Fully agree with the 'turn mines off' option.

I like mines as a strategic element also.  The AI just jumps around them, though, so they don't do much good unless you surround the whole system, which is insane expensive.  I started to just build them when the bad guys jump in, or surround my facilities.

Maybe best solution is that every time you buy mines they go around the whole system and subsequent buys are more expensive but make the field denser.

I think the homing mines are way unbalanced.  In the game I'm playing now, the bad guys dumped a huge swarm of them in a contested system and there were proximity mines left over from the previous owner.  I took a fleet with 15 capitol ships all level 8+ and destroyed the colony and facilities.  I was going to take a fleet of scout frigates in as chum to take out the mines, so I started to move my fleet out of the system.  When I turned around, a ship swung into range of the homing mines and they hunted down and killed 3 of my best capitol ships after I had just wiped out all enemy opposition.

My suggestion would to allow flak weapons to take out minefields, or have a specialty minesweeper.  Maybe add the ability to a ship via the tech tree.  Or allow everyone homing mines (maybe via the defense tech tree).

i like the mines but there need to be a max of mines around 1 planet

The torpedo ship seems pretty useless at this point.  Every time I deploy one, they just get chased around the system by the enemies' light frigates.  Maybe add a minesweeper option to them.  Someone else in the forums noted that maybe mines in a system would interfere with trade, that might induce a penalty that counteracts too many mines.  I still like the idea of mines completely encircling a system (except seeker mines), that would keep enemy AI from just jumping around them.  I started putting my minefields around my facilities and structures.  I know we're dealing with a sci-fi environment here, but that just doesn't seem very realistic on a tactical level.

What about the flak-ships? Making them a good solution for mines, this will make the flak-ships more usefull. ^^

i think thats a good idea because i dont really use them now and since mines are like squadrons it seems logic. the only you should ad is a mine decloake ability

I like this idea!  It goes double for those irritating hoaming mines. 

Ganivelve, I agree.  I think that the devs know and you are hitting the nail on the head.  This is what Ironclad/Stardock betas are for!

IF a vehicle is to be able to clear mines it should be the most agile: fighters/bombers.  You don't need another ship for this.

I thought that maybe this would be a nice way of handling mines: every race should have another way with dealing with mines for example the TEC could just clear mines with a slow but sturdy ship. And the Vasari could use light manuverable ships that hack the mines to selfdestruct. Advent could just use the unity's powers to weaken the mines overtime, slip them into another dimension or  turn them against each other....

What do you think of this?