Before I start, I want to mention that we should begin with not introducing the market or agent system into this idea as i feel it will significantly impact the idea’s value and end result.
We should look at ways to help haulers be more able to support themselves. As a result, i am purposing a new type of careers for eve. For this reason I would like to introduce the idea for a new type of hauling in eve, complete with new skills and ships.
The Luxury Line, a population transport can move colonists around eve, specially in high security space and should be a new alternative path up the hauler ship chain. It can serve as another type of “transport” in eve but it only has one (or two) items, colonists.
Players will have some sort of pick-up and drop off locations. traveling from stations, to planets or planets to planets. this idea could be worked into planetary interactions with workers, and colonists being required to run the planets mining and industry.
Its the slow ship part, think about it, a fast interceptor type transport would significantly improve the whole trader hauler experience.
Ccp should do a design pass on hauling.
As for the trade aspects its highly profitable if you know what to do, other wise you spend 10-15 jumps for 1-10 m at a time (as an alpha) which is a little lower then it should be. This is largely due to the start up capital you need to get into trading.
So introduction of a sort of hauler type system that does not involve buying or selling, but instead provides a straight isk value would be a good way to help eve. it may even be more interesting if low sec / and planets was worked into this.
Maybe PI can take another stage of evolution and do something new out side of making goons and being more about “colony management” which players can build cities on a planet and the hauling of population and workers from planet to planet is the means you make isk
In my mind i think of something like the old escape velocity missions of so and so wanting to go from earth to mars, etc. The new types of ships provide more training for people that want t haul, more immersion and more income to eve. These ships should be especially beautiful in design, more a-symmetical then others and better yet they can expand from small interceptor fast transports to freighter or larger sized ships.