instead of all the beams just sending the minerals strait to the cargo hold, why not make it so that only lvl 6 + mining beams did that. and all the others just sent them about 10m from the roid?

i know it would cause more-load on the server, but it could pave the way from retrieval technology.

we don't need to do change the names much, other then add auto in the title of lvl7+ beams, and when a person reaches lvl 7 thats all they can bye

how about having to do it the hard way at first with robotic arms and drilling equipment, then as you get higher you get the mining beams. Don't need to clutter the server with the crates and give more variety. Would also be cool to see little arms working away on a rock.

While little arms are nice, you really need to be realistic john. That sort of thing would require ages to develop, both from a code and a graphical standpoint, and would add little value. Why not just reduce the range on the early mining beams to 10m? Same effect, less time wasted. As to Knight's suggestion, I am inclined to disagree simply because it adds nothing signifigant to the game.

I would like to have some way to filter out minerals. Often When I'm mining I just simple have to continualy jettison the cargo from my hold, in addition often I have to be moving constantly to prevent the cargo from being picked back up. Thus I would like some way to decide that I have no intrest in collecting carbonic ore, and that there should be some additional code to prevent the cargo from being picked back up.

That makes it too easy Dark. There's already enough auto-miners.

@roguelazer
I understand that a lot of things that are suggested are of "little value" as far as game play, but it's the little things that really make games come to life. Sure the arms are kind of tedious to develope, and I'm not calling for them to be made right away. But, it's not like it would hurt the game if they were in, and might actaully add a little diversity to the game. =)

@Dark_Phoenix
Perhaps a filter could be equiped in an open small or large port that would auto jettison crates that do not meet your mining criteria. But that would severly limit your choice of mining ships. Or it could be built into a higher end model of mining beams.
It is quite annoying that the command to jettison crates often just puts it right back in your cargo hold, perhaps a greater distance in the jettison command could be added. OR, give it a small boost and let it breifly fly away from your ship before coming to a stop.