Goonhub
05-29-2024, 06:06 AM
While I agree that certain minings tools are used an overwhelming amount compared to others, that is the case because there is no reason to use other tools over them, and I think that's the real issue here, there not being enough depth to mining where you /have/ to use different tools for different purposes.
Mining is already an extremely straightforward job that gets fairly repetitive, the current variety of tools, while not necessary, provide some variety to those seeking it, even if a bohrum pickaxe will do the job better. I think streamlining its gameplay even further through simplifying tool choice would just make it more repetitive and tedious, people would likely just find a module they like and stick to it every time, as they do now, but there would be less options for the people that /did/ want to try other things. It also just feels like it waters down the fantasy of being a miner. There's something very cool about the mental image of swinging a high-tech pickaxe or a giant hammer, toiling away in hard physical labor as a QM shouts at you over comms to work harder while sitting in their cushy chair. The choice of having miners use a pickaxe instead of some other more high tech tool in the first place feels very deliberate, for that very reason. A drill just doesn't hit the same, in my opinion.
It also just feels kind of antithetical to the design of SS13 to me. This is game of depth and having countless choices on how to tackle something, most of which are usually redundant, and often confusing, but the sheer amount of how much there is to it is part of this game's appeal. In most games, streamlining something like this would be the obvious call, but in this game, I think we should be looking at adding more complexity, not removing it.
As someone who spends a lot of time in the role, I'd much rather keep all the tools and have the difference between them not only be more pronounced, but have it be outright necessary to use different tools for different ore. Perhaps Erebite can only be safely extracted with the precision mining of a blaster, while the hammer swings very slowly, but is able to break ores that the pick just cannot, and so on. I think that could also lead to some fun coordination between miners where each person could focus on one of the tool types and they could split up responsibilities over different types of ore.
Mining is already an extremely straightforward job that gets fairly repetitive, the current variety of tools, while not necessary, provide some variety to those seeking it, even if a bohrum pickaxe will do the job better. I think streamlining its gameplay even further through simplifying tool choice would just make it more repetitive and tedious, people would likely just find a module they like and stick to it every time, as they do now, but there would be less options for the people that /did/ want to try other things. It also just feels like it waters down the fantasy of being a miner. There's something very cool about the mental image of swinging a high-tech pickaxe or a giant hammer, toiling away in hard physical labor as a QM shouts at you over comms to work harder while sitting in their cushy chair. The choice of having miners use a pickaxe instead of some other more high tech tool in the first place feels very deliberate, for that very reason. A drill just doesn't hit the same, in my opinion.
It also just feels kind of antithetical to the design of SS13 to me. This is game of depth and having countless choices on how to tackle something, most of which are usually redundant, and often confusing, but the sheer amount of how much there is to it is part of this game's appeal. In most games, streamlining something like this would be the obvious call, but in this game, I think we should be looking at adding more complexity, not removing it.
As someone who spends a lot of time in the role, I'd much rather keep all the tools and have the difference between them not only be more pronounced, but have it be outright necessary to use different tools for different ore. Perhaps Erebite can only be safely extracted with the precision mining of a blaster, while the hammer swings very slowly, but is able to break ores that the pick just cannot, and so on. I think that could also lead to some fun coordination between miners where each person could focus on one of the tool types and they could split up responsibilities over different types of ore.