First off I absolutely love the MMO genre. And mmo are my favorite type of game, although I do like games such as Battlefield four and the last of us.

I've played quite a few and mmos over the years and the thing that bugs me the most is that there is no instruction manual. There is so much to do, in so many different ways, and we are left to figure it out by ourselves. Sometimes that is fun other times it's very frustrating, such as when you realize that other people are making so much more in game money and you are and they can buy stuff and you look at the market and you can barely buy anything.

What other things don't you like about mmos?

In general?

Most MMO's seem to have this really dumb idea that all combat needs to be like other mmo's....

I'm glad that ESO is a little different...

I also hate the AI in most MMO's.... how you can pick off mobs one by one and because the others are a certain distance away they wont attack... even if you're in plain sight.

I so miss the community I had with Everquest back in the day. When grouping meant you had to build a real relationship with people so they would hold a spot for you in a group. There was something to be said for

Ok, meet at the tavern in East Commons, and we'll travel to Highpass together....vs. clicking the "que me" button and immediately getting put in an instance.

MMOs now seem like it's just Call of Duty esk action, super fast pickup groups, everyone trying to get to the highest level as fast as possible, and no community. I'm really hoping ESO changes that a bit...I don't know how or why, and won't hold it against the game if they don't, but they have to know, their core base isn't going to be the hardcoe MMO player, but they mature gamer...looking for some RP and aventure, not a call of duty fire fight.

Yeah I can understand that but what would happen if you got zerged all the time by every mob that could see you?

Other people.

Just kidding. I don't like instances that either force you to go in with a full group or to solo. Anywhere I go, I want to be able to either go alone OR with my friends. That should be my decision, not the game's. My perfect MMO would only have instances that would scale depending on how many people you have with you. No exceptions.

well the flaw is in the game design, either make mobs into groups that all attack together...

or have a little more scarcity about them...

make it interesting, not farm-like

I actually enjoy that there isn't an instruction manual. You get a tutorial of basic mechanics and controls but then it's down to you as a player to learn the best ways to make money and gain experience. From learning instances to PvP and crafting systems there is always a way you can push your knowledge. Not sure how much ESO will be like that though but there certainly will be room to learn in it. I don't like the people. It is hard to feel immersed when the NPCs are always static and players are running around. Takes you out of feeling part of your own heroic story as a character when twenty other people are roaming about doing the same things as you.

Yeah community... I don't think these new MMO's will ever have the same type of community feel as Star Wars galaxies or EverQuest two for example.

Ok I'm sorry but, an MMO is nothing like Call of Duty. I don't even.. Why even bring up that comparison at all? Why does it seem like everyone tries to compare any little detail and everything to Call of Duty?

More on topic: I'm not sure how much help an instruction manual would be, but I'd be all for a strategy guide for the game. One thing I like about MMO's is being able to take my time and get immersed in the game by reading things I find in the world and doing quests etc. It's a nice change of pace from shooter games. Gah! But what don't I like, I guess it would have to be some of the players in the MMO's community.

I've played WoW, CoD, Battlefield, and NEverwinter...PvP, and Group adventure feels just like CoD. My opinion, your opinion. Everquest, Dark Age of Camelot...did not feel like CoD.

The following I prefer in single-player versions over MMOs:

• Story lines are generally more immersive
• Loot isn't usually picked over by the masses running around with my character
• Every high-ranking player isn't running around with the "Sword of Doom" and "Armor of the gods" so there is novelty in obtaining it
• Bow-hunting isn't nerfed

THings I hate in MMO... Mostly the players and the idea that you must obey the numbers otherwise you svck. Min/Maxing has all but killed the genre to me.

Agreed on the min/maxing...can ruin single player games too. Skyrim is much more enjoyable when you play as a character who doesn't craft or enchant at all...or who uses 1H weapons and 2H weapons

Loss of community, my first MMO only had around 250 regular players, the game wasn't driven by the development team but instead the interactions of players. You quickly knew who the PKers were (yes open world PvP where when you died you actually could drop your items, including your weapon which may have taken you 3-6 months to save for), you knew the figure heads for the major factions, you knew the best merchants and crafters. It just had a great sense of community as you pretty much knew who everyone was.

This was the typical experience I had in MMOs from 1999 onwards until World of Warcraft came along, suddenly we had thousands upon thousands of people playing on the game all active at once, but for me this destroyed that sense of community, I usually end up leaving games this day and age as its often a see someone once and never again scenario.

Level caps!! Oh dear god why was this introduced? Asian MMOs had the way forward here by having no imposed level caps, you could just level and level and level some more if you could withstand the grind. Ok the levels eventually turned into to get from one to the next would take 6, 12 or even 18 months of playing but it was nice to know their was no level cap. Now its all level restricted zones taking away from the ability to just go on an adventure.

Instances, while from a story perspective they are great. I really miss the days of fighting through a dungeon (some took 3-4 hours to make it to the boss) to find another guild had also fought its way there as well. Battle would ensue (open PvP) and you would slog it out with the other guild managing your potions etc knowing that if you used too many in PvP you wouldn't have enough to kill the boss.

"Modern guild systems" the first few MMOs I played offered the same guild controlled keeps etc as we have today however they have in my opinion taken massive steps backwards as well! I remember when you practically had a fully functional guild website in the game, no alt + tabbing. They offered a notice board, a place guild masters could post guild rules, when they were organising events, what items the guild store contained and if any were out on loan. It was all available in one place! Also you had the option of as many different titles in the guild as you saw fit, no three or four tiers where you couldn't change the rank name! Hell if you wanted to be called "Kitty Lover" as your guild rank you could!

Its not all bad though, isometric 2D graphics have been replaced by glorious 3D worlds. Stories and scripts have become common place giving you more to do than just a pointless grind. Difficulty of content has vastly improved requiring actual thinking rather than the bashing of the same skills over and over for a boss that has very little AI.

The general direction it's been moving in the last 10 or so years, particularly the standardization. Related to the influence exerted over the genre (and expectations thereof) by a certain 800lb gorilla.

The concept of 'endgame.'

The power-creep that extends "newbie hell" well past what the early-adopters remember it as (and the common solution to that problem: boosting the speed to truncate the early-game)

Perhaps there'd be more incentive to group up earlier in the game.

But more likely, 'the masses' would cry and move on to some other game where they don't have to rethink their approach, and then the devs would butcher the game trying to bring them back.

MMORPGs:

- Boring combat system (ESO has the best I have seen so far)

- Min/Maxers (I roleplay in RPGs)

- Stupid AI opponents

- Lack of cool things like ragdoll physics

Other (and free to play) MMOs:

- Pay to win