In one sentence...

[delericho]

Easy: Make the ship more like a multilevel magic item.

For example:

Cygnus Light Attack Fighter
AC: 10+Pilot Reflex Save Base+Pilot Dex Bonus
BAB: +5 + Pilot Dex Bonus + Piloting Skill + Cybernetic/Genetweak Enhancement Bonuses
Deflection: DR150/-
HP: 250+Pilot HP+ 10xPilot Skill
Manueverability: +10 to Piloting Checks for Manuevers

Then add equipment bonuses for stuff crammed in the ship.

Makes it fun and easy, and I've playtested it to Hell and back.

Yep, that's essentially what I'm looking for.

Depends on the game and the ship generation rules.

Nova Wars? Not even close. A super-capital ship has HP in the 100,000's or millions, shields in the 10,000's or 100,000's.

For really big ships, the current system is probably about right - the ship becomes the base with the PCs influencing particular aspects of its operation. It's those medium vessels, like the Millennium Falcon, that are difficult. Those are the ones where the PCs remain the important part (with the ship secondary), but the operation does need to be based on multiple PCs.

(And, in particular, your suggested "+10xPilot Skill" for hit points would be problematic here, as the PCs may well switch rolls mid-encounter.)

But I certainly don't think this is all an insurmountable issue.

 

[TarionzCousin]

I want a holodeck.

 

[Lwaxy]

Play Star Trek.

 

[The Hound]

More interesting non combat encounters

I'd like to see a system that makes non-combat conflict as interesting as combat. Something that could cover things like negotiation of all kinds, debate, seeking information, etc. Maybe something that formalizes the "wing it" roleplaying that is usually attempted in these situations without destroying the roleplaying aspect.

 

[The Hound]

RPG basaed on romance novels

Here's one from a former girlfriend, who never got into roleplaying games:

She said she could get interested in an RPG that was based on the romance novel genre. I suppose that swashbucklers come close.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I wish an rpg could intelligibly describe what it's like to get injured, wounded, traumatized, and otherwise hurt.

Mainly this. Also, I'd like a combat system with a realistic handling of reach.

I'll offer a few suggestions below ...

 

[Mishihari Lord]

Here's one from a former girlfriend, who never got into roleplaying games:

She said she could get interested in an RPG that was based on the romance novel genre. I suppose that swashbucklers come close.

I've heard Blue Rose does romance, not so sure about romance novel.

 

[Mishihari Lord]

I wish there was a game with a more interesting system of magic. I'd like to see something where magic follows certain consistent rules, which in turns mean you could customize spells on the fly. I don't want to cast fireball by saying "I cast fireball," I want to combine spell elements to create a sphere of fire which is hurled at target X.

ETA: It's possible that there is a game that does this! My knowledge of RPGs is far from comprehensive.​

Ars Magica may work for this

 

[Raduin711]

Starship combat, or more specifically cinematic starfighter combat.

In most if not all RPGs I've seen, when the PCs climb into a vehicle, they get given a whole new set of stats for the vehicle, which are often slightly modified by the character's capabilities. The net effect is that it is the vehicle that is the important part of the whole, with the character being much less important.

Conversely, if we look at the Battle of Yavin, we have a dozen or so members of Red Squadron, all in effectively identical ships. But Luke Skywalker gets hit twice in the battle and yet survives to complete his run, while Porkins' just blows up for no great reason. (Other Reds die with one hit, while Wedge survives a hit with damage, and Red Leader survives one hit and dies on a second.)

Model that in SWSE, though, and you find that the difference between Luke's ship and Porkins' is marginal - there's maybe a point of Reflex defence in it, and a change of BAB, but that's about all. The rules presented just don't match the fiction we see.

So, what I would like to see is a system where when the character climbs into the vehicle, the character's stats are modified slightly to allow for the characteristics of the ship, rather than the other way around. And proceed from there.

(Of course, that only works for small one-man fighters. As soon as you get a second PC in a ship, the model becomes screwy. That's why I would like a professional to solve those problems for me. )

I would like to see that as well... particularly a system that can handle both starfighter-style dogfights as well as Starship bridge simulation where all of our non-pilot PC's can offer a meaningful contribution, with meaningful choices and decisions, without making the system a headache for GM's to run.

 

[Neonchameleon]

I'd like to see a system that makes non-combat conflict as interesting as combat. Something that could cover things like negotiation of all kinds, debate, seeking information, etc. Maybe something that formalizes the "wing it" roleplaying that is usually attempted in these situations without destroying the roleplaying aspect.

Orthodox answers: Fate Core or Smallville. Unorthodox but valid answer: Monsterhearts.

Here's one from a former girlfriend, who never got into roleplaying games:

She said she could get interested in an RPG that was based on the romance novel genre. I suppose that swashbucklers come close.

If she's still interested try her on Monsterhearts. It started life as a joke game attempt to play Twilight using the Apocalypse World rules. It ended up as a deconstruction-and-reconstruction* of pretty much the entire teen horror/romance/drama genre.

* Deconstructing it down to an analysis of tropes, motivations, and expected courses of actions, and then reconstructing it so that it guides you to follow the genre pretty closely as effective play.

Edit: I believe Firefly's trying to get the bits of starships many other games miss. Not sure though - the preview rules for races weren't as good as the non-starship rules.