As FLMNAG pointed out, the cost/production ratio is not too good right now. That's also what most of the suggestions in the original post were targeting. The dominating counter - argument to that is: "It's just an alpha, and things that make it better will be implemented at some point." I don't claim to know and understand what the (announced) new content will bring in detail, but we can make a quick, superficial analysis of the items on the roadmap. Maybe that helps us better defining and understanding what we are arguing about.
What interests me are only the items on the roadmap that have a potential impact on the cost/production - ratio, because this is what I feel to be the games biggest issue at the moment. I'd be happy for FB to comment on this post, even though I certainly don't expect them to.
Big Updates:
There are 9 yet-to-come big updates mentioned in the roadmap. Three of them potentially have an impact on the cost/production - ratio: Capital ships, Refineries and Space Exploration.
I think the idea is that once you have access to a capital ship, mining becomes more profitable. If you deplete the asteroid field around the cap-ship, it can - unlike a station - move somewhere else. Mining time itself isn't reduced, but travel time in between collecting and storage. Also you have more control over the kind of ore you want to collect, because - also unlike a station - you can change the target zone. There is probably a high entry cost for this, though, and an implied incentive to join a faction so you can profit from capital ships early on. How much an individual will profit from it depends on the running costs of the capital ship and the mechanics it will use. So allow me to be somewhat sceptic.
Refineries are interesting. The roadmap says there will be a way to turn a resource (gas) into ores. While the idea is intriguing, again the meachanics will make or break the concept. Especially if ships or bases can mine it (or both), the amount and price of the needed equipment, the transformation ratio(s), the transformation time, the offered variety of ores and the average amount of gas before the source expires (if it does). I expect space exploration to be an extension for refineries, as it will bring (additional?) gas and dust spots to mine.
Small Updates:
Here things look a little more thin. Supply conduit allows for quick resource transfer between stations and capital ships, which may have some impact on the cost/production ratio, and that's about it. There are some new ways to earn money, but they are all zero - sum - activities. If you auction off stuff in the Auction House, someone has to earn money beforehand. Same with the Loot System, that allows you to loot stuff. Unless ship wrecks spawn automatically, they have to be produced by players. So these things don't create value, but only redistribute it between players. Space Hazard introduces more dangers, which means it will be easier to lose ships. This is of course cool and all, but makes the core problem worse, because if the dangers are somewhat serious you have to produce more ships.
Summary:
The roadmap seems to imply that there will be ways to reduce travel time between collecting and storing ore that are a little better than what player stations offer currently. It may get easier to transfer mined ores. Also there may be a way to create ores from another resource, gas, which has some potential (I'm looking at you and your mineral extraction, No Mans Sky). But that's already it. If FB gets rid of the bugs, factories allow for automated production of goods so you can craft stuff while doing other things, which counteracts high crafting times. This helpful ideas are probably in part countered by space hazards, because they reduce the expected half - life of any given non - capital ship.
If I forgot or misinterpreted something, please correct me. All in all I'm not fully conviced these implementations will be enough, but maybe I underestimate some of them.
