A Competitive Xsyon
Introducing a system that rates players and tribes on how well they are surviving
So competition within this game is rather non existent. Territorial warfare and pvp lacking is one thing, but this is a game about survival. Killing someone and grabbing their stuff is one thing, but I see PVP in general more as a means to an end and a profession, rather than an endgame.
So take a step back: the main goal in Xsyon is survival, right? Well, we allready have 3 ratings for survival, they are Thirst, Hunger and Comfort (SOON™). Introduce a fourth rating: Survival. This rating is effected by the other three ratings. If you keep yourself fed, watered and clouthed you will gain more Survival rating but adversely you will lose rating if you are keeling over from thirst and hunger and running around naked and exsposed to the elements.
Winter IMO should be harsher than it is currently. NPCs should be more aggressive, food should be dangerously scarce and keeping up your hunger, thirst and comfort rating should be more difficult in general. Exposure to the elements should kill you. My reasoning for this will be apparent a little later on. :)
You will also lose a chunk of Survival if you get yourself killed. While you are the chosen survivor of the gods of ancient and cannot truly die, getting killed and having to be resurrected at your totem is a very unpleasant deal. Killing someone else should also empower you and give you a good amount of points based on some criterea, like the survival rating of the victim. This way, there would be a reason to go hunting people and to be mindful of other people and npcs. Also no more silly suicides to get a quick way home, which is retarded imo. Anyway, there should be more sensible ways of fast travel, like mounts.
Your rating would be displayed on your ingame charactersheet and the rating of everyone in the game would be displayed on a page on the website. Then every ingame year at the breaking of the winter thaw, a Master Survivalist player and tribe is chosen and will recieve a prize.
Well what do you think? I know a lot of you will probably scuff at this idea because its not a clear cut sandbox feature, but really freeform is NOT the be all and end all of MMORPGs.