Player shouldn't block building placement.

[Zombull]

When I click to place a building that would occupy the space where the player is standing, the game should move the player to the nearest unobstructed space and allow the building to be placed.

This might be confusing or disorienting for some so perhaps it should be optional, but not being able to place a building because the player is in the way is a very common frustration.

[Tinyboss]

I don't know about regular building placement, but most definitely the player should not block blueprint placement.

[bobingabout]

Well, yeah, shouldn't block blueprint placement, you're only placing a ghost image, the drone just hovers over the ghost waiting for you to move if you're in the way when it gets there anyway.

as for the OP, I agree, I'm often standing right on the edge of the build area, barely blocking the placement most of the time this problem shows up for me, in such cases I would want the building to be placed, and nudge me though few pixels out of the way.

[sillyfly]

I assume this is mainly a problem with multiplayer, as moving out of your own way is never a big problem.
"Teleporting" to the nearest unoccupied position could be problematic in cases such as - a small island nearby, placing an item near railway tracks just as a train is arriving, etc.
How about - when a player hovers a building over another player it would indicate it to the obstructing party as well? For instance - highlight their hitbox in red while the building is over their character? This way the other player would realize he is in the way and move, without being moved to a possibly deadly/inaccessible spot.

[Koub]

Nope it's also a pain in where light doesn't shine in single player. I have had to move myself out of the the exact place where I wanted to build countless times, because building range is not that great that you have a large area where to build around yourself. I'd rather have something similar to ghost building pop when my character is in the way, and the real building taken from my inventory be built as soon as I get out of the way.

[Zombull]

The natural tendency is to operate in the center of the screen. So I run over to a location to place buildings and without even thinking about it I move so that that location is in the center of my screen...which of course is where the player is. So I encounter that error tone a lot.

It certainly shouldn't be possible to become stranded by my suggestion. Perhaps it should be limited to passable, unoccupied squares immediately adjacent to the building being placed. That way the most you'll travel is a couple of meters.

And to reduce confusion caused by being moved, the character should walk at normal speed to the new location before the building gets placed.