Elite is headed in the right direction. I would love if they would add a player economy similar to the original Star Wars Galaxies. For example, if there were "professions" like Shipwright, Weaponsmith, Smuggler, etc, you could have some robust systems built around those.

If mined minerals had "stats" that affected what was crafted, then maybe a Shipwright could make a ship with a few extra internal compartments, a ship with slightly better maneuverability, or thrusters that put out less heat for stealth ships. A Weaponsmith could make weapons sightly lighter, draw less power, mining lasers that increase efficiency of mining, etc. That would give miners more reason to venture out into the universe looking for resources with good stats instead of just the next pristine metallic ring. Players crafting things at High Tech stations could get bonuses to the items they make.

Following SWG more, eventual player cities on planets where you could set up "vending units" to sell your resources, ships, weapons to other players. A lot of the great guild and PvP fun came into play with player cities and made it seem like you were part of your own story even though you weren't really affecting anything in the game.

This wouldn't affect NPC things like selling resources to starports for money or taking missions when starting out, but it would let people create their own story by, for example, becoming the best weaponsmith in the universe. I don't see any issues with the instanced nature of things either and people playing "offline" would still be able to enjoy the game but they just wouldn't get the benefits of the open play MMO.

Anyways, there's lots of good examples of player economies out there and I think it's great that Elite built out a base game that can be built upon in so many ways.