What would it take for a new mmo to recapture the feeling of eq?

[Roth]

I love eq. Love the game and mean it, when I play it I really appreciate the game even exists at all and I can play it in its original form and enjoy it. Love the entire game world and all the zones and everything. However sometimes I find myself wishing for new content or for small class changes that I know will never come. I think anyone who says nostalgia is what makes people like project 1999 are totally wrong... because EVERY time I play project 1999, I have that same amazing feeling of how cool and great this game world is that I never get from other mmos.

Personally I think what makes eq so fun is the simplicity and yet the detail of the world. Stuff doesn't always make sense. Things are just there and you don't really know why, you don't know what's out there. The world is dangerous and you have to respect it so you can actually survive. You can't just port around easily, for the most part travelling is slow and you have to think about where you want to go and where you want to be. When you go to an open zone out in the middle of nowhere with no one else around, it's a pretty great feeling. The lore is really great but there is no real directed path. You just go out and do what you want and I love that.

So the question is, what would it take for a new mmo to recapture the same feeling? As I said, I don't believe the "first mmo" theory holds up. I think there is something special here that just hasn't been revisited since. I feel like there is a strong chance we're gonna lose the potential for a spiritual successor to eq forever cause game devs just don't get it and don't care. So what would it take?