Kay. I was talking with my fiance yesterday, and I had some thoughts about what could liven up game play. I KNOW that people tend to hate consequences/difficulty in games. Which is a real challenge for designers who want to make something interesting, because people cry so much about anything that isn't instantly achievable. That said... 1. When you die out in the world, specifically on patrol/world missions? You should lose [b]ALL[/b] of what you've looted since you dropped in, and a quarter of what resources were on your character. I would up drop rates to couple with this, but it would add real risk to doing tasks. Right now, there are simply no consequences. There's no danger for being 'in the wild'. You steadily profit with no risk. This would also actually make people who are 'good' at PvE worth something to players. That person you know who's a badass chest finder and tends not to die on trips? They're now your guide. That person who's just a really good shooter, but not so interested in exploration? You now NEED them to come with you to mow down enemies while you gather. (ALSO, A TRADE SYSTEM. So people can get paid for their services/develop a reputation with the community.) 2. Lore. Not more obvious than it is, but some sort of draw to it. And, again, make it difficult. Make it present in the game, but make it difficult. That creepy hallway in the Cosmodrome people are exploring? There could be more to that. Creepy, and then something dangerous lurking in there, and some sort of beacon/terminal you need to hold for a certain amount of time. Keys to find to activate it in the first place. And if you DIE, it boots you to orbit in this zone. A null respawn zone in patrol. Real danger zones, worth exploring for lore or resources, that will draw players. Certainly you could get people in the zone to mob it for you and do a mass search but... Isn't that the point? Strength in numbers, but everyone is a one man army in patrols. No incentive to work with people because there's no risk of loss in this game. 3. ...voice chat. Proximity voice. Please? Yes there are trolls. Yes, I REALLY appreciate you Bungie for trying to silence the trolls so that the rest of us can play the game. And I'm really sorry that you did what a lot of gamers asked for, just not giving griefers the option, and basically got griefed for it. But we didn't know what was best here. Proximity chat, coupled with some reasons to cooperate in the wild/explore/challenges for resourcing farming, would help build the community. 4. Karma system. To answer the possibility that people wouldn't pay up for escorts, or people would grief on proximity chat? USE THAT REPORTING SYSTEM! It functions on a scale where, the more bad reports you get the more 'bad' karma you get. People can see a red tag or something over your head, and inspect you to see in detail how bad your karma really is. OR, on the flip side... People can see how good your karma is. Imagine the inherent rewards of a clan with members who all sport stunning karma, and a reputation for being good team mates for tasks. It would allow the community to police itself, and even create more reasons for interaction. Don't like that clan? Run a smear campaign on them! Let the community be alive. EVE Online does some of this stuff beautifully, and lets the game self regulate in many ways. Which leads to this last bit... 5. World. PvP. Zones. Resource rich. Same rules about dying as other world zones. You have a reason to go to, and hold ground. PvP players come to dominate. PvE players can level some sort of unique finding/farming skill. Multiple drops for doing PvE more or something like that. Merge the communities by necessity. It would be awesome. Just my thoughts.