Hey TFPs, first post here but I'm a long-time player (~1500 hours). I have some thoughts/suggestions I'd like to share for A21 and the future of the game. Long post but please at least read the first 4; they're easy tweaks that will almost certainly be improvements:
1. In regards to the alpha 21 talk about magazines--that's awesome, I'm 100% on board. It will dramatically improve how enjoyable it is to loot grind. Currently crafting gets a bit boring after ~lvl 30 b/c after you get the first and only book that gives you a skill, that's it. You're done and never need that book again. So after around level 30 or so, you pretty much have everything in the game. This will make it worth going out to loot & do more stuff; it's a good change!
2. ↑ THAT SAID--I personally think you should go back to making combat skills only based on learn-by-doing. I.e. you get better with bows by using bows, and as your character levels up you get points that can be spent on perks that modify/give you new abilities with bows. Think of the learn-by-doing aspect as like the "base skill" for a certain combat type, and the perks open up as you gain skill in that combat type. In the current game set-up, this would be comparable to leveling up the "Attribute: Agility" skill by killing zeds with knives & arrows, then unlocking more perks to spend skill points on in that tree as the Agility Attribute levels up. I think a lot of people don't like the idea of spending magical points to master a weapon you've never touched before overnight, just because you have the skill points available.
3. The next thing to work on is the questing. The tier 4 & 5 quests get repetitive after a while because there are so few of them. You should add something to make it worth going back to the tier 1-3's (like maybe "elite" versions of those quests where you get much harder zeds, or increased number of zeds in exchange for better rewards).
4. You should add an extra-difficult quest between each quest tier that is required before you move on to the next tier. One thought is to have to defend the trader outpost against a zed horde. This would slow progression and expand long-term playability b/c you'd have to prepare for the quest before tackling it, rather than blasting through all the tiers & essentially beating the game before day 14.
----↑ Stuff to consider sooner rather than later ↑----
----↓ Longer-term stuff that can wait a bit ↓----
5. Bring back/elaborate on "defend the location" quests. Hordes are awesome, and we want more of them. It's a lot more fun to play against large NUMBERS of zombies as opposed to a small number of bullet-sponge zombies. I know that's hard to accomplish computing-power-wise without optimization, but it would be a fantastic addition to the game (a zombie "horde" of 10 isn't really a zombie horde. Not a threat. A zombie horde of 100 all at once is worth taking seriously).
6. Give us more customizability and gameplay modes/options. For example, the "more dangerous cities" and "wandering hordes" mods are awesome; they really add a challenge to the game that isn't there anymore in vanilla. Give us the option to customize stuff like that without needing mods!
7. Add larger variety in quest types. As suggestion 5 said, "defend the location" quests would be great. Other options include some kind of "repair the building/fortify" quest, a "sneak only/remain undetected" quest, a "find these ingredients & I'll give you something cool" quest, a "boss-zombie hunt" quest, or any number of other things. Maybe a "timed completion parkour" quest in the form of saving someone who's trapped?
8. Add more rare, loot-only items to the endgame. They should leave all the essential stuff like guns as crafting or trader-based, but add some random rare items that you can get in no other way except high-end quest rewards and rare loot box rewards. Stuff like special clothing items, the drone (I think the cargo mods are OP), maybe a special vehicle, a katana, ultra rare but cool skill perk books, a dog companion, and some easter-eggs. And I really want a lawn-mower added to the game.
9. Add some rare environmental hazards. Lightning-strikes, radiation, tornados, locusts, rabbits that eat your crops, food rot/decay, etc. Heck, maybe even rainbows--Just gives the game some variety.
10. Greater zombie attack variety--zeds that infect with a single hit, zeds that grab you & slow you down, zombie children, zombie elderly, zeds with specific weak spots or requiring different tactics to beat, dessicated/barely moving zeds that look like corpses but attack if you get too close, rare/boss zombies, maybe some tunneling zeds, you get the idea. The most important thing in a zombie game is... the zombies. Can't let them get boring, so give them variety!