Hopefully there's an option for server admin to bypass loot containers getting destroyed. Nothing like going to loot something only to realize that someone else has been nearby, especially on a PVP server.
Well in most of the last few versions of the game you could get dysentery from drinking murky water so that really hasn't changed. I'm not sure how hard it will be to find the books needed to make the water purification mod for your headgear or if the perk still exists that reduces dysentery...
Removing the nerd poling won't really stop much. You can always fly up there if you have a gyro. We had a guy who always did that on the last server I played on. I'm not sure what he's going to do in 21 since he won't get a gyro in the first week unless he plays 24/7 getting magazines.
That area could have been city and during the whatever event that happened, those sections could have been bombed until nothing was left and then the trees started growing back only to be burned by first gen survivors. At this point is when we come along and see the aftermath.
I will admit...
Probably because in every game there are those who consider themselves completionists and MUST have all the recipes, skills, etc. themselves. It's also nice not having to wait until someone in your group logs on to make something if you die and lose it or to make it for you in the first...
I own the dvd's for all of that. Police Squad was a pain getting because it was almost always out of stock a few years ago when I wanted it but eventually I got a copy.