They actually say cabins on a cruise liner are given to those who retire after their service.
Yeah. I don't particularly care for this tidbit, or at least for the way it's currently implemented, since you can run into that line of dialogue much earlier than it really makes sense. I wouldn't expect whoever was in charge of those decisions would even be considering letting those who serve retire until at least the point where it has fully set in that life after the cataclysm is just the way it is now, which I wouldn't expect would be for at least a year or so after the start.
One thing that had been brought up in the past was if portals periodically appeared that created issues for the character. I would be interested in some sort of long story arc where you can retrieve scientist NPCs and escort them to secured government facilities where they could continue their work. After acquiring whatever exotic materials they needed to perform their research, you could eventually start closing portals that crop up. Naturally, you wouldn’t be able to stop the zombies that already exist, but you’d at least be able to slow the progression of bizarre creatures spewing forth. It would give the player the feeling that they are making some sort of progress, while at the same time not straying too far from the notion that the world is still pretty well screwed.
I feel like something like that would give the player a goal that encourages exploration and dungeon diving (materials and scientists) without necessarily chaining them down to it as required part of the game, and without saying “this is how you beat the game”. That said, it might be interesting if your actions could somehow influence whatever epilogue you get upon “retiring” a character. Something like, “Through your heroic actions, you have managed to create a somewhat peaceful enclave for your community. They have over eighty members, and rescue teams bring in more every week. The science team you have rescued works tirelessly towards producing a safe water supply, in an effort to bring some bit of normalcy back. You have retired from your role as marshall and now serve a quieter role as the quartermaster. There are still many dark days ahead, but they appear to be brightening.”
