I think the only thing that's missing is the weather system.
If you find a storm in the game and close your eyes it sounds epic.
The thunder and howling wind are just perfect.
Open your eyes though and the whole effect is spoiled by the fact your standing in a beautifully sunlit area except for...
It might be a factor of my minimum height character. The pets are a lot bigger than me.
I don't see why having the I'm stuck option is bad, certainly seems better than having to call for GM support every time you get stuck.
Elder razorbacks and wolves are huge.
They like to stand really close because they love me.
I get stuck in the pet model pretty much every time I use the bank or stand still for 10 seconds.
It's a needed feature for now.
Don't have any numbers but from my limited testing every relevant skill and lore provides a small increase.
Personally I don't think it's worth maxing all the relevant lore on low yeild materials unless your crafting with it.
When yeild is like 1.5% is an extra 5-10% of that amount really worth...
While I think guild and player housing is an important item I don't think it needs to be in when the game goes persistent.
How quickly do you think players and guilds are going to be able to afford to build anyway without the massive skill gain buffs we are running under now?
I'm fine with the way it is atm.
Idea 1 is a non-starter.
Item duping is a terrible idea and would be exploited to produce large quantities of goods and materials.