Since day 1 of playing this game over a decade ago, I've always felt the biggest flaw was that we, the player character, are the primary target for the zombies. I mean, yes, it makes sense in the zombie lore that they want our brains, but it waters down the game play. Why? Because we simply respawn. And also because the AI is pathetically stupid.
Since we're a moving object, the AI needs to constantly path and adjust its path to us. Eventually it gets broken by terrain, objects, or other blocks and the zombies become fish in a barrel, taking all of the fun out of the survival.
Also, since we can respawn, the gravity of a dire situation gets completely watered down because, guess what? Here we are again, good as new! So the entire threat and purpose of the zombies is negated by the very mechanics of the game.
My suggestion from years ago that I'd still like to see implemented is a "base block" we have to defend that the zombies will target if we aren't an option. Lose that block, it's game over. No more building single-file, tower bases. No more building 2 bases, one of them just for "horde night". Once you place that object/block, that's where you live and breathe and that's where your fate's decided. If you aren't there, the zombies will target it. If you die, the zombies will target it. If you hide too far behind some pathing exploits, the zombies will target it.
