Suggestions and thoughts on the game

Been playing this game a lot during this weekend and have been having a blast!
But there are some things that I think should absolutely be looked over by the devs.
This mainly relates to exploration.

1. Rewarding exploration. I have yet to find a chest that contains anything other than Ruby, Amber, Gold coins, or arrows. Being able to find something more interesting and helpful for your character and your base would make exploration a viable alternative to just grinding materials. I.e. finding actual materials for building, weapons, armour, rare items / decorations, maybe even a boats that are tiered inbetween the ones you can make yourself!
2. Drops from enemies. This point ties in a bit to the first point. We should be rewarded for taking on certain enemies and creatures. So far the only good ones are a certain flying pain in the ass and the troll, which drops a hide which can only be used for a few armour pieces that are slightly worse than bronze. So there's no more reason to defeat a troll after you've ascended to Bronze and Iron. Have them drop a few more things and give us the ability to make beds and decorations out of their hides.
   When it comes to more humanoid creatures, they should have a chance at dropping a weapon or armour piece which is slightly worse its Crafted counterpart.
   I.e. a skeleton has a small chance of droppings its weapon or shield: "Dented Bronze Sword", "Buckled Bronze Buckler".
   Again, it becomes an alternative to the crafting grind. Creating a new item from scratch will of course be better. Which leads us to the next point.
3. Item rarity. When crafting something there should maybe be some sort of roll which gives crafted equipment some sort of buff or "personality". A shitty smith creating an Iron weapon will most likely fail at it and make a bad version of that weapon. While he might be OK at crafting stone axes. Could also be possible to improve a shitty version with let's say, half the cost of a new item. This way people can become more dedicated to what they're doing. "Oh, you want a good sword? Well person 'x' is a very good smith!". The rarity system I'm thinking of is just like the one in Mount&Blade. But of course, since it's a bit more fantasy maybe a Diablo-style system would be better, and you can add/modify your weapon with for extra damage or i.e. the Axe could be modified to be a better wood-cutter or become more battle-oriented.
4. Salvaging/de-crafting. It would be awesome if the player could salvage some of their old equipment to get some materials back, doesn't have to be all the materials, let's just say 50%.
   This would also make point 1 and 2 more fun as you can actually smelt and repurpose things that you got while exploring. As of now I just resort to throwing unused items into the ocean, kinda like how we do in real life..?
5. Workbench requirement... Where to start? I need a workbench to destroy something? I need a workbench to put a plank on the ground? I need one for a bed?
   The workbench requirement needs to be eased up a bit. It's very hard to go on an exploration when I need to build a small base just to do minor tasks. Make it so that a few things can be built without the workbench, so that I can build a small camp where I can make food and minor repairs. Maybe it could even become its own "workbench" that is only used for exploration. It could be a small toolbox from which I can build a tent using hides I gather from hunting, eventually learning how to make bigger and more interesting tents. Maybe there could even be a small workstation from which I can repair and make arrows, but not create any equipment in itself.
6. Customization. This will most likely be something they're already thinking off. But just in case, it would be really nice if there were more colour-variations or armor-types to create. There could be a Light(some sort of leather/fur)-Medium-Heavy armour within each "section" of the game.
7. Decorations on ships. Self-explanatory. Would be really cool, but don't know if it's possible.
8. Self-immolation. Why does it feel like I'm constantly setting myself aflame by just walking within one meter of a fire? Give it a small timer instead and before you catch fire you'll just be slightly hurt instead.

That's what I can think of from the top of my head.
Overall a very nice game. From time to time it loses its pacing but it comes right back up when you learn new things. The grind itself is something that really should be looked into, and I think my points absolutely could help in that aspect.

Have a good one!