Improve Your Mining Strategy With The New 'EVE Online' Expansion

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Another free expansion is now available for all members of the EVE Online universe. However, it’s those who dedicate their online careers to resource mining that will get the most out of the new “Lifeblood” expansion.

The new content is headlined by a new group of structures called Refineries. If you and your corporation (guild) want to grab valuable resources from moons, you’ll need one of these massive stations. The process begins with the Refinery extracting a giant portion of a target planet’s surface and bringing it to space. That chunk is then broken up to create a small asteroid field near the refinery, which players can mine to get precious materials. In addition to this process, Refineries are the only station that can perform reactions, which turns the gathered resources from the asteroids into “advanced materials that can be used for a number of advanced industries.” This includes the creation of powerful ammunition and ships.

In addition to the new Refineries, miners will also get a Mining Ledger tool. This allows you to see the type of materials collected from many celestial objects. You can even see the amount of resources collected and where the mining process occurred in the massive galaxy of New Eden. Corporation leaders also have access to an additional Corporate Mining Ledger, which will track players who gather materials from the asteroid belts created by Refineries.

Even if you don’t specialize in mining, you can still help out your comrades through the new Resource Wars missions. A small fleet will enter a pirate-infested area, and those with combat ships will have to protect the mining crew from waves of enemies. Speaking of pirates, you’ll also notice multiple forward operating bases from the Guristas and Blood Raiders factions throughout the galaxy. With other players, you can take down these bases to get money and valuable “armored caches.”

The Resource Wars and pirate bases are all designated as player-versus-environment (PvE) content. EVE Online has a plethora of these PvE activities throughout New Eden, and you can view them all in the improved Agency tab. You can filter missions that range from mining excursions to intense combat scenarios, look for specific agents who provide new missions, or discover new anomalies in the space less traveled.

Other highlights of the update include ship balances, UI improvements, and multitude of fixes. For the full and detailed release notes visit the game’s website.

The expansion arrives the day before the “Crimson Harvest” event, which will see the return of the Blood Raider Covenant faction. Players can band together to defeat this powerful threat to gain new rewards and prizes.

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NameEVE Online
TypeSci-Fi, Massive Multiplayer Online
DeveloperCCP Games
PublisherCCP Games
PlatformsPC, Mac
Where To BuyEVE OnlineSteam
Rexly Peñaflorida
9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • bit_user
    The process begins with the Refinery extracting a giant portion of a target planet’s surface and bringing it to space. That chunk is then broken up to create a small asteroid field near the refinery, which players can mine to get precious materials.
    Okay, clearly someone skipped both physics and geology. It would take a tremendous amount of energy to "extract a giant portion of the target planet's surface and bring it into space".

    Second, the valuable materials tend to sink to planets' cores. Whereas, if you mine existing asteroids and comets, the density of heavy elements is probably far higher.

    Finally, there's no way that extracting a giant chunk of a planet isn't going to create all sorts of orbital debris.

    So, it would be far cheaper, easier, safer, and more profitable to mine one of the vast number of asteroids already out there. That's why companies and governments are trying to do exactly that.

    Dumb game.
    Reply
  • spagunk
    @Bit_User

    In a game where warp gates, faster than light travel/communication and Giant moon sized ships reside, why would this be so hard to believe? Just because it's not possible in real life, doesn't mean we can imagine something like this happening. Seems like either you're a disgruntled former eve player or you lead a very boring life.

    It's just a game, suspension of disbelief if required for any game. Unless you really think floating white bars bounce blocks like ping pong on a 2d black field in real life.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    20310296 said:
    In a game where warp gates, faster than light travel/communication and Giant moon sized ships reside, why would this be so hard to believe? Just because it's not possible in real life, doesn't mean we can imagine something like this happening.
    Just because they have a necessity to bend the laws of physics in some respects doesn't mean they should completely disregard them, in all respects.

    20310296 said:
    Seems like either you're a disgruntled former eve player or you lead a very boring life.
    No, but I'm one who thinks there should be a bit more science fact, in science fiction games & movies. They'll get away with as much as we let them.

    20310296 said:
    It's just a game, suspension of disbelief if required for any game. Unless you really think floating white bars bounce blocks like ping pong on a 2d black field in real life.
    Now, you're just being ridiculous. Pong is a completely abstract game. It doesn't pretend to model anything in real life. I'm also quite forgiving of games that are obviously cartoonish or surreal.

    BTW, I've never played EVE. It sounds way too much like real work, and I already have a job.
    Reply
  • olmeca.gold.eve
    @BIT_USER

    Asteroid mining is already a part of this game. The moon mining (the new mechanic, structures breaking moon chunks, not planets btw) might require tremendous energy. But energy is only a constraint relative to how much you can collect and store it. Stars provide virtually infinite energy if you can collect/store in the right way. In this sci-fi environment thousands of years into the future, I don't think the scenario is in conflict with what we know about science today. I also don't think planetary debris etc. has to huge problems for these imagine structures. They have shields and stuff.
    Reply
  • maersikai
    @BIT_USER

    See here's the thing though, IT'S COOL. In a game the laws of physics are basically whatever the developers want them to be. That being said, nothing saying the tech in-game can't negate the massive energy needed to achieve tearing off a chunk of a moon. Or maybe they can produce the massive amount of energy needed to do it. They might just really, really want those moon juices and are willing to expend the energy.

    And my last rebuttal is this, don't like it? Don't play the game or argue about fictional settings you don't know about. Real life need not apply.
    Reply
  • mrgothmog
    As an actual Physics major, I'd like to take this opportunity to point @BIT_USER in the direction of /r/iamverysmart, where he will no doubt fit in.

    For what it's worth, the density of a material doesn't make it valuable (as one can see with lead). It's a function of the material's uses, as well as its scarcity, which gives it value.
    Reply
  • ajpaolello
    Why are we debating the physics of a video game?
    Reply
  • bit_user
    20311836 said:
    That being said, nothing saying the tech in-game can't negate the massive energy needed to achieve tearing off a chunk of a moon. Or maybe they can produce the massive amount of energy needed to do it. They might just really, really want those moon juices and are willing to expend the energy.
    But why not just drop your mining operation down on the surface, extract the good bits, and only send up the stuff you want?

    20311836 said:
    And my last rebuttal is this, don't like it? Don't play the game or argue about fictional settings you don't know about. Real life need not apply.
    I already don't play the game and these forums are for discussing the article, which is what I'm doing. If there weren't an article about it, I wouldn't be commenting on it. I'm not on some sort of anti-EVE mission - it was just a casual comment.

    You guys seem awfully thin-skinned for a gripe about game physics/mechanics to have gotten you worked up enough to sign up and write replies. If you enjoy the game that much, why care what a random internet comment says about it?
    Reply
  • bit_user
    20311914 said:
    As an actual Physics major, I'd like to take this opportunity to point @BIT_USER in the direction of /r/iamverysmart, where he will no doubt fit in.
    Thanks, but flattery will get you nowhere.

    20311914 said:
    For what it's worth, the density of a material doesn't make it valuable (as one can see with lead). It's a function of the material's uses, as well as its scarcity, which gives it value.
    When I was referring to the density of elements being higher on asteroids, I meant the heavier elements (which often are more valuable) should be more evenly distributed, since you didn't have a strong gravity sorting them while they were still molten.

    P.S. I hope you can do something more productive with your actual Physics degree.
    Reply