I'd suggest including some sort of self-defense pod for the pod launcher. Something like the CRM500, but watered down a lot. Use a low ROF on the launcher to make it so that using it as a combat weapon isn't preferable, but you can still defend yourself with it if you have to.

This would also be a cool link to Frontier if this brings back (in name only) the EI Pod Launcher.

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Finally, a mining pod launcher would be a good building block for an illegal weapons system: something designed to evade detection and launch radiological or other 'not very nice' payloads at people. Could be something to give to higher-level outlaw miners to make up for the (terrible) performance of the Hammerhead II in later systems.

EDIT: Also, please have a discouragement or 'masking' system to allow the player to slow down or prevent continuous outlaw interference.....if you kill enough of them, they need to stop coming. Otherwise they're either free XP and credits, or a new version of the salvager nomad.

@the_shrike: You know, I'm probably going to get rid of the launcher and have each of the pods be usable items. The advantage is that you won't need yet another piece of equipment for mining.

I do like your illegal weapons system idea, but I wonder if we can make that orthogonal (i.e., tied to the NAMI launcher or something). Or perhaps the Black Market has its own launcher line.

Love it. Love everything about it. It's enough that mining would be viable without making it necessary or 'grindy', effectively adding an additional playstyle to the game.

Mining with both a launcher and laser is only viable for the Sapphire and Osaka. I think. I don't remember what the slot limits for that one boxy ship from EP are.

To really be freighter practical mining needs to be done entirely with non-weapon slots. Or to be doable with combat valid weapons.

The only AI mining doesn't use weapons. It docks to asteroids and sits. Allowing the mining hold to do this without any weapons and using a scanner or pod servicing module that is also a non-weapon device would work well.

Another thought is to get rid of mining weapons and make WMD cause ore to be removed from asteroids and ore objects to be spawned but with ore objects spawning only if the player ship is nearby and has a mining scanner operating.

I think it's reasonable to expect mining to require some specialized equipment. But I agree that requiring a launcher slot is problematic, especially if you also want a mining laser to extract the remaining fraction after an excavation pod, and especially for the EI500. Perhaps the pods could be used from the cargo hold?

One thing that bothers me about this- what exactly distinguishes the player from an illegal miner? If you have this grade of equipment and are ripping through asteroids, why aren't the local CW mining stations hiring mercs to get rid of you, instead of hiring you to get rid of indistinguishable other claim jumpers?

I always had this (completely unsupported) idea that beetling around with a mining laser, while occasionally getting lucky with a surface strike, is a fundamentally amateurish approach. The mining stations (CW or Illegal), on the other hand, being where the professionals have set up to systematically grind through a promising rock for industrial quantities of ores.

@kaypy: I have two alternatives:

1. The cost of the mining pods (and maybe other mining equipment) includes a license fee.
2. Another alternative is to introduce the concept of a Miner's Guild (or something) and require the player to join it before they can sell more than a certain amount of ore.

In my old mission framework I created an "EM Thumper" this was a cargo item you could deploy by using it. This created an auton moving at the same velocity as the ship which would drift until the player detonated it using the communications menu. Detonation was an XM900 thermo blast combined with a large, but weak, ion/emp shockwave and ore bearing asteroids were marked. The thumper could be used as a weapon but the inconvenience of aim the ship, deploy thumper, stop ship, wait, then detonate meant it wasn’t overpowered.

Some of other plans I had, but never tried were:
1) The default thumper should have some kind of safety feature so it would not detonate if any stations are in range.
2) An illegal ROM could be used to modify the thumpers to remove the safety feature / add proximity detonation to turn it into a mine.
3) A utility launcher for the thumpers and other devices (sensor pods?). This would not be needed, but would be convenient if the player did a lot of mining (or had the ROM). In order to make the launcher a bit more useful it would be possible to fire almost any type of cargo with the launcher (player would [U]se the launcher and select cargo to use as ammo). Most cargo would result in an effect similar to the Morning star or ballista cannon, but special effects would occur for radioactive waste (similar to Actinide cannon), degenerating nano, acid, meteorsteel etc.
4) Mining license. The player would be able to buy a license from mining stations. I did not work out penalties for mining without a license, but maybe the player needs a license to purchase thumpers or a mining hold from commonwealth and corporate stations. Or mining stations will buy ore from licensed players making it easier to sell.
5) A thumper as an installable device. This version would only cause the ion/emp shockwave so it could be used a defense against low level ships.

@giantcabbage: I like the idea of using the communications menu. It solves one of the problems I had with my design (how to delay triggering it).

@george moromisato on 6/10: Purchasing as licensing only works if you buy the equipment (as opposed to scavenging). Installation as licensing could work- maybe you could even get things installed on the cheap at less law-abiding venues...

An explicit membership (purchased or maybe as a reward for mining missions) would be more nicely obvious though.

Also on the topic of mining, equipment can be scavenged fairly easily and costs very little. A miner's guild is interesting, but I doubt that the CW would tolerate it. A private organization enforcing a monopoly by force would be regarded as criminal.

I'd support the idea that the player's only scratching the surface with their mining, and that the amount of ore extracted by professionals is much greater. An alternative explanation is that the Outlaws are opposed for their connections to other illegal organizations, explaining why non - mining stations shoot them on sight.

@johnbwatson: I was thinking that a miners guild would have special arrangements (laws and treaties) with the Commonwealth. This is not too different from labor unions today, which have special legal arrangements. It's also similar to government-granted monopolies, which have a long history, such as India Trading Company, or even a flag carrier like Air France.

Still, I think your other two explanations also make a lot of sense.