Pay-to-play has got to go.
I'd much rather go back to subscription fees.
I'd happily pay for a rich, modern persistent online world, with a real ecosystem, economy, and updated content.
This guy today was fascinated by the real estate aspect. Particularly when I told him about how in era the real estate was selling for real money on e-bay.
In his worlds, only the guild have property, and you have to join that guild to garner the benefits. Private property ownership doens't even make the cut. But really, as I explained to him, most of my interplayer interaction comes from real-estate deals.
I'd love to see an MMORPG where you had to build from the ground up, homesteading and the like.
And like local interference from the races, like pixies and stuff. And the ability to purchase hirelings for your homestead.
And of course, way more detail in the various crafts and skills, like gathering materials, and how those materials can be used.
A greater level of complexity, something so complex that things like experimentation are still possible to develop new potions, weapons, etc, without everything being laid out perfectly online.
More random crazy encounters, NPC with greater AI... a HELL for murderers to try to escape from while they do their time. I've got a million ideas for MMORPGs I'm running past this dude.
It's not like we'll see it though, cuz ultimately here in asia it's about placating players and giving them incentives to spend more. But I can still play that "ultimate" mmorpg in my dreams....
