Cruiser Command

A couple of people have noticed that the value of kerm has dropped massively since the last patch - specifically, the one that removed refinery upgrades. Now all you need to do is mine the high-speed flying asteroids to get all the greens you need for the rest of the game: the kermiculite field spawns are just a nice place to farm newbie miners.

This is largely because so few things need lots of kerm. It's said to be for 'late game tech' but the only 'late game tech' that I can think of are mass reps (which need a pitifully small quantity), Merculite missiles and the BC shield/speed upgrades.
Merculite missiles are largely underpowered in the sense that Sabertooth missiles give more value for resources. If you have a chalc deficiency in your half of the map, then you MAY decide to mine the whole green field and get Merculites, but otherwise - useless.

My solutions:

- Make the Mass Replicator cost A LOT more green. 100 at least.
- Add the ability (or upgrade) for the mass rep to convert greens to any other mineral at a 1:1 ratio. Not only will this save you from a bad map spawn, but it gives an insane value to Kerm.
Instead of yelling at your miners to "FIND MORE OF 'xxx' MINERAL AND STAY AWAY FROM THE ENEMY TEAM!" it'll be more like "GET TO THAT KERM FIELD ASAP! CORVETTE, FOLLOW AND AN EPIC BATTLE WILL ENSUE!"
This might be WONDERFUL for the game since large exciting engagements before the initial BC fight NEVER happen. I never say anything for definite like that, but I have NEVER EVER had a large engagement with more than four (2v2) players in small ships.
_{(alright, there was that time when DeadMG and co. did a 4x corvette rush on the BC. DOESN'T COUNT.)}

I'll second the idea for kerm. trading. I've noticed that even after purchasing a rather large stockpile of merc. missiles and finishing upgrades, I have a stockpile of several hundred green ore remaining with nothing to spend it on. If the game does not end on the initial encounter, I'm often reminding people to ignore the kerm. spawn (except combat pilots - go kill their miners) since we have nothing to spend it on. Making it potentially universal (an ability from mass replicator perhaps, added cost of energy, making the replicator a more viable buy even if only for this yet non-existent ability) would ensure that teams are always going for the event spawned kerm. fields since it reduces the time spent flying around hunting for the last (inset color here) minerals needed before engaging again.