This is a reaching long-shot, but here goes,
In another MMORPG, I saw a dropped item, looted item, or free-standing spawned item that was found by a player (through their toon). This item's description said something to the effect of: "This item begins a mission." This allowed the player-toon to begin a quest off of an item's initiation. I gave rodent thought to this phenomena.
Can a pilot (a game toon) find, loot, or be given an item, device, weapon, or other system that is so mysterious (I hear sounds of Jenquai mysticism) that it sets off a mission line that cannot be completed alone by the discovering pilot. The pilot can space the mystery OR they can seek to muster a group of pilots to further probe the item's mysteries, a mission towards deeper truths of the item's history, significance, or destiny.
What this does is to allow the player-pilot to become a mission-giver instead of a station NPC. Is the Earth & Beyond Emulator capable of such? This lends itself to roleplay should the discovering pilot choose to muster a team in-character.
Just some Gouda for thought,
From the writer's desk at NET-7 SOL, this is the Pakkrat.