Frankencow

Ideally, it would be configurable by server managers based on how they want to run their communities. But my preference would be a formula that gives higher weight to zero-or-no death survival while also factoring in kills (or game stage) and how many complete blood moons a player has been online for (because it is easy to go death-free if you log out for horde night). Possibly this type of function is better done using a server manager instead of in the base game itself.

--Better scoring logic, with some configurable parameters, and the ability to real-time display a survivor leaderboard.

If you manage your game stage well you don't need massive construction the first 3-4 horde nights. Just don't make it a goal to kick every Z you see and it keeps the game stage low. I spend the first 2 in a cobblestone shack, 5x5 that uses arch windows for walls. Mostly just mele weapons. Switch off a lot to repair and drink stamina boosts. By the time I need something bigger I'm 3 game weeks into it and have had lots of time.

Sorry for the partial necro. Wondering if you ever ran across a server like you mentioned that leverages stats/leader boards? I'd love to find a server that ran mostly vanilla, hard settings, and reset on maybe 60 day cycles and ran a leaderboard with a premium for zero/low deaths (showing you can actually survive). No vote rewards, community horde forts, or other gimmicks. Just competitive survival.

I also would be OK with harsher death penalties, but I also tend to just start new games on death in SP. (I also enjoy TLD on Interloper.) One idea for multiplayer that would cause a greater sting of death without changing gameplay would simply be to add some kind of social/badge element to zero-death play. On a fresh seed, as long as you have remained death-free (or configurable: "under X deaths" total; or perhaps average less-than 1 death per 200 game days; etc) the player screen and chat gives you some kind of trophy or hero/survivor indicator next to your name. For a lot of people in multiplayer settings, the sting of losing the reputation and bragging rights is greater than anything the game mechanics themselves could impose. If you then wanted to take it further, game mechanics could be tied to that status. Trading Lobbies that can only be entered by "Survivors", speed, health, crafting bonuses, or whatever. But even just reputation alone would be a big incentive.

I'm a big fan of the new "stone age" phase. I know it is going to get some tweaks and additions yet, but I've always enjoyed early game the best and this allows more game play while still keeping with the primitive vibe for the first week. I'm also the guy who spins a new map on death, so I guess I like the challenge.

I just found this thread and still need to read through all of it and the other LCB thread more carefully. There are some interesting ideas out there and many things that would make stuff more interesting for PVP, but if I had to select one thing that would in my experience make PVP better right now, it would be to fix the broken offline claim modifier. The boys at Ground Zero run a nice server and the rules keep most griefing in check. Most of the examples of blatant greifing from this thread (jailing the starting points, reducing a base to rumble, undermining a base, etc) would never happen on the GZ server because the players who did that simply wouldn't be allowed on anymore. However, it would make the PVP dynamic so much better if the LCB's offline modifier worked properly. I'd even be cool with it if the LCB ONLY worked while offline. That is, no LCB modifier at all when I'm online, but make it invinsible while I'm offline (or, at least, give the server admins that option again). There isn't any skill to raiding a base while the owner is offline, but if you can do it while they are online then you have got some skills. Unless TFP decide to completely overhaul the PVP mechanics then a lot of the ideas in this thread may just be pie-in-the-sky. If you join a pub, expect it to not be a great PVP experience. But a few minor tweaks can make 7DTD a fun PVP experience on private servers where that server's rules are clearly defined and enforced. Admittedly, I'm more of the type that figures you have to have another PLAYER if you are doing PVP. I don't think it is PVP if it is you against another guy's base. Just my take.