With a respectful nod toward Trace_Thorne's
List your top three short, mid, and long-term requests for the game thread I thought it might be equally useful to focus on the single thing that I wish Cryptic would change the most. Mostly because I think identifying the #1 issue that you feel strongest about helps narrow the focus and highlights relative importance its importance to you, the paying customer.
Is the one thing I'd most like to change the same thing you'd most like to change? Probably not, we all have our own preferences on the game experiences we enjoy the most. Maybe if enough of us share the one thing we'd most like to change though, we'll start to see some consensus on which changes could actually make the most difference to the most people.
Is it something that completely ruins the game experience, making it unplayable? Not necessarily. I know my number one thing isn't that bad. There are still heaps of things I enjoy about STO.
But anyway, here is the ONE thing I'd like most to change about STO:
I'd like to have more control over the abilities my character can unlock. I find it extremely disappointing that I have more control over what abilities my bridge officers get (Mine Barrier I vs Quick Fix I for instance) than I do over the abilities my captain can get.
My officers can eventually get 8 abilities (4 space plus 4 ground) and through retraining options I can choose all of those abilities. If I rank up the right skills my character can even train my BOs to do abilities my character cant do personally! (Maybe you can rationalise that but I find it completely irrational)
My own character can eventually get 10 abilities but, except for deciding whether my character is Engineering, Science or Tactical, I dont have any choice over which 10 abilities I get. That leaves me feeling much less like Im in control of my own career and much more like Im playing someone elses character.
Yes, with the right kits I can use other abilities but I have to swap out kits if I dont have the right one equipped when I want it, and I cant do that during combat.
Yes, I can choose all my BOs abilities too, but if when it comes to away missions that actually becomes a deterrent to teaming up with other players because my BOs arent there any more. All those strategic choices and efforts I made in which ground abilities my BOs have are null and void for every away mission that turns into an all-player mission.
How would I change this situation? Either
1) Let me choose some or all of the 10 abilities I get as I level up. Restrict my choices based on class and skill ranks if you like, predetermine some of my choices if you like, but give me control over at least some of the abilities I unlock. Or even just let me retrain my abilities like my BOs can retrain!
Or
2) Let me customize some of my kits so I can combine MY favourite abilities into the same kit. Make it so that I can upgrade a Leg Sweep kit to give me other abilities that isnt in the standard, predetermined kits sold by vendors. Make it skill rank and class dependent if you like, but give me some control of the combination of abilities I can get from the one kit.
I feel that either solution would give me greater access to the abilities I personally find most fun and useful regardless of the circumstances, giving me more control over my character and more enjoyment in the thick the action.
...
If you made it this far thanks for taking the time. If you're a dev and you made it this far and extra big thanks and
Please(!) make it happen!

Lastly, another thanks to anyone else who'd like to share The ONE Thing they'd like to change. I'm sure I'm not the only one who'd be interested to see what would make the most difference to your game experience.
Comments
Why? Because we have enough to contend with concerning your own ability cooldowns, BO ability cooldowns, torpedo cooldowns, shield cycling, maneuvuring the ship into firing position, keeping aggro off yourself, negotiating around world obstacles and other ships, trying not to aggro another load of npc ships nearby, without having to hammer the spacebar 120 times / minute.
Its a shame that the playerbase has had to develop, shall we say, certain "work arounds" to get around this issue. Yes, I know its "possible" to engage auto fire on two front weapons. But its obviously not intended right now, even though its possible. The point is that when players have to resort to such measures in order to better enjoy the game and relieve stress on their keyboards due to poor UI development, then its time the issue is addressed in a more formal and correct manner.
One thing I've been thinking about, though, is that I'd love to see a better crafting system. In my experience what's there isn't really worth the time because by the time you have enough anoms for anything good you've probably outleveled it anyway. It seems like it's just a time and money sink at this point, especially with having to unlock the higher-level stuff by buying a bunch of T2 equipment you'll likely never use.
I could never stand the horrible grind on Lineage, but I did sort of like that all the best equipment had to be crafted. Here I'd love to see crafting allow you access to unique equipment you can't get through drops - and not just upgrades to existing equipment, but entirely new equipment with unique qualities. Remember that hybrid plasma-disruptor beam you can get from a mission? Stuff like that - maybe you could craft a hybrid polaron-disruptor cannon or a shield grid that's actually the Voyager-finale ablative armour system. I'd also love to see the system incorporate those items like Provisions and Medical Supplies you'd normally only use for Aid the Planet missions and the like. For ex, if you got X number of anomalies and provisions, you could make yourself an Emergency Command Hologram that creates some awesome effect.
Also, you should be able to salvage materials from certain asteroids, nebulae, gas pockets, planetoids, ground scenery and destroyed ships. This'd add some replay value at endgame because you'd have every reason to go back and explore to look for that rare baryonic radiation mat to complete the recipe for your shiny new isokinetic cannon or whatever.
Make the missions and gameplay more engaging. Cryptic has the entire encyclopedic culmination of the Star Trek universe - make the challenge more intriging rather than levelling and button mashing.
You've got a subscription base and wanting Star Trek fans, make use of our money and hire people on making content game play and missions. You've built the MMO, now go full power on the RPG in this Star Trek MMORPG.
agreed feels like some generic scifi with starships from star trek with random races thrown in
I'm curious though - what would you add to the game to bring in more Star Trek "immersion" (if thats the right word)?
I'm not a huge Trekkie, but starship and away-team combat seems to be the most common link through almost of the series/episodes I can remember.