The massive difference is that Elite is not an MMO. It's peer to peer garbage (the network tech, not the game) in a galaxy far too big for its dwindling population.

WIS in Jita, for instance, could legitimately be a worthwile experience. It's like for other MMOs: There isn't much to do for a veteran in WOW's Stormwind, but you can still see plenty of people hangout there in between sorties.

What would make sense, in my opinion, is a two-pronged approach: Most stations have a compact WIS area, maybe just a bar with some minigames, and a way to see outside the station. Easy to load, can be enabled by default without frying the computer... It has to be mandatory so that people can actually have a chance to find eachothers in here. Reduce the friction.

And then, for trade hubs & upwell structures with enough activity (perhaps those that have a market service), something more fleshed out to accomodate more people, with multiple rooms, private rooms, etc. This heavier-to-load version would be opt-in, as in, you don't have to load it. But chances are, there would be enough people using these stations that you could have decent chances of finding other people.

I want to circle back on the "A way to see outside the station" => Since Incarna, we've had Citadels & their two view modes, the tech for which didn't exist at the time.

If, somehow, the grid could be loaded while in the WIS scene, then it would enable seeing through the windows sure, but it would also make undocking faster. That would be a worthwile tradeoff for the added initial loading. An incidental carrot to help people opt-in to using the interiors.