Firstly, I'd like to have the ability to acquire, either as a mission reward or via the ship store, the option of using a captured enemy ship for a limited duration. Just like the way Kirk and the gang use the captured Bird of Prey in Star Trek III / IV.
So as a Fed I could capture a Bird of Prey and use it for either a limited time (becasue Starfleet Intell needs it) or until it breaks down because for Starfleet engineers 'Damage control is easy. Reading Klingon, that's hard'.
It would be nice if captured ships couldn't have any 'injuries' repaired and maybe gained them at a greater rate. Then if I wanted I could carry on despite the problems of running a broken down, clapped out ship.
Secondly, it would be cool if we occasionally got to fly prototype ships. e.g. As I'm close to being promoted to the next tier I get a mission during which I can 'test flight' a higher tier ship for a limited period, especially if it had one of the alternative ship skins so that I can see if it's worth getting.
I personally like this idea myself. I remember Star Trek: Armada, I used to divert great resources to trying to capture an enemy ship. I don't think this feature should be present during PVP, but this would be a welcome addition to the game in my opinion. I think it could go one of two ways. 1. If you have the boarding party ability, then there should be a small chance that the party will capture and take control of the ship and it will be added to your list of available ships should you have a slot open. 2. There will actually be an away mission to capture the enemy ship that the player would actively participate in. The degree of difficulty, complexity, and size of the mission would vary depending on the size and type of the ship being boarded. It would be like a mini away mission in an episode or in a deep space encounter. I personally feel that the capture of an enemy ship should be permanent. If I go to all of the work to "acquire" an enemy ship, then why should I not be able to keep it for my own personal use? I would love the chance to take command of a dominion battleship without waiting for a patch that will open up a dominion faction which will probably never come. Players should either not be able to capture a ship with a tier higher than their rank, or they should not be able to use that ship until they make that rank.
I like the addition of repair kits for starships that was added recently, but I also like your idea of having to buy parts to keep a ship maintained. I would suggest a system to be put in place where all ships have to be maintained, but captured enemy ships would cost more to maintain because the parts are harder to acquire. The maintenance/repair system should be applied to ships in such a way that you cannot use your ship on missions if it is in a state of disrepair. When you defeat enemy ships in combat, you should be able to search the wreckage for usable parts, regardless if you have possession of that faction's ships or not. This would open up another avenue for trade to take place in game. Players can trade their salvaged parts to other players that need them. If players do not want to capture an enemy ship outright, they could either sell the ship (I would like to be able to sell ships on the exchange), or take it to a space dock and have it disassembled for its parts to sell on the market. Capturing an enemy ship should be a rare occasion so selling it for its parts would not always necessarily be a good idea. If they ever open up more of the ship interior, then maybe it would be possible to apply enemy ship technology to your own ship to augment it's capabilities much like Voyager used Borg technology to augment it's own capabilities. Places like engineering, astrometics, sick bay, the bridge, and anything the developers could come up with could be augmented or replaced with enemy technology.
I know there's a lot here to take in, but I believe additions like these would provide the game with more depth and make it more vibrant.
Comments
I like the addition of repair kits for starships that was added recently, but I also like your idea of having to buy parts to keep a ship maintained. I would suggest a system to be put in place where all ships have to be maintained, but captured enemy ships would cost more to maintain because the parts are harder to acquire. The maintenance/repair system should be applied to ships in such a way that you cannot use your ship on missions if it is in a state of disrepair. When you defeat enemy ships in combat, you should be able to search the wreckage for usable parts, regardless if you have possession of that faction's ships or not. This would open up another avenue for trade to take place in game. Players can trade their salvaged parts to other players that need them. If players do not want to capture an enemy ship outright, they could either sell the ship (I would like to be able to sell ships on the exchange), or take it to a space dock and have it disassembled for its parts to sell on the market. Capturing an enemy ship should be a rare occasion so selling it for its parts would not always necessarily be a good idea. If they ever open up more of the ship interior, then maybe it would be possible to apply enemy ship technology to your own ship to augment it's capabilities much like Voyager used Borg technology to augment it's own capabilities. Places like engineering, astrometics, sick bay, the bridge, and anything the developers could come up with could be augmented or replaced with enemy technology.
I know there's a lot here to take in, but I believe additions like these would provide the game with more depth and make it more vibrant.