Cruiser Command

Ok.. Had another idea that might be able to be useful. Cargo never goes perfectly straight to BC so you make say.. Mine layer a ship that needs to catch them and then send them the rest of the way. Once they get in say.. A range of 12 of BC they slow down significantly, allowing for the mine layer to catch them. (Btw, mine layer would have to be added to starting ships if this is added..)

Main thing is that cargo is in space and then don't have the advanced stuff that normal ships do.

refining bot wouldnt be able to handle this and would require a player on a ship, in 5v5's a player would need to be dedicated mine layer and the amount of small ship demand on even a team of 6 would leave the bc hurting for manpower, whatever happens must still be on deck, must require the almost full attention of the refining player, so they can also aid with the other many responsibilities of running a battle cruiser.

Ok.. Similar concept but using a tractor beam from the BC? Bots should be able to do that with the new bot on weapons system coming.

tractor beam costs 100 yellow 100 red 20 green, can you spare those minerals just to recieve nearby minerals? and if it comes defaulted onto the bc a rush would be much more difficult to escape and any wraith and corvette that comes near the bc will regret it even more xD

the best solution is to change refining from a non stop hike across the map to a type of function that requires attention, i think the best solution would be a console with some sort of activity to do on it to do the refining process, one thats not insanely boring, maybe if you do it right and quickly you speed up the refining process, something with timing and smarts behind it. i personally dont mind refining as is, its just another task to be done on the bc to me. But if the majority of players want it changed, which it appears to be so we could brainstorm an idea together here.

how about this, the bc has a conveyor belt to the refining bay from recieving that takes minerals on its own, but slowly, slow the point where minerals will build up. A player can acess a console in the hangar bay that can drastically speed up the conveyor speed by doing a type of activity on it, idk what because idk what is even possible and not a pain in the ass to make happen on the editor.

Haha, oh tempest... Free smaller tractor beam specifically for recieving minerals, durrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

should try to find a solution utilizing the refining space id think, but a small tractor beam wouldnt be too bad i suppose... except they are destructable and would float around the bc, if the bc was in motion packages would be left behind and minerals lost

Just going to say this once:

Making refining into a complex, time consuming job that requires the addition of more hardware on BC would be a mistake. Turning refinery into a console - the idea has potential. However, I don't want to see refining become something that anyone has to be constantly handling throughout the game. Yes, it is a tedious task that requires minimal effort/intelligence to complete; still, it is a rewarding task and the whole team knows when its been done (resource monitor).

Ask yourselves this: Do we really want to make an already challenging game that much more difficult for newcomers?

I'd like some input from someone other than Tempest/DumbMarine from the 'Pro' department. Personally, I've been around far longer than most and still get a rush from trying to balance out the timing and motion of the many tasks that are required on the BC -including refining. Make that into something of it's own full-time job (like nav and upgrades are after a certain point) and the entire team dynamic will change.

Perhaps removing the refinery altogether will be the eventual consensus, but it doesn't have my vote. I say it works, so don't fix it.

i love refining as it is xD

refining is fine, (although the pad should be closer in my opinion like the old CC)