Long winded semi articulate post below.. i hope.
HERE IS THE QUICK AND DIRTY : I think you should implement creative and interesting quest chains with rare rewards for completion. Think class quest chains from games like world of warcraft.
commencing long windedness : Loved the game so far, in terms of the sim. But, i stopped playing because it's...boring. I personally dont think the new mechanic additions or things that i have read that are coming down the pike will help with this. The problem isnt giving people more to do (like someone above said) its giving us a reason to do anything.
I think a relatively simple way to fix this boring issue everyone seems to be complaining about..(and it is an issue) is to have story introduced into the game. The sim parts are great, but it lacks the RPG to make me want to play it. Let me explain..
example : i loved the class specific quest lines in world of warcraft that would be a quest chain of sometimes 10 to 15 quests to complete and get your reward at the end. One that comes to mind in particular is the Warlock mount quest chain, SO REWARDING to finish that chain!! although it was a grind to get there, i would do it again and again in a heartbeat becasue the story of the chain was interesting, i felt like i was progressing, and the reward was awesome.
It doesnt need to be as set in stone as picking a class or anything, this isnt an RPG after all.... but taking some elements of the way the most successful MMORPG's deal with missions and quest should be taken into account to add more game in gameplay.
specific example : I feel like being a space pirate today (note how i said today, tomorrow i might want to be a trader or a soldier etc..). I go to a specific location to read about available pirate "missions?" and see the rewards they each offer ( you can get really creative on how to present this to the player ) all of these missions have an extensive quest chain. each quest you complete in the chain gives you the same types of things that regular quests do, but if you complete the quest chain you get an actual rare reward. a reward you cant craft or find or have any other way.
This will give players an objective when they log on and start to play each day, whether they stick to the mission in the course of the play session or wander off mission and do something else is up to them... but at least every day they have multiple missions in their quest log that they can choose to further and achieve the rare reward at the end of the quest chain.
Honestly, i love space, i love sims, and i loved this game, for like 20 hours. after that i havent picked it up again because although i dont mind grinding, its not fun to do without any real progression or direction. Getting new ships and upgrades is cool... but HOW you get them should be addressed, and made fun.
Thats the problem with massively huge games like this... its great to be able to do ANYTHING (even if you ever got to the point where you actually could do anything you ever wanted, like the most accurate real life sim ever made, it will still be boring)
Most (if not all) people need to be told what to do, and rewarded for work. This is obviously true in real life, and even more true in gaming. gamers have a set number of hours a day they spend on playing a game, and with the number of options there are out there, a game has to make them feel like they are progressing quickly to end results often to keep them from losing their attention and playing something else that does this better.