Wish list for the future.

As a very long term player who loves the game I have to admit that Star Trek Online desperately needs a much, much larger map. In a game like this there should be, at minimum, hundreds of systems to explore. There was a failed attempt to do this with the exploration missions but that was way too small and simplistic.

An EVE Online sized map with extended exploration missions throughout sandbox style sectors would be wonderful. Take the existing map, add a giant hazy map around it. As you move through the massive hazy map you uncover that map and whatever systems are in it. This way you could leave the existing known map but add onto it considerably. You could even set it so that fleet mates who explore it could add to your fleet astrometrics database via fleet store unlocks.

If producing I'd go through the shows and movies for inspiration to add mini-missions within these sectors. For example you may be flying through an unmapped sector and bump into a potentially hostile alien where you can either talk your way out of combat or fight them. You may also come across a civilization which needs a cure researched and use a variety of doff missions and mini-games to solve this. Some pre-Warp civilization observations would also be a fun addition. There could also be rifts, nebulas, and etc. which initiate situations to resolve. Some of these include things like temporal, subspace and etc. rifts which could cause your ship to go back in time, enter a nul sec where you have to escape, black holes, singularities, areas where normal physics don't exist and etc. Abandoned starships, starbases and etc. where you have to research who used to live there, why they are gone all while in a zero or dangerous atmosphere. Exterior research, combat and etc where you are in your environmental suit walking the outside of a station, ship or whatever all while doing your research or fighting ala First Contact.

Additional ideas would be adding large 3d bubble neutral zones between all factions. In those neutral zones open PVP would be available so that if you are a federation captain flying through kdf held sector space you could be attacked by any players warping by you unless you are on a diplomatic mission. In addition you could also assault enemy planets, space stations and etc. Don't want to PVP? Stay out of the neutral zones or only enter on diplomatic missions. Existing missions which require travel in these areas could be made to grant diplomatic protections.

Once the Delta War is over a "5 year mission" style expansion would be wonderful. This type of mission could be added to the game piece by piece allowing the development of individual new areas added to the map as exploration missions. Over time the game could end up with a system list which matches or even exceeds games like EVE Online.