The 10 Rules Every New MMORPG Needs to Follow

[Slamz]

To expand on the One Rule post by Slamz, what rules do you think every new MMORPG thats developed should be required to follow? Your idea should be a one line statement, to make it a short and sweet list. Here's my ideas so far:

The 10 Rules Every New MMORPG Needs to Follow:

1.) Let me play with my friends with no restrictions on levels, numbers, quests, or class type.
2.) Instancing should be avoided at all costs.
3.) PvP should have a purpose, a persistent effect on the world, should have equal rewards to PvE and should not be a "development afterthought."
4.) It should take no less than 5 minutes for any player to meet up with another player.
5.) Group play should never be less enticing than soloing.
6.) Inventory management should be simple and not a source of frustration. Quest items should not take up inventory space.

Do we get to debate these?

Like...
#2 I don't feel that strongly about. I'm not sure I have a problem with instancing in the Champions/COH/COV/Age of Conan meaning, where you can have 3 instances of the same zone simply because that's how they stop zones from filling up and crashing: they duplicate it into an extra instances.

What I DON'T like is like in WOW, where instancing is used to remove a group of people from the game world. I feel that this sort of gameplay is contrary to "MMO" gaming and is headed more towards "multiplayer co-op" gaming.

Granted a lot of people like multi-player co-op, but my take on rule 2 would be more like,
"Do not use instancing to separate people from an otherwise MMO game world."


#4.... actually I think I can agree with this. I'm thinking of World War 2 Online. The game world is huuuuge. Front lines are extensive. If you had to walk all up the front line it would probably take you a week. The sense that the world is big is always there. But they set it up so that you can always spawn wherever it is your friends are spawning and I think that may be a wise choice. Such a concept could really turn PvP on its head but since spawns are destroyable it works. That is, in WW2O, the only time you can't join up with your friends within 5 minutes is when they're really far away from a workable spawn, and I think that's an okay limitation. As soon as they die or put up a spawn, you'll be able to join them.

It's a good method that keeps the world "big" but allows you to join your friends without risking making the world "small" by simply giving you a really fast mount.