I do not have a miner / crafter character but I read recurring concerns that mines are converted into adventure scenes with more enemies than ore. One possible solution to have adventure mines for higher levels while introducing mines in civilized areas. These mines are controlled by the local ruler and players can get access after doing quests / joining a local miners guild etc. This way the adventuring could be decoupled from the mining. Balancing risk vs reward is something people with actual mining experience need to discuss. From my point of view mining low level ores without risk but as a time sink is penalty enough
Mining Licenses would be great. You pay gold coins for a limited time licence and you get access to a guarded mine with limited number of ores of one type, depending on the region. The bigger and richer is the mine, the bigger would be the licence cost. And those who want to break into those mines without licence or stay after its expiration would have to fight the guards just like any adventuring zone, except there would be a virtue hit for killing them. PS : systems like that would make sense because, currently, nobody is able to tell where NPC blacksmiths are finding their ingots.
New low Level mines were introduced in last release. Anyway, owl's nest id a good spot since only a couple of wolves may disturb You.
I think the biggest problem with easy mining zones is they are easy to bot, macro, and multibox. I think the development team is too small to be able to easily defend against these types of behavior, so the defense has to be built into the actual mining zones.
^that has been thier statment for the reason behind guarded harvesting nodes in the past. Currently there are special scenes you can gather resourced in without having to fight anything. These scenes have resources that never respawn and the scene banishes once you leave them. I think this would be the path to consider when thinking of how to introduce non-adventure mines/forest/foraging areas
The section in Blackblade foothills is a good example. You have to jump through two hoops to get the ore. Mesa and inside the tomb. This is a good idea. But once you leave the scene it resets and you have to do the hoops over again. Its a lower level zone but you have to work to get to them . The yield isnt as high as the other mines but the mix of ore is good. I like mines having all ore...not just two types. This would be something to consider for sure. Have all four ores and then each mine can have a mix of crystals as well.
I don't think that buying a lease to mine unimpeded is the right thing to do... I happen to like the new low level mines and they can be adjusted, such as longer respawn timers for critters and faster respawning resources... This would keep the adventuring aspect of mining... I for one, have been disappointed with not being able to mine Graft mine because my chr is so weak and the critters are so tough... It's one thing to have to cross a deadly pass, and quite another to have a low level outside area, then to have a high level mine... I would have much rather the devs turn the mine into the same level as the outside area, but not to have this idea of buying a "lease" to mine in a specific areas... IMO, they can work with whats there...