Topic

I hate to rub salt in the wounds!

I will admit something here that I usually dare not in public.

I like to mine alone.

I know! I know! I am a horrible horrible person and an even worse glitch! It's just that the only times I mine I want to make a few extra currants/XP/FP really quickly! THE SHAME. THE HORROR. I think a lot of people think that co-op mining benefits ALL, and is a cup of freaking sunshine for everyone ,but in truth, since I have mining VI and get high yields... whenever someone mines with me I get considerably less sparkly. I know most will disagree with this but it is TRUE!

So I avoided Neva Neva and AB where mining newbs* and experts do not get rewarded based on merit but on who can click first (infact the "newbs"* are rewarded disproportionately higher than others) .As everyone in Forum suggested, I started going to less used streets in the deeps (wasting valuable impervious miner time walking from rock to rock, street to street).

However it seems no matter how far in the deeps or Callopee or WHEREVER I go I always have someone helping.WHICH IS GREAT ON PAPER.But, when there is a rock right next to me I wish there was a way to let my fellow glitchen know that I would prefer to mine alone if at all possible.

Maybe we can all decide if you see someone mining buttnekkid with darkskin and no ears that means they are feeling like breaking away from the pack and become a lone wolf for a while? Ideas? Thoughts? 

*By newbs I in know way mean to demean someone!It is just a way to explain someone who has limited mining skills as opposed to Mining VI.

Posted 13 months ago by Sperkle Subscriber! | Permalink

Replies

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  • I don't see the upside of people mining in groups unless you're feeding your cubimal habit and need the currents. The only time I mine is when I need elements and for the most part grind everything down.  Solo on one huge sparkly I've gotten 153, with a group I doubt I'd have even gotten 40-50. 
    I'm just now learning mining IV so having a few people run up who have it already and rip the rock apart I was working on finally got to me.
    Posted 13 months ago by BlackWolf Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh, I was confused since the end of your post does reference the locked off areas. I thought the whole post was talking about that. Sorry.

    I think when I say "sharing is necessary" I don't mean that nobody should go looking for places they can mine alone if they want to. It's more along the lines of "everyone who wants to mine in high traffic mining areas should learn to deal with sharing".
    Posted 13 months ago by Demyx Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I agree Demyx however there are some here in this forum that is saying we AVOID places that are the high traffic areas. I myself avoid the high traffic areas and the busy times of the day to mine because I prefer mining alone along with what others are saying. Now am I rude to someone that comes over and helps? Not at all! But I will usually not say a thing and move away for awhile or log off for awhile until it gets quiet again.

    I really wish there was a way to advertise we would like to mine alone... especially if we have gone out of our way to find a quiet corner somewhere! However that also may give someone a reason to grief us loners too! Advertising can bring two things.. those that respect the fact you like to be alone or someone that would purposely grief us because we are saying we want to be left alone... so yeah, could be a double edged sword.
    Posted 13 months ago by Casombra Amberrose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • This might all change in the hopefully near future when more regions open up and there's more rocks to mine.
    Posted 13 months ago by BlackWolf Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Thank you for finishing the song, Warrender.  :)  Glad someone here had the taste and saw the obvious.
    Posted 13 months ago by Zauberberg Subscriber! | Permalink
  • @Zauberberg:Believe it or not, I never even saw your post until now.  I just thought it was just too obvious and couldn't pass up the opportunity.  Surprised this guy didn't chime in:

    www.glitch.com/profiles/PUV...

    I saw him ingame the first week of my playing Glitch and i just had to chuckle at the name.
    Posted 13 months ago by Warrender Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I like to mine alone too. 
    Posted 13 months ago by Eye Wonder Subscriber! | Permalink
  • While I understand where you're coming from, you really don't have a leg to stand on when it comes to asking people not to share a rock with you. The rocks are there to be shared. You don't have any rights to one rock in particular, even if you prefer it that way. It's like expecting the other cars on the highway to stay out of your lane.
    Posted 13 months ago by ༺Lhyzz༻ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • i like to mine alone and that's my prerogative!  if you don't like the way i drive, stay off the sidewalks!
    Posted 13 months ago by little peep Subscriber! | Permalink
  • When I want to mine alone - I just buy sparkly from the auction.  Otherwise any rock anywhere anytime is for all of us.
    Posted 13 months ago by snarkle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I will mine whatever rock I want, whenever I want. If you're there, so be it. If you join after I begin, so be it. If you want to leave, fine. They are public resources, like the trees and the pigs, but due to the way they deplete and due to the spawn times, you can't expect to have it to yourself. If you get it that way just enjoy it.
    Posted 13 months ago by Billy McBinky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I am a bit confused here. If you will see what I have posted it was not saying I am rude or telling anyone NOT to mine on the rock I am mining. I have said I PREFER to mine alone but not once have I ever been rude to anyone that comes along and starts mining on the same rock I am on or tell anyone to stop mining the rock I am on. If the rock is nearly done I continue mining it, if the rock has just been started I tend to walk away and let the person that jumped on it too have it. So I am rather confused who your talking to Billy. I really haven't seen anyone that prefers solo mining saying anything rude in this thread yet.

    I also time it when I go out and mine and chose quiet areas. I live in New Zealand so I can pretty much find a time when most US players are logged off. If I hit a street and there are other players on it I go elsewhere to another street. I actually go out of my way to avoid other players when I am mining and I am not hurting anyone doing it.
    Posted 13 months ago by Casombra Amberrose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I just run around, find a rock, mine it. It is that simple. And if there are 20 other people mining the rock...well...it is done fast and I am on to the next.
    Posted 13 months ago by phelps.mike Subscriber! | Permalink
  • The post and most of the pro-solo-mining comments seem to be a bit whiny. Yeah, I can understand wanting to play a certain way, but it's unreasonable to expect that you will always have rocks to yourself or that people will ask your permission to mine a rock (and why should they?). Mining, unlike trees and animals, is a form of harvesting where everyone needs to grab whatever is available when it is available. When I'm just wandering and gathering and exploring and mining rocks of chance, it's no big deal, but when I'm mining with a purpose, whether it is for powder, donation, or currants, I'm on the rocks ASAP.

    Odd, really. I can see the benefits to solo mining, especially now that I have Mining IV, but I'm always considered mining a fairly social activity and have met some good in-game friends doing so. I think of tree and animal harvesting as a solo activity (whether in my garden or out in the world). And, frankly, with the right skills, harvesting livestock pays better than mining.
    Posted 13 months ago by Billy McBinky Subscriber! | Permalink
  • if you want your own rock....buy a pick, go to your back yard...and hit a rock...(in real life ;) )

    now, if someone shows up with a pick...you are well within your means to wack them lol
    Posted 13 months ago by phelps.mike Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Your post seems a bit whiney to me, Billy.  Just sayin'.

    And if I've detected any little tiny hint of a snotty attitude it is in the sarcastic comments made 'against' people who say they choose to mine alone.  Things like 'stay off the sidewalk.'  Now is it necessary to veil the real meaning of your comments so cleverly?
    Posted 13 months ago by Parrow Gnolle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Glitch is a cooperative game that rewards cooperative and group activities. This is evidenced by a lot of quests and badges requiring help from others / cooperative / sharing / giving behavior(s) and the bonuses you get for mining with someone else or a group.

    Sometimes I am in a grouchy mood and don't want to chat or hang out with my Glitchen friends. At these times, I stay away from chat and IMs, harvest trees and animals, and stay away from the mines so I do not accidentally inflict my sour mood and desire for solitary game activity on other innocent people.

    In other words, I know what it is like to just want to do something solo now and then, but since Glitch is about interacting with others and sharing resources, I suck it up if someone decides to pet / water / harvest the same tree or animal (even if that means I don't get a chance to water or pet myself), jump for the same bonus quoins / coins or mine the same rock. My desire to keep myself to myself does not trump the overall pro-cooperation style of the game or other people's rights to play the game THEIR way.
    Posted 13 months ago by ✰ Lorelei ✰ Subscriber! | Permalink
  • What I find irritating are the people who seem to not "get" common mining courtesy. If you're going to mine the same rock as me, and it's just the two of us, can you PLEASE at least do it on the OTHER side of the rock? My irritation level goes up exponentially when one of these players will end up mining for the same type of rocks as me and we end up "stuck" to each other for any period of time, and more often than not they keep doing it. I get that it's probably unintentional, and newer players (or just people who don't care) may simply not understand it's an annoyance, but it drives me up the darn wall. 

    Also, in response to the OP: I wish I had Mining 6 ;)
    Posted 13 months ago by Chuck Stone Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Chuck Stone, that might be your cross to bear. I have never, not once, thought about which side of the rock I was mining from. I understand it may be a pet peeve, but it's not an established Rule of Glitch Politeness. As far as I can tell, there's a 50/50 chance I'll wind up on either side of the rock due to automatic Glitch positioning after I start mining.

    (Where is Glitch Manners when you need her?)
    Posted 13 months ago by Knitomaton Subscriber! | Permalink
  • You mine from the side of the rock you're standing on when you select to mine. If you're closer to the left, you'll move to the left side. If you're right of center, you'll move to the right. As a keyboard user (what power-Glitchian isn't? :)) it bugs me that people stand on top of me which causes me extra keystrokes every time I want to mine the same rock again, since you first now have to get through the "what did you want to interact with, the rock or the person?" popup. That's the only reason I find it "discourteous"
    Posted 13 months ago by Chuck Stone Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Chuck, the TS software positions the players.  If that really bothers you, it's going to be up to you to make the extra effort to change positions, not the players who are satisfied with how the software works.  
    Posted 13 months ago by WindBorn Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Chuck you can just double click on your pick in your inventory and that way nothing interferes.
    Posted 13 months ago by Casombra Amberrose Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Chuck, if there is another miner on the same side of the rock, all it takes is three quick presses of the Enter key. However, using the Enter key does not work well, no matter where other miners are standing, if there are batterfies or a tombstone in the same area as the rock. For this reason, some miners use the mouse and double click on the pick to mine, even though they'd prefer to use the keyboard.

    When a miner uses mouse double click, the software sometimes positions the miner so that the next time they double click on the pick they get an error message, even though the rock is highlighted and it is the software that positioned them.  In this case, the only way to continue using the mouse double click is to move to the other side of the rock. This problem with double clicking (aka "use") has been noted before and bug reports have been filed.
    Posted 13 months ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I don't go out with the intention of mining alone OR the intention of mining in a group.

    When I go out with the intention of mining, I hike over to Callopee and basically get to it with the first sparkly rock I see. Sometimes I have it all to myself. Sometimes another Glitch is already there. Sometimes another Glitch joins me. Who cares?

    At peak times it can be a bit frustrating to wander around zone after zone after zone, seeing nothing but Dullite, chickens, and empty spaces where you're sure a rock will spawn but you don't really want to hang around watching the energy bar tick down.

    With that in mind, buggered if I'm going to also regard the rocks that have someone already mining them as "rocks I'm not allowed to mine" and spend even *more* time and energy wandering from zone to zone to zone not getting any chunks at all. I'd rather Help Mine and get at least *some* chunks. If I wasn't allowed to mine a rock someone else was working on, the "Help Mine" option would have been nixed...

    It's sort of like being on a train. Yes, we'd all like a double seat to ourselves, and if there's plenty of seats available, it's more polite to choose *not* to plonk yourself down next to a stranger. But if there's a lot of people on the train at once, they're allowed to sit down next to you rather than standing around looking wistfully at the seat occupied by your imaginary friend.
    Posted 13 months ago by Batsgirl Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Mining alone doesn't making you a horrible person: I do it in cebrakul all the time unless I'm low on energy. It is just a freaking game for God's sake. All that lovely stuff regenerates.
    Posted 13 months ago by Rook Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I also sometimes enjoy mining alone.  There's nothing wrong with that, as long as you don't expect other players to behave in ways that give you more at their expense or that get both of you less so that you can mine alone.

    (1)  Two miners of the same level come into a room with two sparklies next to each other. If they mine both rocks together they get a bit more than if they each mine one rock alone. In this case, mining alone is worse for both.

    (2) Two miners of different level come into a room with two sparklies next to each other. If they mine both rocks together, the higher level miner gets more than half of each rock. If they each mine one rock alone, they each get the same amount. In this case, mining alone is worse for the higher level miner (provided the higher level miner, who will finish faster, allows the lower level miner to continue mining alone). 

    (3) A level IV miner comes into a room with two sparklies next to each other and begins to mine one of them. A second miner comes into the room. If the second miner joins the first so that they finish the first rock together and then move on to finish the second rock together, the first miner gets more than if the second miner had taken the second rock and each had mined both rocks alone (again, provided that the first miner allows the second miner to continue mining alone). The lower the level of the second miner, the greater the advantage for the level IV first miner. Once again, mining alone is worse for the level IV first miner.

    As a level IV miner, I never have cause to complain if a second miner joins me. If there is only one sparkly rock in the area, I don't expect to get it all for myself if another person shows up. If there are two or more sparklies in the area, I get more if we mine them together than if we mine them alone -- unless I'm not paying attention and get distracted or click on the wrong thing. But if my goal is to get a lot of currants/FP/XP quickly, I will be paying attention. And if my goal is to get a lot of currants/FP/XP quickly, being asked if I mind being helped will slow me down because I have to stop mining in order to respond.

    It works out differently for lower level miners or when there are a large group of miners, but the situation people have been discussing here is when a single level IV miner is joined by just one other miner. In this situation, when there's more than one rock of the type desired, doing the math will show that the level IV miner always comes out ahead by mining together vs. mining alone. I have found this to be true in my own game play, even when playing on an underpowered computer with significant lag.
    Posted 13 months ago by Splendora Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I think the reason people no longer ask before helping someone mine is that it is, in their minds either (best case scenario) helpful or (worst case scenario) harmless.

    So it is something they're probably doing in good faith and as such a gentle "hey there, would it be cool if we mined different rocks?" should clear it up.

    If they don't listen, then it is a faux pas on their end. But I imagine they're reasonable people who just couldn't sense your preferences.

    And coming up with a "code" is not going to reach most players at all. What it would do is create situations where solo miners become indignant that someone isn't following the code--even though a note was left!!!--when really the person just didn't know. Te fact that notes, forums and global chat are 100% optional means informal rules lead to people getting punished for things they have never hear of before.

    ...okay that's off topic. But still. Of you're in a map with a lot of rocks, ask away!
    Posted 13 months ago by Pomegrandy Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Bats girl, great example with the bus thing! I definately dont think it should be something like " Spark L Rock is already mining this rock- go find your own" dialog box that would prevent anyone from mining with me ever. It is simply that I don't want someone feeling like they HAVE to mine with me before they can move on to the next rock. 

    Because there are two schools of mining  that I respect - sometimes I love mining with others, getting involved with the "dance" and chatting in Ajaya and Neva- I was just suggesting that maybe we think about ways to differenciate between the two- Even if it was a user created symbol like...put a "SOLO" in your name when you want to mine solo . Or wear a certaion colored miners cap.
    Posted 13 months ago by Sperkle Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I posted in this thread 12 days ago when it was first created, and I have a story of something that happened to me today, just as an example of what we had been discussing:

    I was making my usual circuit of Ilmenskie caverns, for beryl and sparkly. I entered my favourite street Punar Grota and saw the beryl rocks had spawned in the upper left corner, but I decided to check the sparklies in the bottom right. I was alone on the street and mined the sparklies, then started on my way back towards the beryl.

    At this point someone had also entered the street and started to mine the leftmost beryl. I joined them. They immediately moved to the next rock to the right. I shrugged and finished mining, then joined them again. He again left immediately and moved to the third and final beryl. I finished mine and joined them again. This time they said something like "dont get the hint".   I said "i get the hint just fine" and then I went on the next street, before that person.

    On the next street I mined whatever I found first, then on the next rock I stumbled again on the same person. He said "really dont get the hint" and moved away again. I shrugged and mined.
    This continued for a while (without any further dialogue from either of us) on the next rocks, on the rest of the street and the next street.

    To be clear, I was not following this person around. I was mining the first rock that came into my path, doing exactly what Ive done dozens of times before, no matter if there were other glitches on the streets or not. 
    If my path took me to a beryl and this person was mining another beryl on a ledge above, I would not go out of my way to go straight to that person 'to help', I would mine the rock I first came upon, then join that other person if there was still rock to be mined.
    I was even in front of this person (we were both going to the right on the map) and mining my own rocks, but then I would stumble on them again a bit later. Also, if this is of any importance, we had the same or very similar mining speed.

    So at one point (and dont imagine this went on for hours, only for a few streets), this person apparently decided to do to me what he thought I was doing to him (whaa?). From how determined they had seemed before to mine alone and leave immediately for a new rock when me or someone else joined them, they started to very obviously following me around and mine whatever I stopped to mine.
    I had no problem with that whatsoever, but at one point I remained without energy so I stopped and started a chain meditating and going afk to check on work. He waited a while and then at some point he was gone.
    Posted 12 months ago by Merope Subscriber! | Permalink
  • Oh gosh, I was told that helping meant more rocks for everyone, so every time I saw someone mining, I joined in, even if there were other rocks :/ I'll stop that now I know.
    Posted 12 months ago by Pyrrhocorax Subscriber! | Permalink
  • I prefer to mine alone. I can get more done in a shorter time by myself. My issue is that, as the one who prefers to mine alone, I am the ONLY one who has no choice in the matter. No matter what arguments you have for group mining, or what your calculations show, I would rather mine by myself. Does this make me anti-social? No. In fact, I'm often involved in group chat as I mine. But that is irrelevent, anyway. Why is it more important for the other person to be able to mine every rock in a room than it is for me to get to mine one rock by myself? I don't go to AB or NN and when someone joins me, I move onto another rock. More often than not, I'm followed. If I state that I prefer solo mining, I'm told to find another game because this is a social game. So, apparently those who insist that I will get more by mining with them than alone have more rights than I do. Apparently everyone is entitled to play as they want to play. Oh, except those of us who prefer to mine alone.
    Posted 12 months ago by Audaria Subscriber! | Permalink
  • FWIW, not all those people joining you will be low-level miners.  I have maxed out Mining as well, yet if I see someone working I will move over to the rock they're working on, assuming that we'll move together to the next rock after that's done.

    I hope we can maintain the cooperative nature of the game and break the mold from other games of "hogging resources."  If someone wants to be solo, I'm not sure how they can let others know to leave them alone.  But, I don't think it's realistic to think you can own or reserve a public resource that people expect to exploit cooperatively.

    Maybe you could suggest they provide a way to "grow rocks" on the new properties they're working on to replace the current static houses.
    Posted 12 months ago by Janitch Subscriber! | Permalink
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