[baalzy]

What I want in a next gen MMO.

1) Static classes with the ability to blend attributes from other classes. See FFXIs Main/Sub job system.
2) Group combat systems that reward teamwork over DPS-zergs. See how people used to play FFXI before they realized that more DPS = faster xp. By this I mean, coordinated skill usage which results in additional effects beyond what the skills would have done individually. Example, a rogue uses 'Trip' which would normally create a small stun or snare effect just before the warrior uses 'bash' which would do a small amount of damage and a stun. The result is the mob gets knocked down (stunning it for a longer period of time than either individual ability would) AND because the mob is prone it takes increased damage from all sources for the duration of the knockdown.

3) The limited ability to solo, without making it impossible. Encourage group play but don't make solo play impossible.

4) Integrated/meaningful travel. Taking boats back in the day was a wonderful/terrorfying experience the first time or two you did it. Afterwards it was just a tedious task though. Integrate a system where the act of traveling can cause an encounter you have to battle through while you try to reach your destination but provides a spot for people who desire to just passively travel. Allowing for players to travel closer to on demand (10 minute maximum waits instead of 30 minutes) but only between major hubs. Areas that are more off the beaten path still require significant travel time or the help of classes with specific abilities for travel (ports).

5) The ability to reuse and twink with gear without massively retarded random itemization. I despise the Diablo style loot system that Blizzard introduced for WoW. Constantly changing your entire gearset every 2-3 levels and no reusability. Plus blocking equipment via level restrictions. I want to be able to go with a group to an area to gear up in a certain way and I want to be able to be able to pass that gear to other players or newer characters later on.

6) Meaningful deaths. Experience loss that is noticable as well as the travel implications of having died and not having a person nearby to resurrect you. When the worst thing that happens is you lose a trivial amount of money and have to spend maybe 5 minutes getting back to where you died it just becomes meaningless.

7) A crafting system that requires some time and effort but isn't overly bloated with absolute shit. Seriously, these systems where every mob drops 3 items for some random stupid tradeskill and your inventory just gets filled to the brim with absolute dogshit and you have to spend 20 minutes at a time sifting through it to find out if any of it is worth anything.

EQs classic crafting did this fairly well, mobs didn't inundate you with random scraps and before massive amounts of twinkage started to happen people could use tradeskills to gear themselves up at the earlier levels.

8) A certain level of respectability to quests. You don't just come into a 'quest hub' and grind through 50 quests to level up for the next quest hub with 9 out of 10 quests being functionally identical to the set of quests you just came through. Quests which require a bit of a crawl and reward you with something significant. Where there are maybe 1-2 quests you can work on at a time which require some significant investments and reward you with something significant. Instead of training every ability you get at a trainer, do a quest to earn it.

9) The ability to remort/rebuild into a 'Hero' or 'Champion' class. Once you've maxed out a class, you can go on quest which causes you to be reborn as the new class. Starting over at level 1 , naked, and requiring more time to level up but also with more power at your disposal. Make the quest sufficiently difficult that few people ever actually do this. Balance it by making the Champion classes no better than the original class at that classes particular niche (Clerics heal just as good as Champion Clerics, just Champion clerics have more DPS/CC options available type things). Making it so that champion classes are never required to participate in end-game.

10) Varied group dynamics where a group working together to take on a 'really tough' mob gets just as much (or maybe more) experience than a group who is chewing through weak mobs at a fast rate. Allowing for 'uber tanks with no dps' to match up with 'glass cannons with moderate downtime' classes