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Author Topic: Minethings  (Read 92842 times)
Samwise
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on: August 07, 2012, 12:13:07 PM

Mine Things!

So, I didn't get very far in EVE, but I wanna say this is like a simple browser-based EVE where all the combat is automated so you don't have to actually sit there.  Niche of a niche.

It's essentially an economic MMOG.  The overall goal of the game is to collect different types of items (which you can combine into "melds"; the more melds you have, the more different things you can do and the better you can do them).  Different cities produce different items, and ultimately you want all of them.  Transporting items between cities is slow and opens you up to PvP piracy where people try to steal your shit.  Each player picks a single "profession" (class) that lets them do a certain set of things (you can change your profession at any time, but most professions are only available to players with a certain number of melds). 

From this, you get gameplay where some people make money by producing items and selling them locally, some people make money by transporting goods and selling them for higher prices than they fetch in their cities of origin, some people plunder goods as they're being transported, some people patrol the roads and plunder the plunderers, some people run banks, some people run factories.

It's verrrry slow-paced, but also requires almost no real-time investment -- you set a few things in motion (list some stuff on the market, dispatch some vehicles along a trade route, etc) and then wait a day to see how it pans out.  All player interaction is asynchronous and/or automated; there doesn't seem to be any point where you're rewarded for being online and reacting to stuff in real time.

As you'd expect, it's free to play, but you can get a boost by buying things with real money and/or Bitcoins.    DRILLING AND MANLINESS

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
luckton
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Reply #1 on: August 08, 2012, 04:38:01 AM

I'll try anything once...Luckton

"Those lights, combined with the polygamous Nazi mushrooms, will mess you up."

"Tuning me out doesn't magically change the design or implementation of said design. Though, that'd be neat if it did." -schild
Xanthippe
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Reply #2 on: August 08, 2012, 06:46:38 AM

Xanthippe's recruitment link.

(Samwise, I wish you'd put yours in there so you'd get credit for recruiting me!).

That tutorial took less than 5 minutes. Then I read this in welcome message:


So there's more to do later but nothing now? Seems a little thin but I'm game to find out.
Samwise
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Reply #3 on: August 08, 2012, 10:31:23 AM

It remains pretty slow-playing for a while.  Getting a full set of yellow equipment is roughly a 20% boost to your mining rate, so it's not going to radically alter anything; it's just a good start.

Mine gold from your starter mine instead of things.  I mined things for a while before realizing that just about anything I could get from my starter mine, I could buy on the market instead for 1 gold since the market is completely saturated with people mining that stuff and having nothing to do with it but give it away.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
ezrast
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Reply #4 on: August 08, 2012, 11:12:44 AM

Which server?
Samwise
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Reply #5 on: August 08, 2012, 11:40:28 AM

I'm on Calbuco, but I don't remember seeing an option to pick when I set up my account.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
ezrast
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Reply #6 on: August 08, 2012, 11:51:28 AM

It looks like you automatically get a character on each server; you can freely switch servers under the "Cities" menu.

Calbuco it is.
Ironwood
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Reply #7 on: August 09, 2012, 03:09:34 AM

Logged in, created a chap, did the tutorial, started the game.

"How about you check back in a couple of hours."

Uh.

No.


"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
Rendakor
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Reply #8 on: August 09, 2012, 07:38:01 AM

Signed up with Xan's referral link; here's mine so we can get a chain going.

I'm glad I didn't try to farm a ton of stuff during the tutorial; I wasn't really expecting a reset but it makes sense. Going to let it do it's thing while I'm at work tonight, then futz around with it some more afterwards and see if it's sticky.

"i can't be a star citizen. they won't even give me a star green card"
Xanthippe
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Reply #9 on: August 09, 2012, 08:18:10 AM

Logged in, created a chap, did the tutorial, started the game.

"How about you check back in a couple of hours."

Uh.

No.

Yeah, it's like opposite motivation.
Samwise
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Reply #10 on: August 09, 2012, 10:54:31 AM

I've launched my first trade voyage, shipping a package of explosives across the continent to see if I can make a few gold.  Because I am impatient, I didn't load my vehicle up on any sort of defenses before attempting this, so there's a decent chance I'll just lose my investment to bandits.   why so serious?

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Xanthippe
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Reply #11 on: August 09, 2012, 11:02:23 AM

How long did it take you to get to where you could do that?

I found 9g overnight.
Samwise
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Reply #12 on: August 09, 2012, 11:36:57 AM

I guess I started playing around this time last week?  I haven't been particularly focused; I think if you just want to give trading a shot you can buy a mule for 1gp, buy a few other things for 1gp (with the expectation that they'll fetch more money elsewhere), and send the mule off in a random direction.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Xanthippe
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Reply #13 on: August 12, 2012, 08:03:21 AM

It looks like you automatically get a character on each server; you can freely switch servers under the "Cities" menu.

Calbuco it is.

I'm afraid to switch back to check to see if I have anything on the first server I was on, lest I lose what I have on Calbuco. Have you verified this?
Morat20
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Reply #14 on: August 12, 2012, 11:54:54 AM

I'm on Calbuco, I think. (Home city is Alyssa?). I didn't click on the referral links. I need to pay more attention, since I sort of forgot about them. :) Still going through the turtorial.

I have so far made juice. Hooray for juice. :)
« Last Edit: August 12, 2012, 11:56:49 AM by Morat20 »
Ironwood
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Reply #15 on: August 12, 2012, 12:08:00 PM

I guess I started playing around this time last week?  I haven't been particularly focused; I think if you just want to give trading a shot you can buy a mule for 1gp, buy a few other things for 1gp (with the expectation that they'll fetch more money elsewhere), and send the mule off in a random direction.

I can't figure out how to buy this mythical shit for 1g.  I see nowt that's not overpriced and silly.

Clearly, I'm doing something wrong.

"Mr Soft Owl has Seen Some Shit." - Sun Tzu
Morat20
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Reply #16 on: August 12, 2012, 12:20:33 PM

So, just to be certain -- I have finished the tutorial. I have no money, no things, no melds. I am a trader (bum seemed to have downsides). Now I just...wait several hours while mining gold so I can afford starter drills and buckets and whatnot? (Or purchase gold).
Xanthippe
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Reply #17 on: August 12, 2012, 12:30:27 PM

So, just to be certain -- I have finished the tutorial. I have no money, no things, no melds. I am a trader (bum seemed to have downsides). Now I just...wait several hours while mining gold so I can afford starter drills and buckets and whatnot? (Or purchase gold).

Yes. It's a verrry slow start.
Xanthippe
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Reply #18 on: August 12, 2012, 12:31:24 PM

I guess I started playing around this time last week?  I haven't been particularly focused; I think if you just want to give trading a shot you can buy a mule for 1gp, buy a few other things for 1gp (with the expectation that they'll fetch more money elsewhere), and send the mule off in a random direction.

I can't figure out how to buy this mythical shit for 1g.  I see nowt that's not overpriced and silly.

Clearly, I'm doing something wrong.


I think you click on equipment? I can't even buy a mule (vehicles) for less than 10g. I put in a bid on a jalopy but haven't won it yet.

Morat20
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Reply #19 on: August 12, 2012, 01:44:31 PM

I'm still confused over the mines. How many mines are there? I vaguely recall the tutorial talking about being able to choose between mines, but darned if I can figure out how.

I guess the equipment is only per mine (all I've got is "starter" now, and I'm mining gold so I can buy equipment to mine more gold until I'm fully equipped).
Rendakor
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Reply #20 on: August 12, 2012, 01:46:49 PM

Apparently the rate of finding gold is highly random; over the course of a night:
5g
4g
3g
1g
114g !!!
4g
3g
2g
3g
4g
So I bought a bunch of low-tier equipment and made a few more melds. I'm still not sure what the point of the game is though, or how a lot of the shit works. Is there a wiki somewhere?

"i can't be a star citizen. they won't even give me a star green card"
Morat20
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Reply #21 on: August 12, 2012, 01:58:04 PM

Was that just mining gold in the starter mine? Pity I can't play this at work too. Crazy bosses and their "We pay you to work not game" rules.
Xanthippe
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Reply #22 on: August 12, 2012, 02:15:12 PM

Oh, I just found the 1g mules (in the Starter section). I was looking in the Vehicle Mine.

So confused.
Morat20
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Reply #23 on: August 12, 2012, 02:31:51 PM

I'm working a mine with 40/buckets an hour for "gold" and it hasn't found anything in two hours. Nothing.
Azuredream
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Reply #24 on: August 12, 2012, 06:56:31 PM

Map of Calbuco that seems accurate: http://www.minethings.com/app/webroot/forums/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=8867
For Morat: http://wiki.minethings.com/index.php?title=Category:Items

The Mule is in the starter section because otherwise it would've been impossible for the people at the creation of the server to get anywhere. You only get vehicles from the vehicle mine, which isn't in the starter city.

You won't be buying a second mine for a while. You're stuck with the starter until you can round up around 3000g for a second starter mine, or more if you want a different type. Alssa only has Starter/Music/Avatar, but if you trek over to Franco Thistle, that city has Equipment/Vehicle/Ship mines for purchase, and Danchesser would have mines of different types as well. Of course, those mines go for about 15000g. The servers all have different maps, so this only applies to Calbuco.
« Last Edit: August 12, 2012, 06:59:23 PM by Azuredream »

The Lord of the Land approaches..
ezrast
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Reply #25 on: August 12, 2012, 07:03:25 PM

It takes a few days but eventually the game forces you to curb your impulses to refresh the findings page every 5 minutes. There's really no point in checking more than twice a day.

According to the help page all mines produce gold at the same rate. So I imagine it's a good idea for the starter mine, not so much for any of the others.

Switching servers definitely lets you run three characters in parallel.
Morat20
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Reply #26 on: August 13, 2012, 06:20:04 AM

Wow. Since yesterday at 2:00 PM, my mine has produced....6 gold. 2 gold and 4 gold, respectively. Oh, and a pair of shorts.

I bought a pickaxe and a hardhat, and will check again later. I suppose I should lanquish in Alyssa for now, or buy a mule and move?
Rendakor
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Reply #27 on: August 13, 2012, 08:52:37 AM

I'm in the same boat Morat; overnight I found a whopping 5 gold (1, 1, 3). I wonder if they nerfed gold production in the last few days; I switched over to mining for things this morning to see if that goes any faster.

"i can't be a star citizen. they won't even give me a star green card"
Ghambit
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Reply #28 on: August 13, 2012, 10:33:54 AM

If this game had a graphical interface it'd likely be the best browsergame out there right now.

"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom."  -Samwise
Samwise
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Reply #29 on: August 13, 2012, 11:12:42 AM

There's no point in moving to a city you don't own a mine in, since you get a major mining bonus in your home city.  My plan is to buy 3 starter mines in Alssa so I can maximize my gold mining rate ASAP, then buy a mine somewhere else and move there.  Explosives seem extremely lucrative based on my wheelings and dealings so far, but I bet there's good money in ships and vehicles too since they tend to get wrecked during combat.

Being a yellow trader seems pretty safe; I haven't had a single highwayman encounter yet.  Apparently this is because it's really easy to outfit a yellow guard vehicle that will whomp any yellow highwayman, so it's not cost-effective to try to steal yellows.  The trading strategy I've started to settle on is to ship bolts from Alssa to Danchesser, explosives from Danchesser to Franco Thistle, and equipment from Franco Thistle to Alssa.  As a general rule I'm able to get double the purchase price of stuff by moving it from its city of origin to somewhere else.

If you haven't amassed a fleet of vehicles for trading yet, there's no downside to being a bum.  The benefit of the bum profession is that if another player exceeds their inventory limit, the overflow goes to the bums.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
ezrast
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Reply #30 on: August 13, 2012, 12:45:33 PM

Anyone have 10 melds yet? Mining income seems low and trading is hard so I'm curious about becoming a Worker.

Oh, and are there any perks to being social? I'm ezrast.
« Last Edit: August 13, 2012, 12:47:26 PM by ezrast »
Samwise
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Reply #31 on: August 13, 2012, 12:54:12 PM

Anyone have 10 melds yet? Mining income seems low and trading is hard so I'm curious about becoming a Worker.

Going rate for a 10-meld worker in Alssa is 1 gp per week.  I don't think you're getting rich quick that way.   awesome, for real

http://calbuco.minethings.com/marketables/market/804

If you move to another city (where there are more factories and fewer unskilled workers to man them), rates are much better, but you still wouldn't make more gold than you can pull out of your starter mine right now.  Getting up to 20 melds so you're a 2cph worker would also boost your income a lot, but getting that many melds in itself isn't that cheap.

Another option to bootstrap yourself could be taking out a loan to buy another mine.  Not sure how the long-term math works out on that one.  Standard lending rate seems to be in the neighborhood of 20% if you don't have a credit history.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Xanthippe
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Reply #32 on: August 14, 2012, 07:33:46 AM

I don't understand the economy at all. How is equipment produced? I see the prices going up and down.
Samwise
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Reply #33 on: August 14, 2012, 10:57:22 AM

I don't understand the economy at all. How is equipment produced? I see the prices going up and down.

Almost everything is produced at a mine.  (A very few things are produced at factories, using stuff that's produced at mines.)  Mines randomly produce things of a certain type, with most findings being yellows, a fraction being greens, and increasingly smaller fractions being things of rarer and rarer quality.

So equipment comes from an equipment mine.  If you're in Alssa, all the equipment you see on the market was mined in Franco Thistle (by a player who owns an equipment mine there) and then shipped to Alssa by a trader.  Prices fluctuate based on supply of a particular item type, whether any traders have brought it in, how much people want that type, etc.  I've noticed that flimsy carts tend to have a higher market value than other yellow equipment, for example, and I hypothesize that although they're probably produced at the same rate as other items, more of them are needed for melds, so the demand is always going to be greater.

It's definitely cheaper to get yourself a vehicle and do your shopping in Franco Thistle directly, but it takes time, and you need to set your profession to Trader to do it (which doesn't cost anything, but you can't do any other profession stuff, like work in a factory or whatever, for as long as you're a Trader).  In theory you also run the risk of your vehicle getting robbed along the way, but I haven't had this happen once yet with yellow items.

"I have not actually recommended many games, and I'll go on the record here saying my track record is probably best in the industry." - schild
Ghambit
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Reply #34 on: August 14, 2012, 11:30:57 AM

Protip: just copy/paste whatever Samwise does with most any webgame like this and you win

"See, the beauty of webgames is that I can play them on my phone while I'm plowing your mom."  -Samwise
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