I've thought of something which could help to diversify our ships - weapon charging.
This is a series of missions, each of which are "unlocked" every time you do something a certain number of times. The rewards from them affect your weapons, "specialising" them, but only one type of reward may be used per weapon. Also, weapons are "discharged" when they break. Here's the sort of thing I'm talking about:

Missions:
Weapon Infusion
Unlocks: Every successful planet invasion.
We have found a way to infuse some of your weapons with a powerful virus, which will greatly assist you when you invade other planets. It is still in the prototype phase, but we would like you to test it.

Completion reward: Weapon Infuser, can be used on any weapon to make it an "Infused" weapon.
"Infused" weapons have "Infused" prefixed to their name, and their attack bonus increased by 20% when attacking/invading a planet. Upkeep/value increases by 20%.

Power Charging
Unlocks: Every 100 NPC kills
We have discovered that if we charge your weapons using a certain type of radiation, then they are more effective against certain types of hull. Allow us to test this further using your ship - you will like the results.

Completion reward: Weapon Charger, can be used on any weapon to make it an "Charged" weapon.
"Charged" weapons have "Charged" prefixed to their name, and their attack bonus increased by 20% when attacking NPCs (NPCs include bases. Bases could have a new ability which can negate this effect for a while?). Upkeep/value increases by 20%.

Surged Cannon Testing
Unlocks: Every 50 PvP kills
Our researchers have found that by surging power to your cannons rather than providing a constant energy flow, we can greatly increase their power under certain circumstances. We will have to modify your weapons first so they can cope with the additional strain first though.

Completion reward: Weapon Surger, can be used on any weapon to make it an "Surging" weapon.
"Surging" weapons have "Surging" prefixed to their name, and their attack bonus increased by 20% when attacking other players. Upkeep/value increases by 20%.

This is only an example, but it could be applied to other modules too. It could even be the case that the available missions are different for each race (so weapons for Konqul, Relays for Inergon, etc), and you lose any existing bonuses when you switch race.

Can I make a "charged surged infused quasi chaotic blaster"? If so +1!

Aww. -1!

Na, I kid. Nice idea: +1!

No, but you could make 3 charged, 3 surged, and 2 infused... Still a pretty decent bonus...

Personally, I like the idea, but still have to say no. There are a sufficient number of boosts (permanent and temporary) to attack. Plus you have Tactical Officers.

Ancient Crystal Foci
Crimson Obelisk
Crimson Amplifier
Crux Amplifier
Shockpulse Charger
Surge Plexus
Atmospheric Decimator
Tetra Seek Targeter
Dominion Cannons
Plus all the other NPC/Mission Modules that can be added...

I thought that might be a problem, so that's why I had the "every X invasions/disables" thing for the mission.

Would making the requirements higher each time make it fairer, or is it still overpowered (remember this is a 20% boost to a single weapon each time)

For example:
First Surge = 50 PvP kills
2nd Surge = 100 PvP kills
3rd Surge = 200 PvP kills

Also, if a module breaks or is sold, the "charge" is lost, meaning that you'd have to repeat the mission at the higher requirement.

Poll added.

Wow, a massive 2 votes so far!

Do people simply not like it, or not care about it?

Also, note that their upkeep DOUBLES. You get the bonus, but it could cost you an extra 16B credits a day.

I've had some ideas for how this could be applied to cloaking/scanning, and a few extra ship modules too, but I'd like more feedback from different people so I don't waste my time.

thats why its a bad idea. If i get quasis, upkeep is bad enough. Then x2 that? No, too much. Maybe an extra 1/4 upkeep or 1/2, but not x2

True - maybe reflective of the bonus then? 120% of original upkeep/value.

Changed the upkeep part in top thread to a 20% increase rather than doubling.

brilliant idea tbh

This could be extended to thrusters - VS bases, VS Players, and VS NPCs.
Also with scanners - Bonus when scanning for planets, Bonus during hacks.