The only thing that would make this game worth really playing again is serious effort into stories, simultaneous parallel plots, and real shifts in powers...
There is no hope of player created content. No hope of bigger and more powerful ships and weapons making the game interesting. The basic nature of what has been created is based on an uninspired and boring grind of infinitely available resources and a weak instancing system that doesn't allow worthwhile multiplayer. The only thing fdev has going for elite is the room to create really interesting mysteries, puzzles, and stories. If they bothered to direct their energy that way.