I always figured mines had the same kind of "complementary defense" role as turrets, meaning they can't hold their own against an alien player, but if you have them down while a marine player is nearby as well - easy kills.
Great idea! UWE spending time polishing the engine and tooling itself, while recharging their batteries to be able to improve NS2 further next week AND we get new mods to toy around with. Everybody wins!