Is mining research worth it?

from Sins Forums
While I am admittedly a little too lazy to do the math, it seems to me that researching increased mining speed is really not worth it. Because there is only so much crystal and metal per mine, I end up having less crystal to mine by spending crystal researching how to improve the speed at which it is mined. Unless I have been focusing on mining research alone (which is probably a bad idea), by the time I can spend the resources to research the most advanced levels of mining, the mines will not have a lot left in them, making the research expenditure a waste. This is especially so when I spend so much resources for a mere 3% increase.

Suggestion: If this research improved the rate by which I obtained resources via refinery freighters as well then the research might then be worth investing in. -Perhaps mining research already does affect the efficiency of get resources via freighters, but I have not noticed.   
3,794 views 8 replies
Reply #1 from Sins Forums Top
to answer your first question, no

And i believe that the resource system and tech tree are improved for the next patch, but dont quote me on that
Reply #2 from Sins Forums Top
This is one aspect that I have not verified for my self, but I guess it would depend on how far Sins carries the decimal. If it is only to 1 decimal place then no, it would not be worth doing the research because even a 50% bonus to the 0.1/sec rate you get will only get you 0.15/sec which the .05 would be dropped off. However, if Sins does carry several decimal places out (the user just does not see it) then it would be worth it mainly in a really long game where all of your mines are empty and you would only be getting 0.1/sec but with research you might be getting 0.124458/sec...that could add up alot over time.

This thing would be alot easier to test if we had some "dev tools" so we could set all of our mines to empty and loyalty to 100% then research the mining tree to see if we gain anything.

As for your suggestion, there are already tecs that increase the amount you get from freighters, the expanded cargo hold tecs, so that would possibly be redundant.
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Reply #3 from Sins Forums Top
someone did the math on it somewhere... turned out not to be worth it
Reply #4 from Sins Forums Top

someone did the math on it somewhere... turned out not to be worth it


Ah ok. I thought someone might have beaten be to it. I still end up researching the tecs because I like haveing a full tech tree.
Reply #5 from Sins Forums Top
As for your suggestion, there are already tecs that increase the amount you get from freighters, the expanded cargo hold tecs, so that would possibly be redundant.


I know you can increase the cargo size of refinery freighters, but from what I gather (and I could so easily be wrong on this) a mine can only supply a freighter with resources every so often. This would mean that the mine itself limits how many resources you can get from it (via freighters) in a given amount of time. Even if you have a huge swarm of freighters with huge cargo holds I don't think they can get resources from a mine until the mine is ready. If mining research increased the speed at which mines are ready to give resources to freighters then the maximum resources you obtain from the freighters in your empire would be increased. Therefore, even once your mines run out you would still benefit from mining research (assuming the decimal placement issue mentioned above is resolved). At least, this is what I am proposing.
Reply #6 from Sins Forums Top
I hardly seen a bump in mining after researching those techs.

It would be nice if there was a summary showing the effects of technology.
Reply #7 from Sins Forums Top
Nah, not really worth it. Certainly not against the AI.

As others have said, it only increases the rate at which you accumulate those resources, so you don't gain more. If you were in a tight fit and would need some resources quickly it could be useful. But this isn't really ever the case for me, so I just ditch those techs.
Reply #8 from Sins Forums Top
If you were in a tight fit and would need some resources quickly it could be useful.


actually, it's quite the opposite, the techs dont give you enough to be worth it for a LONG time. you actually save crystal most of the time by not buying the tech.