How could a new MMO thrive?

[zelld52]

I’m out of the loop on new MMOs, but to me it seems that the combination of development strategies and player meta would make it impossible for any new MMO to thrive.


Every MMO RPG has a sect of players that rush through the content in a few days. Hundreds of hours of gameplay experienced in a week. Seemingly this is a larger population than it was 20-25 years ago during the golden age of MMOs.

I’ve also noticed that players don’t usually stick around, even if they aren’t speed running the game- because they return to a game that was made 20 years ago they enjoy playing more. (Everyone’s got a forever game, and WoW seems to hold the crown for most people's forever game). Its almost like we all collectively prefer how games were developed 20 years ago.

To me, it seems like there’s no way you can keep a large, active player base when there’s a decent chunk that just won't stick around whether it's because they speed run the MMO, or they prefer another MMO.

Who's got some.numhers for me to show subscriber amounts over the last several years for MMOs

[kjs86z2]

genre is all but dead only thing with decent numbers is wow classic / sod

[WarpathEQ]

I continue to be amazed to this day at the depth of content and immersive environment that Everquest has. To your point most games are captivating for days or weeks, rarely a game is captivating for months, EQ is the only game I've ever seen that is captivating for years. To the point where there is internal conflict of if you should engage knowing the time sink it will inevitably become (by choice/desire). With that said I never migrated to WoW, I walked away from intense gaming for a couple of decades after my first EQ live stint.

The flip side to that is that in order to achieve that level of depth a game almost inherintly has to be very unfriendly to new comers. Part of the beauty of EQ is that there is so much content in the game that requires deep exploration to discover (think back to how it was to experience things for the first time back in 1999, not the current gamestate where there is a veritable encyclopedia britannica worth of EQ specific info available). I know I have to consult the wiki multiple times per day to get information to make game play effecient, and that's 26 years later! Most things that you can achieve are not obvious or intuitive and are often learned through shared knowledge, not individual effort.

The problem is there is so much competition for eyeballs and as time goes on people become more and more conditioned to instant gratification and shorter form content (shorter attention spans). These two forces compete as games that have a large barrier to entry are likely to turn off the vast majority of potential player bases. And games that require large time commitments, especially real-time gameplay where you can't hit a pause button is severly limiting the target audience.

Put all that together and you realize that games like EQ have the largest investment in development and really only capture a neiche market. Highest cost for lowest return isn't a model that a for profit business finds ideal. Even the development of EQ itself was effectively cancelled multiple times and barely saw the light of day (see pantheon for a more modern version of the challenges of getting a game like this to market).

One example I could think of is Diablo 4 (I only played the beta than found P99 while waiting for full release and never went back). I thought they did a great job of taking what historically has been a single player game and adding in sprinkles of MMO content like world bosses and the ability to interact with players in the world, however, you have to balance that as for little gain you now eliminate any ability to play the game offline.

GTA V is probably a good example too where a historically single player game now has a robust community of content creators that have put together online roleplaying servers that have transformed the game world into new and exciting content.

It seems the future is really focused around a low barrier to entry, hybrid type of game play that pulls in elements from the MMO legends of the past while focusing on a more casual and expanded player base. I also have always thought that offer the ability for users to create custom content is one of the simplest things a developer can do to give their game a lot more legs. Blizzard did a great job with this early on in the warcraft and starcraft series where a fairly limited single player scenario based gameplay expanded into so much more with custom maps and online competition.

And that's all from the perspective of a PC gamer which is a dying artform in itself. More and more everything is being developed for mobile as younger and younger generations may live in a world of never having/needing a PC.

[kjs86z2]

yes sitting in one spot finger-blasting frogs for hours on end is very deep content and highly immersive

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

It can't. Period.
https://i.imgur.com/LIBMb6U.jpg

[Ekco]

It can't. Period.
https://i.imgur.com/LIBMb6U.jpg

this, it needs a tech breakthrough like VR that doesn't make you motion sick to recreate the cultural phenomenon that was EQ and WoW early on.

[Dolalin]

Dunno about all you guys but I don't find MMOs very engaging anymore. I was into WoW classic again for awhile but it got into a slog at 45 as it always does and I gave up on it.

That said, the data science behind scraping the web archive for stuff and digging up obscure facts is fascinating. And I'll have something to share with the community soon.

[kjs86z2]

Dunno about all you guys but I don't find MMOs very engaging anymore. I was into WoW classic again for awhile but it got into a slog at 45 as it always does and I gave up on it.


SoD goes a lot faster...and kinda feels fresh with runes.

40g / lvl for plvl as well and its like 3-5 mins per level.

[WarpathEQ]

yes sitting in one spot finger-blasting frogs for hours on end is very deep content and highly immersive

and yet here you are, not missing one finger blast, and not taking your eyes off the screen for hours. Somebody roll this man a bard!

[shovelquest]

First time I played an MMO I experienced a simulated world unlike anything I had in a video game before.

Ever since then I've played shitty MMOs tying to copy that game.

You gotta take the next step in simulating a real physical world.. you can't just make "another MMO" that's inspired from ones before it.

How do you do that? Idk, you gotta be a lonely druggy sexual freak artist to figure that out, and we don't allow that in creative industry anymore.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

Here, I made a worksheet for these threads.

1. You can sell time investment. Odds of successful sale are __________

2. You can sell having no monetization. Odds of successful sale are __________

3. You can sell no meta-gaming. Odds of successful sale are __________

4. Selling all three in 2025. Odds of successful sale are ___________


What everyone calls the classic MMORPG experience requires all three be normative. From this viewpoint p99 genuinely is as good as it gets, and really, I think that is where I am at, at this point.

No business can run an MMORPG.

https://i.imgur.com/3PEgJS2.jpeg

Yeah. But that's part of the problem. It's all winding up. Dammit where's my bat. I think better with my bat.

https://i.imgur.com/kjO45Xu.jpeg

[Duik]

The Neuralizer.

[shovelquest]

I think Star Citizen could have pulled off being an actual successful "mmo" ...

Short of trying to revolutionize simulated worlds, you're jus taking a cheap copy of something that is only appealing because of it's uniqueness.

Wow is successful because it was the vast majority of the planets first MMO experience.

The first experience MMO is always better than any others, for anyone.

Befallen, was a real dungeon.

With real skeletons in it.

From then on in all future MMO's, everything was "like befallen" ...

We need a MMO world to feel like we're in a new real world, to be a successful mmo.

Star citizen would be cool, but come on its been in development for like 20 years, Elon made a real starship company in like less time.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

I question the demand for an immersive world that is enclosed, that is, one world. No one wants to be shackled to one world in a world of many world and new ones every day. It should be in the DSM.

"Doctor, Timmy only wants to play one game!"

"Hmm, he may be what we call a "low world" kid. No problem. He's loveable for who he is."

[theme music outro]

In EQ2 -- which was technically speaking peak eq as far as technical possibilities go -- SOE easily could have app'd the home part of the game, and turned the eq2 home into a home for the user towards others maybe not playing this game. That would have been a outside the box idea, since it was all about IP capture in the early years of WoW. They wanted you locked into the world.

Well, that era and that battle is over, and we are still stuck with enclosed world game design. An open source project where I could move around in other gameworlds, as well as text-based extensions for normal phone use, at least to some extent, is far more appealing to today's market. No one wants to be "inside" a computer game the way we were. The "world" model itself is a road block to people.

I would argue, the "time commitment" problem potentially disappears if you turn the gameworld inside out, so to speak. Blockchain the IP.

Alright, now. Look into the neuralyzer.
https://i.imgur.com/tPa0vMy.jpg

[Tann]

It can't. Period.
https://i.imgur.com/LIBMb6U.jpg

/Thread

New "modern" MMOs can be fun for about a month, old MMOs have their die hard fan bases, new ones trying to capture that old school magic find a microcosm of a niche market and then fade away. Or in pantheons case, be dead on arrival due to a 1:1 blood:cocaine level

[Kohedron]

For starters, they could try not pleasing the "40 year old loser" crowd, because they are too cheap to spend money and don't agree on anything

[mycoolrausch]

If the development cost/overhead/ and upkeep get low enough it will be possible to make MMOs more niche focused. This will probably be the key to reviving the genre. The mass appeal MMO is a dead concept imo, everything oriented towards that just turns into modern WoW (phased questing, DDR high APM raiding, and daily dollhouse-related fetch quests).

I mean even EQ focused too much on subs over substance. If Luclin never existed and they just expanded the game laterally instead of vertically, and then allowed it to reach a natural shelf life, classic could have evolved into something extremely more memorable than the pile of oddities and unfinished content we're stuck with today.

There's plenty of indie games that put vision and passion over making the most money possible, the genre just needs to get in reach of those devs.

[Naethyn]

monsters and memories has been fun

[shovelquest]

For starters, they could try not pleasing the "40 year old loser" crowd, because they are too cheap to spend money and don't agree on anything

lol and what make a based no cap MMO?

No thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/s2BVYwv.png

[Reiwa]

lol and what make a based no cap MMO?

No thanks.

https://i.imgur.com/s2BVYwv.png

If you made an MMO that appealed to dads(60% of men aged 15 and over in the United States are fathers, which translates to around 74.7 million men.) that they could make meaningful and hard-fought progress in in a few minutes per day, that would form a basis for success.

Their wives might not like it though. Women hate male happiness.

[kjs86z2]

pantheon pvp server launches april 2nd

[shovelquest]

I legitimately think if starwars outlaws had been an mmo it would have done very well.

https://i.imgur.com/SpYJeHM.png

[shovelquest]

I would get divorced if starwars battlefront became an MMO.

DSY4P_Wohzc

[spoil]

Imagine how hyper-monetized a new Star Wars MMO would be. It's worse than looking forward to a new Star Wars movie, a soulless mechanism to print money.

[shovelquest]

Imagine how hyper-monetized a new Star Wars MMO would be. It's worse than looking forward to a new Star Wars movie, a soulless mechanism to print money.

No im not a naval gazing cry baby.

I will imagine how awesome it is.

[NopeNopeNopeNope]

If the development cost/overhead/ and upkeep get low enough it will be possible to make MMOs more niche focused. This will probably be the key to reviving the genre. The mass appeal MMO is a dead concept imo, everything oriented towards that just turns into modern WoW (phased questing, DDR high APM raiding, and daily dollhouse-related fetch quests).


^^^

[shovelquest]

I'll bet you a new MMO breakthrough is right around the corner with the advent of AI.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

I'll bet you a new MMO breakthrough is right around the corner with the advent of AI.

It can't be a business tho. There is no money in developing a AAA cutting edge mmorpg in the age of the 5 second attention span.

We need an eccentric billionaire not named asshole, to just hire a team to build a balanced D&D style game mechanics with AI-directed mobs that will not just spawn in the same place and path the same way, because they learn to avoid you. Then, buy the IP from Dark Paw Holding Company and Warehousing and charge people a 20 dollar a month donation, and hire actual gm's to ban any meta gamers, and botting, and any monetization.

Like the Grateful Dead, it will have a ferocious fan base, and will attract multiple generations of curious people, who will often get hooked too.

But it can't be a business.

[spoil]

No im not a naval gazing cry baby.

I will imagine how awesome it is.

cant wait fow the new staw waw

[Ennewi]

For starters, they could try not pleasing the "40 year old loser" crowd, because they are too cheap to spend money and don't agree on anything

I disagree, but only with that last part.

[shovelquest]

It can't be a business tho. There is no money in developing a AAA cutting edge mmorpg in the age of the 5 second attention span.

We need an eccentric billionaire not named asshole, to just hire a team to build a balanced D&D style game mechanics with AI-directed mobs that will not just spawn in the same place and path the same way, because they learn to avoid you. Then, buy the IP from Dark Paw Holding Company and Warehousing and charge people a 20 dollar a month donation, and hire actual gm's to ban any meta gamers, and botting, and any monetization.

Like the Grateful Dead, it will have a ferocious fan base, and will attract multiple generations of curious people, who will often get hooked too.

But it can't be a business.

No i mean like a fully functioning world where every NPC has the freedom to become whatever it wants and you compete with them by trying to earn money doing labor or jobs (often for AI NPCs that are better and faster and smarter than you) and collecting currency for the economic system that you can spend to activate mini games or other crafted in game products and your character ages like real life and dies and when you log in you have no memory of the real world.

[Dirkdaring]

The only game that's in development, and has been for several years that looks promising is Ashes of Creation, but that`s still years away. I`ll most likely die of old age before it is ever released.

[shovelquest]

Read Dead Redemntion but an MMO would be cool.

[Duik]

Expanding on Sadres idea have the A.I spawn 4 times and path the same way, then when player gets tired/bio breaks then it spawns on top with the emote of "Suprise Cockbag!"

Roots the magician pet out of range and proceeds to whale on the player.
Hilarious.

[Ennewi]

Not every film needs to be a blockbuster to turn a profit and be critically acclaimed or at least become a cult classic. Success in the MMO genre needs to be redefined and expectations managed.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

By "It can't be a business tho" I mean, in rl. Shovel. RL. Got it?

Whatever this satisfying persistent world that manages to function (with a very healthy "time investment willing" audience to make the game dynamic; no to little pay to play; no meta gaming), it just isn't going to happen if money in rl is in the equation, up to and including having to be a business.

That's only narrow casting if you don't consider, we likely do not need that many "refuge worlds" so to speak. How much would it cost to purchase the EQ IP including EQ2 and run a parallel set of servers with full time gm's enforcing rules?

My dad works for the UN doing historical evaluations and research for the department of antiquities and world heritage (DAWH). Why not EQ?

[Snaggles]

genre is all but dead only thing with decent numbers is wow classic / sod

Thread resolved ^

In an age of TikTok and Fortnite, finding people who want to slog hours of fairly slow combat is a tough one. I find running through zones rather relaxing but maybe EQ just broke my soul over 25 years…

[Snaggles]

Also, MMO’s or any AAA sandbox requires massive finances. The games industry is a mix of feckless and incompetent.

I’m surprised GW2 has lasted as long as it has. I’m surprised Wildstar didn’t make a bigger splash. Being part of an aging demo is sad but that’s much of getting old I guess, lol. I wish there were a few million more MMO nerds out there.

[Ciderpress]

It is kind of a strange thing; when ultima online came out it completely blew my mind and I was instantly hooked, then in 99 when EQ came out it blew my mind all over again, it was the most amazing time to be 15 years old on summer vacation. And then..... literally every other mmo i've ever tried since hasn't come close to recapturing either of those games' launches\early years. I played wow for like two weeks and quit, I played EQ2 at launch and stuck it out until lvl 50 and then quit, having never really enjoyed the experience of leveling or grouping. Tried eve online, it was weird and I quit almost immediately. Tried LOTRO, was fun for like 15 levels then got tedious and felt like a single player game most of the time, quit that too.

[Ciderpress]

And I love p99 and still actively play, but it's not quite for the same reasons. I mainly play here to do the stuff I never got to do during this era on live- I never even hit 60 on a character until after luclin came out, so p99 for me is like an extended do-over of the early game and there's *still* a ton I haven't done. I do not envy the people who are so burned out on the content that playing feels like going to work, so I consider myself lucky to have been able to stretch out the experience of classic EQ for so many years.

[arvidez]

I find running through zones rather relaxing…

a la counting sheep, i start in halas and run through norrath to go so sleep.

[Tann]

I’m surprised GW2 has lasted as long as it has.

bought that game on release and still fire it up once in a while, for me the reason it's lasted this long is it's production value. They put a lot of time into the massive game world and it shows.

I find running through zones rather relaxing

GW2 and old EQ are probably the only games I've ever played where I enjoy exploring for explorations sake. Maybe Eve-Online back in the day, where I for some strange reason liked chilling in an asteroid belt mining and listening to the soundtrack.

[Somos]

So I had a thought.

What if a dev team took Everquest P99 and implemented AI to Agents to run all NPCS (2027-28)
- AI runs NPC convos with each unique conversations sticking to the lore but add in hidden easter eggs.
- AI runs NPC interactions among NPCs as well. (Maybe you stumble on a quest with a unique item?)
- AI runs NPC pathing.(No more set paths.. They're going to move/interact and learn from where/how players move around?

You get my general idea?
- I think One of the MAJOR the things that is missing is actually INTELLIGENT in game characters.

Yes? No? STFU? lemme kno!

[kjs86z2]

no

[Ekco]

You get my general idea?


100% gonna happen, just not here with p99

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

So I had a thought.

What if a dev team took Everquest P99 and implemented AI to Agents to run all NPCS (2027-28)
- AI runs NPC convos with each unique conversations sticking to the lore but add in hidden easter eggs.
- AI runs NPC interactions among NPCs as well. (Maybe you stumble on a quest with a unique item?)
- AI runs NPC pathing.(No more set paths.. They're going to move/interact and learn from where/how players move around?

You get my general idea?
- I think One of the MAJOR the things that is missing is actually INTELLIGENT in game characters.

Yes? No? STFU? lemme kno!

This is where a non-asshole billionaire is supposed to buy the IP, and more or less experiment with doing what you say, and so forth, and we'll play in it, just figure out how to slay the Three Challenges whilst demanding perhaps even more of the first, some leeway on the second, but a ruthless Facebook like scythe to the third.
https://i.imgur.com/LIBMb6U.jpg

[shovelquest]

We need a batman, not for vigilantism, but to buy game companies.

[Tann]

This is where a non-asshole billionaire...

This would require the existence of a non-asshole billionaire first, pretty sure its a hard requirement to be an asshole to gain such currency.

[shovelquest]

This would require the existence of a non-asshole billionaire first, pretty sure its a hard requirement to be an asshole to gain such currency.

Gotta wait for Brian Thompson's kids to grow up and meet Ra's al Ghul.

[Dundrige]

I consider my real life to be like an MMO

[shovelquest]

So I had a thought.

What if a dev team took Everquest P99 and implemented AI to Agents to run all NPCS (2027-28)
- AI runs NPC convos with each unique conversations sticking to the lore but add in hidden easter eggs.
- AI runs NPC interactions among NPCs as well. (Maybe you stumble on a quest with a unique item?)
- AI runs NPC pathing.(No more set paths.. They're going to move/interact and learn from where/how players move around?

You get my general idea?
- I think One of the MAJOR the things that is missing is actually INTELLIGENT in game characters.

Yes? No? STFU? lemme kno!

This will be the next MMO.

Red dead redemption 2 had no AI in it and the world was ALIVE.

Imagine if a game like that, literally simulated a real world?

NPCs that actually have their own purpose and develop their own quests, their own worlds, laws, and cultures.

That would give me the same feeling, exploring an open persistent mmo world did 25 years ago.

[WarpathEQ]

Would be pretty cool in the context of AI vendors, thinking more in the application of like the original Diablo where each vendor was a skilled trade person that sold items related to what they do (i.e. blacksmith). Imagine a world where AI blacksmiths build skillsets and attempt to innovate over time leading to new differenciated skills and abilities leading to new items. Would make more sense in an item system more like diablo where a single item obtained multiple times could have different stats based on ranges and available options for stat combos. The AI unlocks new types of items, can improve on stat ranges over time and unlock additional diversity of stats that it can attach to any given item.

Would be harder to implement in a everquest style loot system where items are all known and static. But even take the current EQ system of trade skills, maybe instead of player base investing in learning trade skills there are AI skilled workers that over time as they interact with the player base and craft/sell their goods they level up at that trade skill and provide more advanced stuff. I.E. vendor sold cultural armor could be unlocked.

[Sadre Spinegnawer]

I would not object to a Daggerfall mmorpg. That world was already an aspirational ideal.

Each server generates its own map. The dungeons are never the same twice. You can become a werewolf.

There are powerful wizards to be killed.

[Somos]

This is where a non-asshole billionaire is supposed to buy the IP, and more or less experiment with doing what you say, and so forth, and we'll play in it, just figure out how to slay the Three Challenges whilst demanding perhaps even more of the first, some leeway on the second, but a ruthless Facebook like scythe to the third.
https://i.imgur.com/LIBMb6U.jpg


Nod agree 100% we'll see what the future holds. We def need more of them though.

[Somos]

Would be pretty cool in the context of AI vendors, thinking more in the application of like the original Diablo where each vendor was a skilled trade person that sold items related to what they do (i.e. blacksmith). Imagine a world where AI blacksmiths build skillsets and attempt to innovate over time leading to new differenciated skills and abilities leading to new items. Would make more sense in an item system more like diablo where a single item obtained multiple times could have different stats based on ranges and available options for stat combos. The AI unlocks new types of items, can improve on stat ranges over time and unlock additional diversity of stats that it can attach to any given item.

Would be harder to implement in a everquest style loot system where items are all known and static. But even take the current EQ system of trade skills, maybe instead of player base investing in learning trade skills there are AI skilled workers that over time as they interact with the player base and craft/sell their goods they level up at that trade skill and provide more advanced stuff. I.E. vendor sold cultural armor could be unlocked.

Exactly! Thats an awesome idea!

[Somos]

This will be the next MMO.

Red dead redemption 2 had no AI in it and the world was ALIVE.

Imagine if a game like that, literally simulated a real world?

NPCs that actually have their own purpose and develop their own quests, their own worlds, laws, and cultures.

That would give me the same feeling, exploring an open persistent mmo world did 25 years ago.

*Nod*

[shovelquest]

https://i.imgur.com/LLI8b9u.gif

[Teddie1056]

I legit think the only means to have a game like EQ thrive in the modern day would be

1. A rich Benefactor subsidizing the game, at least for a while
2. An active GM base that made the game feel alive. Shit, maybe with AI you could just have AI tweak the world and create events along certain timelines.
3. No whale based structure, this just incentivizes pay to play and ruins it for 99% of people.
4. No boxing and limited QOL features. These rules encourage group play which I think is the heart of P99.

[Somos]

[QUOTE=shovelquest;3729264]https://i.imgur.com/LLI8b9u.gif[/QUOTE


Nicee

[Trexller]

I legit think the only means to have a game like EQ thrive in the modern day would be

1. A rich Benefactor subsidizing the game, at least for a while
2. An active GM base that made the game feel alive. Shit, maybe with AI you could just have AI tweak the world and create events along certain timelines.
3. No whale based structure, this just incentivizes pay to play and ruins it for 99% of people.
4. No boxing and limited QOL features. These rules encourage group play which I think is the heart of P99.

The Hero's Journey is pushing numbers like the EQlive in 2001

3 classes in 1 toon is pretty insane, nobody needs to multibox, you are the multibox

[Reiwa]

The Hero's Journey is pushing numbers like the EQlive in 2001

3 classes in 1 toon is pretty insane, nobody needs to multibox, you are the multibox

It tricks the brain into thinking you aren't 3 boxing so you can solo bigly.

[shovelquest]

im sure by now there is some meta of whats the best trio combo in this context?

[Trexller]

im sure by now there is some meta of whats the best trio combo in this context?

bard mage beastlord probably

im destroying on paladin mage beastlord tho

[Irespectwomen]

An EQ clone with updated graphics would do well, Pantheon is so far off the mark that it is an insult to claim that it is developed in the spirit of EQ. I haven't played Pantheon but I've watched enough of it on stream to get the feeling that they designed the classes with a specific ideal on how it should be played and then built the world around that. A core of what makes EQ great is that it truly is a unique world that players are thrown into for better or worse, any rag-tag group of people of any classes can get together and interact with the world in a meaningful way.

Some things I think EQ does great or that I would add to a new version of EQ.

-- The way that EQ gives data of the world around you and what you are doing in it is bar none the best, the UI of course could use updating and more options to tailor the way you want to read the data hell you can still have your floating text spam as an option but for godsakes let the player customize his MUD windows, allowing seamless and organized display of combat, magic and environment data is what tickles my brain with EQ.

--Combat should not be busy work, it should be tactical. Watching a fight in Pantheon looks exhausting and unrewarding, constantly needing to counter this and counter that, of course there is a time and a place but it shouldn't feel like a damn job just to fight a single monster. EQ does a great job in that the challenge comes from setting up the fight, manipulating the environment and awareness of your surroundings. With modern NPC AI and other things this opens up a huge option of challenges to poise.

--The world must be an adventure and it must be a risk to adventure, EQ nailed this on the head AND they even came up with the fantastic idea of self-built maps before brewall did the tedious and meticulous job of making the maps for you to download into your folder and then instead of looking around your surroundings you watched the cursor on the map move to where you wanted to go, before that the maps were fucking BLANK. I think that is a great idea, or even some Diablo 2 esque map where the fog of war lifts and your map begins filling out but for gods sake do not include the players location, maybe as like a Ranger ability to every once in awhile update 'your last known position'.

--The world and its inhabitants should feel ripe for manipulation with unique gameplay, you should be able to achieve noteworthy objectives unconventionally. Fear kiting, agro kiting, root rotting, charm killing and more! The game should not punish you for not having the holy trinity of group makeup and of course reward the opportunities to do so!

I could go on but EQ really is the greatest still to this day but imagine what it could be with updated monster AI and more intricate class mechanics.