Just some thoughts essentially regarding PVE animal and NPC combat and the animal products one acquires from each animal, as someone who has played both the old and new versions of the game. I think the new version is amazing in many ways. These are just my opinions on things that I think would make the game better. I would like to see some of the animals being much more challenging to kill, for example larger animals like the elephants, rhinos, lions and bears. It would be nice to feel a sense of consequence when it comes to going for some of these animals and to have a unique strategy for combat with each type. Additionally, it would feel much more rewarding if there was a specific incentive to get the hides or products of each animal. As soon as you process the skin from any animal it simply becomes standard leather. Elephant skin should become elephant leather and so on, and while certain items should be able to be crafted with any thick or thin leather, there should be unique items that require that specific lion hide or elephant hide etc (not just the animal masks that I see are available). Similar to how you need specific ores, one should need specific animal products to make useful tools and clothes and you should have to be very prepped to take on more dangerous animals. Right now you can just hit an elephant a few times with an arrow and its sorted. Maybe very specific and narrow hitboxes for vulnerable locations on the animals are required. An elephant should be able to one-shot you if you come into close contact and armored NPCs with weapons should be much more dangerous. NPC enemies are also too easy to deal with. In summary, just more consequence and incentive for combat. I'm sure there are plugins and mods for these things but I am just referring to the standard game. I am looking forward to more dungeons and raider/bandit locations that genuinely feel dangerous and rewarding and that require a lot of prep before embarking. I know this is supposed to be more survival/crafting game but I think proper combat and rewards for that combat would greatly improve the longevity of a playthrough.
On a side note, do you think character levels or proficiency have any place in this game? I.e. fishing, mining, animal taming, farming, combat levels etc that give you benefits in proficiency when executing said skills? Maybe its getting a bit runescapey, but I certainly wouldn't mind seeing something like that.
