In reply to some of the above posts...
ED is in business to make money in an industry that serves different desires, most of it's customers can't even agree on what day it is.
In all seriousness ED is not gonna bring out legs and say "here you go guys... walk around your cockpit" it ain't gonna' be like that so don't get offended by something you just made up!
ED should not be looking to pander to those 'historical' players "I wan't Elite to be like it used to be" what? wireframe? not in this day and age, it's a matter of getting as many sales as possible to generate a good income and please as many investors as it can, that includes using the advantages of claiming a healthy playerbase and an interesting game, so far they've done a pretty good job of balancing the books (seemingly)
I feel too many players are looking to have a game that ain't possible, the RPG aspect of the game is as good as your dreams are, as it's your imagination that drives your game (they said as much at release) and we can't expect to have 'much' of a personal story driven game as it's interfered with by other players ensuring none of us are going to be the 'Hero of the Galaxy'
Without moving our butts outta the cockpit the game will be on very thin ice, as technology advances more games are being developed with not just fantastic graphics, but many more in depth animations that allow the players to involve their imagination more in driving their game further than ever before, and there lies a problem...
If ED create a 'new' thing then those players should not have a playing advantage over any others... that would be pay-to-win, and as I understand that is not how the team likes to see things, if legs are included without a 'bonus' of some kind then folks using them will be at a disadvantage to those sitting in the cockpit with their 15 second turn around, those walkers might be enjoying a bit of fresh air but that ain't making credits, so, would legs be compulsory? I can't see the forums agreeing with that, unless it's free, and then we'd still see a chain of fire sweeping through the forums demanding their legs be cut off... and ED would not be making a substantial killing for that year (or whatever) of development, I've no doubt that the extra 'New' sales would pay the wages, but to be honest I can't see it being free.
So what does ED need to provide as incentive to get us out of our seats, I don't know, I know what drives me but I ain't everyone else, I'd like to be able to do the sciencey things on distant uncharted worlds, (a bit Star Trek) and I'd like to chat over a deal in a pub, (a bit Firefly) agree to jobs on my terms not those generated by RNG (tricky one that) I'd like to set a bounty and pay up, I'd like a ton of things that would benefit my game time, and the thing I keep coming back to is... Bethesda has a toolkit and that kept me playing for a hellofalot longer, The community has a great deal of talent and they could make 'things' (scenarios, objects, textures...whatever) I know it's an online game and things are different online... but just because it's different it's not impossible.
So if/when legs drops and the security is right, a basic 'easy-to-use' toolkit would make many adventures possible, and provide a big ol' hike in the profits for ED.