Alright, I think that mines should have the their radar profile reduced to about 350-400 meters instead of the 3000ish that there is now. I think that since mines are small and don't move, unlike missels and flares, they should be harder to detect. Also it ruins the point of having a mine if everyone can see it from 3000M off, espically if you are a trader running from pirates or likewise.

suggestions or comments?

yes.

A suggestion so obvious no one had ever thought of it before XD

[Stamp of Approval]

Yep.
[I APPROVE]

Yes, please.

hmmm... I forsee even more station mining issues unless the Lmine/NFZ issue is resolved first.

Assuming that number of mines per tube, damage per mine, and level requirements for these weapons are all balanced having incorporated the current radar signature and dodgablity... it would all have to get reworked.

If you're chasing close at high speed, the current design works fine. If someone's further away and you're deploying mines, you're using them wrong.

Maybe some new set of mines and launchers could be deployed, not for trader self-defense but for military application. These mines could have longer life and reduced radar signature but be less useful for trade ships.

Basically: No. This will unbalance mines in the favor of the prey.

A "no" by Lecter is even more endorsement for this to go through. But yes, the NFZ issue with mines has to be fixed first.

Maybe if they set off the proximity warning and could be targeted.

Care to explain why the balance issues I point out aren't relevant, Jex?

"Maybe some new set of mines and launchers could be deployed, not for trader self-defense but for military application. These mines could have longer life and reduced radar signature but be less useful for trade ships."

How would you make them less useful for trade ships?

EDIT: oh, how about this?:
http://www.vendetta-online.com/x/msgboard/3/13861

Yay search function....

One could make them too heavy for use by anything other than a dedicated mine-layer, or too combat license oriented to obtain (not much of an issue given the lack of pilot specialization atm), or play with the cost per mine or per launcher. Of these, my favorite would be the mass factor. Even better, Incarnate's hard-point system could make military mines incompatible with trade ships.

My point still is that traders don't need better defensive mines; at the moment, mines are well balanced for that use. If they're consequently ill suited for other uses, we need different mines.

I don't want to imply that the developers are lazy, but I ask which is more difficult: creating new mines for different applications or modifying the radar?

I don't want to imply that you're a non-responsive moron, but which is more likely to fuck up a balanced weapon: creating new mines for a new task, or just altering the stats of the old ones?

P.S. Get one of your ITG drones back in game, please. It's been waaay more than 3 weeks and I'd like my doubled credits.

How about some that home, 'cause homing mines are are always that big sci-fi "Oh shit" point. With a decreased radar profile, they could potentially nasty, as you fly by, and find yourself being trailed by a homing mine that's gonna 'splode and send you spinning.

"but which is more likely to fuck up a balanced weapon: creating new mines for a new task, or just altering the stats of the old ones?"

Need I remind you of the enormous stink you made when the devs introduced Hive Positrons?

I thought they were great. You're thinking of Corvus Widow-makers, which I detested for non-balance reasons. Besides, what do my past positions on other matters have to do with the cogency or non-cogency of my balance concerns vis-a-vis mines and their radar signature?

We have a memory?

Nope.

"You fool. What you fail to realize is that without your armor my ship will tear through yours like tissue paper."

"Yeah. Well what you fail to realize is... I'm dragging mines."