This is another idea I have been fidgeting with. I'm not quite sure how to refine it, but I think it would be useful. It is similar to the harvester remote management purchase.
The foreman class drone is essentially a "remote supervisor" to mining drones, with the most important role being it can receive an autopilot mining drone sent through the wormhole network and activate it. The foreman would be the player's proxy in a single system.
A foreman does not require drone points to deploy, but a player can only have one foreman deployed at any time. A foreman is deployed in an asteroid field with the "deploy mining drone" option.
The active foreman then appears under the Assets > View Drones screen. It is shown along with other drones, and has a "recal" button. However, there is a new "manage" button.
When "manage" is selected, a new window appears with three options, "Deploy Drones", "Refinery", and "Exit". All three foreman model drones have Deploy Drones available. This can be activated from any location on the map, though only the third model can cross the Sphere/Expanse boundary. (Only the third model can be managed across the Expanse/Sphere jump.) The Deploy Drones brings up the drone deployment window one would see if deploying drones in an asteroid field. Drones can then be deployed to that field, from the player's current location.
The purpose of this is that a player can put a marker in one asteroid field, and deploy drones to that asteroid field from any location. Essentially, recall and deploy would work remotely, but only to the location with the foreman drone.
Foreman drones cannot move locations on their own. They are tied to the asteroid field in which they are deposited, until recalled for repair.
Foreman drones do deteriorate from damage like regular mining drones, but do so much more slowly, as they do not actually mine.
Two models are crafted or engineered, and are trade-able. The third model would be a CE store purchase, and not trade-able. They would have level and Drone skill requirements, and the most advanced model would require some FoM standing. All three foreman drones can manage (remote deploy) drones ranging from the basic Remote Mining Drone MD1 up to the Advanced Grachev drone.
- The Alice Wilson Foreman: The Alice Wilson is the simplest model. This means it has the lowest requirements to craft and use. When deployed, the Alice Wilson is given proxy authority to receive and call mining droids sent from the player's ship through the wormhole network, and activate the mining drone to begin mining the designated asteroid field. The Alice Wilson is durable and does not directly mine, and succumbs to damage about one fourth as quickly as a normal mining drone.
- The Marie Tharp: The Marie Tharp is a more advanced foreman drone, therefore requiring more resources to create and a bit more skill to use. It functions as the Alice Wilson, but the Marie Tharp has tryonite-reinforced armor and basic shielding. While more expensive to repair, the Marie Tharp deteriorates at one tenth the rate as a normal mining drone.
- The Claudia Alexander: The Claudia Alexander is a very advanced foreman drone created by the engineers of Truly Wonderful. The Claudia Alexander is able to receive and activate mining drones sent through the wormhole network, as with other foreman drones. However, the Claudia Alexander has a much more advanced AI and special licensing through the Federation of Mining. This means the captain with a Claudia Alexander is legally able to use the Claudia Alexander drone as a proxy to a system's Orbital Refinery. The second button on the foreman drone interface, "Refinery", which is normally disabled, is only active through the Claudia Alexander drone. When this is selected, the Claudia Alexander docks with the Orbital Refinery and opens an encrypted communication link with the captain's ship. The captain can then interact with the Orbital Refinery as he or she were present in the system. This includes refining ores and sending it to other systems, as well as access to the advanced ore refinery system. Further, the Claudia Alexander's AI can independently manage drones. It surveys all drones in its asteroid field every six hours, and if the drone's status has dropped to 20% or less, the drone is automatically returned to the player's ship. The Claudia Alexander itself has a self repair system, which means it can stay at a given location for centuries. It does not show deterioration within the span of most people's lifespan. Lastly, the Claudia Alexander is the only foreman drone which can be managed across the Expanse / Sphere devide.
Thoughts and constructive criticism is welcome, and no need to be "delicate".
And...
Alice Wilson was a Canadian geologist and paleontologist. She was the was recognized as the first female geologist in Canada, and became the first female Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada.
Marie Tharp was a geologist and oceanic cartographer from the USA who's mapping work on the deep Atlantic lead to the discovery of the Mid Atlantic Ridge, which was one of the key pieces of evidence leading to the acceptance of plate tectonics.
Claudia Alexander was a US scientist who was a project manager on NASA's Galileo mission to Jupiter, and up to her death was project manager of NASA's role in the EU-lead Rosetta mission, which was the first probe landed on a comet.
