--Mining:
1. Fill in the gaps with new gear of all levels with varying Depth capabilities
It appears that the original intention with mining Finders was that the deeper it can go, the more desirable it will be. From this we can draw a parallel to the new 'Efficency' parameter for hunting weapons. If this is to continue to be the case, there should be gear made available for all levels with varying depth capability (desirability). The deeper the Finder can go, the more expensive it should be. Of course, this may require further balancing of the mining profession and shouldn't be done without also doing #2, #3 and #4 below.
2. (Re)balance the mining profession by making the Prospector and Surveyor skills more relevant
We can draw another parallel here with the hunting profession, between the Prospector/Surveyor skills and the new Looter skills for hunting. I believe the intent of these new Looter skills is to bring increased stability to a hunter's returns over time the higher his skills become. The same thing should be the case for miners and the only way I can see to make that happen is to make his Prospector/Surveyor skills play an important role in determining the rate at which the miner will be able to find rare ores and enmatters. The higher the skill, the more rares he or she is able to find per claim, or some similar mechanism. Lower level miners would still be able to find these rare resources but at a much reduced rate.
3. Rebalance depths of finds
If #1 and #2 is done, then it may be necessary to rebalance the depths of various resources for it all to make sense.
4. Give Miners a reason to level above 60
Afaik, there currently is no advantage to mining beyond level 60. A level 100 and a level 65 would pretty much be on equal footing. This needs to change. It may be that new gear will need to be designed and released, but there should also be aspects of the mining profession that are only available to professional miners of high level to make the skilling worthwhile. Just like in hunting there are mobs that a level 20 would just not be able to kill, there should be something in the mining profession that only high level miners can do.
5. Upgrade missions for mining gear
Give miners better tools and goals to work towards. Use these to give miners a reason to grind.
6. Mining rings/pills
Find other ways to give more dimensions to the mining profession.
I do agree mining needs some major love.
