I took another look at the asteroid fields last night and tried my hand at mining.
Asteroid Fields: After my second look at the asteroid fields and I think my initial reaction may have been a little harsh. They actually look good, and maybe a little more realistic than 1.0 but I still like look and feel of 1.0 better. They still move around too fast IMHO so if they were slowed down a little I think it would be much better. So that they look more like thay are floating through the vastness of space rather than in a Meteor Storm.
Mining: It took me a few minutes to get the hang of it. That you have to blow big asteroids into little asteroids and blow up little asteriods to have a chance at finding ore. I mined for about 30 - 40 minutes and got 9 Iron Ore and 9 Tungsten Ore. I flew back to Troy and sold it at the Ag Base and netted about 4k creds total. I would guess selling the ore at a refinery would net more cash.
Good: If there are no hostiles in the asteroid field this would be the safest way to get rich. At low speeds asteriod collision is unlikely and if it does happen it's not fatal. I also assume that finding Gems is possible which would net LOTS of creds. Also the venture is all profit (unless you accidentally keep hitting the missle button =P)
Bad: Cool for about 15 minutes then gets kind of mind numbing. But hey its mining =P I could have probably gotten 4k creds in 10 minutes by running a quick patrol or bounty mission. You have to look for the ore. Safe but slow.
Overall: I think it is a good addition. Adds yet another angle to Privateering. For players taking the merchant route and like fishing... this will be GREAT!
Patrol Missions: I started a new mission in the Troy System I was able to make about 200K creds in a couple of hours by taking overlapping patrol missions. Since there are three bases I could take an in-system patrol, jump to another base and take one there and then on to the third. I was able to cycle through almost continuously and the creds just flowed in. Since I had not gotten bad faction with anyone and the chance of Retros or Kilrathi appearing at such an early stage of the game was unlikely I didn't have to fight a single battle. Patrol mission should spawn some hostiles.
