I started writing a response to the "In defense of bashing" thread but I kept going and going so I decided it warranted its own topic.

Ever since its introduction I've wanted to see instanced content in aetherspace - it's practically built for it. Basically, there would be anamolies in aetherspace which allow small worlds to shift in and out of existence. Empaths could scan for them, with more aethercraft skill improving the accuracy and range of the scan. Each will have two-to-four aetherbeasts guarding it which have to be destroyed before docking is possible. Inside: adventure! Lots of mobs to kill, maybe energy nodes that can be linked, maybe even small formulaic quests. Each world would only exist for a certain period of time after being docked with. This time would be hidden from players, but once it started getting low they would begin receiving messages relating the gradual unweaving of reality about them. Anyone caught inside an aetherspace world when it dissolves would die instantly.

The contents of these worlds would be based on the region of aetherspace it spawned in, though once created they could wander elsewhere. Further out planes would have more dangerous but rewarding worlds. For example, those around astral would be filled with fragmented Soulless enemies, perhaps with a Kethuru tentacle as a boss, and would induce insanity. None of them should be obviously allied with any of the existing orgs - an instance that spawned near Celestia would definitely be angel-themed, but it might be populated by freakish parodies of Celestian creatures... creepy fetus cherubs or psychopathic angels with butcher knives. On prime they might contain finks or gorgogs, etc.

How about mining? Allow energy siphoners to be converted into some kind of drilling/siphoning mechanism, or just sell drills/lasers/whatever as new modules. Rather than venturing inside the aetherworld, you could harvest materials from it while having to fight off monsters that spawn constantly. A riskier and more rewarding alternative to vortexes, though it would have to be carefully balanced to keep from just becoming an even beefier xp-faucet.

Not only would these areas be super neat on their own, but they'd also add yet another dimension to aetherspace (which I always welcome, personally) and provide a variety of bashing grounds for people of many different levels. Let's fill up the empty void of aetherspace, eh.

I like this idea, though I'm not sure it solves the low to midbie bashing problem. You'd still need a fullish crew, and a semi-experienced pilot. If the mobs inside these places are easy enough for midbies to survive, it's probably not worth it to the big guys, and if it's made for big people, probably too hard for the midbies. But it's a cool idea, nonetheless.

I'm pretty much on board regardless because of "fetus cherubs".

That's why the ones on lower planes would be tailored to lower level players and vice versa, sort of like the current set-up of the planes. Getting there could indeed be tricky... I believe there's been an idea tossed around in the past about having Gnome-crewed shuttles in aetherspace. They would only travel to areas in Prime, and cost gold to charter, of course. Getting a crew for higher-end ones shouldn't be too big an issue, as every org has at least one well-equipped ship on hand and you only need a handful of lessons in aethercraft (which most people have at this point).

That sounds badass. Except the getting to them part of course. If only everyone had an aethership....

New motto: One man, one aethership, one vote.

This has my vote for approval! This game IS focused a lot on extra-planar adventures, so having some more areas that go along with that theme will be wicked sweet! However... Doesn't the difficulty reverse in Aetherspace? I thought the mobs spawned from the vortexes were stronger the closer to Prime they were, which is why people always go for Ethereal for the Gargantuans...

No. We go to Ethereal because they're stronger and worth more essence.

We go to Elemental cause its easier to not get jumped by Gloms.

We don't go to Celestia cause they're only worth half the essence while being twice as hard, for some bizarre reason.

We'd go to Astral if we had the crew.

Better yet! Let's just turn the entire game into a text version of WoW!

It already is.

EDIT: This is my 4,000th post. I'd like to shank the academy.

I beg to differ. You can't get anywhere in pvp here just button mashing.