re 6: I agree about 100 levels as being the highend range is a comfortable target but I definitely prefer to have NO level capping at all though. Everything should give experience points even at high levels, though it might only be 0.00001XP point for a high level character to kill a low level creature at least it is something and it will add up. It wouldn\'t be enough to encourage high levels to farm low level creatures as the time vs xp rate wouldn\'t be worth it but it would encourage higher level characters to help out lower level characters, take them on a tour etc as they\'ll still be getting something out of it for their character. Issues of power levelling can be dealt with. This way also means higher level character still progress but VERY slowly rather then hitting a hard level cap, then the game can be expanded to meet player needs and add higher level mobs/zones etc as needed.
I\'ll add a bunch of ideas of my own here and hopefully enough things will build up here to be added to wish lists.
1) No confined character classes. Instead have \"base\" classes which basically define the starting abilities but as you level you can put points into buying new abilities or improving your existing ones. So after 50 levels you could have put all your points into pure melee skill and be a awesome main tank warrior or you could be an average warrior/healer. This way as people grow to understand the game, the skills needed within their guild etc they can adjust the character to suit what they really want to play instead of being forced to play fairly limited character classes. It is true role playing to allow the character to develop... think the Morrowind system. This would also mean higher level characters can start working to gain more skills and give them things to do. Perhaps it could be just linked to a real levelling system which means you improve a skill as you train it..so instead of having to level to get points you just pick up a sword and start swinging if you want to improve your sword and strength skills. How effective you are will depend on your skill levels so a lv100 who picks up a sword for the first time is just as effective as a lv1 character taking up the sword.
2) Soloing/Grouping/Guilding
All three should be viable choices. Nobody should be made to feel they can\'t advance their character without grouping. Hunting should be very viable as a solo character for times when you just want to be alone, only have 20min to play (which isn\'t long enough to find a group nor is it fair to a group to join and leave so fast). Grouping should of course be of benefit to players and they gain added benefits from it but it should never be a forced requirement.
Guilding should have added benefits of their own in particular immediate benefits. If there is a faction system or something similar then guild members can gain better buying/selling prices at allied merchants. During raids guild members \"running costs\" are reduced (for example..spells cost 20% less mana to cast, stamina of warriors is reduced, etc). These are immediate benefits to guild members which also benefit the guild. Relying on loot/financial bonuses doesn\'t always get portioned out evenly, or if someone has to leave a raid early or goes linkdead then they gain nothing whereas making the guild benefits immediate rather than something that has to be divided later on helps all guild members and the raid.
Depending on the skills available to characters then perhaps XP bonuses can be applied on raids for all characters who actually play in character. For example healer classes (determined by the top 3 abilities of a character) who perform heals and buffs related gain an XP bonus...melee classes who actually get stuck in and attack mobs instead of hanging back and leeching XP get appropriate bonues. Weapons/armour can then be allocated restrictions based on skills rather than class.
3) All characters should have a home I feel. Just a basic single room which is its own \"zone\" that all players have for their character and accessible from a \"home\"portal in all cities. It\'s somewhere to store/display gear, much like a bank. Plus a safe spot to rest and heal. This home would not have any unique physical presence in the game world, no land is used.
Similarly a guild hall should be available in the same fashion to all guilds. It will be its own secure zone, away from the gaming world where guilds can hold their own meetings without having to worry about people not in the guild haggling. People looking to join the guild can be invited into the guild hall.
Having land/homes/farms/castles/shops etc owned by players/guilds should also be available and have its own presence in the gaming world.
4) Knowledge
As players travel, hunt, explore, experiment with trade skills a knowledge journal/atlas automatically fills itself. It will be filled only with relevent information that your character could learn. For example that an orc is killed quicker by sword instead of mace will only be listed if the player has actually fought orcs at some stage using those two weapon types. Otherwise it might say something like orcs are a hard fight using a mace. It would also indicate locations where you have fought mobs, how many hit points they (on average, plus hit point range) what sort of level players should be to get good XP from them etc. This journal gets more detailed as players fight more of the same creature type using various means, as players experiement with trade skills or even just exploring the landscape it is accumulating knowledge. Exploring around for example your character will find areas with suitable land for particular building types so later on if you or your guild want to build somewhere then you have the knowledge already. This knowledge can be completely searchable by LOTS of means. For example probably the most common question asked in MMORPGs is \"where/what should i hunt for my level?\" so the knowledge base can quickly have a list of locations/mobs suitable for a character level (+-5 levels) can be brought up to answer someone.
Further to this the knowledge should also be tradeable...for even a price. So as a guild explores a high level area for the first time they can sell what they learn to other guilds if they wish and the knowledge is transfered and combined with the purchasing players knowledge base. This would save so much wasted time digging through paper notes or going through websites where this sort of information ends up eventually anyway. And would mean that knowledge itself takes on real value in the game and it can cater to all types of players...so someone who hunts mostly will have valuable information on mobs and their skills/locations from the point of view of their base skills (so a mage character and a warriror character who hunt together will have similar but differing points of view of the mobs they\'ve fought). Also people who enjoy just exploring will accumulate knowledge of town/city locations, places to build, places to mine, where the natural resources are etc. It then can be up to players to either assign trade prices to the knowledge or it could be gameset (so the first people to encounter a named mob will have knowledge worth a lot, but as more people gain the knowledge themselves it loses its value).
This knowledge could also be combined into a guild pool as well..the more you add to the pool the more you can copy back to your own character for free anything further can be bought from the guild pool at half the street value. This would be a great resource for guild members to research areas/mobs before a scheduled raid to make sure they have prepared their characters with suitable weapons/spells etc ahead of time and save a lot of waste raid time educating members on basics they should have learnt themselves from the guild knowledge pool.
This knowledge pool would also contain an atlas which would build itself as you see new areas for yourself. Regions can be overlaid showing mob locations based on level ranges etc. Great for finding a new hunting spot in a hurry.
5) In-game / out-game character messenging
Be able to leave messages for people in game and an out of game messenger type system so you can chat with friends while out of the game (for example you can chat with someone who is in game and organise a group/raid/event while you are still at work so you can get into the game and get straight into things once you arrive home. It\'s also a good way to stay in touch with friends in game once you\'ve decided to no longer play or if you are without internet access to play for a while.
I had a ton more ideas but I\'ll leave it here for now
