it's because if you're last to click on the last bit of a nub, then when it vanishes and everyone you were mining with buggers off to the next one, you have to sit there watching your glitch mining empty air 'til done, which, even if it makes no difference to yield, psychologically seems like it *might* mean you only get half a go's worth or something?
    Posted 14 months ago by Richard Head Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Or perhaps it's the mass tree-killers' mentality - a deliberate ploy to prevent regeneration on the basis that they feel they can only be doing well if other people are doing badly.
    Posted 14 months ago by Richard Head Subscriber! | Permalink
  • More often than not the stubs are left by newer players.  Once their bags/slots are full they just move on not wanting to expend energy to mine something they can't take with them.  And they more than likely aren't aware that stubs don't regenerate. I just mine the stubs I see.
    Posted 14 months ago by Violet Faulds Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I just came across a metal rock that had a couple hits left so I stopped to finish it off so that it could regenerate and I got a nice Ruby from it :D So neener neener to the person who left it :p
    Posted 14 months ago by PittyPat is sad Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I get a perverse satisfaction from taking that last lump, I always fancy it more likely to bless me with a gem
    Posted 14 months ago by xLIFEx Subscriber! | Permalink