The other game i play, total war, which is similar to SH in many ways, is also peppered with threads talking about the next generation of the game. The problem is that in each thread there may only be none, one or two orginal suggestions, a lot of repetition, and the thread rapidly drops down into the depths and the process starts all over again a few weeks later. The good ideas are lost.
I think there are already some great ideas in this thread and no doubt sailor steve and others have come up with all manner of equally great, or even greater ideas, but may never be seen by anyone.
I think this could be solved by a stickied thread under the control of one moderator or community long timer. The first post could be used for storing the best ideas in concise format. All ideas and suggestions would be posted in the thread, and for an idea to be added to the first post it would need to be seconded and thirded by other members. Something similar, but without the seconding aspect, can be seen here if you are interested
http://forums.totalwar.org/vb/showthread.php?t=59901
This way, the finest ideas would represent Subsim's considered suggestions for the designers of the next SH game and would be kept in a place where the designers can easily find them!
It is obviously not the case that every idea can or will be used, but it is also not the case that every possiblity will naturally occur to game developers. There's always stuff that people haven't thought of.
For me, I have a long list of suggestions too, but that's enough for one post
