I would like an the choice of at least one alternative identity to that of drone follower working against "the evil Kitin".
I wanna dress in animal hides, run around on all fours, howl at the moon and bark at the suspicious Homin. But homins stand out from the other animals, so I can't even pretend.
I want a compromise between the strict motivation of war and the ambiguous methods of anything that leads up to it. "a title" does not make a role. I desire a choice of many possible roles, each of which has at least some personal gain.
running along the roads of the Matis Majestic Gardens ressurecting people from Ragus attacks may seem like you gain the personal satisfaction of "keeping our main pathways safe for Homin", but when you stop there is no lasting effect. no exp from the low level monsters, no magical weapon as thanks, no outpost errected and predators pushed back. even if it was one of many methods of having an outpost put up, if all we got were outposts, no matter what you did to get it, your role would be "put up an outpost".
Let our foraging change the number of plants and debris around. Allow us to punish those who strip the land, or allow us to slip into anarchy when no one objects to it. give us the ability to inform our fellow citizens of the power of self-government, so we can chose to use that ability to inform, or leave each other in ignorance. be able to set up some form of enforcement. (from the simple council that prospectors report to who effect your fame & fines(tax refunds?
), to the military extremes of confinement or death, to those that may deplete area resources of one kind or another) to have the option of setting up a booth that city welcomers direct new refugees to for information on laws, concequences and systems.
how about even simple things? give us hair and tattoo crafting ability. allow us to eventually mix those between races. make it so that the styles available at the shops change depending on popularity.
crafters would always have the ability to craft styles from thier own races, even obsolete ones that people can't buy, but then have to pay to put them up for sale, and they would dissapear again if they were unpopular. (and would require a crafter to pay to have it made available again) and you would not be able to sell a style to a different race unless it were popular in your own race. Thus a style could cross races, become obsolete in the originating one, but remain popular as a unique import. Make at least two levels of crafting detail so that higher levels would be required for more unique looks.
Ok, maybe NOT so simple as far as mixing customizable hair and tattoos between 4 races, but the system BEHIND it I think is important. I really love that you guys used opacity and specular masks on the equipment to give it a lot of variety. I almost wish you could go so far as to make things like high quality armor that wasn't glossy, changing secondary colors on high quality armor, mixing more 3D mesh parts on higher quality armor. that sort of thing. at least the combined opacity/specular masks on things like the skirs (Matis heavy pants, I think) have a significant effect. (like how it lengthens, changes the edge shape, and the whole look of the "fabric" type)
blah, it's hard to think of a "simple" way to implement anything that really matters like that. give me a night's rest for me to clear my head.
I think even a direct foraging deplition causing local fame concequences would be SOMETHING. Perhaps the simple added option of some form of economic effect players can have to show how much they value something and so effect the concequences of... (like... people who sell above certain amount(s) of value could contribute to the decided tax to pay for enforcement)
)