Top 10 Favourite features from any MMO

[photek]

I'm working on super-secret report / project about MMOs / game design currently and have done this already on my guild forum and felt it was a bit biased from the games my guild has been playing, so I need a wider spectrum of answers. My question to F13eers is:

Could you list your top 10 features ever implemented in an MMO ? I will elaborate a bit in the future on the report and the project, but I thank you in advance on the time spent.

PS: Answers can be something like :

1) Age of Conan combat system
2) EvE tutorial and interface etcetra etcetra.

---

My list :

1) Necropolis Naxxramas - WoW
2) Tome of Knowledge - WAR
3) Melee combat system - AoC
4) Tortage start area - AoC
5) Economy / crafting - EVE
6) Small / large scale open world PvP - General
7) Class diversity and customization - General
8) Instance progression pre-TBC - WoW
9) Town portals - Diablo 2 (not MMO, but town portals are win)


"Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in.”
-Napoleon Bonaparte

[IainC]

• Tome of Knowledge from WAR
• Skill gain system from EvE
• Crafting system from EvE
• Market system from DAoC
• Monster play in LotRO
• Err..
• That's it..
• No really.

Edited because doing markup codes is hard.

[K9]

 - The EVE resource/crafting/economy system is one of the greatest feats not only in a an MMO, but in any game ever imho.
 - Mind Control and Mind Vision on my priest in WoW.

I'll think about it some more.

[shiznitz]

1) AoC combat/collision
2) UO skill-based advancement
3) EQ1 zone design (pre-PoP)

edit:
4) CoH travel powers
5) EQ2 appearance tab
6) UO/EQ1 dyes
7) UO crafting (not a crafter so I like it simple)

Can't get to 10.

[Brogarn]

In no specific order because that changes with mood.

DAoC RvR
Age of Conan melee combat system
EQ2 Illusionist. Just a fantastic class that, to me, felt like a D&D type Wizard, not just another glass canon.
WoW's reduction of downtime for solo melee classes with pots, food and bandaging. EQ hated on solo melee guys which pissed me off.
Superjump in City of Heroes along with travel powers in general.
City of Heroes character creation. I could spend hours in that game just creating new characters.

That's all I can think up off the top of my afternoon sleepy dear god why isn't it 5pm yet mind.

[photek]

I never played UO, could you link me the skill-based advancement that you speak of ?

1) Necropolis Naxxramas - WoW
2) Tome of Knowledge - WAR
3) Melee combat system - AoC
4) Tortage start area - AoC
5) Economy / crafting - EVE
6) Small / large scale open world PvP - General
7) Class diversity and customization - General
8) Instance progression pre-TBC - WoW
9) Town portals - Diablo 2 (not MMO, but town portals are win)
10) CoX character customization.

EDIT : Yes Brogarn, I completely forgot CoX.

[Signe]

EQ2's Appearance tab.  Every game should have one. 

[Nija]

In no particular order.

1) Being able to kill a guy just to wear his jester hat. (UO)
2) Being able to knock people off high ledges and watch them fall to their death (AC)
3) Being able to side step spells and arrows (AC)
4) Not having levels (UO)
5) Being able to wear actual clothing over your armor, or dress yourself in a way that makes it appear that you might not be wearing any armor, or making you appear weaker than you really are. (or even stronger than you really are. It goes either way.)  (UO)
6) Being able to swing your fucking sword without hitting TAB to target something first. (Conan)
7) Causing people to fail the Vakentu's quest in AC2, where they'd not only NOT get the run buff, but they'd have slower than normal run speed for the next 2 hours of in game time. (IE: a penalty for being a dumbass.) (AC2)
8) Being able to attack anyone virtually anywhere (Eve, UO at first)
9) Having FRIENDLY FIRE so you can't sit in a group and stand on top of each other casting AOE spells without killing each other instantly. (AC2 until they PATCHED THIS OUT because it was "too unforgiving" and "confusing")
10) being able to aim your bow shots yourself so you can hit moving targets like you were playing a FPS game (Conan, ranger class, 1st person view only.)


Please note the lack of comments on NPC AI or anything having to do with raiding or fighting NPCs. Which is all boring shit that has needed to be revamped since 1996.

[Numtini]

FFXI's Job System
EQ2s Broker
Puzzle Pirates Crafting & "Work" system (This is a totally overlooked gem)
AOs instanced missions (the terminal ones meant for "grinding" -- pretty much same as COX has, but with a boss & loot at the end)
WoW's crafted instances/raids for "heroic" & quest content
Conans blocking/open/swing combat system -- tho not so hot on the carpal tunnel combos
COX character customization
Complete interface customization (EQ2 got it right, WoW went too far)
COX's non-healer support classes
COX gameplay with chaotic combat against large groups of enemies

My ultimate game is COX mission gameplay and occasional quests in WoW style crafted instances with your primary/secondary "powersets" being mix/match/replace like FFXI's job system. Set it in Dereth, so I can slay hordes of Olthoi. I will be a very happy girl and write you a large check for a lifetime sub.

[Endie]

Offline, grind-free skill gaining - Eve
Customisable skill tree choices - SWG
Quest-giver denotation - WoW
Character design - CoH
PvP design so that newbies can kill vets - Eve
"Holy shit I'm in a world" - UO
"This game is well-enough designed that my wife likes it" - WoW
Narration/The DM's voice (EGG) - D&DO tutorial
Drama/politics so intense you can wake up wanting to read about what happened overnight - Eve

[sam, an eggplant]

Tome of Knowledge from WAR- not innovative but very cool to track your char's path through the game
Character creation in CoH
Flying mounts in WoW
Auction house in WoW
Customizable UI in WoW - I've spent hours messing around with my UI. I love that stuff.
Concentration mechanic in DAoC - I know this ended up being a bad thing, but not having to recast buffs all the time was pretty sweet. If you have Ronald McDonald in your group, why does he have to keep giving you burgers?
Sidekick mechanic (CoH did this first, I think?)
Instancing (AO did it first)
Twinking with ridiculously overpowered items in EQ1
Factions in EQ1 - I can go to the evil cities!
Talent/skill tree specialization (Bunch of games did this, but WoW comes to mind)

[Bunk]

Without reading other responses, and in no particular order:

1) AC Darktide's utter Lord of the Flies free for allness, which actually forced politics in to the game
2) Early UOs lack of itemcentricness, which made gimpy characters viable
3) AC's Housing system
4) SWG's attempt at a skill system that let social characters be viable (pre NGE/Hologrind/CU)
5) AC's collision based combat - twitch can work in an MMO
6) The total pollish on WoW's newbie experience - especially Burning Crusade
7) AC's crafting system - breaking down loot for components of variying quality that could be used to enhance other loot
8) AC's item system in general - yea I'm biased here, but its the best itemization in a game so far
9) AC's monthly updates
10) Graphics - WoW for being pretty and Stylized, AoC for being pretty and semi-realistic, and for Breaking the North American Boob Barrier

[Ratman_tf]

Not in order.

1. SWG: Prospecting for resources.
2. WoW: Focus on questgrinding instead of mobgrinding. Hell, it was something different after DAoC/EQ camp and spank.
3. Planetside: Big fights. Bridge battles. Galaxy drops. Love.
4. Diablo 2: The waypoint system.
5. UO: Skill based advancement.
6. Eve: Time based advancement.
7. Both of the above for keeping mudflation down to a dull roar, instead of a screaming hurricane.

Steal anyone else's stuff for my last 3. I'm sure you guys can think of stuff I'm missing.

[tmp]

* relatively flat player power growth (EVE)
* lack of level-based artificial penalties in player interactions (EVE)
* entertaining gameplay rather than 'sit and watch progress bar' mechanics to crafting and such (Puzzle Pirates)
* lack of 'grind X hundred useless items to advance your craft skills' mechanics (EVE, Puzzle Pirates)
* playable NPCs aka monster play (LotRO)
* separation of 'stats gear' and 'looks gear' (LotRO)
* if class-based game, reduced number of classes with reasonable skillset given to each, making them all capable of playing solo and useful/wanted in group (LotRO)
* if skill-based game, ability to freely switch between custom picked skills/skill branches with no grind attached to setup change (Matrix Online)
* realistic combat animation system i.e. players appearing to react to each other's actions rather than just each swing at empty air (Matrix Online)
* reasonable hardware requirements, game designed for the present not nebulous future (about any Korean MMO to date)

[Merusk]

In no particular order:

* EQ's Dungeon design
* WoW's badge/token loot system
* LOTR & Eq2's "Visible item" equip system
* WoW's raid design
* COH's travel powers - particularly super jump
* COH's customization - albeit this goes along with the equip system
* Eve's skill progression & clone system (I feel you need to do both if you do one.)
* Eve & Planetside's static 'loot power' - Things don't get more powerful, you get better/ more options
* SWG's 'useless' classes (Entertainer, Musician, Stripp.. I mean Dancer)
* WoW's 'useless' items (pets, fireworks, silly holiday crap)
* WoW's Holiday implementation
* WAR's Tome of Knowledge... and that's just based on what they HAVE told you about it. :NDA: on the rest.

Ok, so that's 12. Phbt.

[K9]

Customizable UI in WoW - I've spent hours messing around with my UI. I love that stuff.

I forgot this one, but for me this is a huge ++. Most default UIs not only look awful, they are generally hard to work with. Although some addons do detract slightly from the challenge, and skew game design to accomodate those who use every resource; being able to have a totally clean, minimal UI with keybound actions that are hidden from sight, that provides a maximum of information and minimum of fluff is something I am all for.

[UnSub]

I was thinking about doing something similar - some sort of "what every MMO from here on out should have as standard".

1) Casual friendly, non-long-term-grinding content ala WoW and CoH/V.
2) Character customisation such as CoH/V and MxO (although MxO needed more flexibility between clothes and the stats they offered).
3) The sidekick / exemplar system of CoH/V - why this hasn't become a basic feature of every other MMO that uses lvls (i.e. all of them) I just can't understand.
4) The skill tree system of MxO. You can fully respec with a few clicks so easily and without penalty, making the development / progression of one character very easy across all skill types.
5) Instanced environments for key mission requirements / situations, from lots of MMOs including Tabula Rasa and CoH/V. Spawn camping for required named mobs should not be happening.
6) Travel powers - CoH/V. Time spent running between targets != fun.
7) Contact 'call' option - CoH/V. You've done a mission / quest or two for your contact, they give you their phone number / a magic seashell which means you can call them once you've finished further missions from them. Running backwards and forwards between contact and mission / quest != fun.
8) Achievements / badges - CoH/V. It's an addictive mini-game.
9) Destructible environments - DDO, CoH/V. Being able to blow objects up / smash objects during combat adds a lot to a MMO.
10) No stamina / mana bar - Fury. Given that an empty stamina bar = a no more fun bar, balance power recharge times instead of making players watch how much 'energy' they had left.

EDIT: I felt it too basic to say at the time, but a decent set of communication and team management tools really need to be the standard as well.

[apocrypha]

1. Small/medium gang pvp in EVE with a good FC and voice comms.
2. DaoC pvp back in the day, just before SI was the best time for me.
3. Epic flying mounts in WoW. I just love flying.
4. SWG CH's with Grauls, best pets ever.
5. Darkness Falls in DaoC. Awesome dungeon, loved the realm change overs.
6. SWG crafting, the variety and personalisation rocked.
7. Covops ships in EVE. Best implementation of stealth anywhere IMO.
8. My WoW frost mage. He's just so much fun to play.
9. EVE's complete lack of 100% safe areas.
10. DaoC's LFG tool. No other MMO I've played has come close to it.

[Koyasha]

Bards. - EQ1.
Alternate Advancement - EQ1.
EQ's chat system, also EQ2's improvements on it. - EQ1/EQ2.
Global Chat Handle, Global Ignore - CoX.
Raid design circa Omens of War with both outdoor and instanced raids involving ~45 people. - EQ1.
Extreme character customization, and not related to your equipment/abilities so you can look good without raiding ubermobs. - CoX.
Quest, story, and NPC design circa Velious Age, with less bugs. - EQ1.
FFXI-style auction house system with more robust history options. - FFXI.
Job system. - FFXI.
Cutscenes. - FFXI.  (Done in others, but done best in FFXI).
Factions, particularly circa Velious Age (and what was intended but never quite made it for Luclin), only taken a lot further than they managed to implement. - EQ.

Yeah, that's more than ten, but I couldn't really move any of those down to the list of....things that come close and I just had to say:

Mark, Recall, Gate. - UO.
FFA Full PvP - Original UO.
Customizable UI. - EQ, WoW.

Clarifications, addendum.  Not necessarily in any particular order (except for Bards.  Definitely my #1 favorite anything, ever, from an MMOG or any other game for that matter).  Velious age quest design includes pretty much everything about it, including quests that take months of the entire player base searching and learning about them to solve (not to mention even FIND in the first place).

[Sparky]

I'll try and pick a few people haven't praised as filling a top 10 would be too difficult anyway

*  Resource quality system from SWG that differentiated finished crafted products, gave crafters something to strive for after they've maxed out
*  "Meaningful" PVP in EVE with lots of stuff actually worth fighting over
*  EVE's death penalty which is pretty much just what you're willing to risk - from basically nothing with T1 to months of grinding with supercaps
*  EQ2's "fight the sewing table!" felt a little cheesy but I enjoyed the interactive crafting and it was AFAIK unique

[Nevermore]

• Sidekicking/Exemplaring - CoX
• Character Customization - CoX
• Realm vs Realm PvP - DAoC
• Global Chat/Global Player Ratings - CoX
• In-Game emailing of items - WoW
• Resources and Industry ('crafting') - Eve
• Market/Economy - Eve
• Travel Powers - CoX
• Easily Customizable/Swappable Skill system - Guild Wars
• Player Music Emotes/Music 'mini-game' - AC2

[lamaros]

Replying without having read many others.

Black Rock Depths - WoW
Complete lack of quests, only missions - GW Beta
Explorable unexplained areas with some interesting stuff in them that made sense and was fun of itself and didn't need some useless quest to take you there or whatever but simply rewarded your desire to explore by being interesting - GW Beta
Raid encounter design in Naxx/TBC - WoW
Lack of levels - UO
Politics/Drama/Player Control over the 'world' - EVE
UI/UI moddability - WoW
Non-instanced largely seamless large world - WoW
Flying Mounts - WoW

Fixing things you say you are going to fix, being balanced, and constantly getting better over time - WoW

10 things I hate about MMOs would be much more focused though!

[Signe]

I love all the customisation options, travel modes and most of the ideas in CoX, too.  Too bad about the lack of real content and the same old same old tile sets.  I also loved the way I could customise my characters, including after initially making them, in SWG, by hiring someone to do it.  I loved all the different professions and the missions associated with them, too.   Entertainer!  How much fun was that in the beginning!  However, I had forgot about:

Player Music Emotes/Music 'mini-game' - AC2

  That really was good fun!

[Nevermore]

I love all the customisation options, travel modes and most of the ideas in CoX, too.  Too bad about the lack of real content and the same old same old tile sets.  I also loved the way I could customise my characters, including after initially making them, in SWG, by hiring someone to do it.  I loved all the different professions and the missions associated with them, too.   Entertainer!  How much fun was that in the beginning!  However, I had forgot about:

Player Music Emotes/Music 'mini-game' - AC2

  That really was good fun!

It was literally the only good thing about that game.  It was *really* fun.  Whoever designed that system is an unsung hero.

[Tale]

• Early EQ1 dungeons - original, Kunark and Velious. The first fully realised 3D versions of what until then had been described in text. I'd like today's MMOG designers to paint us their imaginations, rather than "wouldn't it be cool if ..."
• EQ1 dangers - even the most powerful player still had to be afraid
• EQ1 enchanter crowd control gameplay
• SWG resource/crafting systems
• SWG player housing/cities
• Anarchy Online atmosphere - intro movie, plot, environments, music
• Tabula Rasa control point battles
• Vanguard bard song system (build your own song from effect components)
• Planetside base control battles (descended from Tribes 1)
• DAoC/WoW factional communication barriers - no chat with enemy players

I would have put SubSpace powerball in my 10, but only me and Slayerik remember.

[lamaros]

Unsurprisingly some of my 10 most hated things are on some lists here. Is that the case for many others too?

[Oz]

no particular order:

-superjump/travel powers (CoX)
-active combat (AoC)
-RvR (DAoC-preAtlantis)
-changeable jobs (FF)
-Playable instruments (AC2, LotRo)
-super character customization (CoX)
-the "feel" of Zones (EQ1, AoC, WoW, CoX)
-Tortage (AoC)
-Apprentice (better in CoX, ok in AoC)
-travel over land...ie in boats across the ocean, etc (EQ1)

[WayAbvPar]

UO- SKILL USE ADVANCEMENT instead of leveling
CoH- travel powers
CoH- character creation
Shadowbane- guild/city features (until you get snuffed out like a bug, at least)
PotBS- Ship to Ship combat
WoW- customizeable UI- some really useful and some just pure silly fun
WoW- Mounts, especially flying
EQ1- Enchanter mezz abilities.
UO- crafting, especially for non-combat related items like furniture. Also really liked the Maker's Mark on stuff.
UO- player housing
WAR- Tome of Knowledge


So that's 11. Sue me.

[Merusk]

Unsurprisingly some of my 10 most hated things are on some lists here. Is that the case for many others too?

Most-hated? Not really, but in some ways I'm too forgiving of certain bits of MMO designs.  Some of the most annoying/ illogical are turning up, though.

[krazyk]

1. EQ 1 Dungeon design
2. Long travel times
3. Skill advancement instead of levels
4. freedom to think outside the box (think tank and spank killing as normal, then other ways of killing as outside the box)
5. Large worlds
6. One server (think Eve)
7. Eve's economy and crafting
8. FFA pvp
9. Group/guild based progression
10. Harsh death penalties and massive exp grinds

[ajax34i]

Most of mine have been mentioned (WoW's customizable UI, CoH sidekicking system, EVE's skills and crafting, etc.)

I'll mention some of WoW's quests (Bombing runs, the seasonal stuff) and the multitude of cameo's and pop culture references in the game.  And now that they've increased it a lot, I also like EVE's daily news thing.

[Tarami]

Unsurprisingly some of my 10 most hated things are on some lists here. Is that the case for many others too?

I think pretty much all mechanics from both worlds for me have been mentioned. Which makes me sad as it means I won't get rid of them even in future MMOs. 

[Draegan]

Not in any particular order.

1)  Public Quests - WAR
2)  Extensive use of player made mods. - WOW
3)  Combat System - AOC
4)  Un-Instanced World
5)  Apprenticing, Mentoring, Sidekicking
6)  Instanced progressive storyline - LOTRO, AOC
7)  Simplistic Class System.  (Not a lot of classes) - WOW
8)  Different Skill Mechanics i.e. Rage Bar, Energy Bar etc. - WOW
9)  Player Economy - EVE
10)  -- I can't think of any others now.

[Sir T]

Anything that didn't involve human interaction, generally

[mutantmagnet]

In no particular order

farming skill - Runescape
agility skill - runescape
Cert system - Planetside
Option to use Multiple characters to control and augment the capabilities of a mount - Planetside
Economy System -Eve Online
Skill deck system - Chronicles of Spellborn
Battlegrounds - WoW
low skillpoints/level not being as penalized as every other MMO - Eve Online
Sidekicking/exemplar - CoH(V)/ EQ2

Collision detection with accounting for height of target - Discarded feature for a game I'm in beta

If you can't accept the last one then:
NPC Spawns migrating, changing spawn locations, building cities- Darkfall