Throw down the gauntlet and have the Empires go to war.
Bring Faction Warfare to highsec. Let ALL of Empire space be a place of conflict for those who sign up.
For CCP it is marketable and noteworthy. Something to garner press and attention. “Choose a side” is a popular mantra in many different media and it sells! The potential for battles, stories, heroes and villains could spark a renewed passion for the game for those ‘young and old’. Battles with a real story are worthy of history. The history of the early Faction Warfare is one of the things that brought me to this game.
Highsec is often disjointed and too many people are isolated. Finding unity is like herding cats. Give them the ability to easily find fellowship and compatriots to group with. Offer benefits from the Empire of their choice as enticements too.
You could jump into the conflict and immediately find yourself among allies. With enemies in your sights.
Even industrial and mining players could join up and find benefits from the Empires in reduced taxes, costs or manufacturing perks. Maybe a reduction to fuel consumption in owned structures. And for those perks they take the risks of their enemies burning it all down. Risk/reward.
It is important to note that this would NOT take away any of the current action going on! This is opt-in content. Players, Corps and Alliances will continue on with their gameplay as they wish.
Add another layer of conflict that isn’t just ‘smart AI’ NPCs or ‘battle arenas’. ‘FW lite’ for new people to try combat that could lead them to more challenging areas of space. Hardcore mode for FW lowsec players running the gauntlet of Navies and Gate guns to achieve their aims. (For some these are only minor annoyance anyway;)
Think of the events that could be driven by this conflict. For example, imagine objectives to go into your enemies space and capture/destroy/hack key objectives. Or a contest based on Empire rankings or performance. Things that bring people together in common goals.
In conclusion
CCP has had 10 years of Faction Warfare to draw experience from. They already know what works and what is broken. There would be no need for Plexes in highsec, no reason to reign in Capitals or criminals.
Let the players shape the course of Eve history. Let all the battles and stories be worthy of future Lore and recognition that this is THE GREATEST MMORPG of all time…