Quoting: Snakebit STI
Take a vacation for a couple (in game) days, and come home to find an Aegis Overlord flag waving in artificial wind on the top of the spinner. And MANY frantic emails.
Well, it would be nice if player's action would attract degree of interest and make character matter in the world more, but I wouldn't like to go as far as attaining title of Galactic Hero or Evil Overlord and idea of hordes of fanboys or fangirls dying for me seems as funny as wrong but slightly too silly (although event when die-hard fan contacts you saying that s/he learned how to drive a mecha and use a gun always dreaming to be part of your lance could be nice [especially with additional traits like - character easily takes PC to liking, even if charisma stat is quite low and no special skills are present. Such fan also is never fazed by his own failings but tremendously dependent upon morale of PC]).
Script that would make random people go 'Hey, it's you, the one who did this and that', friendly organization's representative greeting you when you come to spinner and issuing you a temporary bodyguard because 'we know you can handle yourself but we couldn't bear if you would get hurt when we were able to prevent that' or just 'so it'll keep all those pesky adorers away'.
Spaceships:
Quoting: Snakebit STI
Methinks this is neat, but way too headache inducing for one Joeseph Hewitt. It would require a new scale of combat, and new rules to go with that, and new weapons, and new... yeah.
Only if we'll take some battleships and cruisers as such. For me, fighters like Wraith fits the idea of spaceship as well, just add Faster-Than-Light drive to it.
I would like more vehicles like that. Especially if it wouldn't be that easy for a mecha to travel through space for longer distances (regular space mechas shouldn't rather have FTL drives to travel between spinners easily on their own).
In long, long future, what I would like to see would be continuous play mode. No real, one main goal or many different ones for characters, but the world would remember actions and effects of all these characters on it. It kinda touches the subject of unlockable content and player organizations suggested before.
Player could make some sort of group, retire and from time to time people could tell tales about him to some other PC (tales about 'The one who had this cool and unique mecha', 'The one who did this or that thanks to this or that happened') and his faction would grow and gain importance or change another aspect of the world depending on its goal.
What goal faction would pursue probably would need to be chosen while founding it, ranging from such things like 'Clan and group of friend supporting each other (would be probably without much effect on the world, could turn into mafia or become part of other faction after long time passed) to 'Archeology and Research faction' which could unlock access to some secret/ancient/new technologies, maybe some alien left-overs or new grave danger to the world which would now risk complete destruction (Alien faction of Colliders from Hadron system! ;PPP).
There could be wars, random changes in standard factions policies, very, very, very rarely new spinners being build and some other ones getting forgotten and abandoned or blown up (and maybe, just maybe, someone at the right time and place could save the day?), non-random NPC or those which got their 5 minutes due to contact with player could get their own stories and deeds good or bad (depending on their character traits). World would seem like moving on and living on it's own, player being one of it's residents who may become someone important but isn't the only source of change.
Sure, that's quite a lot of things and would need years to make them but surely it's some kind of goal.
What else - as far as factions are concerned, getting player's own base or building, finding artifacts and equipment to be able to do more (rare equipment allowing to change some of the components of mecha or to give it special abilities if Mecha Engineering is high enough) secret places and quests that may not really seem like one (player found some old trinket - he may sell it or check the museum/collector and get more cash and exp for going somewhere and finding more of those items which are some kind of set). I wouldn't mind current quests having an impact on the world (again, randomly chosen - finding artifact from the Age of Superpowers for some scientist after a month either helps devising new technologies which make some hi-tech equipment cheaper and more common or blows up the laboratory [maybe even whole spinner?] with all the personnel and data).
What some players would probably greet happily would be more morally unclear missions - for example, player is to end rebellion somewhere. He may go there and destroy rebels camps and thus - end the turmoil but know at the same time that he killed hundreds of poor people who just couldn't stand their bad living conditions (which could but didn't have to necessary be a fault of the government they were rising against). Of course, if there would be other (and far more hard) options of solving the problem - it's even better.
Inhuman amount and work, and probably many bugs would need to be fought along the way (The place on which culmination of main plot was going to take place just cease to exist.. what to do now? New script needed etc) and I am not 100% sure if adding all of that would be even theoretically possible but man, that would be something..
And one little bit at the end - I would be really grateful for some simple, crude navigation system - just some minimap so I will know where are other spinners if I'll choose to travel on my own.. and even this idea could be build upon, allowing players to get some super scanners which show hidden pirate/black market/forgotten places.
Edits: Answering one thing, adding one idea and trying to do something with quotes - I have difficulties with putting one into another..
