I know this is likely to start a fire, but it's not directly linked in the "Read This Before..." thread (far as I could see) and the search here sucks so I'm starting a new home for such discussions.

Currently we have a lovely image of our ship on the hud (when not in group of course) that shows where your ship has taken damage. This is where I expect the flames to come up, these damaged areas should have an effect on how/what your ship can do (yes I know this has been said many times). What I'd like to start here is a place for discussing what damage should do what. The following are my own suggestions for what should happen, please feel free to add.

If your armor is over 20% (at the weakest point of course) then your ship is unaffected. At less then 20% on a specific section of the ship that section begins to fail in it's normal function.

Ship front: weapons, the lower the armor (below 20%) the longer your weapons take to fire (refire delay goes up).
Ship back: turbo thrusters, the lower the armor the higher the power drain (or slower top speed?) becomes.
Ship top: power cell, the lower the armor the slower the power recharge.
Ship bottom: engines, the lower the armor the lower the thrust becomes.
Ship sides: turning thrusters, the lower the armor the lower the turning torque.

Guess that's about it. One more detail, I'd like to see my targets specific damage when I have him targeted. This would let me focus on specific areas while trying to avoid the others. I know we are supposed to get area specific targeting someday soon(tm), but I don't care that much for that as long as I can see where the damage is going I'll aim for the right part myself ;)

This has been suggested before, and talked about, as well.

Nevertheless, I think your post is one of the more well-thought-out ones to date.
I agree with it, by the way. But we also need the area-specific damage to register correctly.