A thought we've recently had that we wanted to run by our players involved storage for player-built or community structures. The way this might work is that:

a) Common, Public Machine Structures such as Ore Refineries, Logging Camps, etc. would have public, open storage associated with them that any player could put resources into and take out of. These would be restricted so that you could only put related resources (Ores and bars for Refineries, Wood and Boards for Logging Camps, etc.) but would have numerous stacks and tons and tons of bulk capacity.

The idea here being that you could off-load resources to the structure if you were the only one in the field, increasing the amount you could process. Or you could help a friend or work in a group to mass-process resources.

b) Private, Plot Machine Structures such as Blacksmith Shops, Scholar Shops, Jewelers, etc would have storage associated with them that would be controlled access based on the structure's permissions. These would also be restricted so that you could only put related resources (raw and processed) but would have a number of stacks and significant bulk.

The idea here being that you could theoretically begin to replace some silos with more machine structures. And, as with the public storage, help friends by having resources nearby to process.

So, what are your thoughts on both options? Pros, cons, etc. We appreciate your feedback.