hot eagle
I play frequently with RL friends in a small group of 3. I also just helped someone raise their hunting skill by following them around with a cart. Here are some things in no particular order that would make both a much better experience.
1.) Party chat, separate from local and regional (also allowing cross-region chat, since my friends and I started in different regions).
2.) Different colored/outlined pips as well as hovering or mouseover names, on the minimap and world map regardless of zoom. So that we're not running towards one player in town or in the wild only to realize it wasn't them. Also would be helpful if the pip showed even in an unexplored area.
3.) Shared loot ownership (as an option, separately for "dropped loot" and "dropped items") so that, say, hunter(s) could hunt animals and someone can immediately collect the spoils into a cart. Or, one member drops a bundle of plant fibers near someone working at the foraging station.
4.) Party frames to show other members' health, hunger, stamina, and buffs. Are they being attacked? Do they have enough food? Are they still crafting?
5.) Chat alerts when a party member reaches a milestone in level, e.g. 20, 30, 40, etc.
6.) A party UI window, showing the member list, their region, a 📍 button to pull up their location on the world map (like waystone lists), their online status, and perhaps their highest 1-3 professions.
7.) Pins or pings placed on the map by other party members (of course, assuming pins will be implemented at all).
8.) Pips on the map of other party members' deployables and/or signposts, so we know where anyone would need to double back during exploration.
I imagine parties would generally be 2-8 players, and would auto-disband once all players are offline for >5 minutes or so. Dropped loot would be accessible by anyone who was in the party when it dropped, but player-dropped items would no longer be accessible to anyone who's not in the party with the player.