I still wonder where we got lost in the grand MMO scheme.

When I see the latest MMOs I'm asking myself: how can they name this an MMO when it's more or less a single player game with some grouping features.

Maybe it's because MMO = recurring monthly fees.

I thought socialization was the core of an MMO. Don't get me wrong I don't mean Role Playing. I mean interacting with others people in chat and & actions.

Even if I have lot of interest in "sandbox" concept I don't think it's mandatory to promote socialization.

Geez did I just say that? Promoting socialization!

In that I want to name Ralph Koster for his work on SWG social part. He was right on track and he delivered a game in which players had to interact with each others. I agree he went a bit too far. As for some players, shuttle, med centers and cantina's wait time where too long.

So, I think the market is more than ready for a decent MMO that promotes socialization. In fact, from my past experience, socialization is what keeps players subscribing when they ran through the whole content of an MMO.

Even I'm pretty sure if an MMO was able to answer most players’ needs in terms of socialization it could be huge, even bigger than FaceBook. Why? Because you share a common interest and you have all the tools to not only communicate but do things together.