If Generation Zero and Dayz had a baby,
Traits from Mom (GZ)
Robots (incredible job with them)
Environment-World (graphics and sound), very well done
Story with quests and goals. No PVP? dont worry we have great stuff to do!
Weapons- Nice assortment, a couple of each type is just enough.
Buildings, military bunkers above and underground with mulitple entrances and exits.
Traits from Dad (DayZ)
Survival element (weather, hunger, medical) With hunger, maybe put in some animals to hunt that are deadly and delicious!
Able to go prone (more stealthy, but if found you can not just sprint away before you get up and take some extra fire in the mean time.)
Gear and weapon durability. If we are collecting materials anyway, lets put that in. Sooner or later we will have all blueprints and everything crafted, then what to use materials for? Fixing your stuff of course!
Inventory- Go back to personal grid system, keep new system for stash.
Have clothes determine your carry capacity or how durable or stealthy you are. Example: basic hunter cammo, cant carry much but you move silent and are hard to see. Full military set, make noise, a bit stealty, can carry a bit more, but makes you more tanky. Scavenger clothes : cargo pants, backpack, vest with pockets. Can carry lots but easy to see and make a bit more noise.
Carry 2 weapons on back one in hands MAX. Right now we can carry 80lbs. All guns weigh 2 pounds each in game, so we could carry 40 rocket launchers and still sprint?
Massive city area with large and tall buildings. Probably one in the map somewhere is all we need, but think of the action that could be had if the robots activley patrolled with sentries (new robot types!). This I assume would be somewhere on the large mainland once we get there, it is a big undertaking i am sure, so take all the time you need to make it right.
Darker nights We have night vision in optics that i doubt anyone ever uses. It actually makes things harder to see. Could even have night vision goggles put into the game too so you dont walk into a tree in the woods. Can also make it so the flashlight is easier for robots to see you rather than just sound detection.
Bad traits from Dad! BASE BUILDING- dont do it !!! Unless you remove all safe houses and the magical stash that transports your items, then it will be perfectly fine to add. It is pointless to have both, and the developers would waste countless hours developing them when better things can be added. Base building is after all a place to stash items mostly. Unless players want to sit in the base they built for hours waiting for a robot to walk by. Plenty of buildings in towns to do that in. The best thing about this world is the environment and hunting those bad robots that killed everyone.
Adding some extra things like repeatable quests on war boards in would give the end game a bit more meaning. As of now there , is no real purpose (besides endless hunting of robots, which can get old after a while) after you complete the story line and have all the best weapons.