like being able to go around the map find materials and then when u find a good spot u can build ur own base but the building will take time to complete.
then u can have raids by Fnix that they can destroy parts of ur base or the whole thing witch then u have to be careful because when they know where ur base is they will have more forces around the area to try and kill u.
I think one area per region should be enough.
And the ability by FNIX to raid them and if successful control them and corrupt them with FNIX own structures would be awesome.
The player would then either attack and take back the base or suffer the consequence and having more machines roaming that Region.
Anywhere on the map would be cool. But I do not think it would work out. The devs would have to to do a lot of work to make sure every spot would work out, and not bug the game and make like a hole in the floor or something.
With that said, I think the pre-set areas are fine, as base building is not the main focus of this game.
Side-note: Nice pfp btw, hope you enjoyed the meme 