Your ship is basically a glorified space taxi. Purely cosmetic, you only see it in the Tower sometimes, in loading screens, or when loitering in space. I have a few ideas on how to make ships play a bigger role gameplay-wise. Ship customization, space combat, Patrol missions, aerial strikes for PvE, and more. Let me know what you think of these: [b]1. Ship Customization[/b] Build your own ship or customize ships you've unlocked. Add weapons, customize stats, apply shaders and emblems, and more. When customizing a ship (or building your own) you would have the several different slots where you change and add parts to give your ship a unique look; choose different pieces for the Bow, Stern, Wings, Engines, Weapon Mounts, Attachments, Shaders, and Emblems. Weapon Mounts would include different types of cannons and missile pods like what you might see on the JRv1 Javelin, while Attachments allows you to add things like fins and antennae. All of these things would be cosmetic, and would be purchasable from Amanda Holliday for Glimmer; no need to buy Silver or meet with Tess Everiss for any of these. Finally, every player would be able to create their own name for their ship. You can also customize ships you already have; for example, you take a ship you've unlocked from a Faction or Raid like Aspect of Glass (Vault of Glass, Hard Mode) or Armor of Vows (New Monarchy, Faction Reward) and add Weapon Mounts so that you can use it combat. Once you've installed Weapon Mounts on a ship, you can then decide what those weapons do; you can choose from fast-firing, low damage [b]Pulse Cannons[/b] or slow-firing, high-damage [b]Impact Cannons[/b] for your primary weapons. For secondary weapons, you have [b]Rockets, Railguns, Chainguns, Torpedoes,[/b] and [b]Bombs.[/b] [b]Rockets[/b] are versatile weapons that are good for shooting down enemy fighters or damaging larger ships. [b]Railguns[/b] can be used to snipe enemies from afar. [b]Chainguns[/b] are powerful Impact Cannons with an incredibly high fire rate. [b]Torpedoes[/b] aren't much use against fighters, but deal massive damage to large ships. [b]Bombs[/b] are good for destroying ground targets, and enable Aerial Strikes for Patrols, Strikes, and Story missions when outdoors. Each weapon can be customized to deal Solar, Arc, or Void Damage. Again, this would only cost Glimmer; no need for Silver. [b]2. Aerial Combat & Exploration.[/b] With the introduction of air combat would come new "Air Patrol" missions at each destination; that includes Earth, the Moon, Venus, Mars, and the Dreadnaught. These would be entirely new patrol areas built similar to the open missions in Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge on the original Xbox; you would even be able to land and use powerful AA guns to your advantage in some areas. Each location would offer a massive 3D environment to explore; their may be tunnels under the map for you to fly through, hidden treasures to fine, supply caches that you can pick up for planetary materials and glimmer, an so on. Patrol beacons hover in mid-air, offering new missions; race your ship around the map against a timer, attack a Fallen Ketch, hunt down Hive Tombships, dogfight with a group of enemy fighters, destroy an enemy artillery emplacement, among other things. Air Patrols would be set in the following areas: [i]-European Dead Zone, Earth -Oversoul Throne, Earth's Moon -Maat Mons, Venus -Fleetbase Korus, Phobos -Debris Field, Rings of Saturn[/i] In the European Dead Zone, you'd be flying in and around the ruined skyscrapers of ancient pre-Collapse city on Earth. The Oversoul Throne would take you to the core of the Moon, while Maat Mons would have you exploring the mountains overlooking the Ishtar Sink. For Mars, you'd return to the derelict Cabal Fleetbase Korus on Phobos from the opening mission of The Taken King- newly expanded for aerial exploration. Rather than limit players to the Dreadnaught itself, you could fly among the wreckage of the Hive and Awoken fleets in the Debris Field, in the Rings of Saturn. [b]3. Flying Controls.[/b] Flying a ship would be similar to the space mission in Halo: Reach, Long Night of Solace... with some improvements. Here's a button map for you, for both Xbox and PlayStation, respectively: [b]Right Thumbstick/Analog Stick[/b][i] - Roll[/i] [b]Left Thumbstick/Analog Stick[/b][i] - Steer[/i] [b]Right Trigger/R2[/b][i] - Fire Weapon[/i] [b]Right Bumper/R1[/b][i] - Evade Right[/i] [b]Left Trigger/L2[/b][i] - Boost[/i] [b]Left Bumper/L1[/b][i] - Evade Left[/i] [b]Right Bumper + Left Bumper/R1 +L1[/b][i] - Perform Loop[/i] [b]Y-Button/Triangle Button[/b][i] - Switch Weapons[/i] [b]A-Button/"X" Button[/b][i] - Interact[/i] [b]X-Button/Square Button[/b][i] - Select Target[/i] [b]B-Button/Circle Button[/b][i] - Toggle Target Camera[/i] The Evade function allows you to perform a quick snap-roll to the left or right, which can be useful for dodging enemy missiles. You can also click both bumpers or both shoulder buttons at the same time to perform a loop. The A and "X" buttons are used to interact with Patrol Beacons or control AA Guns. X and Square Buttons will allow you cycle through available targets, while the B and Circle buttons allow you lock your camera onto that target. If your ship is equipped with Bombs as a secondary weapon, you can also call in airstrikes in outdoor areas during normal Patrols or other PvE activities; you would do so by holding down the Grenade button on your controller (RB/R1), and then using the Fire button (RT/R2) to toss a signal flare for devastating results. [b]4. Enemies[/b] Aerial combat is no good without some bad guys to fight. With that in mind, each destination would have plenty of things for you to blow up; each enemy faction would have different ships of their own for you to shoot down including Fighters, Interceptors, Bombers, and Transports. Transports would of course include the Fallen Skiff, Hive Tombship, and Cabal Harvester. There would also be larger ships for you to take on like the Fallen Ketch and Hive Cruiser. Larger ships would have weak spots, like engines, turrets, the bridge, and so on which you can target for increased damage... large ships can also launch fighters to attack you.