One day, within the next 15 years or so, I hope to end up whiling away the rest of my days as a design lead for some aspiring game developer; until then, I can only dream of what my ultimate masterpiece will be. :D

The MMO is something I really want to break in to. Although I've had very little experience with the genre (a few freebies and Planetside), it's something I'm really interested in, but until broadband shows its pretty face, I'm stuck with singleplayer through and through.

So, I want your opinions: to you, what makes a good MMO? What makes World of Warcraft stick out from all the rest? There are plenty around, but few have ever made it as big as that.

What setting would you like to see in an MMO? A traditional Medieval fantasy world, the future or something entirely different? For you, what would be your dream MMO? What would you want to experience?

My utmost desire is to see real-time combat in an MMO. It has been done, granted, but I'd like to see something on par with Oblivion, where swordfights are down to the player's skill and not the omniscient and omnipotent invisible dice. I'd love to see a world where the player is an individual and isn't driven by the need to grind up the levels. Hell, I've even thought about removing levels completely. They're often more of a constraint than a bonus.

An MMOs game-world is obviously the most definitive aspect. To make a world where traversing the entire continent doesn't take half an hour is a step in the right direction. Think of a world which really commands your spare-time and attention; differing cultures, the changing landscape - all should grab your attention immediately.

What are your thoughts? What would make your ideal MMO? And to those who don't play them: what would make you want to play one?

Shadowbane is still the best free MMO ever.

The thing that really made WoW stand out is the fact that it's based in an already fleshed out universe, which already had legions of followers from the RTS games.
After all they hype trains they had going, it was inevitable it became the next big thing.

Watch Tabula Rassa with interest... it has the potential to seriously impact the way MMOs are developed.

What I really want to see is an MMO that entices me in the same way single player games - as much as WoW or any other can wave their hands in the air and yell "Hey guys! I've got a story too! Come on, persistent universe, love me!"... it's always about the phat lewt.

I want a game that tells a story and that blows my mind with ingenuity and design, rather than one that promises another stat buff to keep me playing until it's time to pay another monthly fee.

Added to that, most online games have a yahoo sort of community, not an EVO sort of community.

I believe that a system like Pre-CU Star Wars Galaxies was the best out there. It wasn't completely combat driven, and it had an awesome community because of it.

I'm looking for a good MMORPG where I can play offline too. Can someone recommend me one?