[color=#FFCCFF]As a part-time Smuggler I find that especially smuggling of contraband does not compete with mining in the least bit. As a part-time Smuggler I think that the risks I face hauling contraband through house space, with the best selling points being lawful planets / bases, are by far outclassed by the risks I face as a Miner / Ore Hauler.
As a part-time Pirate working around Liberty, I can only speak from my own experience here and say that during the last month, when I was pirating, I have maybe seen four or five actual Traders and not a single Smuggler, whereas every other ship I pirated / could have pirated / saw zoom by was an Ore Hauler. I find that to be lame and lacking in diversity.
As both I think that were trade profits increased we could not only have more diverse civilian traffic, but with money coming a little easier for the Traders and Smugglers, we could possibly have less of the silent encounters and more of the interactive ones. The latter might be wishful thinking, but regardless of that, Trading and Smuggling don't compete with Mining and I grow tired of seeing the same Ore Haulers everytime I decide to go pirate, knowing already which way they'll go, if they'll be paying up or not, etc.
I'm for +$ and +Diversity.
[color=#FFCCFF]I am however against a NERF of Mining. The $ made already isn't that high, far from what it used to be, and I find that bringing capital ships into the argument is somewhat silly, seeing as even though we make LESS money than we used to a year ago, even though we have Guard IDs in place to make getting capital ships harder, those have both had little to no effect.
[color=#FF99FF]If I want to get a capital ship, I will get a capital ship. If I have to spend two more hours getting a Guard ID and rep, then I will spend two more hours doing so. If I have to spend 10 more hours trading / mining because I make less money than a year ago, then I will do that too.
A nerf based on capital ship influx wouldn't be feasible. It would just be postponing the inevitable.