Do extraction sites run dry or replenish materials?asked by K0DABEAR
TL;DREach extraction deposit has limited material and does not replenish; new deposits spawn elsewhere under scarcity conditions, abandoned buildings degrade, and land costs and taxes escalate with how much land you own.
Yeah like you say, each individual extraction deposit does indeed have a limited amount of SCU available, however, once you've mined out that site, its done.
New deposits will spawn when certain resource scarcity conditions are met - but just to be clear here, its a new deposit in a new location, not the same previously mined deposit replenishing while a base is active on it. These deposits will typically take a while to deplete however.
Abandoned buildings will degrade and fall down over time. You are not technically limited on the amount of settlements, however in lawful areas the cost of buying land for UEC and the tax is scaled based on how much land you already own on that planet - so it does escalate beyond an affordable amount at some point.
Failing to pay tax on a plot after X amount of time will remove it from your ownership, freeing it up for someone else. You can also just abandon ownership if you wish.
On a side note here with regards to buying land, there are different types of plots available. One is specifically designed for extraction and it's costs & capabilities scale differently from a standard plot with the whole idea of extraction deposits depleting and you moving on to a new one in mind.