NPC Player Fleet

I suggest adding an npc fleet that follows the player around. you can find the npcs in towns or villages and can see the ships of fellow players and the npcs in the background of your ship screen.
one feature that can be added on top of this is a fleet battle system that increases the power of pirates and maby space monsters based on what sector you are in.
you could also ad a weapon crafting and customization system for ships on top of this.

 

Pretty sweet idea especially when the space battles come out

 

Yeah,the devs should take this idea into consideration when space battles come out