There's a lot there.
Agreed, but—and I saw your objection to the "just don't use it" response, I'm disagreeing with that here—I don't really see a problem with TFP trying to keep the looter-shooter-errand-boy players happy, anybody wants a beatemup, we gotcher beatemup right here!, so long as they also keep no-trader personal-competence-and-thinking-required play within reach, you know, the survival and crafting part.
I absolutely love games where "run for your life!" starts out among your best options. Games that carefully ensure every offered fight is winnable are difficult for me to talk about politely. So yeah.
Full-on ewwww to the game you thought you were getting. I mean, sure, for easy mode, whatever. Rush the tech tree and regard everything before everybody has all the toys as tutorial. That couldn't possibly be more boring in a game this good. Cooperating teams of specialists *rock*, and you want to make that a niche little sideshow. I want to make that the only way to thrive on a hard-mode server, and it should be (barely) possible to survive if you're smart about your perk choices solo.
What? Dig a shaft 35m straight down and put your workshop down there, if you can't do that by day 3 you're doing something very wrong. A one-block shaft is perfectly navigable once you figure out how to wriggle free if you get stuck, you only need ladders every other block. I think activity should be *more* dangerous, to the point where if it's just you mining and at all exposed you'd damned well better have set traps at the higher difficulties, and if you make big bangy noise in an un-cleared town, oh, baby, you're going to die.
Not sure it was the gun parts that did it, but I hear you. Way I see it, as the difficulty cranks up you should be forced to rely more and more on personal skill and perception and strategy, less and less on tech-tree progression and looting.
Sort-of agreed there except the demo zombies are a stroke of genius. In my dream version of this game playing on harder settings should make it feel increasingly like Devil Daggers, it's not a question of whether, only when, and personal skill is by far the most important factor.
I think they're still iterating on the pathing, not sure it's possible to build the game they really want to build using any current game engine so it's always going to be the best compromise they can find. World War Z style gore piles would be terrifying. I'd *love* to see that mechanic boosted in 7dtd. As it is it's just a hint, it seems almost unintentional.