I'd say it's a bit of an exaggeration. Sure deeds can be improved upon. But I think 4d doesn't really have a lot of features. Gladiators were implemented, but I think it should have been done differently, to a point where I think people would enjoy it more. I can go into that idea again on another thread sometime. Right now we have deeds and king of clans on the plate.
We don't have crafting, fishing is very limited but still there, farming was popular when it rewarded tokens but when switched to tradepoints kind of lost interest.
Really our primary features that we are known for is our world and our quests. But those aren't truly features in my opinion. All muds have zones and sort of quests. But actual things (features) to spice up the life of the mud, for people to gather and group and have fun, that's what is lacking, that other muds have and what we need here. These clan changes are intended to do just that, and the deeds helped with Chaos, as Asmo used in his recruitment post.
Perhaps we need more elite zones that are impossible to solo, but need groups to go to. However the experience yielded per mob would have to be worth it. If you can kill 20 dino's and get 200mil exp in 10min and it takes you 10min to kill 5 mobs in the new zone and they only yield 350mil total, you'd rather go solo and get the experience quicker. We can actually just simply make zones like Dark Planet and Prehistoric Forest have harder mobs, so there is no need for new zones. Groups pretty much work like they did in the olden days. Leader everyone would follow and be primary tank, while the last person in the group would be secondary tank, just in case a random mob would walk in and attack. Since they attack the last person to enter the room. From what I remember that's how it worked in the old code. It is just a lot easier to solo these days then it was back then. I remember rip in time zone being a challenge for many people back then... that says a lot I think.