Said the masses who dont like to think outside the box.

I'm beginning to wonder if folks were this cranky during the original beta days.  If phase jump or a ship ability didn't work, did you guys get a spawn of posts about how they ought to just scrap them?

Ok, after many attempts from the   empire to ruin our plans code named "Entrenchment" I propose we unleash our elite weapon of choice....

BAN HAMMER!!!!!    AND DUCT TAPE!!!!!!!

Let us rise against this growing epidemic and purge these worlds of this plauge!!!!

Ok, well maybe my idea is drastic but better safe than sorry.

Now, back on topic. I really think we should wait and see how the devs rebalance the mines and go from there. After all they have about a billion trilllon post about mines and starbases. Let's wait till the update and go from there.   I for one cant wait to use mines!!!! SO, DEVS...*cough*cough* KEEP THE MINES *WINK* WINK*   Oh and if Ive not said this yet...Look forward to your update of wisdom.

Replace "witty" with "whiny" and you're closer to the mark.  There was no value in your post.  Nothing constructive at all.  Why bother to write it, except to whine about the fact that the beta isn't perfect from the start?  Ridiculous.

blasting and criticizing are all relative terms.  I have made my constructive criticisms elsewhere in this forum.  I can be whiny or whitty with impunity.  It is ridiculous to ridicule anyone for voicing their concerns in whatever way they deem necessary*.  Right now as it is, mines suck ASS.  There's whiny and whitty for you all in one.  Solution: take them out!  There's constructive criticism.

* I am the paying consumer and the intended recipient.  I have "agreed" to be a tester by nature of the fact that I purchased an expansion in beta, as I did with the original sins.  Baggerx, read a little more around the forums.

I love mines, I don't know what people are talking about them phasing in an out, they only stay in real space with an Arcova, and then are really easy to destroy. Spamming them slows the game down, but that is easily fixable with a mine per gravity well cap.

Yes, that is the point in fact.

I agree that it MIGHT be a bad idea when it comes down to it.  If what you say above cannot be balanced correctly, there is a danger that mines would be obsolete and un-used, because all you do is feed your enemy with them.  This would be bad.

However, it is POSSIBLE that it could be balanced correctly (I don't know as I've never tried to do it).  For instance, mines could be useful in a system with a fleet, defenses, and a starbase.  Your enemy would have to drive you out of the system before he could contemplate collecting your mines, and he could still be counterattacked there while collecting the mines.  Mines here seem to be doing you - the defender - some good.

However, consider the case where all you do is run around the galaxy spamming mines in every system 'til kingdom come.  It would seem you are just leaving free, undefended resources laying around for whoever wants to collect them.  This strat might be effective against a newb, but its a strat that would not "scale" to a better player.  So, it seems that this suggestion has the potential to address some of the complaints of the mine-haters.  If you are a mine-hater and your opponent spams thousands of mines indiscriminately, you should at that point be converted over to a mine-lover, because your moronic opponent has just given you tons of easy, free resources.

I'm not claiming its a good idea (who knows?), but its certainly an interesting idea.  What I like about the idea is that it is "self policing" - the game itself does not have hard limits or rules about how you want to use mines.  Rather, there is the possibility that you could be severely punished for misusing them.  In general, I find that "self policing" systems are the best systems, whether in games or real life.

Yes I agree, but you left out "obvious" with "simple" and "elegant."  In other words, this idea has already been proposed numerous times.  This is one in a series of "creative brainstorming sessions" where I am throwing out other ideas.

Since you bring it up, I would prefer that your minesweeper have the ability to detect mines on its own, without aid from a scout.  This would eliminate micromanagement, drudgery, and tedium if both functions were combined in a single package.

By the way, the minesweeper could be combined with a mine salvager (just an idea).

I more or less agree with Agent, and I rather like the idea that you can salvage mines with at least

a small chance that some can go off . . . presumably something this sweeper would be designed to absorb.