One thing I did was designate one adult male and one adult female as "leaders". Not that you can *really* do much with them, but it added another element to the game for me. These "leaders" I took to master status in all of the proficiencies, except for healing (aside from finding and opening the drum, how DO you get a Master Healer? That medical cactus doesn't seem to do much beyond Adept status! )

However, the leaders could do things like honor individuals when they achieve skill level bonuses (achieving adept or master staus, completing a project, etc.) or could organize villagers in times of crisis(like a food shortage) to use their lower skill proficiencies to help out for a short period of time. Leadership points could be earned by working in other job specialties other than their own (A farmer doing Building, for example) and/or working on village projects. Those with the highest points could be eligible for annual (or whatever time frame) "elections", and yet another behavior for the villagers!

Also, I agree that the school should do more than simply gather the kids, though, I have to admit, it came in handy when I was trying to breed villagers, that way the kids didn't get underfoot as the couple were running away from each other... LOL )

Speaking of mating, it would really be nice if it wasn't so, well, "mechanical". I like the kissing sounds, etc. However, simply going into the hut just seems such an anti-climax, yanno? Maybe the couple could "date" (he could pick flowers from the garden, she could bring him special fruits or what-have-you", maybe even a spot to "watch submarine races" from. (Am I dating myself now or what?)

I also agree with the appearance change for the elderly and facial hair for adult men. I also think it would be nice to "retire" an elderly villager. What I do now is once they hit about 60, I uncheck their skill levels and basically let then do as they please. I figure they've earned that freedom!

And, last but not least, I think, also, it would be nice to honor the dead a bit more than they already are. Some of those original villagers kinda grew on me (had one that just could NOT leave the ladies alone... he wound up fathering almost the entire next generation single-handedly! LOL) I also think it would be nice if, when you click on the headstone, the green screen would include a picture of the deceased villager, not just the name and job.

Any more ideas, I'll post 'em here.

Thanks for listening...