[DutchGuy]

We could make tons of quests around the items that we currently have.

Like you said,

We could have a quest around the fighting fish.
Let's say you are able to raise your fighting fish level.
Let's say it reaches level 10.. out of no where a thief comes by knocking you down, he steals your fish, and when you wake up 30 minutes later(with a cut scene ofcourse which says 30 minutes later) you find yourself knocked out with a note laying on the ground. The note would would be a small tip of where to start your journey on finding your fish. The thief probably has bad intentions with your fish meaning that he wants to create it to a supernatural seamonster, and it's up to you to save the day. The thief has put a spell on your fish, and now your fish doesn't recognize you. You have to finish the thief by knocking him down for several seconds, and put a anti spell on your fish before it strikes you? when it is fully anti-spelled and back to earth, your fighting fish recognizes you and finishes the thief for you!
That's pretty much the storyline i had in mind... it's just a story..

What I mentioned earlier is we also have the hammer. Now the hammer has only the purpose to make things smaller. But you could also make it usefull as a tool.
Make several mini quests that you can do at any point any given time. This quest would involve gathering wood. I don't know the right name for it but to attach wooden planks to something... the stuff you use to attach it, you could buy in a woodshop. With the gathered wood, you could turn it into a blacksmith or some smith that is specialised in turning wood into furniture or walls or a roof.. when you finish that, you should be able to build playerhouses or movable objects on a land or island (guilds or players), but not only would you be able to build. You should be able to destroy it aswell, maybe by bringing back the goddamn nukeshot and stuff!, now you could also choose to have npc's protecting your base when you are gone.. but this would definetly make the game more interactive, being able to build stuff only when it is completed by a smith...and you'd be able to put anything anywhere on a land that you bought and is assigned to your accountname...

just a few ideas.