A few questions about - base location, traders, raiders

[Optimistic Cynic]

Hello! This game looks very promising and I'm having fun so far! But I do have a few questions...

1) Based on what I see from other peoples comments, the NPCs can attack your base while you are not there? If so, can they destroy the entire base you have setup , or is it more like Bruce in Raft where they do a bit of damage and then leave?

2) Should I be building my base on dry land instead of sticking it out into the water? The NPC attacking my foundation in the water was hard to get to and I don't think I see any defensive pieces I can make to protect them better (yet). My metal foundation was down 500 points before I even knew an NPC was hitting it (I was killing two others attacking one of my chests)

2a) Is the repair tool bugged right now? I'm swinging away to repair my chest and foundation, and nothing is being fixed...

3) I swam out to the nearest trader and noticed a bunch of lootable piles and such on the platform. Is there a reputation system in the game where if you take things from the trader platform they raise prices, come after you, or otherwise dislike you? RP-wise I would not take these resources unless I have to, but if I do have to take them at some point in the future I'd like to know the repercussions before I do it.

Thanks!

[maximummax]

1) Yes, currently it is like that, but we will make them deal much smaller damage if you are outside your base

2) what kind of base defences did you try to build?

2a) you need to left click in order to repair things, it will show you their damage level if they require repairing

3) no, it won't influence your reputation

[Optimistic Cynic]

Thanks for the reply!

1) You also might want to think about adjusting things in single player worlds a bit. In co-op you can leave teammates behind to defend while others explore, trade, and scavenge. But when playing single player you could be pretty far away when an attack happens. And that just ramps up the difficulty for single players even more. Some of this would be solved a bit with the answer to my second question, but not completely since single players would gather resources and build slower than co-op. I could always just increase the time between raids I suppose and make certain I am home when they are due to come. I think I saw that option in the world menu.

2) None yet, I just did not see any defenses that could be placed in the water to defend foundations. I most definitely may have missed them or perhaps didn't see that some of the placements could be what I'm looking for.
I'll experiment more with the defenses and see what happens. Right now I'm thinking about restarting and building my base on the top of the rock outcrop in the middle of the island.

2a) It just doesn't seem to be repairing. I see the numbers that indicate how much damage the pieces have taken, I swing the repair tool, and nothing changes. I've tried this with wood and metal in my inventory and without, in case it needs resources, but nothing. I'll keep trying, but so far I have not seen it work.

3) Thanks! Seems pretty bad to take a traders resources like that, so I'll probably not do it unless I'm hurting for something I really need. Without respawning resources, it just might be needed sooner than later :)

[Optimistic Cynic]

As a quick follow up.
I see that I can place the barbed wire and such at water level around the foundations. Cool!

I was also able to repair the foundation. I had to get in the water and target the base of the foundation piece (one of the pilings). Trying to repair by targeting the 'floor' part of the foundation piece did not work. I still have not found a way to repair my wooden box.

Cheers!