Hello,
Last night I was lying in bed thinking about CoE (don't judge me) and I wondered about two things :
First, let's say you're a commoner, let's say you're poor and let's say you don't have any weapons or armor with you / in your house (because you're not interested in fighting). This leaves you vulnerable if you can't afford bodyguards and someone decides to attack you.
That's when I thought about Vindictus Online. This game had destructible environment as well as environmental weapons. You could grab the closest boulder, pot, metal scrap, plank, even pumpkins and vegetables !
These improvised weapons had little durability and caused little damage, but were very good at knocking down / stunning enemies for a few seconds.
This would allow players to escape their assailant in any context. You're having a drink at the local tavern ? Grab your tankard and throw it in their face. You're taking care of your crops ? Get your pitchfork or shovel and be ready.
To my second concern now.
Most recent MMOs have what we call "grinding spots", areas with a high concentration of mobs to gain xp. I know CoE is not being developped in that direction, but I really hope wildlife will be scarce enough that we'll have to hunt (and track) our preys or be very unlucky and bump into a group of bandits / a pack of starved wolves / horrible creatures nobody knows about.
Not saying all encounters in the wild should be "negative" though. We could find lone explorers like us, people who got attacked and left for dead, mystical creatures that live in the woods... I think Skyrim did that pretty well though there was room for improvement. Which is why we have CoE, right ?
Let me know what you think about those ideas.