Dan Trufin · EU PU Gameplay Features team

There's no AFK refining. No AFK refining anywhere.

Thorsten Leimann · EU PU Gameplay Features team, designer

You have to pay attention to all the tidbits of the refining process, like the temperature. It's similar to mining, but a little bit more complex, because there on the refining ship, you have the reactor that could have various methods. So as already mentioned, there could be a furnace, there could be an electrolyte system that could grow, or help grow, or separate crystals. You could add in some solvents like acids that would help you, and the entire reactor is built around that. So in the end, our goal is to have you, as the owner of the refining ship, tailor the refining process to your demands. So for example, imagine a situation where you or your friend is mining, focusing on mining just minerals. So you wouldn't have a furnace there, right? You would prepare your reactor in a way that the reactor is more efficient with minerals than with metals. So this is basically our goal, that you customize it to your demands.

Dan Trufin · EU PU Gameplay Features team

Now, one more thing to add to that. You customize it to what you want to refine, but the idea is also to allow the player to customize the Starfarer. Because the Starfarer was a ship that's supposed to do refueling, and it was also supposed to do refining. So it's up to the players how many tanks for storing stuff, for storing solids, for storing liquids and gas, for storing fuel, or how many reactors they equip on that ship. So it's up to him how much he wants to store, and maybe the Starfarer is the one that sells, because you don't have a hauling ship and he just comes back, keeps refining, because then he needs a lot more transporting capacity. So yeah, we're trying to offer all these options, and it's up to the player to play however he sees fit, whatever the situation needs.