Originally posted by Faceplant8:

IMO it's pointless to add stars or just increase the HP/DPS of mobs. You can already get that affect by just not upgrading your equipment as much. There are also already many other ways of increasing difficulty with self-imposed restrictions.

This isn't really about increasing the difficulty. It's more about letting some enemies remain relevant. So I don't think self imposed restrictions solve this potential issue in a good way.
Do I need Grey dwarves to scale? Not at all. Do I want to run around naked in the Plains to feel vulnerable to Deathsquitos? No. Having 1* or 2* Deathsquitos before Yagluth is dead isn't a great option either.
The chance of facing a 1*-2* Deathsquito or a 2* Wraith would however keep me on my toes a bit more even when I have progressed further in the game.

How many of you spend time making your base "raid proof" or portal home at night to maximize rested buff. Raise your hand if you have a carpet next to your bed, or even have a door where you sleep? How many have spent the night sleeping completely exposed under a ribcage in mistlands?

It's very much a part of the game to build a nice home with good resting bonus. If you believe this thread is just about asking for options to make things more miserable, you're mistaken.
My main base isn't the least raid proof though. It's a viking longhouse with no moat or walls. The hen house has some walls though.

IMO, the devs should encourage more non-traditional playstyles, not just make mobs more difficult to kill. One way they could do that is to remove the boss locks so we could gain access to everything without going through the linear progression of the bosses.

I don't know. I like the old school, linear progression this game offers.

Another would be to make reasonable limits on the portal. Prevent or limit pocket portal for instance. Maybe have the ability to add an adjustable cooldown on portals, so you can only use a portal every X amount of time, and/or require much more infrastructure to be in place so they can only be built in bases.

This could be experimented with. I rarely do those pocket portal runs though. ...but on exploring boat trips, of course I carry portal materials. I think that's intended though. There's a time limit on most game sessions.

IMO, portal use (or non-use) is a complete game changer. I think most don't even consider it because it can be a huge time sink moving things around, but I think there could be a compromise to disallow pocket portals, but still allow their use for getting across the map quicker. If they did that, I think they could also then remove the restriction on moving metals.

Not sure how such a setup would look. I think the current mechanic is pretty good. Portals take up space to build, there's a high enough cost to prevent me from spamming them, they take up 4 inventory slots if you include the workbench, which given the limited inventory space is bothersome enough.
I think it comes down to the players in this case. I use portals, but they're restrictive enough to not make me rely on them too much.

The one change I would make with mobs is to make them more aggressive, and (as others have mentioned), remove the dancing around. They could also make biomes like the plains more dynamic. Everything there just stands around waiting for you to pick them off with a bow. Why doesn't the whole village go on alert when someone drops dead next to the campfire? I find that especially ridiculous.

That would be a good change for a more difficult mode. Seekers can be very aggressive in groups though.

Another idea that I had recently was to remove the "GPS" functionality of the map. I think a reasonable compromise between the current Valheim Maps mode and no-map would be to remove the mini-map and delay updates of the main map until you sleep. It could even look more like a hand-drawn (not perfect) map. The idea being that you update the map when you get to camp.

Another good idea for a hardcore mode. Could add another layer to the exploration aspects.

In that mode, when you're in new places, your going to pretty much know where you are, since you will see the map changing there, but otherwise, if you get blown off course in a storm, you will only be able to know where you are by looking at features around you and finding similar on the map.

I like the idea, but I think it would have to come with some other changes too, if I was ever to try that mode. It would likely add a lot of time to the game. Maybe it could be a more explorative mode with a less linear progression as you suggested above, but also with reduced cost to build and progress. ..an easier/faster progression by other means than grinding.

edit: ..I also have surrounded the pig/farming area with bee hives as protection. I doubt it's all that raid proof still.