For me it's the sense that it's a believable and complete world, not a carefully layed out theme park or a series of disconnected dungeons. A world that is interactive and filled with stuff to discover, and not just a backdrop for grinding.

A good combat system. 

Face it, in any mmo by end game you will be fighting 99% of the time (aside from the time spent waiting to start).  Make the combat system complex enough so that you need to change up your attacks all the time, not use the same combination over and over.

A MMORPG doesn't necessary have to revolve around combat. You can spend a lot of time in UO or pre-CU SWG doing noncombat stuff and having fun doing it too.

 While combat is something I do most of the time, if the storyline is lacking or there isn't one I get bored incredibly fast.

So, that's my answer.

Also, a good combat system with crisp control.  Thats what I'm doing 99% of the time, so it better be fun.  But it can't be the only thing.  If the graphics suck, I couldn't care less how good the combat system is.  If there are a million bugs, how the game plays doesn't matter either.   Even if the world looks fantastic, if the combat is boring, I can't be immersed.  I'll just be bored.  Even if the combat is fun, if its just grinding with no purpose, thats a downer.  It all has to come together. 

i think all the aspects are quite important but the main thing for me is to make game friendly to all type of players.

and not just fancy some type of players, yes we are talking about massive multiplayer online but sametime

seeing people around you doesnt mean you have to communicate or have to something because its online game.

for me aslong as i can decide myself what to do and whent o do and not be dependaple by guild or groups to gain something nice ingame its super. im casual and thats it.

so like i said all things matters but i guess if you need to raise some aspect upon others i say gameplay, character control.

nowadays mmos arent pretty bad looking anyway so graphics kinda is standard good in all of them. like water from lotro and trees from vanguard and so on and so on. also i think story behind it is in big role , story in world of warcraft for example is great.

but instead of focusing what it was ment to at first place war between alliance and horde wich means pvp it has turned quite heavily just carebearing pve i need this epic and i need that epic game. and mostly it forgots the casual players who like to only focus themselves in the war aspect meaning pvp in all forms, and have fun with it.

cheers 

 Im very simple regarding what i find entertaining.

1.Good grafics "State of the art"

2.Animation

3.The intence spell casting or  fighing, meening "wow has rain of fire , simple and boring animation no feeling to it 

it has to be thunder and boom bang so the feeling is hyped , also meening it has to look so awsome i wanna use  it agian.

4.End game content is so very much important

5. No kids , i dont like the LOL Naabcake AMG talk, it is for kids that wanna be mainstream.

Thats about it 

+1 combat system

Originally posted by Trenchgun

A MMORPG doesn't necessary have to revolve around combat. You can spend a lot of time in UO or pre-CU SWG doing noncombat stuff and having fun doing it too.

 

Agree with ya Trench. I would prefer a MMO that gives freedom to do what I want when I want.  Good combat is important...but good and meaningful crafting system is just as important.

The "fun factor". If it's not fun, then all the graphics, combat system, quests etc. are useless.

Comming at a close second is customization of your character. Who wants to run around in a world full of clones? 

The most important aspect is how all the mechanics work with each other.   And very little else.

A MMO with awesome everything is pretty useless if all the mechanics ignore each other and don't build the world and/or community.

How fun the mechanics are.

Cause you can have tons of options, like gardening, building ships, fighting trolls whatever, but if the mechanics are lackluster they do not matter, variety does not a good game make, you need good mechanics, an issue I think a lot of the older MMOs had.

A healthy community. I would like there to be plenty of players online who aren't completely pre-occupied with loot rewards, who like to group and have a good time. Most MMO communities today are total garbage in my opinion. It's a big reason why I've been sticking to single player games and FPS multiplayer recently. Maybe some day things will change for the better.

Freedom.

I want to be able to make my own way in the world, without being on rails. If I don't want to kill another dozen mobs, I want other shit to do, like some INVOLVED (more than put 3 items in window and click "create") crafting, hanging out in a social spot, exploring cool looking areas, maybe even working on my NON INSTANCED home.

I want to be able to go anywhere in the world...and have to get there on my mount / vehicle / feet. I don't want new "areas" to "open up" to me as I level, or finish a line of lame-ass quests. I want the world laid out before me...for curiosity to sometimes get me killed, and sometimes to bring me rewards.

I don't want to have to be one of a few pre-defined classes, using the designated gear and the "uber" build. I want to be able to put my rifle / bow away and pull out a melee weapon when the mob gets close enough. To wear what I want to wear, and focus on teh skills that I want to excel in. To be unique.

And LOOK unique.

I want the freedom to develop my character to be the BEST....and through skill and god choices, be better than some...Hell most others.....not exactly the same because we all took the same set of skills / traits / talents, because it's the FOTM, or the "only" way to build.

I want my hard work to go rewarded, and the FREEDOM to do what I want, go where I want, kill who I want, and build what I want.

Good grouping. Without that, I'll just play a single player game. It's really not important to me or interesting to play a game with lots of other people in it if there's no provision for good grouping.

If I want to chat, I can find a bazillion chat channels for that. If I want great RPG game play, single player games beat MMORPGs hands down, every time.

MMORPGs are the only place to find really good group combat dynamics in an RPG setting, and that's why I play. If that aspect is missing, no need for me to pay 14.95 a month, which is the main reason I don't play WoW. And, grouping =/= raiding.

To me, one important aspect is surely the setting, lore, and the overall story. I have to have a sense of what's going on in the gameworld and if a lot of the stuff I see in game has some connection to the overall story, I'll be impressed. One of the things I appreciate in game design is a sense of urgency through background story, side stories and even subtext. 

Though maybe even more important is the variety of the things I can do in a gameworld. As far as MMOs go, just combat is the most boring and unimaginative game design I can think of. I have to indulge myself in other activities as well. Vanguard's Diplomacy sphere is a good example of what can be done in an MMO apart from combat. Yes, it could be dismissed as "just a minigame"... But I'm OK with mini-games as long as they make sense as integral parts of the gameworld and do not feel like an afterthought, or a detached feature.  

I like the thought of an MMO that I can be active in many different spheres, which are somewhat connected to but not dependent on each other. For example: I should be able to do detective work, pilot work (be it dogfight or transportation), design and development work (that is, of in-game stuff), tackle black market, mercenary deals, assassinations, security, hacking, politics. One should play into another here and there and bring about new information or possibilities that are not too powerful but just fun. And things like these should be thoroughly designed into the game, and preferably have NPCs, stories and lore attached to them. 

I guess all this relates to that magical keyword, immersion, for me :)

For me the one thing I look for in a game is some form of crafting/life skills...I cant just kill kill kill...that will bore me within minutes...I need to be able to work on other skills that make my character feel a little more real in some sense

innovation.

 1,  Player based econ.  Preferably crafting and professions.

  2.  End Game specials.  For an MMO to continue to be successful you need as much End Game as you have ingame.

  3.  Player housing.  Customisable like SWG.

  4.  Polished combat system.  None of that 4 abilities to last you til lvl cap crap.  i like having 20-40 combat/buff abilities.  So i have something for evey situation.

I agree with the OP, an environment you can escape in as soon as you log in. A game where you cant see the developers ideas, or shortcuts, just the world they created. This consists of lots of things though, graphics, setting, storyline.

A world without the visable stiches of its creation.

Community.  It's really the biggest thing a game can offer and the one thing that the game has the least control over.  If the game is filled with a bunch of self-centered 12-year olds who can't spell, I don't want to play.  I don't care if it's the best game ever made, having to deal with a bunch of retards every time I log on is going to make me delete the game.

Virtually anything else I can deal with, but if I'm playing with other people, I don't want to detest being around those people.